#1
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Microphones For ToneDexter
If a person were wanting to purchase one mic for the purpose of Dexterizing guitars, lets say $400.00 max, what would be a good choice? Maybe discuss lesser priced mics as well. Would a mic in the $400 range give you a better dual purpose mic, say Dexterizing as well as a recording mic, than say a $150 mic?
Let's assume said person has no mics and can't experiment with several that they have on hand. |
#2
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As I recall, James May (one of the inventors of ToneDexter and its primary spokesman) has said that good results can be achieved with a wide variety of microphones.
But I also think he has said that small-diaphragm condensers seem to give the very best results, and he has mentioned the Shure SM81 as a particularly good choice on several occasions. A brand-new Shure SM81 can be had on Amazon (and other places) for about $350. A good used one can be found on eBay for $150 or less, so I think it meets your criteria. P.S. The Shure SM81 is a very popular studio mic for acoustic instruments. |
#3
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I've been experimenting this last week with exactly this.
I tried a couple of ribbon mics (Beyer m500 and MXL r40) and did not get a sound I liked, I might try again with more time. I tried an Oktava MK012 cardioid capsule and got nice results. Then I tried a Line Audio CM3 - my favorite so far. Both are small diaphragm condensers. The large diaphragm condensors I have tried haven't worked well yet for me (Rode NT2, Oktava MK319). I am awaiting a ISK Pro Audio Starlight to see if that does the job better. I am liking the SDC because in general, these are the mics that have the LEAST personality. Personality tends to drive prices up I would second the previous poster and recommend the Shure SM-81. It's a fantastic acoustic mic and usable on all kinds of sources. Remember that, ideally, once you train the Tonedexter you'll not need the mic again for awhile (if ever). So it would be smart to purchase something you know you'll use post-Tonedexter.
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-Gordon 1978 Larrivee L-26 cutaway 1988 Larrivee L-28 cutaway 2006 Larrivee L03-R 2009 Larrivee LV03-R 2016 Irvin SJ cutaway 2020 Irvin SJ cutaway (build thread) K+K, Dazzo, Schatten/ToneDexter Notable Journey website Facebook page Where the spirit does not work with the hand, there is no art. - Leonardo Da Vinci Last edited by Gordon Currie; 10-18-2017 at 02:22 PM. |
#4
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Looks like that Octavia can be bought new for $199.00. The Line Audio doesn't seem to be for sale in the US, but they are on ebay for about $150.00, shipped from Europe.
Is the SM-81 considered better than these two mics? I know that is somewhat subjective. |
#5
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However, the new Slate ML-2 is every bit as good in our experience. It is not quite available yet, that's the downside. Slate tells me that it will be available very soon, before year's end for sure. It has other advantages if you are into recording, as it comes with some software modelling capabilities that can give it a bunch of other personalities in your recording environment. But for purposes of Dexterizing your instrument, it can't be beat. And that's not just for guitar, but other instruments including upright bass. I believe that the mics with the flattest on axis response will yield the consistently best results across all instruments. You can go to recordinghacks.com and look up the response of most mics if you want to check a particular one's response curve. We haven't tried these, but based on their response and price, have reason to believe they would work well: Line Audio CM3, Rode NT5, Marshall MXL-600, Sterling ST-31.
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James May Audio Sprockets maker of ToneDexter James May Engineering maker of the Ultra Tonic Pickup |
#6
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#7
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I wonder how well the AKG C214 would work in this application. It's a bigger capsule, but pretty amazing frequency response for the money.
Anyone try a good omni mic for this? Earthworks TC20 would be fun to try. |
#8
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I've used a Shure SM81 to train my ToneDexter. I got the SM81 from Musician's Friend during a sale and I had some BackStage Pass cash back to apply to the price, so the final price came to about $250.
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Martin HD-28 Sunburst/Trance M-VT Phantom Martin D-18/UltraTonic Huss & Dalton TD-R Adamas MD80 NWT Adamas I 2087GT-8 Ovation Custom Legend LX Guild F-212XL STD Taylor 717e Taylor 618e Taylor 614ce Larrivee D-50M/HiFi Larrivee D-40R Blue Grass Special/HiFi Larrivee D-40R Sunburst Larrivee C-03R TE/Trance M-VT Phantom RainSong BI-DR1000N2 Emerald X20 Yamaha FGX5 Last edited by SpruceTop; 10-19-2017 at 09:01 AM. |
#9
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The omnidirectional pickup pattern WILL affect the sound that the mic perceives of your instrument. Sometimes for the better, sometimes not. In our experience so far, it has been very usable at least and sometimes excellent. One thing to point out is that you need not worry about capturing more room sound with an omni., because Dexter limits how much of that is captured anyway, regardless of whether omni or cardioid pickup pattern.
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James May Audio Sprockets maker of ToneDexter James May Engineering maker of the Ultra Tonic Pickup |
#10
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#11
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What do we think of an AKG Perception 170?
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/P170 at $89? Steve
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Still crazy after all these years. |
#12
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Quote:
http://recordinghacks.com/microphone...Perception-170
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James May Audio Sprockets maker of ToneDexter James May Engineering maker of the Ultra Tonic Pickup |
#13
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My favorite so far when training TD has been an Ear Trumpet Myrtle. |
#14
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James,
What would be the drawback of EQing the mic signal to taste (rather than shaping the tone by experimenting with mic positioning)? Does running the mic signal through extra circuitry cause some kind of latency problem? |
#15
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You can run the mic through a mixer/EQ if you want to sculpt the tonal balance and ToneDexter will make it sound like that when it trains. Just make sure whatever device you use has it's output reduced to mic level and can tolerate 48V phantom power.
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James May Audio Sprockets maker of ToneDexter James May Engineering maker of the Ultra Tonic Pickup |