Testing out Sennheiser mics

[ChuckS]

Originally Posted by rick-slo

Listened again with my better playback system. Like the sound of the Poling better - clearer and less boxy sounding.
Narrow soundstage for a spaced pair of mikes. Perhaps the R and L channels are panned in somewhat.

Thanks for taking a listen on another system. These recordings are very different so having a target to shoot for is helpful. It's not surprising about the narrow stereo width; I have a tendency to do that. (The tracks were panned hard left and hard right, but mic spacing not too wide.)

[ChuckS]

Originally Posted by Doug Young

OK, I dug in a bit more, and there are a few interesting things. First, the stereo image is pretty narrow, even narrower than I'd usually see with XY. How far apart are the mics? If you're going back 2 feet, you might need to space wider to get a reasonable stereo image. My advice would be to try 10-12 inches from the guitar, around 20 inches apart, but every guitar and space is different, so you'd have to experiment. I think getting a wider image would help open things up.

Lots of midrange - kind of a hump between 100-500, and some rather punchy notes - might be from the untreated room, could just be the guitar.

Also, a bit of noise, broadband hiss, and a low steady hum around 80Hz. Interestingly, there doesn't seem to be much guitar down there in that area. is this capo'd maybe? part of the territory with home recording, but I'd at least trim the beginning tightly, so you don't hear the noise at the beginning.

I tried a mix, greatly widened the stereo image (better to do it with mics), lots of EQ, a bit of reverb. I'm not sure it's an improvement, might have just messed it up! I'll PM you the file to check out, post, delete, ignore, whatever.

Thanks for putting in this effort; I was not expecting anyone to take the time to do all that!

It's not surprising about the narrow stereo width; I have a tendency to do that. The mics were back 20" from the guitar with 15" spacing between them. I'll be doing experimenting on distance from guitar to mic and mic to mic spacing.

The Carruth does have a pretty dark tone. To me, it seems to have a lot of complexity in the lows. It may be a less easy instrument to record, and maybe typical low end room reflection issues complicate it more. Whatever this issue, I'll definitely have to focus on how to improve the capture of it.

As these were quick recordings in the living room I didn't do anything to quiet down the house noise. I'd imagine some of the noise was kitchen appliance, and maybe neighbors. The guitar was not capoed (the arrangement does not have a lot of content low on the E string).

I downloaded your mix. I can try to do some critical listening of my recordings, the mix you provided, and recordings from others in an attempt refine my recordings.

Thanks again for all the feedback.

[ChuckS]

Originally Posted by Knives&Guitars

After giving another listen, I can hear what Doug is talking about. I do hear that sort of resonance - non flat frequency response that he mentions. Additionally, I hear certain notes seemingly jumping out, leaving an unbalanced impression.

However, When I compare the recording you made with the Gefells omnis, (which sound far more even -Balanced in comparison) ...I find a...Presence - an Intimacy = lost with the Gefells. I did briefly own a pair of 295's a couple of years ago.
...[snip]...

Interesting to hear your comparison between my omni recording and the cardioid recording (same guitar, different song). To me the omni gives an openness, and the cardioid seems to present the guitar more forward. This is the first time I've had high quality mics with different polar patterns, so I guess I'll see if these perceptions hold true going forward. To me, the Sennheiser cardioids seem quite directional compared to other cardioids I've used, but that might just be my initial perception.

Thanks for your thoughts.

[Doug Young]

Chuck, do you have any reference recordings? Examples of other's recording that have the kind of sound you'd like? That would a good place to start from.