ADK A6 or Octava Mk 012?

[alohachris]

Aloha Moon,

From previous posts & the gear you're using, & DAW's you've been investigating, I always thought you were a PC-based system guy. But you just mentioned the possibility of investigating an Apogee Duet, so I'm not sure.

If you are a Mac-based system guy looking for an upgrade, then definitely go with the Apogee Duet. It's been fully integrated into the soft/hardware of Mac's AND has the best built-in mic preamps of any two-channel pre for under $1500, IMO. PLUS, it offers the best integration possible for more stability I've found. It will kick the heck out of the other pre/interfaces you've mentioned on quality alone, like the Mackie, IMO.

There is a new DUET 2 just coming out, USB2 based with some cool features. BUT, it lacks the firewire connection that I've come to love so I'm gonna wait & see. I'd look for deals on used original Apogee Duets - should be much cheaper now. If you use a Mac-based system, then getting a used Duet may save you money & give you much more quality. Here's the new Duet:

http://www.apogeedigital.com/products/duet2.php

A Duet would provide a huge leap over that M-Audio card as an interface. It's mic pre's will definitely give you pristine sounding recordings in a treated space with a compatible signal chain.

Check it out!

alohachris

[moon]

Aloha

Yes I'm PC/linux so the apogee wouldn't do for me. I was thinking of other people in the same boat ie looking for something "serious" but on a budget (we should maybe have a sticky for the cheapest stuff actually worth paying money for). The duet demands a mention, and its RME rival. The Mackie Blackjack could be interesting too if it can get close to the duet for a third of the price.

[Sage97]

How are you liking the ADK A6? any clips?

[theotigno]

Originally Posted by moon

Yes I'm PC/linux so the apogee wouldn't do for me. I was thinking of other people in the same boat ie looking for something "serious" but on a budget ...

Probably a little late, but another device to look at that is Windows compatible is the Sound Devices USBPre 2 (here's a demo of it on You Tube). I have a USBPre v1 and it works solid for me

[moon]

@Sage97

It's great. I needed a good mic but didn't have a lot of money to spend and the A6 fits the bill perfectly. By "good" I mean something that can capture the textures and character of a sound. If money is no object there are obviously better mics from Schoeps, Neumann etc but I think this gets you in the hi-fi game. The first step on the ladder anyway.

You'll hear it at its best on a good guitar played well, such as the audio clips on dreamguitars.com but here's some stuff I was doing today.

It's recorded in an untreated room, with an ART Tube MP preamp, an M-Audio 2496 sound card, an average guitar and a worse player so you're probably not hearing the mic at its best. My next buy will probably be a JLM Baby Animal preamp kit. Looks about the best bang for buck if you don't mind assembling your preamp yourself.

[Sage97]

Originally Posted by moon

@Sage97

It's great. I needed a good mic but didn't have a lot of money to spend and the A6 fits the bill perfectly. By "good" I mean something that can capture the textures and character of a sound. If money is no object there are obviously better mics from Schoeps, Neumann etc but I think this gets you in the hi-fi game. The first step on the ladder anyway.

You'll hear it at its best on a good guitar played well, such as the audio clips on dreamguitars.com but here's some stuff I was doing today.

It's recorded in an untreated room, with an ART Tube MP preamp, an M-Audio 2496 sound card, an average guitar and a worse player so you're probably not hearing the mic at its best. My next buy will probably be a JLM Baby Animal preamp kit. Looks about the best bang for buck if you don't mind assembling your preamp yourself.

Sounds great. This is you playing? What guitar did you use?

[moon]

Yeah that's me. The guitar is an old Yamaha L20A. I think the nearest equivalent today would be the LL16. It's a mid-range guitar but it's got some good sounds in it if you work at it.

Some new strings help. Actually, it's the first time I've ever tried 13s and it seems to like them- not half as hard to play as I thought they would be either. I'm a big fan of Newtone strings: these are the Masterclass double-wound.

[moon]

PS: no EQ or compression on the samples. The first is completely clean and obviously there's some reverb on the lead guitar in the second.

[Sage97]

Thanks moon. I'm debating between Peluso CECM6, or just going all out for a pair of KM184s but these modded Oktavas and the ADK A6 are confusing me.

Or maybe even 1 Josephson and 1 LDC combined.

Very confused.

[sdelsolray]

Originally Posted by Sage97

Thanks moon. I'm debating between Peluso CECM6, or just going all out for a pair of KM184s but these modded Oktavas and the ADK A6 are confusing me.

Or maybe even 1 Josephson and 1 LDC combined.

Very confused.

You'll probably find the Peluso CECM6 a bit noisy and the Josephson C42 certainly noisy.

Pairs of modded Oktava MC-012 SD cardioid, Neumann KM184, Peluso P28, AT 4051, Avantone C28, 3 Zigma CHI SD cardioid, ADK A6, AT 4050, among others, are all excellent mics for solo acoustic.

If you can wait a bit, hold out for a used pair of Microtech Gefell M300.

[moon]

..and don't forget 3 Zigma I haven't used these myself but I've got a lot of respect for ADK mics and, by extension, the ADK spin-off 3 Zigma.

I guess the first thing to decide is what sort of colour you want. The A6 and Oktava are pretty neutral which I like. The Josephson C42s are bright, although not in a nasty way, at least not in the clips I've heard such as this one. Neumann KM184 are slightly bright as well. Not sure about the Peluso.

I heard a clip from Doug Young a while ago using an AEA R88 (or 84), which is yet another, sublime kind of sound.

So many mics, so little time...

[Sage97]

Originally Posted by sdelsolray

You'll probably find the Peluso CECM6 a bit noisy and the Josephson C42 certainly noisy.

Pairs of modded Oktava MC-012 SD cardioid, Neumann KM184, Peluso P28, AT 4051, Avantone C28, 3 Zigma CHI SD cardioid, ADK A6, AT 4050, among others, are all excellent mics for solo acoustic.

If you can wait a bit, hold out for a used pair of Microtech Gefell M300.

Thanks sdelsolray.

I like the KM184s currently at home - a friend is lending it to me. The P28s look very interesting and right smack in my budget. I'll call the folks at 3 Zigma tomorrow as you and moon have indicated.

Would the Gefell M300 be a matched pair or can I mix it with my NTK for stereo? One M300 is not that far away from my budget but two would be stretching it.

FYI - whatever I end up with will go straight into my Apogee Duet.

[alohachris]

Aloha Sage,

Great suggestions for mic's here by my esteemed colleagues. It all depends on your budget & what your ears think. You can see that many talk about pairs of SDC's rather than SDC/LDC combo's. And you should match mic's of equal quality. A Microtech Gefell 300 is a great mic. You may not want to mix it with an NTK.

Very good budget SDC's as mentioned, are a pair of Oktava MK-012's modded by Michael Joly.

Very good budget pairs of LDC's (really a medium) is the ADK A6. That's a real sleeper of a great mic, IMO. Several posters on this thread own & really like both the Oktava's & A6's, I still own some A6's. Here's a clip by Al Petteway of Dream Guitars using an A6.

http://www.dreamguitars.com/detail/2...reek_fs_32127/

Hit the Media tab & the play arrow to access.

The Peluso P-28 is also a wonderful SDC tube pair that I own & love. As this Soundpure clip suggests, combining it with an A Design Pacifica preamp or your Duet will create some great acoustic sound:

http://www.soundpure.com/p/santa-cru...ic-guitar/1612

And then there's always the Schoeps CMC641 hypercardioid. You could start with just one. Now that's as good as it gets in terms of SDC's. Highest recommendation. Here's Doug Young using a pair in his recent excellent Lowden AGM review (thanks Doug):

http://www.acguitar.com/article/defa...rticleid=25665

Try 'em all out first if you can. Then trust your ears.

Good Luck, Sage.

alohachris

[Sage97]

Thanks Chris.

Will go with a pair of SDCs based on y'alls recommendations. Will look into these wonderful recommendations and keep you posted. The MK-012s are now rising to the top by virtue of affordability.

Thank you moon for allowing me to hijack your thread. I started a new one now.

[bbrown]

I've been researching mics and interfaces for recording solo guitar. I see that folks are talking about good (or better) mics going into a Zoom H2 recorder. I gather that the chain would include a suitable preamp prior to the H2?

A few things that might be somewhat related to this discussion. Found these 2 items last night:

1. A pair of Shure SM81's into a Motu Ultra-Lite ..............http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_v2xHeP1GiQ
Hard to argue that this is not pretty good sound?

2. From the "Audacity Forum" yesterday.......by steve » Tue May 31, 2011 6:48 pm............

I wonder if it might be better to combine a LDC and a SDC for this?:

"If you have a nice room to record in, when you get your microphones, try using one mic close up, and one further away to pick up some natural ambiance. You will probably then find that you need to add very little artificial reverb. One technique is to keep the close up mic track almost dry (no effect), and split the recording of the distant mic (preferably a high sensitivity, low noise omni-directional microphone) into two tracks. These two tracks can then be made to have an artificial stereo by applying slightly different reverb/delay effects and will give a sense of spaciousness to the recording. The dry track will keep the sound crisp and intimate. Adjust the track levels to produce the balance that you like."