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  #61  
Old 01-16-2015, 10:22 PM
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Doug Young Doug Young is offline
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Well, it's refreshing to see someone with a very strong vision of what they want to do. My guess is that any gear you choose will be capable of doing what you need.
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  #62  
Old 01-18-2015, 09:43 AM
Andy Howell Andy Howell is offline
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Just catching up!

I didn't say the Mojave's were better just that many think they are comparable and in the same league to the U87.

I first heard of these mics here when someone told me they were good for baritone type voices. There are many reviews and user comments on the web which say something similar. These are not cheap mics but they do seem to represent good value for money.

David Royer's mics are interesting. He is designing very much for digital recording. He seems to have cracked Chinese production.

I'm not into the fan boy space here, I just suggested that these might be considered seriously!
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  #63  
Old 01-19-2015, 05:21 AM
Ty Ford Ty Ford is offline
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The single mic theory is a good one if you can pull it off. Obviously, from the video clips, some people can. You seem to be able to do that with the AT, so this bodes well for you.

I say it's a good place to start. Maybe choose a mic that you wouldn't mind having two of with the thought that you might move up to a stereo pair.

BTW, on the topic of vertical alignment of mics; the reason vertical alignment is used to to reduce or eliminate phase cancellation. Normally, with two mics vertically aligned, the sound arrives at both of them at the same time.

Regards,

Ty Ford
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  #64  
Old 01-19-2015, 05:28 AM
Ty Ford Ty Ford is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by KevWind View Post
Humm??? were you replying directly to my post ? Regards, Kev.
Kev,

Words on a screen are interperable in many ways; frequently in ways not intended by the writer. That's how yours hit me. No offense intended.

Apologies,

Ty Ford

PS: Here's a great link to misheard lyrics: http://www.kissthisguy.com/funny.php
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  #65  
Old 02-01-2015, 07:32 PM
MarvinLee MarvinLee is offline
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Default The quest continues....

Asking around my area, it seems the most prolific mics are of the cheap Chinese large condenser variety. So.... in the interest of learning, I got one of these cheap Chinese LDC's to start. I acquired a CAD GXL2200 as a baseline for what folks around these parts are using. Honestly, it didn't sound as horrible as I feared. That said, it didn't sound great either. So I took it a step further and added a K7 module to it and re-did the circuit board with a kit from microphone-parts.com. It sounds much better.

It's still not entirely what I'm looking for, but it does help me start to understand what I am looking for. I'm still looking for a bit more warmth from the signal and am beginning to believe this will ultimately end up being a tube preamp. Ultimately, I'd like to boost the signal just a tad, as these recordings are made from about 2 feet from the mic and the signal could be about 3-5db hotter and still have plenty of headroom.

Hoping to get with an area recording studio and see if I can compare this to some of their RODE mics. Really looking forward to this summer and getting some folks recorded! After experimenting with this a bit, I am liking this technique more and more for a producing a series of videos. It will equalize the playing field for anyone who steps up in front of it. The utter simplicity of the mic setup seems like it will accomplish being the fastest easiest setup for working performers who have precious little time for tech. It also creates a TREMENDOUS impact from the location. This should work well as this series is very location specific at an old wooden hall. If we pull this off correctly, we won't need reverb in post as the location should provide. Yeah.... starting to get excited.

Still looking for mic recommendations if any of this is similar to something you guys have done. Clearly, I am just beginning to learn about this, so any help is appreciated. We can probably still swing about $1-$1.5k for sound acquisition, but I'm beginning to wonder if some of the subtleties of these really high end mics might be lost to the recording medium (video cameras at 16 bits) with an anticipated youtube outlet. Not exactly state of the art fidelity at the end of the day.

For those who might be interested, here is a comparison of before and after the modification of this particular mic. The fact that it does seem to make a difference in this particular medium (youtube) surprised me. Let me know what you think.

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  #66  
Old 02-03-2015, 12:04 PM
Fran Guidry Fran Guidry is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MarvinLee View Post
Asking around my area, it seems the most prolific mics are of the cheap Chinese large condenser variety. So.... in the interest of learning, I got one of these cheap Chinese LDC's to start. I acquired a CAD GXL2200 as a baseline for what folks around these parts are using. Honestly, it didn't sound as horrible as I feared. That said, it didn't sound great either. So I took it a step further and added a K7 module to it and re-did the circuit board with a kit from microphone-parts.com. It sounds much better.

...

Still looking for mic recommendations if any of this is similar to something you guys have done. Clearly, I am just beginning to learn about this, so any help is appreciated. We can probably still swing about $1-$1.5k for sound acquisition, but I'm beginning to wonder if some of the subtleties of these really high end mics might be lost to the recording medium (video cameras at 16 bits) with an anticipated youtube outlet. Not exactly state of the art fidelity at the end of the day.

For those who might be interested, here is a comparison of before and after the modification of this particular mic. The fact that it does seem to make a difference in this particular medium (youtube) surprised me. Let me know what you think.

The two most important things to do when comparing audio chains are to use the same source and match the levels precisely. Normalization is not a useful technique for level matching since it works on peaks and we hear RMS (average). To my ear the obvious difference between your two samples is a level change.

I think you'll do yourself a big favor if you can get past the idea that there is some sort of magic available by buying a particular mic. If the self noise is low and the pattern matches your needs you've got the right mic. If you were recording jet engines or bats or whale songs there might be a need to obsess over getting "the right mic" but for acoustic guitar and voice in a decent sounding room any decent mic placed in the correct location gets the job done.

This opinion is based on a dozen years and multiple thousands of dollars spent in the vain hope of finding magic in a gadget.

Fran
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  #67  
Old 02-15-2015, 06:02 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Fran Guidry View Post
The two most important things to do when comparing audio chains are to use the same source and match the levels precisely. Normalization is not a useful technique for level matching since it works on peaks and we hear RMS (average). To my ear the obvious difference between your two samples is a level change.

I think you'll do yourself a big favor if you can get past the idea that there is some sort of magic available by buying a particular mic. If the self noise is low and the pattern matches your needs you've got the right mic. If you were recording jet engines or bats or whale songs there might be a need to obsess over getting "the right mic" but for acoustic guitar and voice in a decent sounding room any decent mic placed in the correct location gets the job done.

This opinion is based on a dozen years and multiple thousands of dollars spent in the vain hope of finding magic in a gadget.

Fran
Hmmm. Ok Fran, well after reading this I'm more determined than ever to keep on buying snazzy new mics just to see if you are correct with this hypothesis. I'll get back to you in five years or so......
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  #68  
Old 09-20-2015, 07:42 PM
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Hi Guys,

Thought I'd follow up on this post. After taking in all the excellent input from this thread, I ended up getting a $50 CAD LDC and modifying it with a K7 capsule from microphone parts.com. I combined this with a Zoom H5. This video was shot with a very inexpensive Sony A5100. I am very pleased with the results and look forward to bringing in more folks. This recording is straight into the H5 with no effects and no post processing. The single mic allows the room to be more of a part of the recording, which is really what we were hoping for. See what you think....

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  #69  
Old 09-23-2015, 06:20 PM
MarvinLee MarvinLee is offline
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And another....

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  #70  
Old 09-23-2015, 07:04 PM
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That's the best vocal performance I've seen and heard in quite awhile.
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  #71  
Old 09-29-2015, 02:12 PM
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Cocobolo Kid Cocobolo Kid is offline
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I like both of those videos quite a bit. Nice job and stellar performances.

One of the many things I like about AGF is discovering hidden gems like this.

Cheers.
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  #72  
Old 09-29-2015, 03:58 PM
paulp1960 paulp1960 is offline
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I like it a lot as well, for me the first song/video Love Takes Time was stellar and I had to play it a couple of times.

Reminds me why I play guitar with friends and we do music together though we are not as good as you.
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  #73  
Old 09-30-2015, 09:34 AM
Fran Guidry Fran Guidry is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MarvinLee View Post
Hi Guys,

Thought I'd follow up on this post. After taking in all the excellent input from this thread, I ended up getting a $50 CAD LDC and modifying it with a K7 capsule from microphone parts.com. I combined this with a Zoom H5. This video was shot with a very inexpensive Sony A5100. I am very pleased with the results and look forward to bringing in more folks. This recording is straight into the H5 with no effects and no post processing. The single mic allows the room to be more of a part of the recording, which is really what we were hoping for. See what you think....

I've enjoyed your clips, but I wonder what the CAD mic gives you that's different from using the H5 mics.

Fran
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  #74  
Old 10-01-2015, 06:59 PM
MarvinLee MarvinLee is offline
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Fran, the LDC seems to have more lower mid-range. I suppose the H5's crossed pair could also be eq'd for that, but at the distance we used them at they were really only picking up ambience. It is slightly mixed in to accentuate the natural reverb of the room.

One of the things I was hoping to establish by recording it this way is to have the room itself play into the recordings. It is an old dance hall from back in the 1920's. Given that the talent that passes through this venue is mostly acoustic, and comes mostly in singles and duo's, I thought this was an easy way to quickly get some takes prior to the visiting performers show.

One of the other reason's we were hoping to do this is for simplifications sake. We're hoping to make is so we can teach some of the volunteers to do these recordings.
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  #75  
Old 10-03-2015, 07:06 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MarvinLee View Post
Fran, the LDC seems to have more lower mid-range. I suppose the H5's crossed pair could also be eq'd for that, but at the distance we used them at they were really only picking up ambience. It is slightly mixed in to accentuate the natural reverb of the room.

One of the things I was hoping to establish by recording it this way is to have the room itself play into the recordings. It is an old dance hall from back in the 1920's. Given that the talent that passes through this venue is mostly acoustic, and comes mostly in singles and duo's, I thought this was an easy way to quickly get some takes prior to the visiting performers show.

One of the other reason's we were hoping to do this is for simplifications sake. We're hoping to make is so we can teach some of the volunteers to do these recordings.
Given these parameters which BTW were unclear in your first post as that appeared (from the video) to be wanting something for recording live performances with a continually changing roster ? . So with that clarification , a one mic solution is indeed viable. This style which I personally call the "bluegrass technique" is used quite a bit, often involves a single LDC and it does make for a much simpler engineering task dealing with only one volume level.
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Last edited by KevWind; 10-03-2015 at 07:18 AM.
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