Stereo Bar

trodden · Post by **trodden** » Wed Jun 04, 2008 3:29 pm

I need a better Stereo Bar.

I have the onstage stands model MY500 and its total shit sandwich. It was cheap, but its almost worthless.. well it was worthless until I busted out the plumbers tape and the gaff tape.

I was checking out the one the Sound-Room has,
http://www.sound-room.com/inc/sdetail/286

Any other suggestions in the $50 an under range? It needs to be able to adjust wide enough to do ORTF with a pair of MK-012's.

I should just build one, somehow.

joninc · Post by **joninc** » Wed Jun 04, 2008 3:54 pm

i have a cheap one - apex i think. seems to work well.

chris harris · Post by **chris harris** » Wed Jun 04, 2008 4:05 pm

the one that Cascade makes is pretty flexible. It's heavy as hell, though... I'd make sure it's on a pretty solid stand. Problem is, they're about $100.

But, if you happen to need a couple of cheap (but good) ribbon mics, you can get the stereo bar cheaper with the "Blumlein package".

dsw · Post by **dsw** » Wed Jun 04, 2008 4:59 pm

This one: http://www.zzounds.com/item--KMS2351
seems to sell real well.
Doesn't go real wide, but seems to hold up pretty good.

rhythm ranch · Post by **rhythm ranch** » Wed Jun 04, 2008 5:20 pm

Shure A27M

Professor · Post by **Professor** » Wed Jun 04, 2008 6:16 pm

I have a bunch of the older K&M stereo bars, their shorter 2-mic and longer 4-mic ones and they are fantastic... must be why they don't make 'em any more.
That 235/1 K&M bar is alright, but honestly that flexible middle always seemed annoying to me - it's either too loose to stay in place or too tight to move.
The Shure A27M is fantastic and I have 4 of those in the studio. But they are grossly over-priced, heavy as hell, and may not get a pair of MC-012s wide enough to really call it ORTF... but they get really close. I use them for ORTF with AT-4051s, Earthworks, MBHOs, etc. and have used them to set up XY pairs, Blumlein, and even Mid/Side with a pair of 414s in shockmounts.

I don't own the Sabra Som stereo bars yet, but I have a few of their shockmounts, and I love the 'erector set' concept for them. For the price, I would happily buy at least two of each, the S2 and S4. I would worry a little about the S4 bending slightly under heavy mics like a pair of U-87s or something, but I'm sure it wouldn't be too bad. If you get a couple of Sabra shock mounts to go with them, you'll really love the way they all work together.

-Jeremy

cgarges · Post by **cgarges** » Wed Jun 04, 2008 8:25 pm

For all you folks wanting a crappy review of something, here goes:

The Sabra stereo bar is a pain in the ass because there's no way to secure the angle of the mics (in relation to each other) on the threaded part. If you tighten your mic clips down all the way, you're limited to whatever angle the mic clips end up in. The threaded part is so short, that you can't really add an additional threaded bolt to secure the mic angle. This is compounded by the fact that the real threaded part is designed for metric mic clips, so for us Americans, we have to deal with an adapter on top of it. Also, the little, tiny screws that secure the base of the threaded mic clip holders are a pain to adjust with your fingers. If you get them tight enough to be secure, they're almost impossible to loosen with your fingers because they're so small.

Other than that, there are some good ideas going on.

Chris Garges
Charlotte, NC

scott macdonald · Post by **scott macdonald** » Thu Jun 05, 2008 12:30 am

rhythm ranch wrote:Shure A27M

+1

Recycled_Brains · Post by **Recycled_Brains** » Thu Jun 05, 2008 6:42 am

scott macdonald wrote:
rhythm ranch wrote:Shure A27M
+1

+2

Built solid, and flexible.

trodden · Post by **trodden** » Thu Jun 05, 2008 11:48 am

cgarges wrote:For all you folks wanting a crappy review of something, here goes:

The Sabra stereo bar is a pain in the ass because there's no way to secure the angle of the mics (in relation to each other) on the threaded part. If you tighten your mic clips down all the way, you're limited to whatever angle the mic clips end up in. The threaded part is so short, that you can't really add an additional threaded bolt to secure the mic angle. This is compounded by the fact that the real threaded part is designed for metric mic clips, so for us Americans, we have to deal with an adapter on top of it. Also, the little, tiny screws that secure the base of the threaded mic clip holders are a pain to adjust with your fingers. If you get them tight enough to be secure, they're almost impossible to loosen with your fingers because they're so small.

Other than that, there are some good ideas going on.

Chris Garges
Charlotte, NC

damn... so would this thing really only work well with the MC-012's and their options of clips/shockmounts since thats what seems to be shown with the product??

trodden · Post by **trodden** » Thu Jun 05, 2008 11:52 am

Recycled_Brains wrote:
scott macdonald wrote:
rhythm ranch wrote:Shure A27M
+1

+2

Built solid, and flexible.

yeah and $70.. but if you get what you pay for...

Brett Siler · Post by **Brett Siler** » Thu Jun 05, 2008 12:36 pm

I have a K&M stereo bar, not the particular one that was shown though. I have had it for 3 years. Just a straight bar with two things to screw shockmounts into. Pretty straight forward, works well, doesn't slip. I think it was $20-30 bucks. It was reviewed in Tape Op mag a few years ago.

cgarges · Post by **cgarges** » Thu Jun 05, 2008 12:48 pm

trodden wrote:damn... so would this thing really only work well with the MC-012's and their options of clips/shockmounts since thats what seems to be shown with the product??

Same thing applies. When you screw the clips onto the stereo bar, you're limited to how deep the threading on the Oktava clips are. There's nothing else on the male threads to secure the mic clips in place. I mean, I guess you could glue them, or whatever, but that sort of defeats the purpose of a flexible and adjustable stereo bar.

Chris Garges
Charlotte, NC

trodden · Post by **trodden** » Thu Jun 05, 2008 1:20 pm

cgarges wrote:
trodden wrote:damn... so would this thing really only work well with the MC-012's and their options of clips/shockmounts since thats what seems to be shown with the product??
Same thing applies. When you screw the clips onto the stereo bar, you're limited to how deep the threading on the Oktava clips are. There's nothing else on the male threads to secure the mic clips in place. I mean, I guess you could glue them, or whatever, but that sort of defeats the purpose of a flexible and adjustable stereo bar.

Chris Garges
Charlotte, NC

WTF? tooopid. so I'm understandin... the degree or rotation on the posts is totally depended on the actual threaded post and threaded clip... if you screw your clip on "tight" whatever "angle" the clip ends up when tight, that what you get? and if its not a usable angle, the only option to achieve that angle is unscrewing it back to the degree of angle you want... so then the clip isn't even on "tight" anymore?

wow.

cgarges · Post by **cgarges** » Thu Jun 05, 2008 1:25 pm

That's pretty much it. I mean, you could use tape to hold it in place or maybe get lucky enough to work some combination of mic clip tension and "erector set" adjustment on the bar pieces, but that's it.

Chris Garges
Charlotte, NC

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