Big Mic stands for Overheads? Suggestions?

[T-rex]

Hey, I need a nice big boom stand for overhead duties. One that could safely hold my R84 or both of my GT MD1a's would be sweet (as I am a big fan of a ORTF type of overhead set up).

Heres the three I am looking at:
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/MC125/
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/SB11WE/
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/StuBoomW/

Does anyone have experience with these? Also, I have a low ceiling, like 8 ft or whatever so I mainly need the heavy duty and stability aspect more than height. the atlas stand looks like it might not go low enough to actually fit in the room.

[Nick Sevilla]

Hey, I need a nice big boom stand for overhead duties. One that could safely hold my R84 or both of my GT MD1a's would be sweet (as I am a big fan of a ORTF type of overhead set up).

Heres the three I am looking at:
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/MC125/
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/SB11WE/
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/StuBoomW/

Does anyone have experience with these? Also, I have a low ceiling, like 8 ft or whatever so I mainly need the heavy duty and stability aspect more than height. the atlas stand looks like it might not go low enough to actually fit in the room.

Hi,

I have this one :

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/StuBoomW/

It is very good. you can use all the boom length, or you can remove half the length, in case it does not fit completely in your room. So the boom arm goes from about 40" to 82" in length. It seriously is better than the Atlas stand. I worked in a studio that had all atlas boom stands, and they were falling apart all the time. And their replacement parts are DISGUSTINGLY priced. Like spark plug wires for a BMW... (if you've ever had a BMW, you know what I'm talking about...)

I trust it even with my beloved U47, and in Stereo applications, I can place it well above the drummer / strings to get a good sound. Just get a Stereo Bar, but one that has as many moving joints as possible, so you can place the mics much easier and better.

Cheers

[Producer/Engineer]

Quite honestly, in a room with a 8' ceiling I would rather just mount a flange on the ceiling and just mount the boom upsidedown or just forget the boom and use a 13" black gooseneck. This is a very solid way to mount, just make very sure you know the sweet spot that the mic will end up in.
You can hang a few eyelets to run the cord thru and that will keep it/them out of the way if your smart about your cable route.
I like this method because there's no boom arm or stand to keep navigating around, not to mention the floor space that's already crowded with the drum kit and it's many stands.

This method assumes that you leave your drum kit set up in the same spot in your studio, always, and that you don't need to move the overhead mic around.

[weatherbox]

I've had one of those big On Stage things for a few years. It works decently enough for most things. I've found the boom to rotate out of position pretty quickly under any stress; I usually tape the crap out of it to buy myself another 20 minutes or so before I have to re-position the stereo XY bar. It sags like crazy with a pair of 4038s on it and terrifies me at longer extensions.

We all wince at the costs, but the Latch Lake stands are great. I've got the smaller one in the line. It's expensive but it is so much sturdier and easier to adjust than the other stands I own that if I had a larger room I'd absolutely get another. With the extension arms you can pretty easily mic half the kit from a single stand.

The idea of a ceiling mount is interesting for a smaller room. Maybe some sort of sliding rail, if you can mount it sturdily enough.

[weatherbox]

as an aside, what mounts are you using for your MD1s?

[T-rex]

I know, I was going to mention the Latch Lake one. I know it would last forever based on the one we used at Studio G, but it is over twice the cost. . .but I have considered it. I hate wasting $200 on something that is not going to work or going to break after two years and THEN drop $450 on a Latch Lake when I could have just bought the latch lake to begin with.

On your other question, I found a guy on ebay selling MD1a/MD1b shock mounts for $15 or something with like $10 bucks shipping. I bought two and he threw in the shipping for free on the second one. I don't know if they are original GT or not (he advertised them as such) but they are pretty solid. The swivel isn't as robust as my AT, but they seem solid so far and easily fixable if one does break. But nothing I have now will hold two across the drum set. My R84 is super light, but I really don't want it to fall.

[T-rex]

Oh also, I have some treatment on my ceiling over the drums so that is a no go. Plus I occasionally record other bands so the set up may vary greatly, also the sliding rail thing is pretty smart. But with a ceiling that low it pretty much has to have treatment. My room actually needs a full cloud over the drums but I have yet to do it.

Hey weatherbox, one last thing. The On Stage is supposed to have a locking boom/40 teeth thing. Does yours have this and still sag? Or does yours not have the locking boom arm teeth?

[weatherbox]

It has the teeth, but the whole thing sags - the boom arm and vertical both bend a bit. With smaller mics it's not an issue, but with heavier ones it's pretty annoying for positioning. The boom arm slipping/rotating when mics are pointed anyways but straight down is the biggest problem for me with it in small rooms where having it dead in front of behind the kit isn't always workable. It's been reliable and serviceable, just not nearly as quick or pleasant to position as the LL, nor as versatile.

The MD1s are pretty light so you could probably get away with it as long as you aren't cranking the boom out and can keep the mics positioned so as to avoid any rotation slip on the arm. I mostly use mine to hoist the Bova Ball as high straight up in the air as possible.

[T-rex]

Oh I see, yeah, my current stands do sag a bit with heavier mics when they are really extended.

[@?,*???&?]

I've got the Atlas units and they work fine.

Consider getting two sandbags in addition to any purchase you make. Those casters can make these go 'walkies' pretty easily.

[ofajen]

You probably already know about AEA's stands, which were the first things they started selling. Here's the link:

http://www.ribbonmics.com/aea/Modular_M ... tands.html

They have light, medium and heavy stands. There are 13 and 24 foot stands and booms of 9, 13, 14 and 29 feet.

If you need something really tall with lots of reach, these stands aren't unreasonably priced.

I use their stand adapters with a short, homemade bar for coincident and near coincident stereo miking. Good stuff.

Cheers,

Otto

[Tims96]

I've used the Ultimate Supports a few times, and like them a lot. Easy to adjust and position, and so far haven't run into any sagging issues. The ones I used were relatively new though, so I can't speak as to how well they hold up.

[johnny7]

This is where welding comes in handy...

[dsw]

I like the Ultimate MC-125 the best.
Skate wheels.
Great adjustable head mini boom thing.
Lots of reach.
Good cost v performance ratio.

[jaguarsg]

the onstage is OK; a bit cumbersome but useable (unlike any of their other stands!).

my coworker has the ultimate and likes it alot.

if you have the coin, go with the atlas.