M160? One or two?

Recording Techniques, People Skills, Gear, Recording Spaces, Computers, and DIY

Moderators: drumsound, tomb

Post Reply
Chuck Cheesman
audio school graduate
Posts: 23
Joined: Thu Dec 15, 2011 7:45 am
Location: Portland OR
Contact:

M160? One or two?

Post by Chuck Cheesman » Tue Dec 20, 2011 6:02 pm

Hello,

New to forum. I've been a lurker and Tape Op reader for some time... Cheers & Happy Holidays!

I'm buying a Beyer M160 and was wondering if maybe I should buy two. I don't own a pair of anything. It's an affordable mic, though for me it still represents a significant investment.

My situation: I'm a singer/songwriter mostly, but intend to do some solo guitar and/or uke on occasion. I record at home, but I have two guys I work with on my full band projects who are much better engineers than me. The M160 purchase is primarily for guitar cabinet mic'ing, though I'm aware and hopeful it will be useful for other things.

My main gear is a KM184, a 414B-ULS, and two channels of Hardy M-1. I'm likely adding an SM7 (vocals) and possibly a single channel of Great River to my home set-up. It goes through a MOTU 896mkiii into my MAC & DP7. That's the main gear. We will be renting a drum kit and recording it here in my home. The M160 is attractive to me for a number of reasons, not the least of which is the hypercardiod pattern. My space is treated, but like most home studios it is far from ideal.

I have no pair for recording stereo X/Y or for drum overheads. I'm only likely to record drums here once or twice a year, but might begin recording solo guitar frequently. I suppose I could add another AKG414 or another KM184, though right now I can get the Beyer M160 for a better price than either of those. So I'm giving it some consideration.

Any thoughts would be much appreciated! Thanks in advance.

User avatar
Jitters
suffering 'studio suck'
Posts: 490
Joined: Thu Jul 09, 2009 12:21 am

Post by Jitters » Tue Dec 20, 2011 9:28 pm

Personally speaking, I would love to have a second m160 so that I could do stereo overheads, or under heads or GJ set up, etc. In other words, purely for drums. For me, if I'm going to use an m160 for anything else and want a second mic on that source, I'm usually looking for a contrast, such as the detail of a condenser. As far as a matched pair goes I would personally lean more towards multi pattern condensers for maximum flexibility. Don't forget to try the m160 on your voice! Hope this helps.

Chuck Cheesman
audio school graduate
Posts: 23
Joined: Thu Dec 15, 2011 7:45 am
Location: Portland OR
Contact:

Post by Chuck Cheesman » Wed Dec 21, 2011 4:02 pm

Thanks. That does help. I appreciate the feedback.

The Scum
moves faders with mind
Posts: 2745
Joined: Thu Jul 03, 2003 11:26 pm
Location: Denver, CO
Contact:

Post by The Scum » Wed Dec 21, 2011 4:25 pm

The M160 is a fine mic.

If you're considering a pair, you might also consider an M160 and an M130, for mid/side stereo. M/S can work on drums, and I think it does a nice job on solo acoustic guitar.

The 130 also works well as a vocal mic if you sing and play guitar together, because you can point the null of the mic at the guitar for extra rejection.
"What fer?"
"Cat fur, to make kitten britches."

cgarges
zen recordist
Posts: 10890
Joined: Mon Jun 16, 2003 1:26 am
Location: Charlotte, NC
Contact:

Post by cgarges » Wed Dec 21, 2011 5:11 pm

I have two M160s, but these days, I rarely use them as a pair. Occasionally, they might get used as spaced room mics on a drum kit and when the music, drummer, and cymbals are right, they're cool for overheads, but I have other stuff I usually like a bit better. That's just me, though.

Chris Garges
Charlotte, NC

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Google [Bot] and 29 guests