Stereo Microphones

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mrc
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Post by mrc » Mon May 11, 2015 10:53 am

The Studio Projects B1&B3 have very low noise floors. Add your choice of after market k47 capsules and you have a nice pair, though not perfectly matched. Ears can do quite a bit for that.

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roygbiv
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Post by roygbiv » Wed May 20, 2015 1:58 pm

Gregg Juke wrote:We have a Rode that we are happy with (use when a stereo pair for some reason isn't employed). Also have some cheapies that work fine for live stereo recordings or ambience/SFX capture. You are obviously talking about an entirely different class; I only have one thing to add to the discussion-- try hard to "try before you buy," or at least do an in-store shoot-out of some kind if possible; borrow one from a friend or rent first. IMHO, the quality and durability of AT microphones varies wildly. They have some excellent stuff, and have also produced some non-excellent crap. So at least in the case of Audio-Technica, I don't think you can simply rely on name brand because you've had a few that worked (cue hate-posts, death threats, and a response from an AT marketing representative...).

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Hi Greg

Quick question - any of these cheapies you would recommend?

Context: I have the stereo Rode NT4, and have been very fond of it for various uses (especially great on acoustic guitar, read somewhere that Bruce Swedien uses them in that context).

Anyway, recently while helping do sound and music for my daughter's school play, I somewhat accidentally discovered that the NT4 is an excellent mic to handle children theater/musicals.

For one performance, we were in a hurry setting up, so I just put a single Rode NT4 in front of the stage, in the middle, pointed at the kids, thinking that the stereo pattern would cover quite a bit of area.

Even though the crappy PA did not have phantom power, since the NT4 can run of of a 9V battery, it worked fine. That's not true, it did better than fine, in fact it did amazingly well for picking up the dialog, almost as well as all the other mics we had been hooking up combined. And I literally spent 3-4 min setting the whole thing up.

The teacher/director in charge (not a techie type person at all) was so impressed, that she wants to get one of those "amazing mics" I used for future plays.

The only problem of course, is the price new is ~$500.

So, now for the question: while I personally think Rode is worth it, very well built mics, etc., she is working on a teachers budget, so I totally get that something cheaper might be beneficial for her.

Thus, I'm wondering if you have any recommendations for a similar, lower budget stereo mic - obviously robustosity is of more value than absolute background noise, etc., 'cause this is for childrens theater after all.

thanks,

Roy
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Flight Feathers
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Post by Flight Feathers » Tue May 26, 2015 2:19 pm

I have the Avantone CK-40, I love it, use it every session as the room mic, and also as the main piano mic. No noise.
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SpencerMartin
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Post by SpencerMartin » Thu May 28, 2015 11:53 am

Flight Feathers wrote:I have the Avantone CK-40, I love it, use it every session as the room mic, and also as the main piano mic. No noise.
Man, I'm really considering one of those... So far it's the best Blumlein/MS/XY capable mic I can seem to find for 1k or less. A pair of 414s would be nice, but they cost 3.5x more. A big part of it is the convenience of having permanently aligned capsules that you don't have to think about.

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Post by kayagum » Thu May 28, 2015 12:11 pm

NT4 or NT5 with the Joly capsules?

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SpencerMartin
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Post by SpencerMartin » Fri Dec 11, 2015 10:25 am

Just an update - I ended up getting a Studio Projects LSD-2. New, out of the box, it had a faulty connection in one of the capsules so that the signal cut in and out depending on how it was positioned. Their customer service was really cool though and they repaired it for free. Also, on the upper rotatable capsule there's a little black dot that according to the literature I read marks the forward facing side of the capsule when set to cardioid. After some highly complex/scientific finger-rubbing tests, I determined that the opposite is true - the black dot marks the back of the capsule on mine.

After all of that had been sorted out, it does indeed turn out to be a great sounding mic. Having the options of different stereo patterns that are all perfectly phase-coherent and easily/immediately setup-able with one mic/stand (and no fuss) is nice. My only complaint is that the clip mechanism it rests in could be better. The adjustable elbow part isn't strong enough to hold the weight of the mic so that particular feature in the design has so far proven to be useless.

All in all though, it's been working well in each context I've used it on so far - drum overheads, drum room mic, acoustic guitar, congas, and two simultaneous saxophones. At about $500-$600 I think it'd be difficult to find a better option for $1,000 or less.

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Re: Stereo Microphones

Post by cgarges » Sun Jan 03, 2016 9:58 am

SpencerMartin wrote:AT4050ST: I like AT mics, and I'm sure the noise floor is ideal... But no Blumlein capability. Otherwise, this would be a no-brainer.
I'm gonna bump this comment only in the hopes that someone at AT will hear this constant complain about these mics. I would have bought one the day it came out.

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SpencerMartin
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Re: Stereo Microphones

Post by SpencerMartin » Tue Jan 05, 2016 9:19 pm

cgarges wrote:I would have bought one the day it came out.
Same here... They were so close to making a perfect mic!

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Post by blungo2 » Wed Jan 06, 2016 6:51 am

I probably shouldn't even mention it, as i don't think he makes them any more, but the Line Audio 12 capsule 4 channel mic is very cool. It can does Blumlein very nicely.

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Post by vvv » Wed Jan 06, 2016 10:59 am

Damn, that sounds like it was cool. I found some info, here; it is discontinued.

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blungo2
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Post by blungo2 » Wed Jan 06, 2016 11:10 am

vvv wrote:Damn, that sounds like it was cool. I found some info, here; it is discontinued.

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