Dual Rec owners whats your favorite Mic for recording and PA

[khingpynn]

I've got Sure SM57, CAD D189, Audix i5, EV N/D967 and I'm experimenting with all of them however I'm looking for the best all round mic.
So Far I've found using two Audix i5's both mouted with the Audix Cab Grabber for each side of the Road King Cab to be the best of the bunch but...

I would really like to hear what everyone else is using.

Cheers
Craig

 

[Nitrobattery]

I've tried a bunch of stuff, and the old tried and true single SM57 seems to work best for me.

 

[YellowJacket]

Nitro, how to you position the SM57 in relation to the centre of the cone? I had it about an inch out from centre and the tone was really bright without much of anything else. It was sounding MUCH heavier in the room! I almost think you need two mics placed in different locations on the cone to get a fuller sound!

 

[Stratocaster]

It's a RK II, but it's a dual rec.

Beta 57a.

Here's one perspective on the 57a vs the sm57...

http://www.musicplayers.com/reviews/recording/2007/1207_Shure.php


EDIT -
...lol, holy hell. What is it with the links I'm posting where they all take an explanation to navigate?
The sound samples from the link above work correctly when using Internet Explorer, but the control bars seem to have gone 'invisible' when I view it in my default Google Chrome browser. Gotta love technology.


Strat

 

[cheameup]

Nitro, how to you position the SM57 in relation to the centre of the cone? I had it about an inch out from centre and the tone was really bright without much of anything else. It was sounding MUCH heavier in the room! I almost think you need two mics placed in different locations on the cone to get a fuller sound!

I agree with the 2 mic thing. recently was doing some recording ourselves and found the best way was to mic centre cone and close to the edge with 2 x 57s sent to 2 seperate tracks then balance it out in the mix

 

[khingpynn]

what do you do to avoid phasing issues with two mics... just place them at different elevations?

 

[cheameup]

what do you do to avoid phasing issues with two mics... just place them at different elevations?

nothing really. maybe we just got lucky . we dont really know what we are doing . just moved em till they sounded good

 

[khingpynn]

Lol cool... obviously it worked.

Do you have any sound clips of this?

Is there a sound clip thread on this board?

Cheers!

 

[fluff191]

I've tried a bunch of stuff, and the old tried and true single SM57 seems to work best for me.

+1

Me too. Centered On-Axis = WIN.

 

[HaggertysMusic]

Although an expensive option, my favorite is a Royer R-121 ribbon usually with the addition of a dynamic mic, like a 57 blended in slightly. Ribbon mics hear things the way our ears do so what you hear is what you get.

Another good option that's very inexpensive is a condenser like the Shure KSM 27 with an added dynamic mic, like an EV Raven or SM 57.

When using multiple mics you'll avoid phase cancellation by making sure the actual mic elements are exactly the same distance from the sound source. This is the best way to do it live. In the studio if you have one mic placed further back, you can usually listen to them and hear them go in and out of phase when they're being placed, or you can look at the waveforms after they're recorded and time align them that way.

 

[volatileNoise]

SM57 carefully placed will get you the sound you hear in the room, I have done this recently with my cheap yamaha interface and double tracked it sounds massive. Needs a bit of volume (loud bedroom level, not band levels) but I found using decent headphones and hitting a chord then moving the mic while it sustains with your heavy tone cranked, to be very beneficial in getting the mic position right.

 

[khingpynn]

For those of you who have not read this before... "Shavering"

http://www.premierguitar.com/Magazine/Issue/2010/Dec/Eliminate_Mic_Placement_Guesswork_with_the_Shavering_Technique.aspx

 

[big_red]

That's a really cool article! I'll try that out tomorrow night. Would anyone want an audio/video demonstration of it? I'm sure I could rig something up.

 

[YellowJacket]

Yes, I'd be curious to try this as well.

My amp always ALWAYS sounds way phatter, more open, more punchy, heavier, and more insane in the room. I was beating the snot out of my Les Paul while recording and my settings were really REALLY aggressive. The outcome was this rather underwhelming punk - ish tone. It sounded like I was 'playing normally' which sucks.

 

[big_red]

I still only have my Hot Rod Deluxe but I feel like it would work the same for all intents and purposes. I'll use the webcam and record the video and put the audio to it in Garageband. Then to youtube and a link here. Sounds like a plan!

Preproduction info:
Audix i5
Hot Rod Deluxe
Ibanez AS 93

(heh heh, organized.)

 

[HaggertysMusic]

Yes, I'd be curious to try this as well.

My amp always ALWAYS sounds way phatter, more open, more punchy, heavier, and more insane in the room. I was beating the snot out of my Les Paul while recording and my settings were really REALLY aggressive. The outcome was this rather underwhelming punk - ish tone. It sounded like I was 'playing normally' which sucks.

SM57's pointed directly at the center of the speaker will tend to be brittle and harsh no matter what you do. The further to the outside of the speaker you get, the more you start to lose that harsh top end. Placing the SM57 45 degrees off axis will thicken up the sound a lot too. If I am using just an SM57, I'll place it just to the outside of where the dust cap meets the cone and angle it 45 degrees.

I've never been happy with just a 57. If you go on eBay and spend $150 on a KSM27 I think most of your problems will be solved, plus you'll have a good large diaphragm condenser that you can use on all sorts of sound sources. Place both mics just to the outside of the dust cap, line up the elements so they are phase aligned, and blend them to taste in your DAW.

 

[khingpynn]

cool look forward to it.

 

[big_red]

Well that didn't work out like I had hoped. Tried to make a video earlier, couldn't figure out why the recording sounded so tinny no matter where I placed the mic. Turns out I had the tube preamp simulator set WAY bright on my DI box. Will give it another go tomorrow for sure! Yarg. Fail.

 

[Third Age Amps]

I always use at least two amps at once (Unless just doing a sample of an amps tone) and use a SM57 and a CAD RSM4 ribbon for one amp and Senn. E906 and CAD Trion 7000 for the other. Mixing ribbons and dynamics give a great smoothness to the distortion when you utilize phasing. It take a long time to get them right, but it's worth it.