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Mouthpieces Which Mic should i choose?

Fraser Jarvis said:
OK, have been "trying" to use the new Beta 57A on several occasions now, complete waste of time, cant turn the monitor up enough to hear it without massive feedback, tried loads of different settings on the monitor and on the desk but nothing, i am for now borrowing one of the singers spare sm58's, works absolutely how you would expect, loads more volume than i really need and no feedback whatsoever, so what gives with the Beta 57a? could it simply be a duff mic?
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this is odd, the Beta 57a is supposed to have more output, so should be louder than the SM58, sounds like a duff mic.
Contact your supplier and tell them what the problem is and ask to exchange it for an SM58, if they refuse to help, you're entitled to your money back under the sale of goods act - it's obviously not fit for purpose

hope you get it sorted out
 
Fraser Jarvis said:
OK, have been "trying" to use the new Beta 57A on several occasions now, complete waste of time, cant turn the monitor up enough to hear it without massive feedback, tried loads of different settings on the monitor and on the desk but nothing, i am for now borrowing one of the singers spare sm58's, works absolutely how you would expect, loads more volume than i really need and no feedback whatsoever, so what gives with the Beta 57a? could it simply be a duff mic?
Click to expand...

Is your monitor speaker directly behind the mic?

A supercardioid mic has a rear pickup lob, something a cardiod mic generally doesn't have i.e. your SM58.

If the monitor is directly behind the mic, can you move it over to one side (120º), there is a diagram in the manual.

I hope this helps,

Chris
 
OK, sent the Beta 57a back to GAK for testing, they found nothing wrong with it, but as i explained to them it would be no good to me if thats how they are, they agreed to swap it for a SM58 and refund me the difference! so full marks to them for that and i finally have a mic i can use! roll on the summer festivals!!!
 
My husband has been looking for a robust mic to take to gigs as he is actually fed up with the thin sounding SM57s most venues provide. I don't like the 57/58s, I think they sound really nasty on the sax. Here are some clips for comparison:
ShureSM57: DeadAudiolink Removed I think it sounds like a bee!
This is another dynamic mic with a bit more body and less nasty top end: RE20 DeadAudiolink Removed. This is the one he came up with for live gigs although it is still not quite a true representation of his actual sound, so he is still searching for a better option. Just for comparison, here is a ribbon mic which represents his sound most accurately: RCA77dx DeadAudiolink Removed However, he would be too scared to take it to a live gig.

 
Juju said:
My husband has been looking for a robust mic to take to gigs as he is actually fed up with the thin sounding SM57s most venues provide. I don't like the 57/58s, I think they sound really nasty on the sax. Here are some clips for comparison:
ShureSM57: DeadAudiolink Removed I think it sounds like a bee!
This is another dynamic mic with a bit more body and less nasty top end: RE20 DeadAudiolink Removed. This is the one he came up with for live gigs although it is still not quite a true representation of his actual sound, so he is still searching for a better option. Just for comparison, here is a ribbon mic which represents his sound most accurately: RCA77dx DeadAudiolink Removed However, he would be too scared to take it to a live gig.

Click to expand...

I guess nothing compares with the RE20 for live.
I was sitting next to Dave a couple of weeks ago an he was using a RE20. I found that mic quite good for Dave's sound. Maybe the sound engineer was particularly good.
 
Juju said:
RE20 DeadAudiolink Removed. This is the one he came up with for live gigs although it is still not quite a true representation of his actual sound, so he is still searching for a better option. Just for comparison, here is a ribbon mic which represents his sound most accurately: RCA77dx DeadAudiolink Removed However, he would be too scared to take it to a live gig.

Click to expand...

Actually....
Now that I listened to the two samples, it might be worth trying a Sennheiser MD441. It doesn't have the body of the RE20, but it probably is more accurate on the mid range.

What about messing around with a tube pre-amp?
 
aldevis said:
Actually....
Now that I listened to the two samples, it might be worth trying a Sennheiser MD441. It doesn't have the body of the RE20, but it probably is more accurate on the mid range.

What about messing around with a tube pre-amp?
Click to expand...
Dave prefers the RE20 to the MD441, but he'd definitely choose any of the two over a 57 or 58. I suppose a tube pre amp would make things even more complicated. We are now looking into cheap ribbon mics, like a Golden Age active ribbon..
 
If there is enough space and the stage is comfortable the best mics for me are the Sennheiser 421 (or the old 441 even better) or the Electrovoie RE 20 (absolutely my favourite).
If the stage is not big and there are lots of musician I prefer to use a clip on mic, it's easier to use .because a mic stand could fall off!
I've used a sennheiser E908B with good results in "busy" stages situations, like this one :http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXxsvFwUA7c the sound engineer added too muck reverb in my opinion anyway tell me if you like the sound.
It's green earrings by steely dan, there's also a sax solo after the guitar and keyboard ones.
Bye, Fabrizio
 
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Hi Juju
Nice hear from you.... again.. I personally am coming from a home recording perspective... and am using RODE NT1-A...!! Now I just saw you winch.:rolleyes::rolleyes:. but it does the job .. IF you position it right... Now I am doing a favour for a friend of mine and at the moment I am recording their folk band... this alone is an exercise of all our ability .. me using Pro tools and getting mic's on banjo's and mandolins etc. and for them to just to play as one ... (I cannot at this stage get them to play with a click track).. Anyway we are getting reasonable results using the Rode for vocals and a Samsung condenser on the madolin etc... So for all of us at home ..trying to get a good result on our recordings ... what other mic's do you recon will work... without the expensive of a great ribbon mike...
love your sounds... and your input ;}

Thanks
Adrian
 
Juju said:
Dave prefers the RE20 to the MD441, but he'd definitely choose any of the two over a 57 or 58. I suppose a tube pre amp would make things even more complicated. We are now looking into cheap ribbon mics, like a Golden Age active ribbon..
Click to expand...

I have never seen a ribbon mic used on stage.
Anyone has any experience?
Using a (tube) pre amp could be easier than expected (in theory you just have to set the gain) and could warm up the sound quite a lot.
 
fabriziodalisera said:
If there is enough space and the stage is comfortable the best mics for me are the Sennheiser 421 (or the old 441 even better) or the Electrovoie RE 20 (absolutely my favourite).
I've used a sennheiser E908B with good results in "busy" stages situations
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Totally agree, similar experience, but with the E908 I had a preamp/multieffect combination that allowed me to give the sound engineer a simple L/R signal, in order to minimize his possible damage.
 
@ Adrian: I think the Rode NT1 is a good choice. This http://www.recording-microphones.co.uk/ is a very helpful site. Dave and I are really into ribbon mics and use them on all horns in the recording studio. I always feel I want to EQ the top end from the condenser mics as they feel artificially bright to me, but that's very much personal taste and of course it also depends on the kind of music you want to record. I don't have any personal experience with the SE X1.
@ Aldevis: Here is one example - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6K1KW92liE&feature=related one is a Coles and one is an RCA77
They occasionally use ribbon mics (Coles) at Ronnies - beautiful sound! We've got some very nice ones at our studio but they are so delicate - just imagine someone blowing into it or tapping the mic - and the ribbon might be gone! That's why Dave has decided to get a cheap one for gigs and see how it goes..
 
Most ribbons are pretty fragile and would be vulnerable to being broken with normal stage handling


Pete did a comparison of 4 mics on his site and everyone was astonished at how well the little radio shack tie pin mic performed. More votes than the Shure 57
 
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Jazzaferri said:
Forgot to add. Heard that the new Royer ribbon mic is pretty durable. Expensive though
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It's a fantastic mic! We've got a Royer 121 in our little collection (very good at handling high SPLs), but again as it's quite expensive I'd be reluctant to use it on a gig..
@Chris: We thought about the MXL and then heard very good reviews about the Golden Age
 

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