SDC pair up to 350€ for Male Byzantine Choir

[omegaomega]

Hello everyone!

I am going to record a series of chants of a male Byzantine Choir soon. For people not familiar with the sound of the Byzantine choir here is video of a small one chanting YouTube - Orthodox Christmas Canon, 9th Ode. My choir is going to be a 4-5 member one with one main singer with a quite low and deep voice, quite like the video one actually.

Now I was planning to use my AKG 414 B-ULS-TLII for the main singer and the small supporting choir around him, in omni mode, but I think I will need to use also a pair of small condenser mics to grab some of the lovely ambience the church has and perhaps I will also need one more pair of sdc for the priest inside the separated altar and in front of the place he reads the Holy Gospel.

My budget is very limited at the moment, I was thinking to buy a pair of BeyerDynamic MC930 but just found out they had a price increase and I might need two pairs as I mentioned.
My preams are a DMP3, a Joemeek VC3 and a Mackie 1402-VLZPro, but I might be able to get an Onyx 1602 and use it's preamps or even a BG1 for the main singer at least and use my DMP3 for the SDC pair. I will be recording on a Powerbook 1.67 running Logic 8 with a RME Fireface 400.

What are your suggestions for a couple of SDC pairs, each pair up to 350€?
I didn't really want to buy the Rode NT5 pair as I think sounds a little thin for use on a recording so deep and bass heavy, and I think Oktava's MC12 would be rather dark on such a choir. Someone recommended some flavour of SE sdc pair. I would like the mics to be as quiet as possible, with as little coloration as possible.

Any suggestions would be highly appreciated. If anyone has any samples (or a link to) of choir recordings using any recommended mic pair, it would be great too!

Thank you all!

[XLR2XLR]

I have SE1A's, not quite flat response and self noise is not excellent.

I have yet to use NT5 but they popped into my mind, I know someone who uses as OH's
and they do fine.

Does it need to be SDC?

NT1A matched pair probably about the right price?
(though I have one of the 2 in for repair under warranty right now, probably a one
off though)

Bit thin on the ground SDC's that are very good at that price point, I would go with
the NT5's myself.

I have difficulty recommending the SE1A's, a tad noisy and I have had one of those
break twice !

Onyx or BG1 seems to be the order of the day.

[mljung]

Cheaper pressure omni's:

AT4022 or Røde NT55 omni capsule - haven't tried either but haven't heard good things about both! There's also a new omni from Beyer, the mc910.

Very Lo Cost SDC cardioid could be Line Audio CM3 from Sweden, I think it's the best you can get for that amount of money..!

[rumleymusic]

Both the NT55 and the NT5 use the same capsules, so if you can do without all the bells and whistles of the NT55, that can save you some dough. They are very good mics (for the money), though they do a particularly good job on winds and voices.

The Beyer would probably be better, but as of now, the 910 is not released yet. One European site lists mid April, but you never know. Not to mention they are twice the price of the Rode NT5's

[Soundhunter]

Try the superb Sontronics STC-1S stereo pair, they come as standard with cardiod caps, but both omni and hyper caps are available and should be well within budget.

[mljung]

Originally Posted by rumleymusic

Both the NT55 and the NT5 use the same capsules, so if you can do without all the bells and whistles of the NT55, that can save you some dough.

The reason I mentioned the NT55 is that they're delivered with omni capsules in a stereo-set.
NT5 is cardioid only, you have to buy omni capsules seperate.

[omegaomega]

Originally Posted by mljung

Very Lo Cost SDC cardioid could be Line Audio CM3 from Sweden, I think it's the best you can get for that amount of money..!

Thank you all for your suggestions. I was completely unaware of the Swedish company Line Audio and it's products. I did a search here on Gearslutz about CM3 after mljung's suggestion and heard a few samples of this mic compared to the MKH8040. I have to confess I am overly impressed by the results that can be achieved with this mic. My number one choice, if at this moment there was no limited budget, would be the MKH8040. I love the sound of this mic and how naturally and without any strain delivers it's sound. The CM3 sounds quite similar to it, it seems, has lesser resolution, but given it's 1/10th of the MKH's price, I think I really should get at least one pair of the CM3. I am only a bit afraid how it would sound in distant recording, since all the samples I heard were miced quite close.

But still I think the CM3 probably sounds much better than the NT5 and probably more natural than the Sontronics STC-1 of which I found some samples of, but I am not sure they would be suitable for the choir I am going to record. It's sound seemed to me more modern and contemporary, as opposed to natural and uncolored as I would say the CM3 sounded on the samples here on Gearslutz.

I am not familiar with the mom swedish tax; do you actually pay VAT and on top of that mom tax? Do you know how much is the final price including all taxes for the CM3 on Line Audio's web site?

Also it seems that the Avant Ck-1 get possitive reviews here. Do you think they would be suitable for my application on the Byzantine Choir? And does anyone know where I can get these mics in Europe?

Lastly, as I mentioned I was considering the DAV BG1. I found out though about Line Audio 8MP for about the same price as the BG1. Do you think the quality is comparable with the DAV, or the BG1 would sound so much better for the male choir recordings?

Thank you all!

[Matti]

Moms is Vat in swedish

Matti

[Nobilmente]

Originally Posted by omegaomega

Lastly, as I mentioned I was considering the DAV BG1. I found out though about Line Audio 8MP for about the same price as the BG1. Do you think the quality is comparable with the DAV, or the BG1 would sound so much better for the male choir recordings?

Thank you all!

Hi

I made a recording of a male voice choir relatively recently using the DAV BG1 and a pair of TLM 170's. The DAV is a beautiful mic pre. It really does give the microphones a chance and simply amplifies without impoverishing anything. Just first rate, amplification. In a word, class.

[Audiop]

Hi!

I recorded a big choir with ensemble the other day with CM3/8MP at 5-10 meter and I must say I'm really surprised about the result..= good! The acoustics was not top notch (medium size church) but there's really no big difference between the results of these mic's compared to MKH8040/20 and QTC1.

I don't even hear any noise at typical volume settings.

I'm just getting more and more impressed by these mic's and I will pic up a 2nd pair any day.

I doubt you would get better results with the DAV pre.


/Peter

[omegaomega]

Originally Posted by Audiop

Hi!

I recorded a big choir with ensemble the other day with CM3/8MP at 5-10 meter and I must say I'm really surprised about the result..= good! The acoustics was not top notch (medium size church) but there's really no big difference between the results of these mic's compared to MKH8040/20 and QTC1.

I don't even hear any noise at typical volume settings.

I'm just getting more and more impressed by these mic's and I will pic up a 2nd pair any day.

I doubt you would get better results with the DAV pre.


/Peter

Ideally I would like to use a DAV preamp. I heard a few samples and they sound great. But I think still the 8MP would be good enough, I like the idea I can get 8 nice channels for the price of the BG1 alone!
Peter would you be able to upload a short sample of the recording you made with the CM3/8MP combo here? It would be great if it was from the choir's part and if it is possible a wav.

What do you think of the Sontronics STC-1s mentioned above? Has anyone tried them on choir? As I wrote earlier I will need to get a pair of mics for the priest inside the Altar and in front of the place he reads the Holy Gospel (so it is not the primary importance pair, as with the main group singing) and I was thinking for an interesting pair, good enough for that, sensitive and quiet enough for these recordings, but also of a different color so I could use them for other kind of recordings when I will finish with the choir (e.g. guitar/percussion etc.)

It seems the Avant CK-1 are not anywhere to be found in Europe, I searched on all the usual places, so I might as well go with the Sontronics I guess... Are the CK-1 so much better you reckon? (I am going to get at least a pair of the CM3...)

Thank you all again for your input