Earthworks mics for live 2 track capture

[jwh1192]

hey cats,

this is in regards to my other posts on the At shotgun mics ...

have any of you ever used any Earthworks mics in a stereo config ...

i would like to fly these over a stage in small coffee houses and clubs that do not have PA systems ... a variety of acts ...

what kind of reach do they have .... do they need a lot of gain ... i will be using an ATI 8MX2 for the pres ...

and like i said in the other threads i will be using Crown PCC's on the floor for more coverage ...

and audience mics opf course ...

any thoughts will help

thank you

john

[Jules]

You best name the exact model... as there are a few..

[jwh1192]

jules and others,

i have not been able to find much in the way of reviews but ... SR30 directional mics to start ...

seems the review on the SR77 says it has a low end issue after 3 feet away ...

i will be putting these at least 6 feet away and above the performers ...

that is why i was intially looking at shotgun mics for this purpose ... 416's / MKH60's ... for example .... the need for reach ...

thank you

john

[AdamJay]

my TC30k's dont need hardly any gain at all.
in fact the preamps on my Metric Halo 2882+DSP's are quite adequate for them.

i used to own an 8MX2 and the pre's were great with the TC30k's. but really any clear and quality preamp will pair well with Earthworks condensors.

good luck!

[jwh1192]

adamjay ...

how about the reach ... could you be 6 to 10 feet from them and still have a solid sound from them ... good lowend or the ability to EQ a bit of lowend in post ...

thank you

john

[AdamJay]

Originally Posted by jwh1192

adamjay ...

how about the reach ... could you be 6 to 10 feet from them and still have a solid sound from them ... good lowend or the ability to EQ a bit of lowend in post ...

thank you

john

well the TC30k's are omni's so they pretty much pick it all up.
6 to 10 feet, yea - no sweat. and the output is so hot that if you have to turn the gain up on your pre's you'll still be using less gain with EW's than most other mics....
and there's no proximity. the closer (or farther) you get, the frequency response stays intact for the most part.

[Jim vanBergen]

While by NO means a shotgun mic, SR77s (now SR30s) are great sounding mics. I have several matched pairs of these and whether they are on drum OHs, strings, acoustic guitar, room mics or as footmics- you name it.

I have used SR77s VERY successfully on opera recordings as footmics to pick up singers from 6-25' away. They are a great room mic --if you want a cardioid pattern, if not go QTC-30s-- and I consider them a great tool, similar but different to Schoeps, DPA 4011s, Sennheiser and Neumann KM series.

QTCs and SR series Earthworks mics are workhorses of high quality. NO regrets!!

Jim

[FilmDingo]

No one here ever seems to mention hypercardiods. I do a lot of Film work and indoors we always use a hypercardiod. I often use them outdoors to up to about 10 feet if it's a quiet location. I would strongly prefer to not use a shotgun indoors.

The diffusion tube of a shotgun has real problems with refelctions from walls and ceilings.

Schoepps, AKG and Oktava and Neumann all make great hypercardiods.

You get a bit of a bass boost on most and a nice tight pattern that is still usefull in spaced and co-incident pairs. You also get better off axis rejection and a little tail that has a nice blumlien effect in a room with a live ceiling.

I have done a lot of location ambience with an AKG 747 that is essentially hypercardiod in the mids and fairly loose in the lows. I get nothing but praise from those recordings.

My two pesos.

[jwh1192]

i used 8 of the AKG 747's as audience reaction mics for "Live from the Groundlings" show in '97 ... not that impressed with them for that application ... very small indoor theatre in Hollywood ...

thank you for the suggestion though ... maybe i will take a couple with me for the pilot and give them another go ...

john

[PlugHead]

FWIW,

Tho I've found my TC30k's noisy at times, it seems to bug me only with extremely critical stuff - low level instruments/voices etc., but as stereo capture for loud(er) stuff, they rock!

I just did a live/stereo recording of a chamber piece in someone's living room with TC30k's into Ramsa converters/002R and the results just floored me. They sounded just like the performance in the room (with a bit MORE room, but..)

I'd suggest giving them a try - they do have reach, but the further away from the stage, the more room creeps in - could be good or bad - worth a try...

Best,

[tINY]

The self noise on the Earthworks directional mics tends to be equivalent to about 21dBA at the capsules. WHile this may be an issue in some cases, I haven't noticed it as a problem anywhere there is an audience.

As far as the low end: The design of the directional mics has a low-shelving type respose. You can compensate for it with about 4dB of low shelfing boost at about 100Hz (which will slightly raise the self noise that you record at low frequencies). But, in a smallish club, you will have room modes and boundary effects at low frequencies enough that you'll probably want to use another signal to cover the low end or play with a parametric EQ untill it sounds right.

Between the good transient response and well-tailored off-axis response, these mics are the closest to "being there" that I have heard. That may not be what you are after (sometimes in-accurate memory is better). But, it's worth a try.

Consider a coincident mounting for these too.....





-tINY

[jwh1192]

thanks again .. real good food for thought ...

anyone know of a rental house in san francisco ... to rent the earthworks before i buy

thanks

john