km184- what *do* you use em on?

[Thebassist]

Please. No bashing. We already know most of us hate them for any number of reasons and applications.

Please talk me into keeping mine- some people love them, and apparently I just haven't figured out where to use them.


Where I hate em- overheads, horns, room mic. Currently have a pair of earthworks and a pair of Peluso R14's to cover those bases...


Rawk!
J

[Audio Hombre]

i really like them on big acoustics like jumbo's or dread's. piano they're fine. a pair on light ensemble, isolated fiddle, cello. hi hat sometimes.ride sometimes. but they do blow the bonafone on over heads.

[rashman]

Why should anyone hate these great sounding cute little things?
I use them on Ac./Nylon gtr every day. I've had great Cymbals cut with them and on strings also they're great. Sizzling shiny-yet very flat and glassy highs. No coplains what so ever...

[bgrotto]

They're OK on hi-hats. The only other use I've found for them is acoustic guitar, but there are about a half dozen other SDCs I go to first. The 184s only come out if either the other mics I like are in use (which is unlikely, cuz there's a LOT of em!), or if for some reason my usual staples aren't working.

Dude...I'm not trying to bash here, but...sell em. Get some Gefell m300s. Or dig up some old 451s. You can definitely do better than the 184s.

[Birdi]

I used one the other day to record a classical guitar: not a solo performance but as a spot musical effect for a play. It worked well for this. Also used them on zithery things, thumb piano, and other random clanky clattery shakey percusion instruments.

I have used the original 84's on acoustic guitar many times. The 184's sound different, not in a bad or lesser way but a bit different, and I have no strong preference for one model over the other.

Bird

[peeder]

Yeah I use them on hihats and nylon strings. Sometimes as a spot on violins. They don't suck.

[skybluerental]

i had a pair of 184's.
liked them ok on ac gtr and OH's.
then i heard them next to some old akg 451 EB's w/ ck1 capsules.
sold them and bought the 451's.
love the 451's.

i dont miss the 184's but they dont suck.

[aotwmusic]

I must be one of those rare people that loves the KM-184s. I use mine on acoustic guitars all the time and lately have gotten into using them on acoustic bass and it even won a vocal shoot out recently over my Korby KAT 5 system, RCA 77dx, and Peluso microphone. Ever voice is different - and I don't expect that to be the case often - but it really is one of the more useful tools in my arsenal!

[Keire]

Absolutely love them as OHs...but you need the right pre to match them with.

I am lucky enough to have a bob lanois gp2 demo unit at my studio. That paired with the 184s has become my absolute favorite oh combo

GP2 Inc. 4 channel Microphone Preamp

[Thebassist]

My only pre is the True Precision 8, which I love more than life... soon to have 16 channels. My personal preference is having a bunch of the same pre, so that esp for location work, I'm only worrying about one variable at a time. If I sell the 184's, my only SDC's will be Earthworks TC20's. Most likely will take the bread from the 184's and buy a TLM49.

Mostly jazz and classical work.

What do you guys think? Can a man live with one pair of pencils? My other pairs are:
Kiwi, Km32, Peluso R14, Akg 414, MXL silicone valve, 421, beta 52, lotsa 57's.


J

[Max The Dog]

I love my km184s for overhead and acoustic guitar. I've had 451s and 452s and IMO these are better. They are part of the permanent collection.

[Beyersound]

In stereo on the hammer section of pianos, OH, HH, Acoustic Guitars, etc.....

[Birdi]

Originally Posted by Thebassist

What do you guys think? Can a man live with one pair of pencils?


J

No !
Are you crazy?!

More mics + some more mics = good !

B

[nickynicknick]

these can sound great on rock toms....great for piano....distant electric gtr....percussion....these are nice little mics for sure.

Nick

[Daedalus77]

We use them on lots of things. They are absolutely usable, if not fantastic. The are prone to being brittle on the wrong source, in my experience, and they don't take EQ particularly well. But they have sufficient detail and transparency to serve certain purposes.

I don't particularly like them on OH, but I find them decent on acoustic instruments: Nylon string guitars on occasion, as has been mentioned; mono steel-string acoustic that's part of dense mix (I don't favor them for solo acoustic or arrangements where a stereo acoustic set-up is desired); neck placement on an upright bass (does a good job of getting fingerboard "attack" and articulation, if that makes sense); occasionally on guitar amps (quiet ones...jazz); occasionally on percussion.

Really dislike them on mandolin. Found them strident on strings.

I do much prefer the Gefell alternative, and, increasingly, there are myriad other, similarly-priced, better mics—the new Mercenary SDC, for example.

Still, you could do worse than having a couple of these around.

Best of luck.

[nicksu]

I use them for acoustic guitars sometimes and hihat. But I use 451's for overheads. Other than that, they stay in the case most of the time. If I had to choose, I would get a pair of 451's over 184's.

[sethmeister]

I like KM184's on acoustic guitar, particularly dreadnaughts. Once in a while I like them for a bright aggressive drum overhead, though not usually. It's a very nice mic, but not a go-to mic, particularly since there are so many good (and less expensive) SDC's around these days.

[skybluerental]

Originally Posted by Max The Dog

I love my km184s for overhead and acoustic guitar. I've had 451s and 452s and IMO these are better. They are part of the permanent collection.

which 451's did you have?

the old ones are WAY different than the new ones.
much better in my opinion.

184's are a little brighter, but not in a pleasant way to my ears...........

[Drlove]

I love my KM184s for: Room mics, OH, HH, Acoustic Guitar, Trumpet, Piano, Percussion, pretty much anything I put them on sound great. I'm putting them through 3124+ for the glory.

[Thebassist]

Funny...
I always preach that YMMV. You'll see listed above a play by play of exactly what I hate my 184's on...

Maybe I need to give them another chance. Or at least keep em around so I can say yes when people ask me if I have Neumann mics.

[BradD]

Mine have been my and only set of SDCs for the last few years. I will probably be adding something like the new Mercenary Audio KM69s in the near future. I find the KM184s to be a bit strident on strummed acoustic and overheads. There are two places though that I like them enough to keep them around. They are very nice on finger style acoustic guitar and I love them on the top of my Leslie.

[rashman]

Originally Posted by peeder

They don't suck.

LOL : Good to know after all !
I havent heared milions of mics but i had a pair of "AT Pro37s" when i decided to take my class of SDCs to a higher level. I went for 184s strait...
Compared to Pro 37s they sound flatter and shinier on top end. Not to say that 37s also sound very decent for the price and even in some ways smoother than 184s. I agree 184s can sound harsh at times.