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OK, I'm in limited semiretirement now, 'cause Bentley has me feeling inadequate about my vocal microphone (which, after some research, turns out to be an '80-'82 model, not '70s -- it's a 414 EB P48). Thing is, it's the only mic I've used through which my voice doesn't make me reach for the knife drawer.
Any studio geeks here have any recommendations? Any experience with the Studio Projects C1 or Rode NT1A?
Gotta put my hand up and say that While i'm bloody good on how they work and how to use them, I REALLY lack knowlege of what is and is not a kick ass mic. I use an AKG D222 (not MUCH relation to the D112 other than, as far as I know the 222 is also un overloadable :D) cos it has the most controllable and forgiving proxymity effect. I tried a few of my mate's mics (he does know his shit), and that was the one that worked best for me singing very softly in a noisey room (excellent back rejection on it so u just point the arse of it at the PC's :D).
Steve-O, I swear I'll never get tired of that crazy sig of yours.
I was fooling with some drum recording over the weekend and dusted off my old Radio Shack PZM for a hi-hat mic. And it's fantastic; it picked up the hats and the snares under the drum and every beautiful harmonic in the room. Mix it in gently with the snare mic and it adds a gorgeous high end. Viva Radio Shack!
wonderful devices....kick ass for bootlegging too if you could get away with it. But as I say...with a global phantom supply...I can't use them, +48V tends to let the magic smoke out of them.
I'll change the sig as soon as....
Gnu Odor wrote: OK, I'm in limited semiretirement now, 'cause Bentley has me feeling inadequate about my vocal microphone (which, after some research, turns out to be an '80-'82 model, not '70s -- it's a 414 EB P48). Thing is, it's the only mic I've used through which my voice doesn't make me reach for the knife drawer.
Any studio geeks here have any recommendations? Any experience with the Studio Projects C1 or Rode NT1A?
Gnu... I was just teasing. ;) I just found it amusing that in the photo you had a really nice mic doubling as a paperweight. My sense of humor just doesn't seem to come accross well in print. If it's the mic you're happiest with on your voice, then don't let it out of your sight... ever.
I've got no experience with an NT1a but own both a SP C1 and a Rode NT2, both of which see very little action lately. The NT2 was my first large condenser and served me well but usually isn't my first choice for anything these days. Even though I used it pretty much for eveything with decent results, I rarely touch it these days. Doesn't work well with nasaly voices(me) but seemed to work well when I had to record a banjo player(ugh). The C1 I'll use when I need a fairly big sound and don't wan't to put something more expensive in harms way(read screaming, spitting vocalists and careless musicians). It's has yeilded decent results for me on both vocals and acoustic guitar. I've used better sounding mics and I've also used much worse. I do remeber thinking it wasn't bad for the money...
see it's cos "paperweight" usually means it's a pile of shite or that it was once good but the magic smoke got out, or someone installed windows ME on it...depends on the context.
Steve Campbell wrote: see it's cos "paperweight" usually means it's a pile of shite or that it was once good but the magic smoke got out, or someone installed windows ME on it...depends on the context.
yeah, but in this case it's cause it was sitting on a pile of papers. :D
I spent New Year's Day rejiggering my little home studio, essentially doing whatever I could to hide everything from sight.
After my last band broke up, my buddy decided to max out some credit cards and finally build an honest-to-god studio to rent out. I gave him some of my equipment (Roland RS-202, etc.) and opted instead to go totally computerized.
He went with two...gasp...ADATs to start, plus a Yamaha digital board (02R?), a Rode NT2... Well, after that it doesn't really matter though, does it, 'cause it's still ADAT-based. The worst of tape and digital in one unit. So he's got this house crammed with gear, and I fret when I see a patch cable exposed.
P.S.
Behold: the ultimate fusion of sound and technology.
LOL, ADAT: all the speed, simplicity and accessability of tape, the easy editability of Azimuth head video, AND all the warmth and forgiving nature of digital :D
Da-88 is a much nicer machine.....used them loads and the NEVER got on my tits, which is more than can be said for ADAT. Surely these days analogue machines are easy to find for good money cos of the digital "upgrade" obsession. I was going to wax lyrical about razoring multitrack....then had the hideous vision of an atari in the college studio following timecode from such a tape.....it really was like something from an oldschool cartoon......it stopped, twicthed left and right a few times, in a manner most suggestive of a certain American wild canine who'd just run off a cliff...then sure enough it played about 80 notes at once and rebooted leaving them hanging.
ADATs... *shudder* 
never used the DA88 but heard from several others that it was a nicer more relable machine.
I'll admit to having a digital board(Yamaha 02r), but it's mainly regulated to mixing keys and the occasional fx return these days. I clock it to a Lavry M-Sync an monitor the outputs through a better DA converter. The M-Sync makes a definite improvement to the sound of the board and also clocks the rest of my digital gear. When I record, I pretty much bypass the board entirely and use a better signal path straight into the pc. The board does help out for headphone submixes and routing now and then.
Gnu, I'd seen the Ratshack verb before but didn't realize it was a real plug-in. 
hmmm... the studio geek thread seems to have only attracted us 3 at the moment.
LOL only 3 of us honest enough. I'm sure maya or (upon her return to work) Jem will look in just to see if we're talkin about them.
I must confess I have never set up anything involving word clock and all that stuff. barely even used a digital console.
Wow, I thought this thread would be crawling with hot women. Or at least one of the lads from "Flight."
I bought a Flying Cow 20-bit A/D converter that serves as my clock. I don't really need it, but hey, it cost me 20 bucks and I feel so semiprofessional when I use it.
Anyone using OS X "Tiger"? You can build an "aggregate device" right in the OS to merge all your audio ins and outs into one unit. Mactacular.
Steve Campbell wrote: LOL only 3 of us honest enough. I'm sure maya or (upon her return to work) Jem will look in just to see if we're talkin about them.
I must confess I have never set up anything involving word clock and all that stuff. barely even used a digital console.
This word clock stuff came into play with me when I started using external converters and a few digital pieces along with the pc. Helps avoid the digital pops and crackles when everything is set right nad synced. Plus, a good clock can help the sound of potentially jittery equipment. If you don't need to worry with it you're far better off... it's just something else to blow up when you least expect it. :)
Gnu Odor wrote: Wow, I thought this thread would be crawling with hot women. Or at least one of the lads from "Flight."
I bought a Flying Cow 20-bit A/D converter that serves as my clock. I don't really need it, but hey, it cost me 20 bucks and I feel so semiprofessional when I use it.
Anyone using OS X "Tiger"? You can build an "aggregate device" right in the OS to merge all your audio ins and outs into one unit. Mactacular.
haven't dealt much with Macs... I'm still upset about them buying emagic and dumping pc support so my opinions with apple are pretty biased. :D
