Microphones

[bojangleman]

im prolly gettin into gigs where i will have to mic my drums and with my band i will have to..any suggestions on what set to get...i would prefer the price to be under 500 dollars and still be good. thanks ahead of time!...


Alex

[johncool182]

You can't go wrong with Audix! They aren't too expensive! And if it's just live gigs you need them for, you won't need an arsenal of mics! 5 at the most!

Cheers,
John Cool!

[Rohan]

Sennheiser 602 is a superb bassdrum mic, they're not all that expensive, but they are just as good as most other high quality mics

[bojangleman]

yea...thanks for the replys. i would be doing gigs some and in the future record with my band. so im not gonna buy for a bit, but i will keep the suggestion in my mind...thanks a bunch!!


Alex

[somexone75]

I personally come from the recording world and from my experience with many mics and so forth shure and sennhieser take the cake for the top of the top. And remember, just because you have a good mic you wont get the best sound with out a good XLR cable too. So don't skimp on the funds for cable too. I suggest either Mogami or Monster which ever one you would rather get. Mogami just has a better lifetime warranty

[PdoubleE]

I personally come from the recording world and from my experience with many mics and so forth shure and sennhieser take the cake for the top of the top. And remember, just because you have a good mic you wont get the best sound with out a good XLR cable too. So don't skimp on the funds for cable too. I suggest either Mogami or Monster which ever one you would rather get. Mogami just has a better lifetime warranty

Most XLR cables (not the .99cent ones) are fine for live sound. Hosa being a Very cheap and GREAT cable. Monster cables are not that great.. I have taken two pairs back just to go with Hosa.. And monster are very expencive. As for drum mics.. Audix upper line of mics (D series) are the best on the market. If you want to get into condensers.. thats a whole other story. Nothing out there can compare to an Audix D6 for your kick drum. And coming from a Recording world.. How can you not mention that a Preamp pretty much makes or breaks a microphone?

[somexone75]

Most XLR cables (not the .99cent ones) are fine for live sound and recording. Hosa being a Very cheap and GREAT cable. Monster cables are not that great.. I have taken two pairs back just to go with Hosa.. And monster are very expencive. As for drum mics.. Audix upper line of mics (D series) are the best on the market. If you want to get into condensers.. thats a whole other story. Nothing out there can compare to an Audix D6 for your kick drum. And coming from a Recording world.. How can you not mention that a Preamp pretty much makes or breaks a microphone?

Are you on crack or are you just deaf. They give so much static it ain't funny. The sound line coming in should be flat in times of utter silence and with hosa you have at least 1 dB of static. Monster and Mogami are not cheap but they are true balanced cables with a static free wrap around the core wiring. The age old sayings in the industry are "your sound is only as good as you cables" and "you get what you pay for". Plus for monster and mogami cables have a lifetime warranty. Monster is really finicky about their warranty and says that it is only for problems with the materials or workmanship but mogami doesn't really care about how it broke.

I can easily mention that a preamp won't make or break a mic because if you cable is balanced and your mic isn't built at a 1920's quality then the mic will send the phantom power back on the ground of the xlr-xlr cable straight to the mixers ground and not just fry itself.

You clearly don't know much about sound hardware and its uses.

[PdoubleE]

This kid wants cables for playing out.. HE dosent need to get a 10 ft cable for 100$.. When he could survive with hosa( which the static is <1db) for what .. 10$? Plus they are Balanced & Shielded cables. And man.. "


"I can easily mention that a preamp won't make or break a mic because if you cable is balanced and your mic isn't built at a 1920's quality then the mic will send the phantom power back on the ground of the xlr-xlr cable straight to the mixers ground and not just fry itself."

Are you saying its gona break the mic?? I dont get ya.. I was refering to the sound quality your gona get out of it... hook up a UA or an Avalon pres with a neumann u87.. and compare the same mic with a beringer pres.. Then tell me what sounds better. you need decent pres to get a decent sound. I agree.. if your recording then go with the bigger name cables.. for your first gigs? get some hosa or other similiar quality xlr's. I bet it will sound good with decent mics and pres.
And I have been to school for the recording arts.

[somexone75]

This kid wants cables for playing out.. HE dosent need to get a 10 ft cable for 100$.. When he could survive with hosa( which the static is <1db) for what .. 10$? Plus they are Balanced & Shielded cables. And man.. "


"I can easily mention that a preamp won't make or break a mic because if you cable is balanced and your mic isn't built at a 1920's quality then the mic will send the phantom power back on the ground of the xlr-xlr cable straight to the mixers ground and not just fry itself."

Are you saying its gona break the mic?? I dont get ya.. I was refering to the sound quality your gona get out of it... hook up a UA or an Avalon pres with a neumann u87.. and compare the same mic with a beringer pres.. Then tell me what sounds better. you need decent pres to get a decent sound. I agree.. if your recording then go with the bigger name cables.. for your first gigs? get some hosa or other similiar quality xlr's. I bet it will sound good with decent mics and pres.
And I have been to school for the recording arts.

O I must have just read you wrong for the pre amp part of your message, sometimes I wonder if I'm dislexic. I was just reccomending the mogami for the prime reason of the waranty if you think about it for gig to gig kinda things. It dosen't matter who you are, you can still break something in all of the chaos, plus it may start with just gig hardware than in another month or so,depending on funds, it will probably be for at home recordings. If you are still thinking about using the hosa plus pres then compare the costs. It would still be cheaper to use a mogami straight into a small 8 ch mixer than to go hosa to pre to mixer. Providing you said decent pres he won't use the crap of the crap made by beringer. So if he goes with the mid quality pre sonus pre amps he could only get 2 or 3 dual chanels for cheaper than a huge system + a 3 slot tower so that would cost say what 625 with shipping plus 89.90 for the hosas so he'd be at $714.90 plus the cost of a pa system so he'd be about $1000 or so unless he dosent care about the sound of his toms that much on the speaker system then take $200 off so about $800 then. Then there could be the Mogami plus pa that would be 6 Mogami Silver Series Microphone Cable (25 Foot) at 19.99 (119.94 total) at musicians friend plus the mid range quality pa system (Phonic Powerpod 740 Plus / SEM715 PA System) at 399.99 at musicians friend that will give him the 6 he needs plus one for vox at 440 watts plus he could have a on stage monitor and he'd only be about $519. Or then he could do the same but add an extra little 4 channel mixer to the system with a single out for vox guitars and bass on it so everyone gets on it for about another $175 so about $694.93. So even with a full on pa system plus mogami it cost less than the pres plus the Hosa snake. He can choose to use what ever he wants, but he just needs to take into consideration if it will always be for gigs and if he wouldn't mind having to replace the cables a few times. Plus if he'd rather have a full sound system for his band to play on with him so they can easily balance tempo and volume for different venues due to size and how well the room can handle sound.

See now sometimes when you even go with the best it is cheaper in the long run.
You always just need to think the whole cost through not just piece by piece.

One last thing I forgot, they could down load some free audio recording/ mastering software online and record straight to a computer with the mogami idea. S then it would conquer even another future problem, cheap recordings and any sound man will get it mastered and all to sound how he wants it (when you try to save money on studio work) but the band will have a totally different idea for what they want and now they could easily accomplish that.

[PdoubleE]

I didn't realize mogami was that cheap.. I have never really looked into the price of them. I know monster is just ridiculous.. a 25 ft. cable would be like 129.00 . The reason I recommended hosa was because he is 14.. never gigged before... doubt he has much of a budget. But your totally right about in the long run. I am gona have to invest in some Mogami's after i get this damn drumset paid off.

[somexone75]

I didn't realize mogami was that cheap.. I have never really looked into the price of them. I know monster is just ridiculous.. a 25 ft. cable would be like 129.00 . The reason I recommended hosa was because he is 14.. never gigged before... doubt he has much of a budget. But your totally right about in the long run. I am gona have to invest in some Mogami's after i get this damn drumset paid off.

Ya, Mogami has really dropped prices on the non gold connector cables because their company is off to a good start with MXL.

Well one last hint for you for your personal sound gear, PSSL.com has an awesome policy, 110% price match, and I gave 'em a quote for a Shure DMK with clamps and all for 359.95 and they had to match it and beat it because of the store policy so they lost almost $50 selling me something and I got it for $349.87 with tax, and never forget Google and price grabber are your friends when you need cheap studio gear. And when it comes to drum gear American Musical has good head prices compared to GC or Sam's.

I have Had my fair share of work in this industry so if anyone has questions about sound work that they are too embarrassed to post or I just didn't see the thread feel free to Pm me and I'll try to get back to you about it ASAP

Since we are on the talk of xlr-xlr cables pssl has some nice lifetime warranty cables that are home made for I think $10 for a 10', they aren't the greatest but the would work for a just gig setup.

[Wavelength]

A good kick mic coupled with a good condenser overhead will do fine for your first gigs, and their combined price (with cables and stands) should stay below $500.

[somexone75]

A good kick mic coupled with a good condenser overhead will do fine for your first gigs, and their combined price (with cables and stands) should stay below $500.

True, what I have personally have seen as a good mic for overhead is a set of MXL 604's, but when it comes to condensers overhead it is all dependent on the situation and the sound you are trying to get. It's a hit or miss kinda situation. Someplace good to ask could be the cakewalk.com forum, they have some geniuses on there for sound gear.

The 604's are 199.98 for a pair with cables at 8thstreet.com and pssl has a bulk box of tripod stands (4 total) you can buy for pretty cheap, even better price than the price for used ones on ebay.

[stickers]

Audix DP5a drum kit.

Comes with 5 mics.

i5
(2) D2s
D4
D6

The kit comes with 4 D-vices that hold the mics and mount directly onto your rims. No need for mic stands. Also included is a really nice case.

The audix Ds series are great drum mics.

They kit is $650 at most retailers but you should be able to find it cheaper or maybe on ebay for $500 or less.

[somexone75]

Audix DP5a drum kit.

Comes with 5 mics.

i5
(2) D2s
D4
D6

The kit comes with 4 D-vices that hold the mics and mount directly onto your rims. No need for mic stands. Also included is a really nice case.

The audix Ds series are great drum mics.

They kit is $650 at most retailers but you should be able to find it cheaper or maybe on ebay for $500 or less.

Audix is a huge rip off for cash, shure dmk's are the best wat to go for you. I have been around many many stages (including HOB anahiem) and shure has been the base brand of almost every drum cabinet and you can get a 4 mic 3 tom with clamps that are godly and the beta 52 kick mis for $359.99 online and get Pssl.com to beat the price by 10% of the difference or he could get the kit with 3 pg 58's with mounts, 2 pg81 condensers a Pg 52 kick mic and 6 15' xlr cables from American musical for $399 and make pssl beat that price.

The only places I have seen audix is in a local studio that swaps mics to get the different sound for what the drummer wants to hear, and the funny part about that is they use audix for Death Metal style sound, so basically just for large and abundant sound. For the majority the studio uses sennhieser mics, which are god knows expensive enough.

Like the sound engineers have been saying for a long time now, "a different mic for a different sound".

[BCains]

I'd get one of these start with, than gradually you can add more mics.

Audix DP 5A (i5, 2x D2, D4, D6) $650US
Shure DMK57-52 (3x 57s, Beta 52, 3x A56D) $395US

I'd recommend getting mics indivually but with a budget of $500 its a stretch.

I use:
Snare: SM57 / i5
Kick: AKG D112 / Beta 52A
R Toms: Senn E604s
F Toms: Senn MD421s
OH: AT 4041s

[bojangleman]

hey, i gig at least once a weak...just not with mics :P..like you said also, my budget is low and below say 500.

I didn't realize mogami was that cheap.. I have never really looked into the price of them. I know monster is just ridiculous.. a 25 ft. cable would be like 129.00 . The reason I recommended hosa was because he is 14.. never gigged before... doubt he has much of a budget. But your totally right about in the long run. I am gona have to invest in some Mogami's after i get this damn drumset paid off.

[somexone75]

hey, i gig at least once a weak...just not with mics :P..like you said also, my budget is low and below say 500.

how big of an area do you say u use for the gigs, is it a pretty nice size concert hall or is it an open field. What is she like?

I'll go run around on some web sites and see what I could pull up to make a good bang for you buck.

[somexone75]

One last question, what music genre?

[Kamikazee89]

Samson mics are nice.

8kit - 8-piece Drum Mic Set (http://www.samsontech.com/products/productpage.cfm?prodID=1772&brandID=2)

I believe that these retail for 299.99, from everything that I heard, they are suppose to be great.

[somexone75]

Samson mics are nice.

8kit - 8-piece Drum Mic Set (http://www.samsontech.com/products/productpage.cfm?prodID=1772&brandID=2)

I believe that these retail for 299.99, from everything that I heard, they are suppose to be great.

Hate to break it to you, but from everything you heard it was from people who have not compared different mics and the sound they give you. Comparing a Sampson set of mics to a shure set is like comparing an old broken down pinto to a Ferrari.

You may like the sound they give you but you have never experienced the best.

[Kamikazee89]

Ya Shure is good. I was just giving the Samson's because I'm buying some cost from a rep.lol So ya, a lot comes down to the way you mix too.

[somexone75]

Ya Shure is good. I was just giving the Samson's because I'm buying some cost from a rep.lol So ya, a lot comes down to the way you mix too.

Ya you might be able to mix those to a some what exceptional sound, but then why is it shure used at many professional facilities and not sampson to save some money? Keep in mind he is new to pro audio so he will have many years of learning to absorb the knowledge of how to mix those to a good sound.

And if sampson will sell 8 of them for less than any shure DMK, it shows they are looking to find sales and their products wont sell themselves like sennhieser and shure.

[bojangleman]

well, right now its just a lil country gig every friday in lets say maybe the size of a gym?...i dont mic them, but my band is workin on some stuff and im gonna need some mics in the future...so im just shopping around...we play rock btw..
thanks for all your help!

Alex

[somexone75]

well, right now its just a lil country gig every friday in lets say maybe the size of a gym?...i dont mic them, but my band is workin on some stuff and im gonna need some mics in the future...so im just shopping around...we play rock btw..
thanks for all your help!

Alex


No problem man, we drummers need to stick together

Here are some things I found that you could pick and choose for for overtime, if you ever do plan on doing recordings for your band with your own sound system you should go with a shure mic setup but if it is just for gigging shop around looking at peoples reviews on the mic setups, but don't take every word as truth because most of those people are first timers.

http://www.zzounds.com/item--ART127
good pre amp for just gigging, but if you are going to do recordings/gigs get a 2 channel tube pre amp by art

http://www.americanmusical.com/item.aspx?i=FEN%200717150%20000&src=D0501PG0HAMS0000&utm_source=Feed&utm_medium=Pricegrabber
good PA system for the price with mulitple channels so you can patch in a mixer for your mics a bass and vox and have room for the guitars on the mixing board for the pa system

http://www.8thstreet.com/product.asp?ProductCode=31442&Category=Microphones
awesome set of MXL condensers with cable that can give you some pretty good stero sound in a room that is not made for studio work

http://www.streamlineaudiovideo.com/shdmdrmikit.html
the top of the top shure DMK kits

http://www.guitarcenter.com/shop/product/buy_yamaha_mg164_16input_4bus_mixer?full_sku=10206 3971
This is basically the same mixer that I use except they discontinued mine (exactly the same, but with fx) and this one took its place for a lower price

[bojangleman]

hey thanks man. so your saying me have my own pa system? (me and the band have been searchin for one) and i have a 5piece set up.. thanks...


Alex

[somexone75]

hey thanks man. so your saying me have my own pa system? (me and the band have been searchin for one) and i have a 5piece set up.. thanks...


Alex

This pa system was just one of the cheapest I could find that was so-so for the wattage output, I'll try to find you a better system for a pretty good price

[bojangleman]

yea thanks, but what i asked was were you presenting that i have my own system for my mics or that for the bands? thanks, my friends band has a Kustom. it sounds really good, but what i dont understand is, how does he get all of his drums miked and every guitar plugged in at the same time?...i might hit myself when i find out but, does each drum go into its own slot? thanks

Alex

[somexone75]

yea thanks, but what i asked was were you presenting that i have my own system for my mics or that for the bands? thanks, my friends band has a Kustom. it sounds really good, but what i dont understand is, how does he get all of his drums miked and every guitar plugged in at the same time?...i might hit myself when i find out but, does each drum go into its own slot? thanks

Alex

Exactly, each mic on its own input and same for guitar/bass and vox
Or you can got guitar on one input if you have left and right so you get rhythm volume mostly on one side and lead on the other, but sometimes it is just weird that way.

If you get a nice kustom pa system or a pretty good system it should be able to work for everyone including you mics, vox, guitars and bass depending on how many mics you need for vox

[bojangleman]

ok i get it, my friends band only has a 8 mixer...i dont know how he did that...cause they got 3 guitars/bass and then piano and then he miked his drums. also 3 ppl singing...gah, i gotta call him i guess..thanks

Alex

[somexone75]

ok i get it, my friends band only has a 8 mixer...i dont know how he did that...cause they got 3 guitars/bass and then piano and then he miked his drums. also 3 ppl singing...gah, i gotta call him i guess..thanks

Alex

He probably did it the best way for any large combination, he had his own mixer that only took up two channels to plug into the pa system and he had the 3 vocal mics pulg in on a separate aux out put so his drums were out put 1 and vox output 2 so he would have 6 left over in the pa for the 3 guitars and the piano

Thats how I would do it at least, so I could add extra effects for vox through my secondary mixer because pa heads don't really come equipped with effects.

Well good luck man, if you have anymore questions for pro audio post away I'll answer them to the best of my knowledge in street language.

[bojangleman]

hey man thanks, that is a good way to do it!...i will man, thanks agian!


He probably did it the best way for any large combination, he had his own mixer that only took up two channels to plug into the pa system and he had the 3 vocal mics pulg in on a separate aux out put so his drums were out put 1 and vox output 2 so he would have 6 left over in the pa for the 3 guitars and the piano

Thats how I would do it at least, so I could add extra effects for vox through my secondary mixer because pa heads don't really come equipped with effects.

Well good luck man, if you have anymore questions for pro audio post away I'll answer them to the best of my knowledge in street language.


Alex

[somexone75]

Is there any gear you want me to try to scout out at a good price for you guys. Or I could try to find a setup almost identical to your friends for pretty cheap. Or are you guys just gonna wait on it for a little bit.

[Skitch]

im prolly gettin into gigs where i will have to mic my drums and with my band i will have to..any suggestions on what set to get...i would prefer the price to be under 500 dollars and still be good. thanks ahead of time!...


Alex

I found some MayEA mics on Ebay with the no drill adapter. They were less than $500. Going used can sometimes help or hurt because this was a total roll of the dice.


Mike

http://www.mikemccraw.com
http://www.dominoretroplate.com

http://www.youtube.com/drummermikemccraw
http://www.myspace.com/drummermikemccraw

[somexone75]

I found some MayEA mics on Ebay with the no drill adapter. They were less than $500. Going used can sometimes help or hurt because this was a total roll of the dice.


Mike

http://www.mikemccraw.com
http://www.dominoretroplate.com

http://www.youtube.com/drummermikemccraw
http://www.myspace.com/drummermikemccraw

Never buy mics off ebay even if they say they are new because if they were so great no one would want to sell them after they were satisfied by them what so ever. There is the small possibility that someone is just trying to make some money, but it is highly unlikely because for a shure DMK for a dealer to buy , Unless they buy in bulk, It cost them approximately $400 bucks to get it including shipping. That is why big companies steal the business away from the small ones. The big companies can afford to buy in bulk and sell for a cheaper price. They may make less money, but they make many sales on the item to make up for the small profits.

Especially don't buy the brand he mentioned because I had never heard of them and I have been around the pro audio bush a few times and you could buy the top of the line Shure mics brand new for under 359.99.

[bojangleman]

we will wait a while, cause we are gonna try to do the talent show at my our school and they have a pa we could plug into for there...so thanks!

Is there any gear you want me to try to scout out at a good price for you guys. Or I could try to find a setup almost identical to your friends for pretty cheap. Or are you guys just gonna wait on it for a little bit.

[bojangleman]

we will wait a while, cause we are gonna try to do the talent show at my our school and they have a pa we could plug into for there...so thanks!

Is there any gear you want me to try to scout out at a good price for you guys. Or I could try to find a setup almost identical to your friends for pretty cheap. Or are you guys just gonna wait on it for a little bit.

Alex

[somexone75]

No prob man.

Good luck at the talent show.

Another good way to get local fame/ money is to try to scout out battle of the bands. They are every where for me. There are probably about 5 per year down here.

[bojangleman]

yea.. there has been a couple here.. Guitar Center put on one...we arent there yet tho.haha

Alex

[somexone75]

You never know what you can accomplish. One of my friends band got an invite to house of blue at their 10 or so show and on one of their local chain reaction shows they were asked to open for every future local dark haven show.

If there is a will there is a way. You and your band a never to new for anything. The worst is you guys wouldn't win. Might as well right?

[bojangleman]

very very true, we are trying. but like with our scedueles from school and football, we can only get together once a week, which is better than nothing i guess!

You never know what you can accomplish. One of my friends band got an invite to house of blue at their 10 or so show and on one of their local chain reaction shows they were asked to open for every future local dark haven show.

If there is a will there is a way. You and your band a never to new for anything. The worst is you guys wouldn't win. Might as well right?


Alex

[somexone75]

That is even better than my friends bad. They either would not all be together for practice because of such late notice or Andrew (guy with place for practice garage) had to work on his "day off".

[bojangleman]

haha, yep, know what your sayin. which our layout sucks right now, my drumset is in my room right now, and my room is pretty small.(so it dominates..haha) and we can get 5 ppl with instruments in there very very uncomfertable..but hey, it works for now..!


That is even better than my friends bad. They either would not all be together for practice because of such late notice or Andrew (guy with place for practice garage) had to work on his "day off".


Alex

[somexone75]

Ya don't dis it if it works. At least you have the bed for sound absorption.

That is unless you don't have some weird bed.

Now after looking at you name I have Dylan's Mr. Bogangles stuck in my head.

[bojangleman]

hahaha...oh yea!

Ya don't dis it if it works. At least you have the bed for sound absorption.

That is unless you don't have some weird bed.

Now after looking at you name I have Dylan's Mr. Bogangles stuck in my head.

Alex