| Re: pres..... is it just all in our heads? [message #311253 is a reply to message #311111 ] |
Fri, 01 February 2008 15:44   |
 Halfway Competent
Messages: 73
Registered: December 2007 |
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JJ,
I'm not sure exactly which flavor of 414 it was that I used. The first time I used one, I used a stereo pair of them for capturing a concert band performance. The sound was a load of indistinct mush (I tried every polar pattern), so I took them down and hooked up a pair of SM-94s, which actually sounded better.
Then I used them in up-close applications, such as voiceovers and stuff. They sounded OK, if a bit muffled. I bought a pair of Audio Technica 4033's after doing a shootout between them and the 414. Got two AT's for the price of the 414, and the AT's sound better! (To my ears, anyway.)
These microphones were property of the recording studio at my educational institution, so it's quite probable that they'd been dropped/damaged by apathetic students... Which would probably cause them to sound bad. The 414 I compared with the 4033 was in rental stock for a local retailer.
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| Re: pres..... is it just all in our heads? [message #311475 is a reply to message #311371 ] |
Sat, 02 February 2008 12:38 |
i dig music
Messages: 389
Registered: April 2004 |
Active Member |
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| danickstr wrote on Fri, 01 February 2008 23:54 |
right now you seemed focused on the difference in the room, which means you were used to a crappy room. But now you have a good room and that is a great thing.
once that settles in, you will never want to use a crappy room again.
Then your taste will turn to pres, in a good room.
and so on and so on.
Kinda like wine, or cheese, or tools.
As you get more experienced with the nuance, you get less tolerant of the lower quality versions.
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while i understand what you are saying, i've always had good rooms and good pres. this is a new room, and the first pres we used were from the o3d.
R. Steele
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 Re: pres..... is it just all in our heads? [message #337970 is a reply to message #309376 ] |
Wed, 30 April 2008 15:16 |
marshmellow
Messages: 1
Registered: April 2008 |
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Regading high end vs low end pres:
When I go back and listen to the first tracks we ever recorded, which were straight into a MOTU 896HD(**nothing** against MOTU, I still use it, just not the pres),they are not even in the same league as the tracks we record now. The kick was more mushy, the bass guitar was not nearly as full. Then I listen to tracks recorded after I bought an RNP and a Toft AFC2. Those tracks were noticeably tighter. Now I have 2 channels of Neve Portico, 2 channels of Great River and one API 512C, and still have the RNP and Toft. Anyone could tell the difference. Note: Same mics, musicians, drums, guitars, guitar rigs, etc.
My mix engineer says he has to spend about 1/5th the time it used to, to get tracks where he wants them.
Regarding spending money on pres vs mics:
Walk into any professional studio in the world and you'll find a lockerfull of SM57s. I think it's safe to say that $100 mics have been used on the vast majority of professional recordings in some capacity. The difference between our limited-budget home studios and them is that their $100 mic is plugged into a Neve or API or SSL or Trident or whatever. You will not find the same proportion of situations involving Vintage Neumann mics plugged into Behringer pres, for example. Possible, just not likely. So, I mimic the first scenario, and "do as the pros do" to the extent that my budget allows. I will buy better mics as I can afford them, then better A/D converters after that.
My 5 cents(I had to pay 5 cents because I talk too much).
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| Re: pres..... is it just all in our heads? [message #339139 is a reply to message #309376 ] |
Mon, 05 May 2008 14:25 |
woodymq
Messages: 6
Registered: October 2005
Location: Cambridge, MA |
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You just reminded me of a story: I worked with a club gig one night running a band's live mix and monitors. They usually worked with a sound guy who had a really nice rig, but the night I was working with them, the only thing the band has was the guitarist's practice space PA (a mackie, a crown amp, two wedges and two mains)
Not to toot my own horn too badly, but both the band and several people from the audience commented that this was the best they had ever heard this band sound.
The lesson I learned is that we worry about gear so much, but learning to work with the limitations of the gear is more important than anything. Knowing the sonic qualities of what you are using is extremely important. If I need to work fast, I will go with a "lesser" mic or pre just because I know the sound I'm going to get rather than try to wrestle with one I've never used before.
...and as people have said here: if you don't start with a good player, instrument, and acoustic environment you're starting way behind the 8-ball before you even plug anything in.
Do I contradict myself?
Very well then I contradict myself,
(I am large, I contain multitudes.)
--Walt Whitman
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| Re: pres..... is it just all in our heads? [message #339291 is a reply to message #339194 ] |
Tue, 06 May 2008 08:21 |
woodymq
Messages: 6
Registered: October 2005
Location: Cambridge, MA |
Member |
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| rankus wrote on Mon, 05 May 2008 21:20 |
| woodymq wrote on Mon, 05 May 2008 12:25 |
learning to work with the limitations of the gear is more important than anything.
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+1
although it should have been "within" ~ (special thank you to WW who is teaching me the English language)
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You are correct, sir. I stand corrected.
Do I contradict myself?
Very well then I contradict myself,
(I am large, I contain multitudes.)
--Walt Whitman
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| Re: pres..... is it just all in our heads? [message #339343 is a reply to message #339194 ] |
Tue, 06 May 2008 12:00 |
kats
Messages: 780
Registered: September 2005 |
Gold Member |
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| rankus wrote on Tue, 06 May 2008 02:20 |
| woodymq wrote on Mon, 05 May 2008 12:25 |
learning to work with the limitations of the gear is more important than anything.
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+1
although it should have been "within" ~ (special thank you to WW who is teaching me the English language)
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Learn Greek, it's a much better language.
Tony Katsabanis
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