FYI...

The halls in these cases:

Beethoven, Vivaldi and Copland all in the same hall - a very nice one at that.

Capriccio - recorded in a banquet hall with 10 foot ceilings and food and beverage being served during the concert.

All 4 concerts recorded with Schoeps CMC6 ext / MK2 s and Gefell M296 with Audix M1290 covering spots.

Violin soloist on Vivaldi was AKG C460 modified.

Additional mics included Audix SCX 1, Neumann TLM 197, AT 4040

All concerts recorded at 24/44.1 onto Sequoia except Capriccio - it was recorded onto Alesis ADAT HD24.

Everything went through RAMSA converters and a custom Monster Cable 8 channel snake.

Preamps for the Capriccio were Grace Designs and modified Aphex 107 all other concerts were True Systems.

No effects were used (including reverb or compression) with the exception of a mastering eq used for minor tweaks. Gain riding was kept to a bare minimum.

I think that about covers it.

J.

Hey Jeremy!

I love these recordings! Now it's time to pester you to death with questions -you'll be very sorry you started this thread!

I REALLY like the solo violin -what were the mods on your AKG? In my ignorance, I would have expected the 460 to be the last mic on Earth for spotting violin.

Another thing, there's something very fetching going on in the orch. violins that's difficult to describe -sort of detailed and sparkly, but different somehow. Perhaps it's the MGs? Oh such lust :shock:

BTW do you notice a difference in the extended CMC6 and the peasant version?

I thought I had satisfied my mic lust for a while, but I'm beginning to have impure thoughts again :twisted:

I'll spare you any more questions for now, and go and do some more listening.

John

BTW I haven't come across the TLM 197.

Thanks for the nice comments John.

The sparkle may partly be due to hf artificacts from the MP3 and partly due to positioning of the mics. On a few of those, I was closer with my main pair than I like to be.

As for the ext versions versus the regulars - I haven't noticed much of a difference at all other than I truly prefer the ext's to have that much needed distance.

The mods were done by Audio Upgrades. I don't know exactly what they've done as I bought them this way from a colleague and didn't have them done myself.

As for the TLM 197 - I doubt many people have come across it - but that's because it was a typo. I meant to type TLM 193. Only someone as bass-akwards as myself (and dyslexic too) could have hit the number on the far side of the numberpad from the one I intended. :oops:

J.

C460B mods

Cucco wrote:
The mods were done by Audio Upgrades. I don't know exactly what they've done as I bought them this way from a colleague and didn't have them done myself.

Jim removes the ancient TL062 opamp from the mic and installs a much better sounding low power Linear Technology part. He replaces the transformer with an impedance balanced output similar to the newer AKG mics, but using huge (and expensive) MIT Multicaps for coupling. Also upgrades a couple of critical resistors and caps to better parts.

I like mine quite a bit.

Recordista, thanks for the info. I e-mailed Audio Upgrades about their mods for the AKG C34 but they never replied, but I will try again. I'm sending if to England for repair, so I'll look into it when it comes back. I've heard good things about their mods for the 414, but have never heard the results.

Jeremy

Whether it's artifacts or anything else, I love the sound :) Talking of such things, I downloaded a clip of Beethoven 9, and the MP3 decided to add xylophone into the scherzo. It was sort of funny, as I thought the sound quality was rather free of the usual MP3 nastiness.

How do you find the TLM-193? I know your thoughts on the other mics you've used on the recording. Of course Rich appears to be more than satisfied with his.

Enough pestering for now....

John

Hey John,

Thanks again.

As for the Neumanns, I like the 193s. Not enough to have paid for them yet, these were loaners. I suspect I'll get a pair soon though as I really like how they treat woodwinds. They are rather transparent with a decent level of fullness not found on many LDCs of today.

J.

Jeremy,

This is really beautiful work. Thankfully I'm not working today because it inspired me to open a bottle of Jefferson Vineyards Cabernet Franc I've been holding on to (no kidding). Virginia is producing some really nice wines these days. Cheers.

Your engineering on this sounds flawless. The depth is very 3 dimensional, the clarity is warm without being over-produced. As you mentined, there was very little post work done on this. It's so impressive. Do you have any photos of the onsite setup for the first 4 peices you can share?

How do you like your Soundcraft M12? And what do you find it's most useful features to be?

Also, have you used any tubes in your Aphex 107 other than the GT Gold's that you liked? And are you sporting the AX7's, AU7's, or the AT7's?

Lovely work! Fantastic!

Hey CoyoteTrax!

Thanks for the exceedingly kind remarks. I don't know that I'm worthy of all of the kind words, but a sincere thanks nonetheless.

As for the gear -
The M12 is a decent line-level mixer (which is what I use it for) and since it has the SPDIF out, I often print my 2-track mixdowns straight to DAT using its decent onboard converter. As for the pres - I rarely use them, but they are quite decent when the occassion calls for them. They are actually quite decent for pop vocals. (The Stafford Regional Choral Society track was recorded using only the M12 pres).

As for the Aphex - I've really only ever experimented with the GTs in this pre - specifically 12AT7s. I've enjoyed their consistency in many other tube products hence the decision to use them in this pre. As for the pre itself - I think its actually quite a little gem (once the tube was replaced.) Very little tube sound actually even makes it into the product, but it's just enough for a little flavor. The pots on this device however are absolutely awful. Be prepared to spend some time before any recording calibrating your levels.

In other devices, I've used Sylvania, GE, Philips and Sovtek tubes and found the consistency to be the biggest problem. 2 tubes from similar eras and same manufacturers produce 2 completely different tones - obviously no good when trying to record multiple tracks with multiple devices. (Of course, the Aphex only uses 1 tube for the whole device, so stereo matching is not a concern.)

As for the wines -

You're dead right. Virginia wines are terribly undermarketed. The vines and vinyards date back much farther than California stuff and the soil is incredibly rich from all of the old rivers. For a real treat, try Ingleside's Viogner or Virginia Gold (both from their premium selections) in a 99 vintage. You won't be disappointed!

(Okay Ben, I'll get back on topic now... :wink: )

J.

Aaah, wine.

Running in circles, too much on the list today. Listened to your recordings and they are really nice. Great stuff Cucco.

Gunnar.

PS: a random off-topic question. You list Oktava MC-012 on your home page. Are those the Chinese ones? The Russian original has OktaBa MK-012 (not quite a B, but surely an K) on them.

Thanks for the information Jeremy.

Consistency in tubes is always an issue for sure. GT and EH seem to be fairly consistent. The antique tubes like Sylvania and GE are wonderful sounding tubes but it's important to get measurements from a recent test that tell you how they're capable of performing now. Sometimes you'll see people buying antique tubes from an ebayer without even knowing what their test ratings are.

Just for your information in the future, I've had great luck buying tubes at thetubestore.com and favor the Tesla (JJ) ECC83S as a silky smooth preamp tube that's not so Hot in it's output a typical 12AX7. They're pretty balanced and have a more graceful presence. Your recommendation of the GT Gold series is encouraging. Thanks for identifying the 12AT7 as the model you're using.

The M12 converters do sound nice on your recent posts. I think the clarity is just fantastic overall and with all the factors involved leading up to conversion at the SPDIF Outs they sound great. Thanks for clueing me in. I've wondered about the M series by Soundcraft.

CoyoteTrax wrote: Thanks for the information Jeremy.

The M12 converters do sound nice on your recent posts. I think the clarity is just fantastic overall and with all the factors involved leading up to conversion at the SPDIF Outs they sound great. Thanks for clueing me in. I've wondered about the M series by Soundcraft.

Jeremy clued me in a couple of months ago re. the M series. Subsequently got an M4, my first location mixer after several years of being purely a 2-trk guy. Works great, sounds nice and smooth. Recommended from here; sorry, Jeremy, no finder's fee. 8)

Mike

CoyoteTrax wrote: The M12 converters do sound nice on your recent posts. I think the clarity is just fantastic overall and with all the factors involved leading up to conversion at the SPDIF Outs they sound great. Thanks for clueing me in. I've wondered about the M series by Soundcraft.

Hey CoyoteTrax -

Just a quick note, none of the demos were printed from the 2 track safety copy, so none of the demos are using the converters in the M12. In the case of the 4 new demos, all conversion was performed by RAMSA units. On the older demos, conversion was either RAMSA or APOGEE.

Thanks again,

J.

Jeremy-

My emails to you are bouncing back so please contact me off-list with a current address.

Rich