Hi - I'm looking at putting an MS pair together and have pretty much narrowed the field down to some Gefells since the Schoeps/ Sennheisers/Royers everyone speaks so highly of are significantly out of my Aussie dollar budget.
I'll go with a large diaphram UMT70s as my Side mic but the question is whether to go with a second UMT70s as my Mid mic - and match specs - or get a small diaphragm M300 and get the benefits of a small diaphrams' reduction in off-axis colouration etc
The M300 also has the advantage of also being about half the price.
I'm looking at recording choirs/chamber music/soloists . . . as well as using the mics in more multitrack jazz projects.
cheers
Scott
Comments
Interesting you should mention the AKG Blue Lines. They are quit
Interesting you should mention the AKG Blue Lines. They are quite affordable here - but everytime I type 'AKG Blue Line' into Google the tumblweeds start rolling across my screen and all the women and children run inside. No reviews and barely a word in any of the forums.
They would make a great solution since I could add some omni outriggers later and have a fairly flexible acoustic setup. What kind of projects have you used these on?
cheers
Scott
I use mine (omni's and cardioids) on so many projects, it's hard
I use mine (omni's and cardioids) on so many projects, it's hard to count.
I use them as outriggers to my Schoeps or Gefells. I use them as orchestral spots, drum overheads, solo violin, viola and cello, operatic vocal, guitar (classical and acoustic), piano (I've used these on a lot of piano projects and really enjoy their quite warm, deep sound - only recently have I moved to a different primary mic as my piano mic - the Audix SCX-25a).
You won't find too much about them for a few reasons.
1. They're inexpensive and they're AKG - therefore, people associate them with crappy mics like the C1000, C2000, C3000, etc.
2. Those who use them (I think Tom Bethel is a big fan of them too) have a tendancy not to talk about them too much b/c they are such a good value. It's like giving away a trade secret??
3. AKG has far more famous mics - 414, 451, C12, etc. These are the red-headed step children of the AKG line.
4. Not too many people around the world use them - whether it's gear snobbery that keeps them away from spending less on an AKG mic, or just plain lack of presence in marketing.
5. The name... If they had named it "platinum line" they would sell millions of them - hell it works for Focusrite... To me, "Blue Line" implys entry or mid-level quality (which is odd because both the Focusrite "Blue Line" - or ISA line - and the DBX "Blue Line" are both great products and near the top of the echelon.
BTW - you can often find these at a pretty darned good price on ebay. This is good and bad - good cuz they're cheap. Bad cuz they don't hold their resale value (which ain't a problem if you never sell.)
J.
Here they are on sweetwater: http://www.sweetwater.com/store/de
Here they are on sweetwater:
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/C391B/
C391B
BTW - Xavier - you do a lot with Latin percussion, right?? These would be beautiful mics for that application.
J.
You'll do well in either case. The matched set is to a degree a
You'll do well in either case. The matched set is to a degree a better concept, but considering the shifts in color/timbre associated with switching patterns, I don't know how much benefit it will provide.
Also - have you considered AKG? I don't know how they translate financially to Aussie bucks, but the Blue Line series is available in a MS config and in my humble opinion is every bit as good as some of the more pricey mics on the market.
J.