In other news, I need a new mic stand and I'm not so sure I am going to go with the same one that I already have, so I need a recommendation. I am using a DR boom mic which I will link to. The problem that I have with it is that the locking mechanisms aren't good at all. You place the mic and lock it down and the locks have a few mm of wiggle room and sag, so you have to place the mic higher than you actually meant to place it. Usable, just not something I'm willing to buy again. Budget is pretty much what it would cost for another one of these.

link removed

We mostly use the K&M range of stands in our studios. They have proven to work reliably and last for a long time. The oldest should be about 15 years, now, and is still doing well. I could not tell which one the Methusalem stand is. Budget-friendly, also..

There are some higher end stands for about 350 $, or so, which are more massive and feature shock absorbers and longer booms. Those look rather "pro" and may get a slot in out shopping list, soon.
A stand for a 1000$..well... I don't have any of those, but when you need to spend money
for tax reasons... and you have all the mics and other gadgets, already... Why not?

Big K

Thanks for the recommendation. Is this the one that you use?

[[url=http://[/URL]="http://www.sweetwat…"]K&M 210/2 | Sweetwater.com[/]="http://www.sweetwat…"]K&M 210/2 | Sweetwater.com[/]

Here's a [[url=http://[/URL]="http://recording.or…"]thread from June[/]="http://recording.or…"]thread from June[/] on the topic of mic stands. Cost vs. durability.

dvdhawk, post: 352639 wrote: Here's a [="http://recording.org/pro-audio-gear/46066-mic-stands-booms.html"]thread from June[/]="http://recording.or…"]thread from June[/] on the topic of mic stands. Cost vs. durability.

Thanks!

I think I like the Atlas stuff because it has counterweights while the K&M ones don't (at least on SW), but a few people mentioned K&M being the best budget choice so idk.

I'm confused about this too, is this supposed to be a whole stand or just the boom arm?
[[url=http://="http://www.sweetwat…"]Atlas Sound PB21XEB Adjustable Boom | Sweetwater.com[/]="http://www.sweetwat…"]Atlas Sound PB21XEB Adjustable Boom | Sweetwater.com[/]

Just the boom, the stand is separate. The combo together is around $100.
As you can see from my thread that Hawk linked, I've mostly been getting the booms, as the bases of my cheaper stands are still in good shape.
It's the clutches that seem to wear down on the cheap ones.
Think of it as an investment. Little by little, your cheap stands/booms will be replaced by more durable ones.

soapfloats, post: 352641 wrote: Just the boom, the stand is separate. The combo together is around $100.
As you can see from my thread that Hawk linked, I've mostly been getting the booms, as the bases of my cheaper stands are still in good shape.
It's the clutches that seem to wear down on the cheap ones.
Think of it as an investment. Little by little, your cheap stands/booms will be replaced by more durable ones.

Good, that's kind of what I was hoping for. I am thinking of getting the Atlas boom arm (because it has the counterweight) and a K&M stand base (because it is a tripod base). Any thoughts on that investment?

You can always go with a modified light stand if you need big, tall, and cheap. But it really depends on what you're going to put on the stand. A $10K Neuman, do you really want to trust that to a $30 stand? If only for piece of mind. Or to negotiate a higher price for your services, or tax purposes, they have their place.

I guess that makes sense. So the thousand dollar stand isn't really that much better than a $250 stand, it's just that you are buying it for a tax break or to raise your prices?

I'm just going to be using it for Guitar cab miking, vocals, and acoustic guitar miking. The stand will hold SM57's, Audix i5's, and maybe a Cascade Fathead II or a condenser if I get either one. Not high end mics, but I'd like a decent stand either way.

I you are working in film, things like noiseless casters are crucial. And in places concert halls and top dollar studios the cosmetics are desirable. I have the large collapsible quik-lok boom stands with casters and they have worked well for overheads and live recordings where I have to go up 15-20 feet. They have been fine for my uses, but I can see going for higher quality if the money is there. (With that said, one of the ways to make sure the money won't be there is to have a "the best is barely good enough" attitude about every damned piece of equipment.)

I can imagine that would drain someone's wallet pretty fast with an attitude like that... especially in an industry filled with snake oil 'it's so good that your ears aren't even sensitive enough to notice a difference... but you should buy it anyway!'

Anyone have any last minute suggestions/words of advice on this setup?

[="http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/KM20130BK/"]K&M 201A/2 | Sweetwater.com[/]="http://www.sweetwat…"]K&M 201A/2 | Sweetwater.com[/]
[[url=http://="http://www.sweetwat…"]Atlas Sound PB21XEB Adjustable Boom | Sweetwater.com[/]="http://www.sweetwat…"]Atlas Sound PB21XEB Adjustable Boom | Sweetwater.com[/]

And I may even grab one of these considering all my mics are pairs anyway.
[[url=http://[/URL]="http://www.sweetwat…"]K&M 23510 Adjustable Stereo Microphone Bar | Sweetwater.com[/]="http://www.sweetwat…"]K&M 23510 Adjustable Stereo Microphone Bar | Sweetwater.com[/]

Actually I shouldn't say last minute, I'm not planning on buying for another week or so anyway.

I see what you're going for with the Atlas counter-weight, nothing wrong with that. This should be a nice heavy combo.

I'd add that generally the weight of a K&M is in the base and legs to keep a low center of gravity, so since they have a good clutch they're pretty stable with their stock booms.

dvdhawk, post: 352661 wrote: I see what you're going for with the Atlas counter-weight, nothing wrong with that. This should be a nice heavy combo.

I'd add that generally the weight of a K&M is in the base and legs to keep a low center of gravity, so since they have a good clutch they're pretty stable with their stock booms.

Cool, thanks for the insight. :biggrin:

I do think I may still go with the Atlas boom because we're talking the same base and the only variable is the boom, so if one boom is good and the other is better I'm going with the better one. lol, sorry if the way I phrased that makes me seem like a pain in the ass, I do appreciate all of the help and insight :redface:

Do you think that the counterweight on the Atlas will make a big enough difference to merit the extra spendy? The site says it's only a 3/4lb counterweight and the only way to adjust the leverage is to change the boom length.

Here's the crux:

I don't have a K&M stand, so I can't comment on their clutch.
This is where I ran into issues w/ mics like my 414s, Fathead IIs, and Bluebird, to name a few.
If the mic's heavy enough, it will droop on weaker clutches.

You DO have to pay attention to boom length w/ counter-weights (keep it balanced!),
and also keep your center over the base. Get the counterweight too far out, and the stand might tip.

The Fatheads don't have an overbearing weight, but if you're positioning them at funny angles (gui cabs, w/ longer stands/booms), then the counterweight is extremely helpful.

Those K&Ms are holding up to an U87, too. I filled a little leather bag, which came with another mic, with old screws for counterweight if, at all, necessary. For voice recording I use another stand with a longer boom, but only to get the stand out of the way.
Can't remember what brand it is.... It is not availlable at US stores, though. But, otoh, the really nice stands desribed in the above mentioned thread are not obtainable at my place, which sucks ... :-(
Shipping costs added to the price makes it just too expensive for importing.

For guitar cabinet recording I use the short ones...
[[url=http://[/URL]="http://www.thomann…"]K&M 25935 - U.K. International Cyberstore[/]="http://www.thomann…"]K&M 25935 - U.K. International Cyberstore[/]
Quite handy for bass drum miking, too.

Btw, if you record drums you might want to get yourself a stirdy goose neck, too.
Mount a SM57 onto it and you can sneak through the drums & stands to mike the Snare, for example. I use it a lot... Makes life a lot easier when there is little space...

soapfloats, post: 352665 wrote: Here's the crux:

I don't have a K&M stand, so I can't comment on their clutch.
This is where I ran into issues w/ mics like my 414s, Fathead IIs, and Bluebird, to name a few.
If the mic's heavy enough, it will droop on weaker clutches.

You DO have to pay attention to boom length w/ counter-weights (keep it balanced!),
and also keep your center over the base. Get the counterweight too far out, and the stand might tip.

The Fatheads don't have an overbearing weight, but if you're positioning them at funny angles (gui cabs, w/ longer stands/booms), then the counterweight is extremely helpful.

Thanks for clearing that up. Which booms did you end up going with?

Big K, post: 352678 wrote: Those K&Ms are holding up to an U87, too. I filled a little leather bag, which came with another mic, with old screws for counterweight if, at all, necessary. For voice recording I use another stand with a longer boom, but only to get the stand out of the way.
Can't remember what brand it is.... It is not availlable at US stores, though. But, otoh, the really nice stands desribed in the above mentioned thread are not obtainable at my place, which sucks ... :-(
Shipping costs added to the price makes it just too expensive for importing.

For guitar cabinet recording I use the short ones...
[[url=http://[/URL]="http://www.thomann…"]K&M 25935 - U.K. International Cyberstore[/]="http://www.thomann…"]K&M 25935 - U.K. International Cyberstore[/]
Quite handy for bass drum miking, too.

Btw, if you record drums you might want to get yourself a stirdy goose neck, too.
Mount a SM57 onto it and you can sneak through the drums & stands to mike the Snare, for example. I use it a lot... Makes life a lot easier when there is little space...

Thanks for the advice. If my friend ever comes through with the drum thing I'll look into goosenecks. I've used them before, but with very small condensers and not a full sized mic like a 57. That's good to know that you trust your U87 to a K&M, that's pretty reassuring.

Guitarfreak, post: 352721 wrote: Thanks for clearing that up. Which booms did you end up going with?

I went w/ the Atlas PB11EXB (short, adjustable) and PB21EXB (long, adjustable).

All I've got is a radio shack tripod based mic stand (OSP?) and a proline boom arm I got from guitar center. But I use the boom more for elevation than side extension. I had a radio shack boom arm, but like so many the screw to lock down the pole from rotating breaks with finger strength. And never really got tight enough to keep a pole from spinning to it's balance point. And the clutch on the radio shack boom sucks even for light mics. The proline one is pretty good. But my stereo pair is pretty light. The cables for the length of the arm weighs more than the mics and I haven't gotten any hefty shock mounts and zeppelins and other weight adding things to make a grown boom arm weep (yet). Keeping it balanced is key. To heavy to one side and it'll fall. Uneven ground and it rotates on you, it'll fall. You can add counter weight by hanging your jacket or a towel on the back side. But not ideal for stage use (or outdoors) and if you remove that item without thinking about it, you can set yourself up for failure. Except for the top heaviness I almost prefer having the boom arm for elevation since I can bend it to compensate for uneven ground. And the clutch crank is nice to have for draping cables and other things over in transit

Guitarfreak, post: 352722 wrote: Thanks for the advice. If my friend ever comes through with the drum thing I'll look into goosenecks. I've used them before, but with very small condensers and not a full sized mic like a 57. That's good to know that you trust your U87 to a K&M, that's pretty reassuring.

I got too many Us, can't afford any expensive stands, anymore...

;-))

Guitarfreak, post: 352630 wrote: I don't get it, why would anyone pay that much for a mic stand?

Starbird is so last century. But after the first time I used a Latch Lake MicKing stand I swore I'd never buy another cheap (comparatively) stand again.

So I'm praying that I don't have to replace all my stands any time soon, 'cuz I can't afford to buy too many MicKings at once! But once you use one, you'll know: Best. Mic Stand. Evah. Well worth the money imho.