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I have a small studio in my house. It is in a fairly lively room. I want to buy a mic for vocals, and I'm very interested in the C1. I read somewhere that in an "untreated" room condensor mic's should be avoided and dynamic mic's are a better choice.

Anyone have and opintion or insight on this issue?

I currently have a Shure SM57 and a Shure Beta 58. Would a C1 help round out my needs? Or is there a better choice.

Thanks for any help.

Comments

sproll Fri, 04/01/2005 - 06:58

Go with the C1 for sure, and get a Stedman PS-101 pop filter for it as well. Don't worry about what they say for untreated rooms... here's a tip.

Set the mic up, and hang heavy blankets all around you or something similar. That way, your recording will be nice and dead with very little reverb - then you can add it via software later.

I have the C1 and it is an excellent mic. It will round out your collection nicely, trust me. I have a Shure Beta 87a condenser live mic, and it still cannot touch the clarity in a recording situation that the C1 can. Worth every penny, just remember it is a condenser and will require phantom power.

Tom

anonymous Fri, 04/01/2005 - 08:42

Hey Tom, thanks for the reply. That is a big help. I am dreaming up some ideas to create temporary room treatments that I can move around to create larger and smaller recording enviorments.

I have read so many good reviews from users and websites about the C1, that I really want to get one, but I was afraid that it would be unusable in my room.

For the money it is worth the risk.

sproll Fri, 04/01/2005 - 09:28

It will be absolutely fine in your room, don't worry. Remember, the closer the sound source is to the mic, the less room sound you get. So, if for whatever reason your room sounds REALLY bad, you can always chuck the C1 6 inches to a foot away from the source. (like a guitar amp... vocals you should be around that distance too, no more I wouldn't think)

As for overheads, no... I only have 1 so I haven't used them as that. However, I have heard people on this board use them for that and they really like them. I have used the 1 I have for a room mic on drums tho, and it works well. The biggest issue is placement for me, trying to get more of the drum sound in the room mic than the cymbals. Usually putting it closer to the floor helps this. If you are going to start placing a lot of mics like on a drum kit, get yourself some good isolation headphones so you can walk around with the mic on in your headphones and find the right spot for it. (watch for phase issues!) I have the Sennheiser HD 280s and they are a Godsend for that kind of work. Also for tracking, little or no spill from the cans into the mics.

Hope this helps. Honestly, I can't see you not liking your C1... it really brings the vocals straight through the mix and gives it a nice airy sound. I have also used it on guitar cabs, bass cabs, and acoustic guitar and it worked well with all of them - for me anyhow. Overall, I'm really happy with it. Now I'd like to get a half decent pre-amp like the brick to see what it sounds like, instead of through our mackie board!

Tom