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Hey guys, I'm looking for a new stereo pair. A friend of mine has a pair of Earthwork Omnis and I absolutely love them but I'd rather get something else and just borrow his on those projects which I really need that sound.

We mainly record chamber/quartet/solo music in medium sized halls. The detail is important. The omnis are wonderful though I wouldn't be against something with that detail that allows me to get rid of a bit more of the room sound. Having said that I want to reiterate that I love the sound of omnis.

As far as another pair of Omnis: I don't like Neumann KSMs... too bright on the high end. How does the Avenson STO-2 stack up against these two?

Or perhaps I could get a pair of Joesphson C42s or Gefell M930s. This would give me a completely different sound.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,
Schmüdde

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Cucco Mon, 08/15/2005 - 10:14

Hey Gaff-

This one might be best in the Acoustic Music Forum - if you get the chance, feel free to drag it on over.

Matta -
There are tons of choices for microphones that will give you the detail of the earthworks without actually being the earthworks. My new personal favorites are Gefell M296. They will pick up a bit of room though, but I find it to be less problematic than both the Schoeps omnis or the Earthworks stuff. (Much more like the M50).

If you wanna go cardioid, the two other Gefells you mentioned are top-flight and you can't go wrong with them.

Otherwise, I do like the Audix SCX-1 and the SCX-25a's as being great cardioids at a great price.

Of course, there's always fig-8 mics too; Royers, AEAs, etc.

J.

anonymous Mon, 08/15/2005 - 12:51

Thanks for the reply about the Gefell Omnis, I never thought about them (don't know why?). I think the Schoeps are just a bit high for my price range. Maybe I'll get the Avensons and the Gefells and compare what I get for the extra $2k. I'd like to hear some experiences from other users... I've never heard anything negative about the Avensons and I'm totally curious.

I was also thinking of the Gefell cardoids also because they would work better for voice...

Reggie --
RE: Title

Yeah, I knew it looked funny but I couldn't figure out why.. thanks for pointing that out. Should have put:

"BEHRINGER, not earthworks, audix, Neumann, joesphson"

That would have been more eBay of me.

--

Thanks,
Schmüddde

bap Sat, 09/03/2005 - 20:37

If the Sto-2s are what your budget can cover then I don't think you will be dissappointed. You can do better with 3 or 4 times the budget and the DPAs would definitely be better at about 7 times as much.

I have Avensons and feel that they are keepers.

If I could afford them I would get DPAs, Schoeps, high end Josephsons [not C42]. Currently, however, I cannot justify the expense of 'diminishing returns'.

The main criticism of the STO2s that I have heard is of their self noise and not of the quality of recorded sound. They might not be the best choice on extremely quiet sound sources though I personally have not encountered these problems.

You only find these mics at reputable and high quality dealers.