Small diaphargm on guitar amps

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Larry Mal
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Re: Small diaphargm on guitar amps

Post by Larry Mal » Fri Jul 30, 2021 9:42 am

tdbajus wrote:
Fri Jul 30, 2021 7:36 am
Larry Mal wrote:
Fri Jul 30, 2021 7:24 am
Like I say, I don't love them. I got very good prices on them, but if I was buying fresh with a better budget, I don't think I would purchase them again.
What would you buy?

Has anyone used the KM84 and KM184 versions?
Haven't gotten there yet... and anyway, I'm not unhappy with the 184s, and will be keeping them.
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Re: Small diaphargm on guitar amp

Post by CorporateDisguise » Sun Aug 01, 2021 5:17 pm

I have two of the Slate ML2s. They are a fairly balanced SDC that is meant to be used with the Slate mic modeling plug in that mimics a bunch of classic mic eq curves. Fairly transient mic, which can be good for somethings. It also has a built in pad to be used with cranked guitar amps. I’ve only used a few times on guitar, with good success, but it is rare that I find a 57 lacking on a guitar amp. If I had more time when I was recording, I would use it and the 57, but it takes alot of time to get phase right with a two mic system. And in my cramped space things get bumped out of place all the time.

I’ve also used a Rode M5 as an ambient room mic before, although I don’t recall ever putting it directly on my cab.

I always tend to think of SDC as brighter mics with an uncompressed transient, which can work great with acoustic guitar or on drums. But I know that it is a gross over simplification.

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Re: Small diaphargm on guitar amps

Post by øøøøøøø » Wed Aug 04, 2021 10:56 pm

tdbajus wrote:
Thu Jul 29, 2021 8:31 am
But anyone have any experience with the Warm Audio WA-84 vs Neumann KM184, or with either separately?
Neither measures up to a good KM84. Sadly, KM84s have gotten a bit pricey. I really do wish that Neumann would do a proper reissue, as they have with the U67 and U47FET. I'd love to see the KM86 while they're at it.

Anyway, as far as bleed... that's not necessarily attributable solely to the omni pattern. Most cardioids progressively tend toward omni at lower frequencies anyway. Perhaps the fact that it's a very high-sensitivity condenser is a factor.

I've often enjoyed an EV 635a in front of a guitar amp, for example... it's an omni moving-coil dynamic that's not too sensitive, and is very workable in that application in terms of spill.

At any rate, when bleed is a consideration, the actual level of the spill is third in line behind two other concerns: how phase-coherent is the bleed with the close mics on the other sources, and how good does the bleed sound?

Very nice microphones tend to have fairly good-sounding off-axis pickup. Poorer-quality mics that might impress in a "shootout" type of environment might prove to be lacking in this very important regard.

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Re: Small diaphargm on guitar amps

Post by NBarnes21 » Wed Aug 11, 2021 4:41 pm

tdbajus wrote:
Wed Jul 28, 2021 11:40 am
I was recently shocked by how awesome my friend's Avenson STO-2 omnis sound on my guitar amp. Very natural sounding, but because they are omni, the bleed like crazy.

ANyone else recording on the SDC tip? Volume isn't a huge issue for me, as the largest amp I record with is generally less than 25 watts.

Warm audio has those Warm Audio WA-84 which are a quarter the price of the Neumann KM184 (a matched stereo pair of the WA mics costs as much as one KM 184!). Unfortunately, you don't always get what you pay for with music gear - a shootout between a Manley Dual Mono vs a $300 Mackie Onyx taught me that painful lesson - and I'm wondering if anyone has any opinions out there.
I use a pair of WA-84's for drum overheads. Awesome mics for the money and for that application they're fantastic- they aren't overly bright/fizzy as far as SDC's go so I'd imagine they'd do decent on a guitar amp, but I tend to lean toward a ribbon, dynamic, or tube LDC for electric guitar. I've used KM184's and much prefer the darker voicing of the WA-84's
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