cheap overhead mics

[Matthijs]

Well that was a mixed experience. The sound quality is pretty decent with a imho pleasant transparent voicing and the noise floor is more than decent. The T-bar comes in handy and looks sturdy enough for more than hobby use. The built in hpf filter comes in handy too.

I have my doubts about the directionality though. It didn't seem to be true cardoid, more of a semi sphere. They did pick up a lot of sound from the sides and even from the back. Makes them not suitable for live use in anything but close miking.

I tried them out on a small theater stage. Even when positioned clearly behind the speakers I could not set them up with a usable volume without feedback with the sound source more than 60 cm away. And then I would also get sound from the room.

 

[bassbrad]

I have been using a pair of Behringer C-2 SDC for a while now and am always quite pleased. They have been used for overheads, piano, guitar, string quartet, ambients and to record a symphonic band all with satisfactory results. They have even survived several shoot outs with much more expensive mic pairs and came out favorably.
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[Matthijs]

I have been using a pair of Behringer C-2 SDC for a while now and am always quite pleased. They have been used for overheads, piano, guitar, string quartet, ambients and to record a symphonic band all with satisfactory results. They have even survived several shoot outs with much more expensive mic pairs and came out favorably.
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Can you say anything about the directionality of the c2's?

I think the c4's would do quite well with loud signal sources or fairly close to the source. I had them set up for amplifying a small childrens choir. So I had to have some distance to catch them all. I could hear myself standing in front of the stage while the c 4's weren't turned up that much. In xy they almost behave omnidirectional.

 

[seamonkey]

MICs for recording are usually wider cardioid patterns.
Switchable pattern mics may include a could of different cardioid patterns.

In live use the sound system matters a lot. Regular low cost systems are prone to feedback. No mic is going to do well. So what is the sound system? Maybe you also need to look into a feedback controller.

 

[Matthijs]

MICs for recording are usually wider cardioid patterns.
Switchable pattern mics may include a could of different cardioid patterns.

In live use the sound system matters a lot. Regular low cost systems are prone to feedback. No mic is going to do well. So what is the sound system? Maybe you also need to look into a feedback controller.

There were two of those larger Yamaha stagepass active speakers, and a small but ok 'digital' mixer. (one of those that has a firewire connection and can be controlled from a laptop too).

In sound quality they are ok. They are a bit omnidirational. Handy because you do not always have to use monitors, but also less than handy in my case.

I think the room had a lot to do with it too. The stage and the room are both pretty wide but not very deep. So I need to pickup a wide area that's pretty close to the front of the stage and there's a lot of reflection from the back of the room, also in the mid and high frequencies.

A logical solution is working with a bit more close up dynamic singing microphones and that's what I did. It would have been nice to cover a big part of the stage with a stereo overhead, because it's a children's musical wich involves lot's of singing children moving about on the stage (as you obviously didn't know ).

I'm not sure what to do with the c4's. As I've said to me they sound pretty decent and I can probably find a use for recording or i.e. miking the clarinet section in my bigband. On the other hand i'd like to find a mike set that would work in this kind of application. We do this yearly small music festival with a lot of acoustic instruments. It would be nice to be able to amplifying a Harp, three guitars and a cajon without individual mikes for everyone.

If I should not be looking for condensers that are ment for recording and the studio in the first place do you have any suggestions? As Tractorr said most of these mikes are probably ment for recording in the hobby market. Chinese working conditions and modern technology have given us pretty high, almost professional, sound quality for extremely low prices though. As with a lot of gear I find it difficult to find a good balance between higher priced pro gear and amateur junk. I'm a amateur with some knowledge and experience and standards, but don't have the ambition, nor need to have stuff on a pro level. It's always difficult to judge TB-comments on that basis. Part of them will advise you from the viewpoint and high standards of a pro, another part will advise you from their basement. I want hobby use, but with real life audiences and circumstances. There's honour to be found in getting good results with just a limited amount of cheap gear

I feel simply upgrading these mikes won't help me much, as most recording sdc's will probably be just as omni directional. Any other options?

 

[seamonkey]

For recording crowds, choirs, kids jumping around. Omni's hanging down (next to each other) are very forgiving and pick up a good even sound across the stage. If you put a little barrier between them, like foam on cardboard, you can squeeze out some stereo soundstage. But they will also pick up offstage voices if somebody forgets to use their quiet voice

I have low cost switchable pattern mics and like them. They fit the bill for many uses, YMMV. And you can always buy a more expensive specialized mic is you ever have a need.