Double Bass Checked out some mics

[Sprudellio]

Time for me to stop lurking.


I've been to the studio yesterday and checked out some mics.
Bass was my 2007 Wilfer, strings spiro weichs.

First the engineer tried to find the sweet spot on my bass for mics. After some testing it turned out that all of them sounded best when aimed at the g-string side corner of the bridge.

Here are my thoughts (disclaimer: with my bass, in that particular studio, over those particular monitors, to my ears):

Schoeps CMC6 MK4
Clear winner of the group. Sounds very natural, pretty much like standing in front of the bass.

Neumann U87
Boomy when too close. Otherwise very nice.

Blue Blueberry
I liked it better than the U87.

Heil PR 40
Big disappointment, sounds very artificial. Too much highs, too much attack at the beginning of each note.

Electrovoice RE 20
Not a completely natural sound, but a VERY nice sound.

AKG D112
Surprisingly good. Could use a low cut. Little bleed from other sources.

SM57
Sounds good.

SM58
Sounds better.
Both sound kinda bland, but not nearly as bad as I thought

Beyerdynamic M201
Big disappointment, sounds like a smiley face eq

Audio Technica ATM450
Second only to the Shoeps. Unbelievable price.

Audio Technica ATM350
Great sound, very convenient to install & stays in place even when you move. Too much bass without low cut.

Conclusion:

Studio
Schoeps
Alternative for "denser" mixes
Re20

Live
ATM 350
ATM 450 + H Clamp
AKG D112 (lots of bass!)
SM58

There are a ton more mics in the studio I'd like to try, maybe I'll update this list when I get a chance.

Hope you enjoyed reading and tell me your opinions on those mics.

 

[Lumpy]

Here's a couple of mic shootout sites with audio files -

http://www.thelisteningsessions.com/home.htm

and

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

Neither is necessarily specific to bass. One is pretty specific to
spoken vox. But it's interesting to hear the variance.


Lumpy

You were the Ken-L-Ration St Bernard?
Yes. My dog's bigger.
Link Removed

 

[Eric Hochberg]

You know, we all want to hear your bass with all of those mics...
Could you go back to the studio and record this time?

 

[farmerdude]

Great info....I too was disapointed with the Heil 40 after all the hype....

No ribbon mics? Give one a try I bet it would make the top of your list.....

 

[61pollmann]

I still haven't found anything nicer in the studio than my 45 year old Shure Ribbon mic. I would love an RCA 44-BX, but prices are ridiculous. Even beat-up ones go for big bucks on Ebay. I use the ATM-450 on an H-Clamp for live gigs. It sounds great, and has the advantage of being a small side address mic. This allows a lot of flexibility in positioning it with the H-Clamp.

 

[Roger Davis]

I've just checked out the specs for the ATM 450 and it seems very promising, so thanks for the suggestion. I regret having sold my 350 to fund a DPA 4099. The 350 was very nicely constructed and picked up the bass sound very well; the 4099 seems to offer no advantage over it and the connections are worryingly flimsy for gigs - IMO, of course!