Double Bass Microphone Comparison Audio Recordings

[rickwolff]

Idle hands are the devils playground so I had to do a couple more audio clips.

First I did a recording with where I had usually put my mics. When I listened back I didn't have enough highs on the Xlson and enough lows on the Ischell C2.

So I tried moving them. I moved the Xlson (Chuck Israels) to a little farther away from the f hole and still really close to the top (1/4 inch maybe). I figured I was getting too much 'boom' from being close to the f hole and that was overpowering any high frequency.

Then I moved the Ischell C2 to right above the bass bar and about 2 inches below the bridge foot.

Check out these audio clips. Let me know what you think.

 

[ablumley]

Nice tones @rickwolff !

Between your placement experiments with the C3 and the great sound my wife gets on her violin using the original x48c, I was inspired to have another go at trying the old ischell over the bass bar. I tried this years ago but didn't have any luck then. After messing around for an evening, I found a good node a little lower than where you've got the C3 placed. The arco and pizz tones are balanced and the bow sound has a lot less of that chainsaw thing going on than with the x48c under the treble foot. This is with the 360hz cut engaged. Tested it on the gig last night with a loud tenor sax-bass-drums trio through a headway edb2, volume pedal and a random powered speaker. Stupidly loud yet convincingly realistic tone appears to have been achieved. If it sounds this good on the next few loud gigs, I can see myself ordering a C3...

 

[Evan Carley]

I am actually most impressed with how good and balanced the AT 2020 sounds! My next favorite is the Xlson, but I actually think its a touch brighter than I prefer. Ischell I would say is a distant 3rd. Being a contact mic, it sounds a little more "pickup-y" then I'd like in a recorded bass sound.

 

[ablumley]

I am actually most impressed with how good and balanced the AT 2020 sounds! My next favorite is the Xlson, but I actually think its a touch brighter than I prefer. Ischell I would say is a distant 3rd. Being a contact mic, it sounds a little more "pickup-y" then I'd like in a recorded bass sound.

Definitely! The Ischell should really be treated like a pickup rather than a normal microphone. It can shine at high volumes through an amp or powered speaker but I'd only use the direct signal from the Ischell out of sheer desperation. I almost always bring along a condenser or a Troll ribbon mic for sending a direct signal to the front of house.

 

[Ric Vice]

Idle hands are the devils playground so I had to do a couple more audio clips.

First I did a recording with where I had usually put my mics. When I listened back I didn't have enough highs on the Xlson and enough lows on the Ischell C2.

So I tried moving them. I moved the Xlson (Chuck Israels) to a little farther away from the f hole and still really close to the top (1/4 inch maybe). I figured I was getting too much 'boom' from being close to the f hole and that was overpowering any high frequency.

Then I moved the Ischell C2 to right above the bass bar and about 2 inches below the bridge foot.

They all sound pretty darn good Rick. I think the Ischell sounded better where you had it on the first recordings you posted with it, Just my take however. Any one of those sounds would suit me just fine. Of course in the Studio, I'd go with the Xlson, because of it's detail and breath.
That said, a lot of that is lost in a live setting. If it was a really futzy kind of concert, you could indeed send the Xlson FOH and the Ischelll back to your amp, thus avoiding feedback. I don't think it's a lack of lows on the Ischell nor a lack of highs on the Xlson, rather the two different
mics emphasize different things, you could probably adjust that with your EQ settings. Just my take however. I'm a one and done bassist, the Ehrlund works well, so does the Remic Green. Like Curly said in City Slickers. "Do one thing right".

 

[rickwolff]

I keep referring to it as an AKG 2020. IT'S NOT. It's an AT (Audio Technica) 2020. Sorry AT.

 

[Ric Vice]

I had on of the original Audio Technical clip ons. It sounded great but it was hard to control feedback , and the mic mount was not very secure on my particular bridge.
Sounded great when it stayed in place and didn’t feedback.