I have not tried the P2, but its frequency response is right up a bass cab's alley. If I were on a budget and wanted a mic, that would be the mic I would buy.
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What's a good mic for recording bass?
- Thread starter shoe812
- Start date
Actually, evidence demonstrates you've much to learn, grasshopper!
http://www.talkbass.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=354888&stc=1&d=1375952263
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First response with all the mic pics is enough information to get you through an entire career recording bass with mics.
Also don't overlook the DI route - my current goto is a good FET / JFET DI and a Neve style preamp. DIY Recording Equipment also makes an absolutely stellar DI box with a Carnhill transformer. Redwirez also has a stellar set of impulses (all phase aligned too) for guitar, but the Ampeg 810 and Aggie DB115 are more than usable.
I'm pretty sure that every time I've gone into the studio its been 95% DI that ends up on tape.
Also don't overlook the DI route - my current goto is a good FET / JFET DI and a Neve style preamp. DIY Recording Equipment also makes an absolutely stellar DI box with a Carnhill transformer. Redwirez also has a stellar set of impulses (all phase aligned too) for guitar, but the Ampeg 810 and Aggie DB115 are more than usable.
I'm pretty sure that every time I've gone into the studio its been 95% DI that ends up on tape.
AKG D112 by chance? The little "football" as I call it. I have one of those and it's rather "pillowy". The Shure Beta 52 has a lot more crack to it.
I was going to say the MD421 as well. While I haven't used one for bass (don't own one) I've read a lot of posts praising this mic for low end stuff.
I guess I'd just try to find something with a suitable frequency range as microphones don't really care what you put in front of them. They will pick it up.
Sorry not much help
go with a vocal mic and put it real close to the cab, look at mics that are good for vocals because serious ones wouldnt advertise as being good for bass in a way you could find easily, they just tell you specs; look for a good vocal mic in the 500 dollar range, what are those mics radio commentators use their voices are all bassy, like bob costas people; they are thick and silver and longer with ridges, that ****
Unless you have some sort of philosophical predilection to use only one recording modality at a time, there is really no reason to think in terms of either/or.
Excellent results can be had by using a DI in combination with a well-positioned, quality microphone. And you don't need to spend hundreds of dollars for a boutique-quality microphone either. Used properly, an ordinary Shure SM57 or Sennheiser e835 will do the trick nicely.
It's only one extra channel on the mixer, dude...
MM
Just make sure if you're mixing DI and mic'd channels to perfectly align the wave forms in post processing. There will be a few milliseconds of delay on the mic'd signal that will otherwise muddy up the merged sound.
I have recorded both at the same time through an interface a few dozen times without delay, and not had to align wave forms. Mind you im using a really good mic that is sitting very close to the speaker. YMMV
Yeah, part of this issue relates to the distance of the mic from the speaker. The other is a bit of luck: whether the signals from both sources are in or out of phase. If the peaks of one signal are aligned with troughs in the other, the recorded output won't sound good. Has less to do with the quality of the mic and more to do with physics. Sound travels faster on an electrical connection (via DI) than it does through air (via microphone and then into the recording system).
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/apr10/articles/mixrescue_0410.htm
In phase:
Out of phase:
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bassman314
I seem to be a verb, an evolutionary process...
Unless you have some sort of philosophical predilection to use only one recording modality at a time, there is really no reason to think in terms of either/or.
Excellent results can be had by using a DI in combination with a well-positioned, quality microphone. And you don't need to spend hundreds of dollars for a boutique-quality microphone either. Used properly, an ordinary Shure SM57 or Sennheiser e835 will do the trick nicely.
It's only one extra channel on the mixer, dude...
MM
This. The best tone I have ever gotten from my rig was using a DI from my bass, a DI after my pedal board, and a mic on the cab. The engineer blended all three to get some awesome tone that I just love.
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I don't know about recording, I always took the bass direct for that, but a D112 can be a really good guitar-cab mic. Much fatter than a SM57 but still has a 57-ish sounding high end.
The only mic I haven't seen mentioned that can work really well on bass (for live use anyway) is a Beyer M88. It's always an experiment, so keeping a couple M88s, MD421s, B52s, AKG D112s, and Audix D6's around will never be a waste of money, as it covers all the common Large Diaphragm Dynamics.
Then you can worry about the expensive LDCs.
Did someone say that a $50 used SM57 was a better option than an AKG P2? Really?
I'm guessing not too many people here have actually tried the P2. If you put a 57 on a bass cab I hope you're also using a DI.
I'm guessing not too many people here have actually tried the P2. If you put a 57 on a bass cab I hope you're also using a DI.
Some people appreciate the quality of a fine Cabernet from Napa or Sonoma Valley. Anything Robert Parker grades a 90+ is ultra fine. For other people, a bottom-of-the-shelf Gallo will suffice.
I wouldn't call a P2 a fine Cabernet, but it's a far cry from a bottom of the shelf Gallo.
Yes, the DI is a good side option. I use a REDDI. But I've also started using a Monique preamp with excellent results. The difference is REDDI is a "pre EQ" signal while Monique offers variable EQ and variable "tuby-ness" depending on where you turn its Sensitivity knob and other options. Both are excellent tube DI options that can work very well when blended with a ("GOOD") mic.
