cjd

I use a pair of the LCB's regularly to record at comedy clubs and live music. They are excellent. The only suggestion I would make would be to obtain a decent battery box (I use a "mint box" battery box with selectable bass-rolloff from microphone madness, but just about any will do) and record through line-in rather than through mic-in if you're recording in high-volume situations. The omni-directional panasonic mic capsules used in the Core Sound LCB's tend to record pretty bass-heavy (pronounced hall-boom if your not in the right location!) and having a little low-end rolloff while recording saves a lot of work later trying to cut out some of the bass. I can't see buying the more expensive Binaural mics unless you're a much better taper than me or are making recordings as a profession. Chris

Wow. How did I miss that? Now that I've tried that out, I see that I've got a lot of work to do on a stack of old recordings. I does work well! Thanks for pointing that out to me.

Thanks for the info, especially the explanation of why cardioid-pattern microphones are less bass-heavy. I did not know that that was why, though it makes a lot of sense. With just my home computer and Audacity, I have been unable to satisfactorily cut out enough bass from the recordings I make with my Core Sound Binaurals. Perhaps someone could steer me toward a program that incorporates a good equalizer that I could run the sound through post-recording. In my experience, cutting out the bass (what little was cut out by using my homemade battery-box through line-in) while making the live recording seemed a good idea. I should post a snippet of a recording so you can hear how rumbly and boomy it can be in one of the rooms that I record in. I had the good fortune to get the same seat twice (near a wall, even, for extra boom) and recorded first with no roll-off through mic-in, then with the battery box through line-in and the difference, while not profound, was noticeable. I am worried, as you mentioned, that I will cut out too much low-end, which cannot be repaired later, of course. I'm also worried that there's so much low-end without the roll-off that it will "muddy" the recording no mater what I do with it after it's recorded. It's a tough call. Maybe there's a plug-in for Audacity that permits adjustment of levels? I'm new enough to this that I just don't know...

Hi all, New to the forum, and have trolled long enough to learn a lot of excellent stuff. While I've been able to find a lot of good info on using battery-boxes to achieve bass roll-off in boomy halls or bass-heavy concerts, I haven't seen anyone post their experiences with microphone madness products (specifically the "Mint-Box" 7-position roll-off battery box which I ordered today (link)) I've tried building my own battery boxes with some success, but have been unable to achieve any dramatic reduction in bass. In particular, there is a comedy club that I like to tape in that has a lot of hall-boom. Even with my battery box that has 2.2 microfarad capacitors I'm unable to roll off as much bass as I'd like. I'm usually using a pair of Core Sound low-cost binaurals with my MZ-NH900, which are by far my most bass-heavy mics for some reason... But the capsules are better matched than I can do on my own, so I end up using them instead on one of my homemade cardioid pairs which tend to pick up a lot less of the low end. I was skeptical of the Mint Box because I have always been under the impression that you are supposed to use capacitors made specifically for audio applications. Since these are usually old-fashioned mylar film or polypropylene (read: LARGE) capacitors, it's obvious that they aren't using 7 pairs of these in the tiny Mint Box. The person I e-mailed at Microphone madness (understandably) wouldn't tell me anything about the electronic components used in making the battery box. So I took a chance, and hope that it works out. I'd feel better if there were someone who could tell me their experience with MM's products. Thanks- Chris