Im Giving Up! (help!)

[worbit]

OK, im at a total loss here as to what mics i need. Here is the deal, im going to be following the band Nine Inch Nails for 11 shows and i plan on recording each one. I really want to get the best sound possible without spending a buttload of money. These shows will be played in small time venues (clubs) like The Warfield in San Francisco. I need something that will work well in these types of venues along with large venues like sports arenas (i plan recording U2 in San Diego along with Phoenix) PLEASE HELP GUYS! My first show will be on the 23rd of this month!

Im looking to spend no more then $120 with a bass roll off box. If anyone has used gear for sale, please let me know!

Edited March 14, 2005 by worbit

[A440]

For club recordings, binaurals are best because they pick up like your ears and you'll be immersed in the sound. For indoor arenas, cardioids might be better to cut down on crowd noise--but outdoors like stadium gigs, cardioids are susceptible to wind noise. If you think your crowds are going to be noisy all around you, even at indoor club NIN gigs--which I doubt--then go for cardioids.

But if I were you, I would get the best binaurals I could afford--maybe Core Sound or Reactive Sounds--and skip the bass roll-off. If the bass is eliminated from your original recording, there's no way to get it back. Instead, use the Radio Shack Headphone Volume Control as an attenuator, Low Sensitivity and Manual Volume at a conservative 15/30 and get every note. If the room is bass-y, you can filter it later with a program like Audacity.

Even the bottom of the line, $29 Sound Professionals BMC-2's produce good results, as you can hear in the Yahoo Mail box livefrommd (password 1minidisc1) . Move up from there and you should get some seriously good recordings.

[worbit]

will these get the job done?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...me=STRK:MEWA:IT

Edited March 14, 2005 by worbit

[A440]

It's hard to tell from his samples because he used bass roll-off and everything sounds bright and tinny, with the balance very skewed toward the vocals. But that's probably the bass roll-off.

They do appear to be the same basic mic capsules other manufacturers use, and the built-on clips are a plus. It's a good price for a mic plus battery box.

But: Unlike many recorders, I am a skeptic about battery boxes in general. The battery box is to prevent the mics themselves from overloading and improve their response. But except in rare and extremely loud situations, the MD's preamp overloads long before the mics do. And going mic-battery box-line-in produces a quieter recording.

It doesn't say whether he recorded through Mic-In or Line-In.

If you were to get these, I'd suggest spending the exta $15 so you can use the mics without the battery box. Then you could try mic-battery box-line-in and mic-RS attenuator-mic-in and see what you prefer.