Sound Production SPSM-17 VERSUS Sony ECMDS70P mic help

[nick34]

I seem to have arrived at making a choice between the Sony DS70P and the SP SpSM 17 . I will be recording violin music and close range...several feet. Does anyone have a recommendation about these two mics or another choice? Both are priced about the same.

[A440]

A lot of reviews complain that the Sony mics have high self-noise--they add their own hiss to the sound.

Check out the recordings from this very serious French guy.

http://infos.0db.net/micros/compare/indexe.php3

I can't find published Sony specs that reveal a signal-to-noise ratio. Whereas the Sound Professionals does have a S/N ratio, and it's 62dB, which should be quiet.

The Sound Professionals also have more bass response. Not that germane to violin, but it might help give you a warmer room ambience in general.

Since you'll be recording something as pristine as solo violin, I'd suggest the Sound Pros because of the self-noise question, even though I haven't used that mic myself. Also, I trust them. Which is more than anyone can say about Sony at this point.

If you have a pro musicians' store nearby, you could also consult them, since you're not concerned with stealth. A mono mic like the Shure SM57 or SM58 might also suit you if you're mixing it into multitrack.

EDIT: Er, never mind, see Dex below.

Edited November 17, 2005 by A440

[dex Otaku]

I would concur with A440 about the SP mics over Sony's.

A mono mic like the Shure SM57 or SM58 might also suit you if you're mixing it into multitrack.

I would strongly recommend -against- using stage vocal mics for recording individual acoustic instruments. In particular, both of these Shure dynamics have a heavily-weighted response in the vocal range, and a rolled-off high-end. In a pinch they work fine [and I have used both to mic instrument amps for 13+ years] for instrument micing, but the sound is extremely coloured and compared to most condenser mics their sensitivity is fairly low [though maximum SPL is high, they being dynamic].

For mic'ing an individual instrument, I'd suggest using a cardioid rather than an omni, and a monaural mic rather than stereo for most things. The SP-SM17 is an omnidirectional stereo mic, which means it will not only pick up whatever it's set close to, but literally everything from every direction around it. Using a cardioid at a couple of feet distance rejects sounds other than what the mic is pointing at, for one thing. For another, using a stereo mic means that as you move when you're playing, the recording kind of moves with you [in the stereo image].

Also, remember that the closer the mic is to the source, the louder it will be .. with the preamps built-in to portable recorders like ours, distant-mic'ing is not as successful as if you are using pro equipment; the further you are from the source, the quieter the signal to mic transduces, meaning more work for your recorder's preamp and a much higher likelihood of microphone self-noise or preamp self-noise becoming evident in your recordings. This [these?] reason is [are?] why I suggest mic'ing relatively close to the subject, and using a relatively directional mic to ensure better rejection of room tone and spurious background noises.

Nick - you might like to take a look at microphone university for some information about different microphone types. Unfortunately they don't have much to offer in terms of advice on instrument mic'ing technique [they do for stereo technique], but they do have an excellent dictionary/glossary of audio terms.