[Harp-L] looking for a good acoustic mic

[George Brooks <gbrooks1@xxxxxxxxx>]

I would be worried a lot more about the durability of the AT 4050 for 
stage use than feedback.  The AT 4050 is a large-diaphragm condenser, 
and these as a rule are considerably more fragile than dynamic mics.  
The Sennheiser 441 is generally considered to be the most 
condenser-like of dynamic mics.  I absolutely love mine.  It has a 
wonderful open sound, clear and crisp but devoid of harshness.  It's 
very feedback resistant due to its smooth response and its 
supercardioid pick-up pattern.  As a bonus, it has an integral low-cut 
filter plus a five position bass roll-off control.  Howard Levy has 
used this mic in performance for years, and I'm sure he tried 
everything.  The best price I found for it, no surprise, was at 
Northern Sound And Light 
(http://www.northernsound.net/Sales/mics/frame.html).

Joe Filisko tried a bunch of mics and his favorite is (or was; I 
haven't talked gear with him in a while) the Beyer M 160 ribbon mic.  
Another beautiful mic, but producing a sound that is too warm and 
rounded for my taste, although yours might well differ from mine.  This 
mic is also super-sensitive to breath noise.

Esoteric tech notes:

1.  You need phantom power to run an AT-4050 or any other 
large-diaphragm condenser.  Most boards and mic preamps can supply it.  
Dynamic mics don't need it.

2.  Although this is not the case with the Beyer M 160, phantom power 
will destroy many ribbon mics, especially the older designs.

3.  A cardioid mic has a polar pattern oriented to the front of the 
mic, and the angle of strong response is fairly wide.  This is good for 
being able to move around the mic a bit without the sound falling off, 
but is not ideal for feedback rejection.  Supercardioid and 
hypercardioid mics have pick-up patterns that are narrower at the 
front, but the trade-off is a small lobe to the rear of the mic.  
Therefore, when using supercardioid and hypercardioid mics (Sennheiser 
441, Beyer M 69 AND M 88, Shure Beta 57/58 and many others), the best 
placement for the stage monitor is not directly in back of the mic but 
120 degrees from the axis of the mic.

George

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Lately I've been missing having access to an acoustic sound while
playing live. I don't think I've ever done a live show where I liked
the mic'd acoustic sound I got and consequently usually play through a
Shure 545 into a Tweed Princeton and a Midiverb rack mount. I just back
off of the mic when I want a semi acoustic tone. It works but not well
enough. I've been perusing the archives which are now very serchable
(thanks Ben) and there are more than a couple people who really like the
Sennheiser 441 so I think I'll give one a try but I'm looking for
alternatives. I don't want an inexpensive mic like a Shure 58 etc. I
want something more along the lines of an AT 4050, a microphone I've
recorded with and just loved. I'd just buy one of them but I worry that
this microphone would be very prone to feeding back. I will go take
another look at Richard Hunter's pro pages. I see several professionals
use the Beyer Dynamic Ribbon microphones. Will, you have a mic you love
what was it? I'm shopping and I'm interested in any suggestions people
may have. Again I just loved that Audio Technica 4050. It was exactly
the sound I hear in my head but it got onto tape. Previously when I've
recorded I've spent a lot of effort on just keeping the microphone from
sounding bad. With the AT I just played and it was easy. fjm