[Harp-L] Beyer mics

["Henderson, Peter" <Henderson@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

George Brooks wrote:

Trip, do you cup the mic or use it on a stand?  I'm interested opinions 
of this mic for acoustic harp, cupped (not on a stand).  Have you or 
anyone else on the List ever used it cupped straight into the PA?  If 
so, how does it compare to the mics we most commonly encounter (Shure 
57s and 58s and their variants and equivalents)?

Has anyone tried the Beyer M 88, which appears to be similar to the M 
69 but with extended frequency response and a somewhat higher price 
tag?  Can anyone compare this to the aforementioned mics (M 69 and 
Shures/equivalents) for cupped harmonica direct into the PA?

I know the thing is to try these mics out for myself, but I'm in 
Vermont, and this would require a trip to Boston.  All info greatly 
appreciated.

George 
    
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George,

I've been using the M-69 since I appropriated the idea from Mickey
Raphael, Willie Nelson's oh so tasty harp player.  The musical
environment he plays in is not dissimilar to those I find myself in -
the place where blues meets country.  The way he uses it is to run the
signal into a ART pre-amp (which has two outs, one low-z and one high-z)
then run low-z to the house and high-z to a small tube amp on stage
which is miced, the two signals  are then blended at the main console
for the house and monitor mix.  He will either hand hold the mic or put
it on a stand depending on how much he crunch he wants from the amp.

I tried this for a while but unless you have a sound mixer that you know
and trust it leaves too much discretion the engineer.

I use the M-69 in all settings now: on a stand where I play off mic;
hand held through the P.A. and  through small tubes amps as I mentioned
before.   I got the idea to use the Vocal 400 from harp-l members.  It
is meant to work with low-z mics and hence has an xlr input with trim
control and offers all kinds of outs (high, low, stereo, USB, et....) it
also has lot's a varied effects.  Having said that, the M-69 sounds
great straight into the P.A.

I prefer the M-69 to 58s or 57s - they are all low-z dynamic mics but
the way the M-69 handles the frequency range of the harp is more to my
liking.  58's have that mid-range boost which I don't much like for
harp. I've not tried the M-88 but have heard that it has perhaps too
much low end response and we don't need the additional high freqs for
the harp.

Feel free to contact me off list if you want any other feedback (the
informational kind ;-))

Trip Henderson ~ NYC