Re: [Harp-L] Low-Z Vs High-Z Mics

[Richard Hunter <turtlehill@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

"Arnold Wiliem" wrote:
<I was just wondering what the tradeoffs are between Low-Z and high-Z mics.
<I'm looking for a mic suitable for my play. At this moment, I only play
<church songs which obviously have many high and long notes. I heard many
<high-Z mics such as Shure Green Bullets and Blues blasters are popular
<amongst harpists. From my understanding, high-Z mics generate distortion to
<the output and give "blues taste" on the notes. I'd like to play blues
<in the future, but not now. Is there any mic can be used both for church songs
<(clarity, sounds like harmonica) and blues (distorded sound) ? Or I have to
<buy two kinds of mic?

Most bullets and blues blasters don't add a lot of distortion to the sound--that's done by the tube amps they're typically played through.  The main issue with bullets and blasters is their frequency range, which stops around 6.5 kHz--which removes a lot of high frequency content from the sound.  This works okay for blues; it's not so great for styles such as yours.

You'll get a number of opinions on this forum.  Mine is that the best harmonica mic for the money right now is the Audix Fireball-V.  It's my go-to mic for all performances and most recordings.  I notice that Rob Paparozzi, one of the top pros in the business, who used to use various vocal mics, is now using a Fireball-V.  This mic has a wide frequency reponse and produces less feedback that any mic I've heard of.  It's also very modestly priced.  It works well for blues too--you have to turn up the amp to get the same level of distortion that you get with bullet-type mics, but I've never met a harp player who was upset about being able to turn up the amp before feedback.  The only limitation for blues on this mic is that it's not as responsive to hand gestures as the bullets--that's a result of the same design decision that reduces feedback.  

The Fireball V is a Lo-Z mic.  I have no idea why you think hi-Z mics generate distortion.  Any mic will distort if you overload it or the amp you run the mic into.  You'll need to buy a Lo-Z to hi-Z transformer to go with the Fireball V--that will run you another $20 or so.  Total price should be under $150.  

Finally, make sure you get a Fireball V, not a plain Fireball. The Fireball and Fireball V use different mic elements, and the V element sounds a lot better.  You'll know the difference between the mics easily--if it has a volume control, it's a V.

Regards, Richard Hunter
latest mp3s and harmonica blog at http://myspace.com/richardhunterharp