mic advice

[Ty Ford]

Hello Joe and welcome to the Cow Audio Forum

I think you are on the right track, but there’s not way to know how good the sound will be until you try those mics, in that theater, on that stage, with those performers.

Try to get there for the rehearsals to see if how well your plan works.

Regards,

Ty Ford

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[Joe Garcia]

Thanks Ty

There are a couple of rehersals to be had and I’ve made a fuss about being kept in the loop so I can ‘dry fire’ my gear while they play.

Thanks again

JOE
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Gen 1:1

[Joe Garcia]

Hey Ty

referring to the frequency response of a mic which is better ???
40 to 15,000 or 80 to 13,000 Hz

If I’m learning, then I’d say the first is probably what I want because I’d guess it’s sensitive to sound sooner and goes higher before it clips the sound.

and any helpful hints with PZM use/set up if you can plz

thnx

JOE
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Gen 1:1

[Ty Ford]

Hello Joe,

40 Hz to 15kHz is wider than 80 Hz to 13 kHz, so, on the face of it, you hear more lows and more highs.

There may be a better word to use than “clip.” That word connotes some sort of destructive termination, at least to me.

Normally, a wider frequency response, also sometimes referred to as bandwidth, is a good thing. But frequency response specs alone can be deceptive. There are normally tolerances shown in specs like +/-. If one set of specs has wider +/- figures, that indicates that, for example, 15 kHz with a +/- 5 dB figure, then that means the 15 kHz may be raised or lowered by 5 dB. That’s pretty significant.

Also, a poorly engineered system, may show better frequency response but may not sound as good due to other compromises in the circuitry.

What I’m saying is that specs rarely tell the whole story and are frequently manipulated by the marketing dept. for best advantage. OTOH, there are companies that under report.

Regards,

Ty Ford

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[Joe Garcia]

thanks for the help Ty,,, sorry bout the ‘C’ word will call it degradation from now on…lol

JOE
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Gen 1:1

[Rodney Morris]

Even degradation isn’t appropriate. If a mic’s frequency response is 40Hz – 18kHz, then the mic will reproduce these frequencies. Any frequencies outside of that range will simply not be reproduced – it doesn’t mean they will clip the mic or somehow be distorted. Also, some mics have a “flat” frequency response, which means that all the freqs in it’s response range will be reproduced fairly equally. Other mics may have a “presence” peak, which means freqs in the 2K – 5K(ish) range will be slightly more present than the other frequencies.

Hope this helps.

Rodney Morris

Freelance Sound Technician/Mixer

[Joe Garcia]

Thank you sir,

now for the ‘totally NuBB’ question of the day,,,,

My AKG 300B has a little switch on it with three positions
lin, 75Hz, and 10db from the top down.
How and under what conditions do I employ these correctly.

The mic is for use on Panasonic DVX100 cam

thnx

JOE
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Gen 1:1

[Will Salley]

Joe,
The markings on the mic next to the switch refer to:

lin – short for linear, as in linear frequency response, which means the circuitry not attenuate (decreased) any parts of the frequency range of the mic.

75hz – indicates that when the switch is at this position, the frequency range will be attenuated. This is useful for certain conditions such as wind noise or handling noise that is most evident at or below 75db. It is similar to the effect of pulling down the lower bands on a graphic equalizer. Also known as “low cut”.

-10db – this position attenuates the entire signal from the mic. This feature is useful for recording very loud sources that would otherwise clip the signal.

FYI – Some mics have two switches for these functions, one for “low cut”, often with a choice of frequencies, the other for attenuation, again with a choice of -10db and -20db.

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[Ty Ford]

Um, what does the manual say? 🙂

Regards,

Ty

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[Joe Garcia]

Thanks Will !! that helps

Ty, I kid you not,,, the manual is less than pocket size and, limits any verbiage to short sentences that say nothing. Mostly just marketing for accessories and the like.
But the darn thing never addresses the use of the switch,, hence the post…

JOE
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Gen 1:1