Good Mic for Bass

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bluesbass
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Good Mic for Bass

Post by bluesbass »

Hi guys,
Firstly, not sure if this is in the right forum or not... if not, Mods please feel free to move :D

My question is... can anyone recommend a good all round mic for about 200 odd nicker, that records well in front of a bass cab and can be used for live gigs also.
Does such a beast exist, in that price range?
If not, whats the next best more expensive mic for the job, and how much are we talking?

Cheers
Sean
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Re: Good Mic for Bass

Post by Capt. Black »

Hey BB. Have you read any opinions from bass forums? If so, what have they recommended?

A lot of kick drum mics are considered good for bass. Likewise there are quite a few large diaphragm condenser mics that can do the biz too. And not forgetting Ribbon mics!
Of course, there's always the good old SM57 to try too.
The main thing for any mic is that it needs to be able to handle very high SPL. That isn't always about volume. Low frequencies have a lot of energy which could overpower a mic in some instances.

There's a lot to be had in the $200-300 range. I own and have tried AKG D112 and Audix D6 on bass. I've tried various LDCs and my Avantone Ribbon mic. In most cases they've been recorded with a DI for safety and to be honest, The DI has usually been the primary sound for the recording. If the bass/amp/cab have something really special going on in combination then the mic track can be superb, but that's the exception rather than the rule.
In my vastly limited experience, a DI with a bit of mic mixed in for color has had the best results. But I've never been let down by a DI... except those bloody Sansamp pedals. Ugggh!

The question is, what do have now and what do you not like about it?

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Re: Good Mic for Bass

Post by rickenbackerkid »

Mate, this is proper unconventional, but I like to use a old fashioned SM57, or E609. I EQ that for some brightness and to bring out the detail in the upper register. Then I take a DI as well, and leave it really flat so that it’s got lots of lows and no nasty peaky frequencies.

Mixed together I get some great tones. I actually had a gig recently where the bass was sounding pretty tasty (great player) and a very talented local sound guy came over to ask about my EQ on the bass, he flipped out when he saw I was using an E609 for 80% of the tone.

He also wanted to know my secret to the amazing snare tone, obviously expecting a magic EQ and compression setting.
I giggled internally to show him my entirely flat EQ and bypassed compressor. Nice little ego boost for me :-)

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Re: Good Mic for Bass

Post by bluesbass »

Capt. Black wrote:The question is, what do have now and what do you not like about it?
Thanks Capt.
I don't have anything 'cept the DI from the back of the amp.
I was wanting to try the combination of both, and I think I would like to get a bit of the organic sound of my 4x10 pushing some... and it can't hurt to "double bag it" some eh?
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Re: Good Mic for Bass

Post by NZRS-Dave »

Capt - did you ever get around to trying the Audix i5 for bass? I've been told it's pretty good and that would be my opinion of it - except that I've never actually tried anything else. When I recorded a bass track I DI'd the whole thing as the AKG D112 in front of the amp wasn't plugged in properly.

Audix i5 is Audix's answer to Shure's SM57 ... and it's a pretty good answer on the whole.
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Re: Good Mic for Bass

Post by Capt. Black »

A handy mic review and comparison recordings. Worth a listen as a starting point.

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Re: Good Mic for Bass

Post by crowbgood1 »

i5 is better for guitar than a 57 but 57 seems better for bass.(my numb ears) Very hard to put either mic in the wrong place. The veterans still just hang em off the lead.
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Re: Good Mic for Bass

Post by Capt. Black »

NZRS-Dave wrote:...the Audix i5 for bass?.....
Dave, I have the Audix drum mic kit that includes a D6 and an i5. I like them both. They are hyped and scooped which reduces the need for much eq. Everything sounds good with them. But knowing BBs sound personally, they may not be right for him.

Mind you, I reckon there's no real right mic for bass. You can get a great sound out of just about anything. Especially mixed with DI.

I got one of the UA LA-610MkII channel strips last year. Tried it on all kinds of stuff, even live bass. It's bloody nice and full of tube-y character. I'd chuck a bass through that first thing any time I record now. Very few things it won't make sound nice.

So yeah a cheap mic mixed alongside a DI through a nice expensive pre or channel strip can sound amazing! :lol:

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Re: Good Mic for Bass

Post by NZRS-Dave »

Nice.
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Re: Good Mic for Bass

Post by otisredding »

For $200 I'd be looking at SM57s too bro. Best bass cab mic I have heard though is the ElectroVoice RE20. Stunning but probs not in the budget? :wink:

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Re: Good Mic for Bass

Post by Capt. Black »

Hey Dave, while we're on the subject of mics, overseas prices for SM57s have dropped 45%. US$89 retail now. Any word on when local prices are set to follow suit?

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Re: Good Mic for Bass

Post by rickenbackerkid »

otisredding wrote:For $200 I'd be looking at SM57s too bro. Best bass cab mic I have heard though is the ElectroVoice RE20. Stunning but probs not in the budget? :wink:
yuss, great on guitar, kick, bass amp, vocals. love them.

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Re: Good Mic for Bass

Post by NZRS-Dave »

Capt. Black wrote:Hey Dave, while we're on the subject of mics, overseas prices for SM57s have dropped 45%. US$89 retail now. Any word on when local prices are set to follow suit?
Not sure - of course prices will be always 15% off the boil because suppliers have to pay GST on the stock they bring in, where as one or two at a time won't attract GST.

The cheapest new one I could find quickly was USD$99 (which I believe is the US MAP for these) and you'd have USD$30-40 in freight

US Price : $99
US Freight : $30
US Total : $129
Convert to NZ Dollars : $158.xx - ($0.8120 sell rate courtesy of Westpac today)
Add C/Card Comm Fees : $163.xx - (3-7% depending on your bank)

If you wanted SM57s for $169 - I could do that. Coincidentally, that's the same price as the Audix i5 is at the moment.
Yup - that's me and my pal Steve or little stevie vai as I like to call him. In Auckland airport when I was 26. I'm not 26 anymore.

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Re: Good Mic for Bass

Post by nzsimon1 »

and the audio-technica atm650 is a smidgen more at $179 but I do the 20% off to forum members ( if I am allowed ?) or the cheaper PRO63 at 125 less etc

A really interesting mic is the dual element atm250de it has two capsules one condensor and one dynamic time aligned , it uses two ch on the desk . It was designed for Kick but is superb on Bass , Guitar or Piano , strings etc
same 20% applies $490 rrp

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Good Mic for Bass

Post by Capt. Black »

NZRS-Dave wrote:
Capt. Black wrote:Hey Dave, while we're on the subject of mics, overseas prices for SM57s have dropped 45%. US$89 retail now. Any word on when local prices are set to follow suit?
Not sure - of course prices will be always 15% off the boil because suppliers have to pay GST on the stock they bring in, where as one or two at a time won't attract GST.

The cheapest new one I could find quickly was USD$99 (which I believe is the US MAP for these) and you'd have USD$30-40 in freight

US Price : $99
US Freight : $30
US Total : $129
Convert to NZ Dollars : $158.xx - ($0.8120 sell rate courtesy of Westpac today)
Add C/Card Comm Fees : $163.xx - (3-7% depending on your bank)

If you wanted SM57s for $169 - I could do that. Coincidentally, that's the same price as the Audix i5 is at the moment.
Thanks Dave but what I was asking is, when US distributor price drops, the intl' distro price is not usually far behind. Any sign of that yet?

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