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James... « No stand? No problem. »
Published on 08/19/11 at 10:45This microphone was pretty much made for live use. I suppose you could use it to record but given all the options out there, it's really not that special for studio use. It does excel in the live environment however, as I think it was designed to. Despite the look of it, this mic has a very tight pickup pattern and it's a try dynamic to the bitter end. I think some people buy these thinking they are some kind of ribbon or even a condenser mic but they aren't. It really is just a dynamic mic. Think SM57ish in function.
OVERALL OPINION
I tour sometimes with smaller bands, and some of the stages I play are so small that I simply don't have room for a stand to use to mic my cab. This is bad since I typically like to use an SM57 or a large diaphram condenser to mic my cabs, which both require a stand. I used to mess with special compact SM57 stands but if they break on tour, you are stuck up river. I was recommended this mic since it is able to be hung from the mic cable over the back of the cab. Pretty genius actually when I think about it. But is the sound good? Well yes it is. It's like an Sm57 almost but with more bass response. It does require a bit off low end roll off at the board with certain speakers. No big deal. The main rig I use this with is a simple AD30 with an Orange 2x12 setup. It's pretty flat. Or flat for what it is. Usually these kind of mics have crazy peaks in certain spots. Not this one.
It has held up well to road abuse. I actually have 2 in case one dies on me. But it hasn't in the two years I've used it. I've heard they break easy but I've dropped mine maybe 6 times and so far so good. A little disclaimer...it's not the best guitar mic in the world and I'm not saying that. But when you don't have a stand it's probably the best you're gonna get. I wouldn't use it in the studio because it doesn't have enough character or flavor for a track.
OVERALL OPINION
I tour sometimes with smaller bands, and some of the stages I play are so small that I simply don't have room for a stand to use to mic my cab. This is bad since I typically like to use an SM57 or a large diaphram condenser to mic my cabs, which both require a stand. I used to mess with special compact SM57 stands but if they break on tour, you are stuck up river. I was recommended this mic since it is able to be hung from the mic cable over the back of the cab. Pretty genius actually when I think about it. But is the sound good? Well yes it is. It's like an Sm57 almost but with more bass response. It does require a bit off low end roll off at the board with certain speakers. No big deal. The main rig I use this with is a simple AD30 with an Orange 2x12 setup. It's pretty flat. Or flat for what it is. Usually these kind of mics have crazy peaks in certain spots. Not this one.
It has held up well to road abuse. I actually have 2 in case one dies on me. But it hasn't in the two years I've used it. I've heard they break easy but I've dropped mine maybe 6 times and so far so good. A little disclaimer...it's not the best guitar mic in the world and I'm not saying that. But when you don't have a stand it's probably the best you're gonna get. I wouldn't use it in the studio because it doesn't have enough character or flavor for a track.