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#1837559 - 02/02/12 11:33 PM
AKG 414 settings & placement for Grand
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Full Member
Registered: 11/17/07
Posts: 226
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I'm using 2 AKG 414 XLMs at a 7ft2in grand. Lid up. Mics are 6ft6in high facing the lid (middle of the piano), about 1ft 6 inches out from the piano. The mics are about 1 ft apart and angled slightly away from each other, one pointing towards the bass, the other towards the treb.
I'm getting nice results with -12 on the headroom and the omnidirectional setting.
But I don't know what I'm doing. I just know that 0 headroom seems to give me a tinny treb. As for the polar settings, I just heard somewhere to use omni on a piano.
Music is solo classical and jazz.
Any thoughts from pros?
Also, what the next step up, meaning REALLY up, from these mics (which I'm renting)?
Thanks,
JG
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#1837869 - 02/03/12 10:57 AM
Re: AKG 414 settings & placement for Grand
[Re: johnlewisgrant]
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1000 Post Club Member
Registered: 03/12/07
Posts: 1282
Loc: Glendale, Ca.
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I'm getting good results with the DPA 4011s....
Edited by Dave Ferris (02/03/12 12:49 PM)
Edit Reason: enough info
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#1837872 - 02/03/12 11:04 AM
Re: AKG 414 settings & placement for Grand
[Re: johnlewisgrant]
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Full Member
Registered: 11/17/07
Posts: 226
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I was at the dpa website.... I'll be checking them out in the next couple of weeks. The biggest rental outfit in this Town (for music) swears by the 414s. But I don't want to leave any stone unturned. I'm a total newbie. I don't really know what "headroom" in the contexts of mics amounts to in the final recorded result!
JG
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#1837958 - 02/03/12 12:59 PM
Re: AKG 414 settings & placement for Grand
[Re: johnlewisgrant]
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500 Post Club Member
Registered: 07/18/09
Posts: 958
Loc: uk south
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414 is a great mic. I have 1 (can't afford a 2nd). Not exactly THE best maybe but used on hundreds of pro piano recordings I should imagine. Mic placement is a big topic and there are lots of differing opinions. It depends upon the sound you want to achieve and what kind of room you are in, whether you need separation etc. Basically there is no alternative other than trying some different mic positions and seeing which sounds best to you. Don't be afraid to try other response patterns, especially if you for a closer placement cardiod may well be better than omni. Maybe this will help you get started ... http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/may99/articles/recpiano.htm
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#1837972 - 02/03/12 01:25 PM
Re: AKG 414 settings & placement for Grand
[Re: beeboss]
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Full Member
Registered: 11/17/07
Posts: 226
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414 is a great mic. I have 1 (can't afford a 2nd). Not exactly THE best maybe but used on hundreds of pro piano recordings I should imagine. Mic placement is a big topic and there are lots of differing opinions. It depends upon the sound you want to achieve and what kind of room you are in, whether you need separation etc. Basically there is no alternative other than trying some different mic positions and seeing which sounds best to you. Don't be afraid to try other response patterns, especially if you for a closer placement cardiod may well be better than omni. Maybe this will help you get started ... http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/may99/articles/recpiano.htmYup... I've been absorbing that site over the last couple of days!!! (What with the beer to help it's been a little slow. I now understand, for example, that since my piano's in a smallish room I'm probably looking at a mic placement over the rim of the instrument, coincedent (I now understand what that means), over the holes, pointed left to treb strings, right to bass. Such a fantastic site, but not a mention of the meaning and sig. of "headroom" for mics. Also, nothing about the various polarity settings on the 414 (must be similar for all mics). I'm still playing with them. Must return in 2 weeks!!! (Hey, beeboss, South of England...my GraPa (long dead) hails from the environs of Send, Surrey. I'm not sure that's South, but it could be.) JG
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#1838010 - 02/03/12 02:41 PM
Re: AKG 414 settings & placement for Grand
[Re: johnlewisgrant]
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500 Post Club Member
Registered: 07/18/09
Posts: 958
Loc: uk south
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re headroom - basically you should set the mic level so that however loud you are going to play you don't overdrive the input on your mixer or interface. If the signal is too loud with the amount of adjustment you have on your mixer/interface then pop in the 10 db pad on the mic to send less level to reduce the level you are sending. The polarity you want is basically the directionality of the mic pickup, so omni is picking up (more or less) equally from any direction and carded with pick up (more or less) only from the front. If you have the mics outside the piano and set to omni you may be getting too much noise from the room. Maybe best to just try different settings and compare them, see which you like. Read more about it here … http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/mar07/articles/micpatterns.htmI live about 50 miles from Send which is in the south.
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#1838022 - 02/03/12 03:11 PM
Re: AKG 414 settings & placement for Grand
[Re: beeboss]
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Full Member
Registered: 11/17/07
Posts: 226
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re headroom - basically you should set the mic level so that however loud you are going to play you don't overdrive the input on your mixer or interface. If the signal is too loud with the amount of adjustment you have on your mixer/interface then pop in the 10 db pad on the mic to send less level to reduce the level you are sending. The polarity you want is basically the directionality of the mic pickup, so omni is picking up (more or less) equally from any direction and carded with pick up (more or less) only from the front. If you have the mics outside the piano and set to omni you may be getting too much noise from the room. Maybe best to just try different settings and compare them, see which you like. Read more about it here … http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/mar07/articles/micpatterns.htmI live about 50 miles from Send which is in the south. Great... that article is perfect.... JG
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