Banned Joe 90 - Posted - 10/21/2016:  13:47:14

I have been thinking about what mic might work best in a live situation with my band. We play a mix of bluegrass and folk and I play 3 finger Scruggs style in the band. We are all acoustic instruments so there is no drum kit or electric guitars to battle against.  My default position has always been an SM57 but others in the band have suggested that I try other mics. So I decided to do a shoot out with some mics I already own and see what people thought sounded good and not so good. The mics are all about 8 inches away from the head and are all pointed towards the resonator holes on the lower side of the banjo.

I haven't processed the sound at all, except for normalising each clip. The mics I used are a Shure SM57, AKG C1000s, Golden Age FC1 MK2, SE Electronics SE1A and a T-Bone RB500 Ribbon MIc. I have done this as a blind test. I would be interested in hearing peoples opinions about what sounds good. The banjo is a Goodtime Carolina King Special by the way :-)

Cheers, Pete

soundcloud.com/grizzlygroverec...shoot-out

Old Hickory - Posted - 10/21/2016:  20:42:12

#4 - fullest sound to my ear. Has depth and volume lacking in 1-3.  Can't really describe it any more than that.

#5 close second

#3 is worst - all it has is high end and seems like the banjo is overpowering it.

#1 and 2 are just weak.

Curious as to whether you did the tests without adjusting input gain or trim for the different mics.  If so, that's not really fair or accurate.  I think mics should be tested and compared at the input level that allows them to sound their best.  They'll still sound different, of course.

Banned Joe 90 - Posted - 10/21/2016:  23:16:28

Hi there,thanks for your input :-) yes I set the gain as close to 0db for each mic as possible in order try and have a level playing field. Will let a few more people comment then reveal what each mic was....

Bill Rogers - Posted - 10/21/2016:  23:37:07

Exactly what Ken (Old Hickory) said.  I hadn't read his comments before listening.

RB-1 - Posted - 10/22/2016:  02:40:37

I wasn't impressed by the tone from any mike.

8" away from the head is way too close for capturing the entire banjo sound.

If you're that close, the banjo sound varies wildly with the place on the head you're aiming at. No way you can maintain this aim while playing.

1' would be a good minimum. That's why a large membrane condenser is the way too go.

I discovered this when I upgraded from Neumann KM-84 to Audix SCX-25A

The only exception to me would be outdoors, when there is wind (=always). Then I'll step down to a SM-58 and do the best I can.

Leigh - Posted - 10/22/2016:  10:15:42

4 then 5. 

Old Hickory - Posted - 10/22/2016:  11:13:05

quote: 

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Originally posted by Banned Joe 90

yes I set the gain as close to 0db for each mic as possible in order try and have a level playing field.

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Great. In that case, my rankings stand. Since the gain was normalized, that shows these mics are clearly different.

I agree with what Bruno said.  Banjo sound is a combination of attack then sustain, ring and decay.  The attack can be picked up close. But that follow-up sound develops a bit further away from the instrument, so miking too close doesn't capture it all.  For live performance, I actually prefer close miking, but not for recording.

Anyway, thanks for sharing the test.

Banned Joe 90 - Posted - 10/22/2016:  11:43:49

So here is the order of the mics - 

1 - SE Electronics SE1A Small Diaphagm Condensor Mic 

2- Golden Age FC 1 MK 2 Large Diaphagm Condenser Mic

3 - T-bone RB500 Ribbon Mic 

4 - Shure SM 57 

5 AKG C1000s Back Electret Mic

The big surprise for me was number 5, came out surprisingly well (I had used it for recording a guitar and voice and it sounded shrill and had no warmth at all).  Thanks for your all your replies, appreciate people taking the time to listen. So looks like the SM57 is the winner. Probably not that much of a surprise I guess considering the amount of pro's that swear by it :-)

Bill Rogers - Posted - 10/23/2016:  03:53:12

A great mike.  Rugged; works when you expect it to; very reasonably priced.  There's a reason they've been around forever.--Yes; that's what I have.

Doug Knecht - Posted - 10/23/2016:  21:01:18

I liked the sound of the AKG C1000s best (#5).

Another great mic is the SM81 if you need a good condenser for banjo.

Banned Joe 90 - Posted - 10/24/2016:  08:56:00

quote:

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Originally posted by Doug Knecht

 

I liked the sound of the AKG C1000s best (#5).

Another great mic is the SM81 if you need a good condenser for banjo.

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Hi Doug, yer, I was pleasantly surprised by the c1000s, it had been sitting around gathering dust, but might get a bit more use now. Will check out the SM81  :-)

Joe the banjo guy - Posted - 10/26/2016:  12:56:10

5 was my favorite.  Sounded the most natural and least distorted.  

4 would be my second favorite.  

drbluegrass - Posted - 11/01/2016:  19:12:32

The new mics from Ear Trumpet Labs are absolute killers. Heard Joe Mullins using two of them (Edwinas I think). Sounded fabulous and they're not exceedingly pricey...MSR is $550. I'm sure the street price is a good bit less. Wonderful sounding mics. They look really cool too.

Edited by - drbluegrass on 11/01/2016 19:13:30