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Please note this is an archived topic, so it is locked and unable to be replied to. You may, however, start a new topic and refer to this topic with a link: http://www.banjohangout.org/archive/386958
Josephpetrie - Posted - 11/19/2022: 04:06:23
Hi All,
I use a "Marantz Professional MPM-2000U USB Condenser" mic for recording radio shows on my laptop.
It seems to be priced around $100 online.
I was hoping to use it to record some tunes on my laptop probably using Audacity.
How good/bad is that likely to be for recording a banjo?
Thanks for any advice,
Joe
davidppp - Posted - 11/19/2022: 09:18:12
About a decade ago, I started trying to understand the science of how different banjos have different voices. I bought a Samson CO1U USM mic and recorded into Audacity. It still sells for about $110. At some point, I had a chance to talk to Uwe and Jens Kruger. Uwe mentioned that they had used that same mic for many years long ago. (Caveat: Before being recognized and hugely successful, the Brothers had spent years busking on the streets of Europe.) Overcoming shyness about my own playing, I realized I had to include sound samples in my posts. You can find zillions buried in the write-ups linked from its.caltech.edu/~politzer/ . Those are compressed mp3's. My proper, Cambridge University research buddy always asked for "uncompressed" wav files for his computer analyses. I can't hear the differences, and he is always willing to go with the mp3's where the computers insist. (They're in charge.) I recently "upgraded" to an AKG C1000S mic, into a Sure X2U USB adapter. That's more money, but I don't pay out of my own pocket. (I have some angels on my side; I'm lucky in that respect.) I still can't hear a difference.
But there are people who care A LOT about the differences. Deering Banjos posts some videos with experts on the subject: deeringbanjos.com/pages/live , deeringbanjos.com/pages/how-to-mic-a-banjo . (In case those links are garbled, the first is from 3/18 and features John Jennings and Matt Coles, the second Alison Brown and Stuart Duncan).
I can't hear microphone differences. But I certainly hear room sound and microphone placement effects.
Roger McGuinn was a pioneer in musicians taking control of their recordings and using home and computer as their studio. His Web site described his gear, and he spent thousands of dollars on his mics.
banjoak - Posted - 11/19/2022: 18:45:49
It looks to be about the same quality of most other mics in that range... these days is pretty darn good. Esp for most home studio projects.
At minimum a good enough mic to start learning about recording. Since already own it... costs you nothing to try it. Listen to the result; how does it sound? Is it good enough for your expectations, needs?
As you learn, understand process more, wanting better quality... the mic still might not be main issue (buying a $$$ mic might not fix). Many engineers suggest suggest start with learning to get the most out of the equip you own. Need to learn to listen, figure out in what way sound deficient, and then how to improve the sound, as davidppp mentioned; all the other stuff like mic placement, EQ, noise. The room plays big part. As well need to account for how you listen back, speaker/room set up (that is, poor sound might not be the mic, but what listening on; like a laptop). The best bang for buck ($ or time) is probably not the mic.
How good/bad is that likely to be for recording a banjo?
Should note few things, a lot of this is subjectivity; different mics have different color; and no one size fits all to source; not all banjos sound the same; as well, the end result is subjective; what do you want it to sound like (or what is good/bad to you?) That said, many of these price range condenser mics have a bump in the high freq that some find adds bit bright crisp clarity; others find bit harsh for some sources, or taste. Again, hard to say until listen to results; and might be able to adjust that a bit with placement and EQ settings, (or various plugins, compression, de-esser, glue); mixing and mastering. At this point of trying to get much better control, might also consider a better DAW than Audacity; and better studio monitoring.
