Condenser V Dynamic Mic's

asimmd

I have written many times that I cant use my amps through the speaker because of the neighbours.

Anyway today I thought sod it I am going to try again so I hooked up my Dynamic mic put it close to the speaker cloth

and did a recording.

With the Amp turned up as loud as I dare the volume level was still very low.

On playback I used a Compresser to bring the volume up to a more acceptable level which wasn't too bad.

My question is,if I was to use a Condenser Mic would it give me more recorded volume for the same Amp setting considering it

needs 48v phantom power.

If not could you suggest a possible fix for my problem maybe a pre-amp would sort it?

ecc83

Yes, a condenser mic will give you more level but there are drawbacks.

A dynamic mic on a guitar amp working at the "sweetspot" sound level is reckoned to be THE sound. A capacitor/ condenser mic will give a much wider bandwidth, and could sound fizzy and gritty. This could probably be mollified with software EQ.

IMHO a Small D cap' mic would be the best choice. Not as sensitive as the big jobs but still 10dB, 3x hotter than most dynamics. If you can run to it get one with a 20dB pad switch e.g. AKG Perception 170.

For perhaps THE best dissertation on recording G amps Google> Sound on Sound Aug 07.

Dave.

Danny1969

Condensor mic is much more sensitive so will pick up the sound of the dog next door and the sound of your pick on the strings if your in the same room

If you can't get a decent amount of level in the mic it's often better to record direct IMHO

asimmd

Thank you for the replies.

I was considering the Audio Technica AT2020 which seems reasonable and gets a good review in SOS.

I was recording direct but everyone tells me the sound from a speaker is better so I wanted to try it.

So far I have only tried my Vox AC15 C1 but I will soon be getting my MJW amp and cab so I wanted to try it with

that setup before reverting back to DI.

Looks like its swings and roundabouts,i like the sound I get from DI Boogie 5/25 so I wont have lost anything

if this experiment does not work.

octatonic

Try a ribbon and a dynamic in tandem.

ChrisMusic

What have you plugged your mic into asimmd ?  Do you not have enough gain on the mic preamp to being the level up ?

Another alternative is to baffle and reduce the volume in the room but close mic the cabinet (btw, is it an open or closed back cabinet).  An old duvet or two, large cushions, or a mattress can be useful as sound deadening.  I think @digitalscream had plans or was actually coin something like this fairly recently.

For every problem there is usually a solution  :o3

asimmd

The mic is plugged into my Focusrite Saffire Pro14 interface. The mic is connected to the interface via a split cable and the volumes on both preamps are on full. Since asking the question I have reverted back to the DI way of recording and I must say I prefer it that way. That's not to say I won't be trying the mic again I will but I think I will wait for my MJW amp before trying again.

BigMonka

ecc83 said:

For perhaps THE best dissertation on recording G amps Google> Sound on Sound Aug 07.

That's a quality article, thanks for the link Dave.

PolarityMan

asimmd said:

The mic is plugged into my Focusrite Saffire Pro14 interface. The mic is connected to the interface via a split cable and the volumes on both preamps are on full. Since asking the question I have reverted back to the DI way of recording and I must say I prefer it that way. That's not to say I won't be trying the mic again I will but I think I will wait for my MJW amp before trying again.

what's the split cable?

asimmd

The cable is a mic cable that splits into 2 male XLR plugs. One is plugged into each of the two inputs on the Focusrite to give recording on both channels on an audio track in Mixcraft 7. If I was to use a Condenser mic I don't know how I would use the split cable because phantom power is switched on on both channels at once.

Cirrus

Can you not just plug into one input and record a mono track? Surely that'd make miles more sense!

asimmd

I will have to do that if I get a condenser mic but for now doing it this way does give a bit more volume.

ecc83

Hmm, you should not have a problem with that Focusrite interface. They are noted for having good pre amps and the 60dB of gain should be adequate even with the dynamic mic.

I wonder if you are trying to record too high a level? In the software the meters should read an average of -18dBFS and even as low as -25dBFS would be fine, peaks no higher than -8dB or so.

You can then bring that level up digitally and assuming you are running 24bits there will be no noise penalty.

You mentioned "compression"? Not really the way to increase levels. I used Samplitude mostly and in that you can "normalize" to any level of 0dBFS or below. No doubt the facility is in your DAW as well.

Dave.

Danny1969

Mmm as mentioned waste of time mic'ing up unless you can get enough level in the mic to make it work and that generally means the guitar needs to be as loud in front of the mic as someone singing into it. I suspect your mic'ed efforts were really too low a volume

If you have to record at low volume then a condensor will be a waste of time as it will pick up every noise in the house as well as the guitar and if the guitar amp is at lowish volume the wanted signal to unwanted noise will be unusable. 

asimmd

I had forgotten about the "Normalise" feature so I will try that next. I must say that I have gone back to using the DI method and it sounds fine. I also tried using Torpedo Wall of Sound plugin for some speaker emulation and while it did sound different it's too early to say whether it was better or not.

PolarityMan

asimmd said:

The cable is a mic cable that splits into 2 male XLR plugs. One is plugged into each of the two inputs on the Focusrite to give recording on both channels on an audio track in Mixcraft 7. If I was to use a Condenser mic I don't know how I would use the split cable because phantom power is switched on on both channels at once.

that sounds pretty bizarre to me, a dynamic mic wont be damaged if you have phantom power on so i wouldnt worry about it and just use a single preamp, if your not getting enough gain something is wrong, do you have a pad engaged or something?

asimmd

No there is no pad I think the problem is that I can't have the amp loud enough to get a loud enough signal into the mic. As I said I think staying with DI is my best bet but I won't give up trying to find a solution.

thermionic

This is bizarre, splitting a mic signal into two preamp channels to get more volume and trying to fix it with compression. WTF?

No reason why you can't get a perfectly fine recording level with a dynamic mic into a preamp from an AC15 at living room volume. Something very basic is wrong in your setup.

Nerine

Why can't you just increase your input gain?? Sounds to me like the mic is the least of your worries, with the greatest of respect.