SOUND ON SOUND

[mrMRKelly]

So, I plan on doing some live band recording through two Zoom F8ns. First of all, recording my own band, then possibly doing mobile based recording for other bands as a little business

I'd like to pick up a selection of decent microphones with a budget of around £1000 in total (buying several at once to take advantage of credit facilities etc). I've been doing lots of research and now just need to whittle down the selection a bit.

I would really appreciate some advice on the following mic selection if possible? I love recording and really want to enjoy using the mics that i buy! Quality of recording from source being the aim! ( I'm not worried about drum mics at this point (just 1x guitar and 1x bass).

Band Setup:

Guitar Cab (heavy sound - Marshall JVM - 4x12 cab i think):

I plan to buy: Beyer M160 combined with either an SM57, Beyer M201 TG or Sennheiser E602 or E906.

Now i'm not sure whether to get the M160 (although online reviews make me want it) and i also only want to buy 2 of the 4 dynamic mics. What are your thoughts?

Bass Cab (heavy and distorted - Ashdown 4x12 i think):
I plan to buy: AKG D112 alongside (again an E906, E602 or SM57)
Or just have perhaps have an EV RE320?

So far my current mic collection consists of:

Audix D6 & D1
Shure P98D (used on snare)
SE3 x2
SE220A
Superlux (mega cheap) drum mic set haha

I used 8 of these mics to do this recent recording of my band (4 on drums, 2 on Guitar and 2 on bass - (singer was overdubbed later). Hopefully this will give you a better idea of which mic i should buy to compliment this band sound now that i have another 8 inputs).

https://dirtydonations.bandcamp.com/track/the-apostle

Many thanks for any advice!

Kind regards - Matt

[Arpangel]

Sounds like you’re doing pretty well already, I’d try and go for higher quality versions of what you’ve got, replacing the SE's for instance, they have a bit of a dodgy top end, but not so you’d notice in your recording.

[ef37a]

The SM57 is of course THE goto mic for guitar cabs but do look for the best every article on micc'ing gitcabs ever done IMHO SOS Aug 07 iirc?

Dave.

[CS70]

Definitely go for the M160 for miking cabs! For the others, I've not used the M201 (so I don't know), but I own the 609 and had the 906 and they are "better" 57 - similar timbre but easier to use live if you mic on the grille since you can just hang them.

I also have a 57 (who doesnt?) and I use it in studio situation to mic a bit further from the grille, often in two-mic configuration together with the AEA N22. All in all I use the 57 more than the 609, but just because in the last years I've taken to use an Amplifire for live gigs (when there were live gigs, that is). In the studio the additional short stand for the 57 is readily available.

The e906 is slightly more "studio", it has more sensitivity and has better high end than the 609 but imho nothing that can't be done with a little EQ, and live you often cut the high end on distorted guitar anyway to leave space for vocals, so it's on loan to a friend. The 609 is what I use live (when I use a real amp) and it works.

[manwilde]

+1 on the M160. Aside of being a great sounding mic, it gets very little bleed if well positioned, if you plan on recording live.