Mutliple Mics

[oncall]

any suggestions on mic and preamps for an on air studio (16x16) with four on air mics in the same room.
Cheers

 

[menotti1]

audio technica 3035(CONDENSER) with DBX 286A will knock your socks off.cheap,too.199.00 each...

 

[dtube1]

Are you referring to mic processors (i.e. gating, compression, eq, de-ess, etc)? Or, just gain-only preamps?
-Darren

 

[oncall]

Pre amps with processing. I'm having some difficulties controlling the room when all four mics are on at the same time during our morning show. Sounds like they are all off mic. We are currently using AT 4047 mics with some 528's.

 

[dtube1]

Condensors are not your friend in that situation. Any of the large diaphragm dynamics will certainly work better - albeit you'll notice a difference in tone. Speaking in very general terms, condensor are much more sensitive (and more forgiving on mic technique) - dynamics aren't as sensitive and, as a result, need to be worked closer. You could play around with the gating on the 528's to minimize the leakage between mics. But, that only works if one person is speaking at a time; and if you have one or two loud people in the room, their voices will probably overcome the gates on the other mics unless they are set very aggressively (which typically drives the talent nuts: "why is my mic turning off when I turn my head?"). The EV RE-20 is the defacto standard for radio voice work: they have a wide sweet spot and sound fine for most voices. Personally, I prefer the Shure SM-7's as they don't turn to mud when run into heavy compression. The Sennheiser 421 is another candidate; I find them very mid-rangey and their mounting clip is proprietary and downright silly. The Heil PR-40 sounds great - very forward with a lot of detail - but the sweet spot is very narrow (you have to stay right in front of one to keep consistent sounding vocals).

Keep in mind that these are all my opinions and worth exactly what your paid for 'em ;D
-Darren

 

[SirRoxalot]

Rule of 3

One more thing to keep in mind is the "Rule of Three". Mics need to be 3x farther apart than the distance between the talent and the mic. For example, if your talent is 1 foot from the mic, the next mic has to be at least 3 feet away.

Otherwise, you have problems with multiple mics picking up talent simultaneously, which may introduce phasing problems - a hollow sound that makes people sound "off-mic" when they actually aren't.

 

[oncall]

Thanks for the guidance, I'l give that a try

 

[rcs]

Have you been in the studio to watch their mic technique (or lack thereof?) during the show? You can make some improvements by following the 3:1 rule as previously stated and making sure each mic is pointed at only one person if at all possible and ensuring that the person is using the mic correctly. I've seen jocks position their mic say to their right side when they are always talking to the person on their left which means they are off-mic much of the time. I've also seen jocks work 6" from the mic . . . that's just too far. Even had one guy point a RE-20 straight down towards the counter and talk into the side of it at one college station! Spend 15 minutes in the studio, or watching through the window, and you may be surprised by what you see.

Make sure they are running their levels correctly. Often times the board op isn't paying attention and one level is set much higher than the other. The mix doesn't sound too bad because the station processing compensates but that mic with the higher gain will pick up more room sound that it needs to.

And don't forget about the room acoustics. Do everything you can to deaden the room. A live room just makes the situation you describe worse.