AKG C411 PP, contact mic, any experience?

bopster

My first recording. I wanted to give folks a naked look at the mic run through a recorder with no eq, just relying on placement of the mic on the instrument for the sound. I recorded all the instruments with the AKG C441 PP: Ashbory bass, Dell 'Arte Robin Nolan as rhythm and on the lead. Each was recorded through a Lexicon Omega interface, then into my computer software. There are no effects or eq. Next up is recording the guitar/mic through my Fishman as an audio sample.

PierreGee

Bopster,

Thanks for doing what you're doing and sharing it with us! I'm impressed with your recording, which to my ears sounds fantastic for a relatively inexpensive stick-on pickup, minus any audio processing.

Curious about where the C411 was placed on your instruments.

Keep it coming!

Gratefully,
P

Craig Bumgarner

Interesting, sounds pretty good to me. Fairly acoustic sounding, a little thin maybe, but not bad at all really. Certainly better than any piezo I've ever heard. And not like a mag pickup, which to me is not a "bad" sound, just not acoustic. My understanding is you went straight to a computer interface, no amplifier. I'd be interested in how it sounds through a performance amp, played hard at a relatively high volume and what kind of tone and feed back threshold you get there.

I personally find it very hard to predict how anything (guitars, mics, amps) will sound in a gig environment based on what I hear in a room by myself. Even what I set up on site before a gig often ends up being modified substantially in the first couple songs. I know, I know, it is only the first 30 years that are hard.

I'd also be interested in your perceptions on dynamic range. What happens when you finish a solo and drop into rhythm. Many pickups have poor dynamic range are too loud for rhythm when right for solo and vice versa. Microphones are much better this way and I wonder if the AKG behaves like a mic.

Thanks for doing this! Nice playing.

Craig

bopster

Thanks for the compliments and feedback. Here's a video I compiled to compare the live guitar sound and several mic placements. The Fishman Loudbox 100 was used with a little bass eq added.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=N3yWZvKZ7_E

Craig Bumgarner

Excellent! Very good comparison. I think it sounds great, slight differences depending on location, but all sound very good to me. Thank you.

I went ahead and ordered one of these so I'll find out first hand eventually, but any thoughts on dynamic range and feedback threshold.

Craig

PierreGee

Thanks again Bopster, excellent video demonstration. It's funny, I dreampt the other night that I was playing through your rig! The Fishman Loudbox sounds great.

Craig, good to know that you're giving the C411 a go. I think you'll find both dynamic range and feedback threshold to be excellent. I had an interesting conversation with an AKG support rep a few years ago, in which he shared that he knew of only one customer who was dissatisfied with the C411's feedback threshold. Ironically, this person was using the pickup in the exact scenario as I do, which is with the Bose PAS system. The AKG tech said that this user was playing at extremely high volume levels and could not be convinced that he was well outside of the normal boundaries of loudness for the Bose system. The only time I hear any feedback from these units is if I happen to be leaning directly into the Bose's speaker array, say a foot away. It will indeed feedback, as any element will, yet I've found it to be very feedback resistant and stable over many years through hundreds of gigs in various rooms and outdoor venues.

This is a highly informative thread, which I'm going to post on B&H's site.

P

Joli Gadjo

Just as a side note to PierreGee: indeed the Loudbox is a good amp. Very convenient, easy to use and to setup. Works well with various pickups and microphones, indoors / outdoors. Does not feedback easily.
You can find it new / 2nd hand at a very decent price.

PierreGee

Thanks for the Loudbox feedback Joli. The only amp I use these days is a GK MB 150 bass amp for bass gigs. The vast majority of the time I'm playing various instruments through the Bose PAS system, which I highly recommend checking out. My trio plays through just one of these units via a Mackie mixer on the front end. Once we shifted from each using individual amps to the Bose, we never looked back!

Love your maj7 chord law.

P

PierreGee

I went ahead and ordered one of these so I'll find out first hand eventually, but any thoughts on dynamic range and feedback threshold.

Craig

Craig, have you received the C411-pp you ordered from B & H? If so, any feedback / opinions to share?

Thanks,
P

Craig Bumgarner

No, it appears to be back ordered from the manufacturer. B&H had it listed as "obtaining stock" or something like that, then after about three weeks, I got an automated email saying it was "back ordered". I take that to mean the manufacturer or distributor in Europe is low on stock. I'm not in a big rush, so I'm just standing by.