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Choir mics


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One thing I don't have in my live sound rig is something good for picking up a choir or other wider spread input. I tried some mics from my home recording studio but all were way to hot and fed back before anything useful was achieved, as i expected.

 

I wouldn't use them (it) much but what are some mics in this area to consider. I donate my time and equipment, no money made, it's just a hobby. Looking for a few price point options.

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i have a pair of cad m179's. very versatile, neutral and natural sounding. i have thousands of hours on these and have yet to find something they do not do with excellence. you can get a pair for under $400.

 

p.s. they draw a ton of phantom.

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I tend to prefer large diaphragm condensers. My favorite for choirs right now is the Shure KSM32. Of course it depends on the situation, set-up, size of choir, budget, etc. Kind of the industry standard hanging choir mic is the Audio Technica AT853, which I've also had success with. I like to use them in musicals and such too. A small diaphragm condenser like the SM81 will get you by in most situations. In a hostile environment (say a kids choir in a gymnasium) give me a handful of SM57's please. Something to remember - don't bother putting the choir mics in the monitors. They're not used to singing with monitors anyway, so there's no need. Always keep your mic line upstage of your FOH speakers. EQ your system ringing out the choir mics. If you still need more gain, try panning mics slightly (assuming your rig's in stereo) to the opposite sides SL mics to the HL mains, SR mics to the HR mains.

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Thanks for the feedback. Just as a baseline, AT4041's were WAY too sensitive to avoid feedback, no amount of EQ even made a significant improvement. I never put a choir in the monitors. I was looking for something more like our church pulpit mic in terms of gbf.

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i find the 4041 to have too uneven a response for things like a choir. i do like the 4041, and find it quite good on overheads but to me it has kind of a scoopy sound in the mids.

 

i have never had GBF issue with the 4041 though. you're going to have to layout exactly what you are doing here so we can help you figure out what it is you are doing wrong.

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What I'm trying to do is capture a wider sound source, not something focused like a single voice or instrument. I put a 4041 right next to our pulpit mic at church (also a condenser) and didn't get it much past around 1/3 of what the pulpit mic is set at and it started to feed back, and that was with no intentional sound going through it and the monitors off. In an auditorium I had similar results when trying to use a pair of AT4041's to capture a choir. The 4041's work great in my recording studio but really struggle with live use. In the auditorium it was about 4' off the ground pointed very slightly upward, located about 4 feet behind the invisible line between the main speakers which were about 30' apart. The other mics (Countryman E6, Audic OM2) didn't feed back even when held close to the speakers and in front of them.

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One thing I don't have in my live sound rig is something good for picking up a choir or other wider spread input. I tried some mics from my home recording studio but all were way to hot and fed back before anything useful was achieved, as i expected.


I wouldn't use them (it) much but what are some mics in this area to consider. I donate my time and equipment, no money made, it's just a hobby. Looking for a few price point options.

 

 

There's this, but it's a tad on the expensive side. Works great, though - the vertical pattern really is quite narrow.

 

-Dan.

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i find the 4041 to have too uneven a response for things like a choir. i do like the 4041, and find it quite good on overheads but to me it has kind of a scoopy sound in the mids.


i have never had GBF issue with the 4041 though. you're going to have to layout exactly what you are doing here so we can help you figure out what it is you are doing wrong.

 

 

Pretty good description of the At4041's. I own a pair and really like them because they do have that "tame" midrange. But I have used them for amateur plays and so on with good results.

 

As to feedback I find they are less prone to feedback then some other mics, like the Rode NT5's, simply because they have that flat or "scooped" midrange.

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