This week Jon reviews the Red12 and Green12 shotgun shell microphones from 12 Gauge Microphones.
LINKS
12 Gauge Microphones
3 reverb technique from Fab Dupont (mentioned in comments this week)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiTb9R826j0
Show 149 – 12 Gauge Microphones reviewed and more
As Jon is aware I also have a pair of each of the 12 Gauge Mics.
I concur with his review. I think I like the Red12’s best although the Greens do have an appealing sound so would not write them off.
They are cool mics and great to have in the closet. Not exactly sure when or how I would use one yet. At the price they are worth the spend. And as mentioned make great gifts for muso’s and engineers. They also make great conversation starters.
I have a “bulldog clip” (Do you use that term?) style mic clip (the spring style) that works fine also a set of pencil mic suspension mic clips and that also work.
Maybe one day I will cut one of my mics open and see what is going on inside. Be interested to know!
All I need how is a real 12 gauge shotgun with a mic fixed down the firing pin end of the barrel to use as a shotgun mic. LOL I can just image one of them hung on the studio wall with a carton of these 12 Gauge Mics sitting nearby.
Now that that *would* be a set of killer mics. 😉
Steve
Best line of the show (from the comment section):
Mike W: “I think I heard Jon say near the end of the show that Pro Tools 10 dropped the 002.”
So basically Mike is saying that Avid dropped a deuce with Pro Tools 10. I could have told you that weeks ago. …and I concur. Sorry for just destroying your chances at getting Avid as an HRS sponsor.
SO many comments about being hung in the studio. That’s what she s… oh, never mind.
Ride the lightning,
-James
Sorry guys, I changed my mind.
Best line of the show…
Ryan: “But then if everybody goes ‘Oh, this feels great!’ you go from asshole to Superman.”
That’s what SHE said…
RTL,
-James
Of course great show fellas! I know that this is said often but their truly is no other podcast on home recording like HRS. Bow down IHR. 😉 This is a completely off topic question, but any tips on knowing when to change the tone settings on the guitar, the pedal, or the amp? It seems like I never know what to change first. Thanks guys, 200 shows by 2013!
dan
I’ve been following the show for years and have learned a lot… Yes, I have actually listened to every show, though I’ve have never left a comment. I bet there’s thousands of people like me who listen, learn and laugh. Great Show. I know I’m a better at recording because of it.
Question: I’m luck enough to have several mid-level mics, a few Michael Joly mic mods, an Advanced Audio CM414, Stellar Sound CM6, MXL v89, AKG 451eb, CAD M179, a ribbon mic, Karma k10s, etc. Each has its own characteristics. Instinctively, I’d pick something that will capture the best of the sound quality I’m trying to record.
Do you ever find yourself picking a mic to tone down a sound, picking a mic to tame something that is too crisp, or too bassy. Or do you always pick a mic to complement the sound, instrument or voice you’re recording, whether smooth, rich, deep, or crisp.
Thanks again, – always looking forward to the next show.
Phil
(Oh by the way, at the end of the show you always say “there’s plenty more where that came from” your not referring to how much work John has to do to edit the show, and there’s plenty more for him to do, does it… 😉
Great show, keep up the good work guys, I just wish Ryan didn’t sound like a Robot when reading out the Comments.
Was really surprised to hear you descriptions and preferences of the various mics. You didn’t say what kind of acoustic guitar you were using so i don’t kow if it was the guitar or the mics, but personally, I thought both the shotgun mics sounded rather thin and hollow, making the guitar sound like a zither or auto-harp. Not saying the mics don’t have their uses, just that on the acoustic guitar they sounded really thin and hollow. Also a bit surprised you preferred them to the AT2021 as it had a much fuller, and complete sound of all the mics. The snare and bass drum both had more presence and punch than the other mics. I’m sure running the signal through an RTA or similar analyzer would show this to be true. There was more bottom and depth to the AT2021. As to high end ringing, I thought both the shotgun mics had a noticeable high end ring the other two did not have. Again, not knowing the quality or type of acoustic guitar used, some of he thinness and hollowness of sound might have been due to the guitar, but considering there was virtually no bottom end I don’t think it was just the guitar. Again, I am not saying the mics are not good or not useful, just that for acoustic guitar or drums, they did not cut it for me at all. And as much as I love the smooth sound of the AT4040 (it is the closest AT mic to my AT 4047SP), for $149 or $95 on sale at times, the AT2035 is a really nice, predictable, and fairly flat mic. And if you want a really good small condenser that is still reasonably priced, I recommend you check out the AT 4041. You will spend as much as twice as much on other mics to approach the sound and quality.
From show 148: Shawn, don’t worry about X-1. Ryan and Jon are a bit Apple centric and because Sonar is PC only, they tend to dismiss it, although erroneously. From their own admissions, Ryan has never used Sonar and Jon’s experience only goes back to Sonar 7 and neither have any experience with X-1. As a dedicated PC user, Mac’s not only being a bit overpriced relative to what you get, with the advent of Windows 7 PC’s are every bit as good and even better in some ways. just look at all the really great FREE audio software that is out there for PC’s that doesn’t exist for the Mac. I will put my i7, quad core (which with hyper threading runs as an 8 core) PC up against any MAc. Anyway, I was a devoted Cubease user for several years and with the advent of Sonar 8.5 and the incredible sound engine, I have switched and have never looked back. With the introduction of X-1 Producer (and now expanded) with its amazing versatility and its incredible complement of extremely high end plugins and VST’s, as far as I’m concerned, it is the best DAW for PC’s out there. Why anyone would waste the money and never ending expensiveness of Pro Tools which has maybe half the features and capabilities of X-1, why anyone would chose Pro Tools at this point is beyond me. Jon has moved so far away from Pro Tools he now has a Reaper blog. And I will put my Focusrite Saffire Pro 40 and MOTU 828MKIII Hybrid up against just about any Digidesign/Avid interface as well. In a German podcast/website a while back, the head of Metric Halo was on for a blind interface shootout. He preferred the $500 Saffire to his own $2600 2882 interface! DOn’t worry that you are using a sub par product with X-1. Just because Jon and Ryan don’t talk about it doesn’t mean it isn’t any good feature for feature it is better than Reaper also. It is true 64bit and has been for a while. Pro Tools STILL hasn’t got 64bit working……
One other quick comment, for plans for a really nice DIY re-amp unit, check out the Jensen site. They also have plans for pre amps.
https://www.google.com/search?q=Jensen&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official
Recording Magazine also has plans for a really nice DIY re-amp unit as well as a solid state pre amp, a Pultec style EQ as well as other useful DIY goodies.
http://www.recordingmag.com/resources/resourceDetail/314.html
@dan – are you trying to ignite a podcast host rumble? Dude, unless there’s jello and bikini-clad lingerie models involved, then I’m not getting into any of that action. 😉
Yeah, I quite liked the sound of the omni version of the 12-guage mics. I’m going to have to put those on my ever-growing list of gear.
I totally forgot about and just dug out a pair of cheap mics I picked up years ago – Naiant X-O’s. I think the guy behind the company still builds them by hand – nice little omni’s to throw up on things.
http://www.naiant.com/naiant/microphones.html
Hey guys, have you ever heard of airwindows plugins? This guy makes very barebones audio unit plugins, some of which are free. I have tried out a couple and they seem kind of cool. There are a couple of subtle overdrive plugins somewhat similar to the way I use the massey tapehead plugin which I know Ryan is a fan of. There are also a couple that are supposed to do some magical analog summing/bussing tricks like the slate virtual console collection. Just wondered if you had heard of these plugins or thought they were any good.
@Nick – I’ve got a few of them in my plug-in folder. They’re quite decent and DEFINITELY bare-bones. No fancy graphics at all, just a whole bunch of sliders. I saw they’ve got a new Channel plug.
Their old one was nice and subtle. And simple – select an emulation and slide the amount you want…
Software question out of the blue:
After months of troubleshooting BSOD’s, and getting my quad rocketship running Pro Tools 8 M-Powered error free (thanks to Jon way back), I’ve found myself taking a luddite approach for a couple years now in order to keep my music computer running smooth and without interruptions. I’ve actually disconnected it from the net and am only relying on the plug ins that came with pro tools as secondary effects, while using my stomp boxes, mic techniques etc for primary colouring. I’m obviously tempted to download the latest plug in, but am diligently trying not to inflict any more pain on my PC or myself.
This might sound all romantic and back to simplicity, but I’m wondering how long I can go without updating entirely to new software. I’m writing and recording more music again, but “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” only goes so far with this technology it seems.
Sorry, I know it’s very general, but I have a feeling this might hit a chord with others who find themselves always in fix-mode rather than creative-mode, especially with us time-restricted home recording wannabees. Thanks so much.
Great shows guys. Any chance of Matt Mcglynn coming on again as a guest? Your last show with him was great.
I was wondering if you guys could take me on a step-by-step walk through the last mix you did on a rock band, from beginning to end? As a beginning mixer, I always like to hear how other people do things, in what order, and so on. The more details, the better!
Thanks!
-Kris
awesome review of the 12 gauge mics! i have been keeping an eye on them for a while as i look for a set of SDC’s. have either of you had any experience with the little blondies?(http://littleblondie.com/) i have heard nothing but great things about them and wonder how the 12 gauge’s compare.
Thanks for the insight,
Brian