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In Reply to: Joe Grado Mic Launch... first-hand Impressions posted by cgh1 on April 25, 2005 at 19:40:34:
OK, my wish came true...kinda.
I had a gig today which was acapella female, male & mixed gender performances for a jazz record (Think Four Freshmen, Take 6, etc.)
This was a staged performance with no audience. Prior to the gig I called Joe and asked him to bring the mic so I could drop it in a couple of extra channels, allowing us to review it, etc. later when back at the studio. When he arrived he did not want to hook into our rig saying that the 30-40 foot cable runs would take too much away from his mic.
(?...?usability?) We take our recordings quite seriously and have a rep of making some of the cleanest Jazz and Orchestral recordings available. Cable runs are not an issue for us as we always use high quality cable(s).Anyway, he ran back home and returned with his Grace preamp and a Nagra-D recorder. The hall we were in is at Winthrop Univeristy (main hall in Music bldg. in case you've been there), and it is a strange kind of room. It is relatively nice but has modes that build in certain areas that can be "fun" to deal with. He set his mic up at the edge of one of these areas, citing the shells on the stage as the culprit (which probably were contributing to some extent) but it has been our experience that the areas of weirdness start about where he was placed. Nonetheless, we had a gig to do.
When I got a free moment, I would run out and take a listen to what he had on his Nagra. He got 3 or 4 recordings, most of which were several takes of 1 tune by the ladies. I must say (and I told him this) there was an entire universe of difference between this and what I heard at the launch.
Today the mic sounded quite nice. Very spacious, nice bottom end, and perhaps still a dip in the 3K-4.5K area but not nearly as pronounced. When listening through the headphones, I noticed more of the frontal presentation than the reflections of the hall, so it didn't sound as 'holographic' as I expected. This also could have been placement. It was very much like a binaural recording. Maybe because (in no uncertain terms) that's what it basically was. I was impressed.The point to all my rambling here (as I ramble on even further ;-) is that, I must say my mind has been changed quite a bit. I think Joe may have a nice mic going here. Revolutionary...uh...well, I'm still not so sure on that. But a nice mic it indeed seems to be. There are a number of stereo omnis available with pickup patterns that are quite full, with and without >2 diaphrams and controlling electronics. If I was forced to cite a comparison that many could realte to, using only the very little I heard today (on cans), I'd have to say imagine a pair of Neumann TLM149s in omni on a 90 degree stacked X-Y without as much air but with a little more meat on the bottom end.
Our next step is for Joe to bring the Nagra over to my house or the studio in the next few weeks (most likely the house due to scheduling, etc.) and let me listen to the recording from today on loudspeakers in a controlled environment. My home setup is basically an LEDE control room with Genelec 1032As and a 1094A as mains, so if there are any anomalies they will NOT be able to hide. One thing about the Gennies - they reveal Every Freakin' Thing (which is why they are great for tracking and mastering and a bitch for mixing...in my experience anyway.)
Stay tuned, I'll post further results as I get them.
Cheers all!
Chuck
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Follow Ups
- On second thought...uh, listening... - cgh1 19:36:04 04/26/05 (0)
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