#mic pre

Torn if I want my first pair of high end mic pres to be these. Bill Skibbe semi-randomly came across Sly Stone’s Flickinger recording console in Chicago & bought it. This was the board from the home studio where Sly recorded Sly & the Family Stone’s There’s A Riot Goin’ On (1971) & Fresh (1973). A couple of the dopest funk records ever recorded. Well Skibbe reverse engineered the microphone preamps from that console & started selling them several years ago. You can combine the grit & girth of vintage-style gear with the transparency of modern digital recording.

Re:live Recording’s Rob Baldock, records live performances and interviews with the likes of One Direction, Foo Fighters and Kasabian, using a finely-tuned – and largely portable - recording set-up, which includes 48 fabulous channels of ASP880.

But how does anyone get into this particular line of work? We asked Rob (pictured below) to tell us how it all happened for him.

At Splendour festival, 2015

From the age of 16 I either wanted to work in a recording studio or be a live sound engineer – I didn’t really have a preference between live or studio. I studied Popular Music at college and they had a reel-to-reel 8 track. One gig we were doing, I asked my tutor, Ross Griggs if we could try and find a way to record the gig on the tape machine. So we figured out a plan and had a go.  I think that was the first time I really thought about the process.

I went on to study HE Music Tech at Confetti in Nottingham and re-focused on wanting to work in a recording studio. After finishing my course, I was offered a job teaching Music Tech back at Confetti, so I ended up doing that but continued recording bands as often as I could; at this point I still didn’t have my own studio or equipment.

At Koko for Lewis Watson

The idea of recording live gigs came back to me around 2006 after I ended up guitar-teching for my former tutor, Ross – the same one with whom I’d done that first live recording all those years before – when his band played a show at The Royal Albert Hall. I credit-carded the first lot of equipment and set about looking for work. My original expectations were only that I would get to record some covers bands in pubs or whatever…but I soon realised that there weren’t many people doing what I was doing on a small scale. It was only really big bands were in a position to put out live albums or tracks. What I also discovered is that small covers bands in pubs weren’t too interested about getting their gigs recorded! So I had to re-think my strategy…

At the Roundhouse for Sub Focus

A friend introduced me to Kid Harpoon who was signed to XL and was going to be doing a gig in Nottingham, so I recorded his show and it came out really well. From there, using MySpace, I got in touch with Frank Turner who was about to embark on his first tour with a full band if memory serves me correctly. I recorded Frank’s show and he really liked it – enough to release a couple of tracks.

It kind of just grew from there: later that year I ended up recording Laura Marling and then Patrick Wolf – again, both gigs in Nottingham. Off the back of that I then got asked to come down and record a special Patrick Wolf show at London Palladium with special guest Florence (& The Machine) Welch. This was about a week before ‘You’ve Got The Love’ exploded Florence into superstardom!

Recording The Shires Live EP

Once these people were on my CV it just opened doors to be able to speak to more people and push things further. It’s really thanks to MySpace that suddenly artist managers were really easy to find and contact! So with a good bit of networking, I carried on steadily after that, getting more and more gigs.  

A couple of years ago, I saw a Facebook post from an ex-Confetti student that I’d kept in touch with: George Strong. He’d just helped to start a new business in London called LiveFi: a boutique video production company that also specialised in live music, in particular live streaming of music events, with a really cinematic look. I asked George if he had seen what I was up to, told him the story and he asked me down to London to meet with him and Mark Mitchell  - the owner of the company.

Recording The Specials at Splendour 2015

So we met, we had a great burger (one of those burgers that was so good we still talk about it to this day) and we talked about working together. We started off with a live stream of The Wildhearts’ “Earth vs” 20th Anniversary shows at The Kentish Town Forum and soon went on to work with the likes of One Direction, Foo Fighters, Kasabian, Chase & Status and Nile Rodgers & Chic.  

Thanks for sharing your story, Rob!

Universal Audio Apollo Mic Pre

Come with me as we give the Universal Audio Apolloa shootout at Utopia Parkway studio. My Avalon 737 was at the factory so we decided to give George’s Apollo a shot at being the mic pre of choice. We set up a couple of different channel strips to see which input path would give us the best signal for my Telefunken C-12 and my voice on my song “Thump Thump Thump”. It was down to a Neve with an…

Hey!

It's been a while since I've been on a blog - everything has been super busy with the all-new ASP880 production and exciting new toys on the way!

I'm sure some of you have already used a microphone preamplifier with variable impedance loading - but let me recap...

Variable Impedance - What is it?

Humour me for a minute - I have an analogy that works here... Imagine a train crossing a bridge that is suspended high above ground between two mountain peaks.

The train is your source resistance - or in this case, the microphone. It can be low impedance (a light train) or high impedance (a heavy train).

The bridge is your load impedance - or in this case, the preamplifier. The bridge can be stiff or saggy (I know, I know!). The stiffer the bridge, the easier it is for the train (passengers = signal) to cross the mountainous gap! The heavier the train, the stronger the bridge should be...

In a typical "bridging" audio connection - you have a low source impedance and approximately 5-10 times that impedance in the load (stiffer bridge), this way as much voltage signal as possible arrives at the destination. The goal is to keep the signal "above" ground.

Normally we assume 150 ohms for the microphone output impedance and 1500 ohms for the preamplifier input impedance (x10). However microphones vary their output (source) resistance with frequency as both resistive AND reactive (inductive/capacitive) components are at play when forming an "impedance".

Impedances & Bridging Loads - How They Work

The connection between mic and preamplifier can be seen as a typical potential divider - let's take a standard SM57 dynamic microphone as an example. It's output impedance is stated as a nominal 310 ohms.

The ASP880 has three input impedance options:

LO - 220 ohms (this is a saggy bridge)

MED - 1200 ohms (this is a classic 1970's style bridge)

HI - 2800 ohms (this is a modern, strong and well braced bridge)

Imagine when the two devices are connected together - a 310 ohm source with a variable load from 220-2800 ohms:

The SM57 connects to the ASP880 preamplifier and we want to get as much tone and output voltage from the mic as possible - the preamplifier then adds 40-60dB of gain to this signal for recording.

For anyone not familiar with a potential divider - this simple circuit is the building block of all electronics and allows us to figure out "voltage transfer" between two points.

The simplest way to look at it is that the stiffer the load (R2), the more voltage from the source (R1) is carried to the output.

Vin = 1 volt, R1 = 310 ohms, R2 = 220, 1200 or 2800 ohms, Vout changes:

R2 = 220 ohms, Vout = 0.41 volt

R2 = 1200 ohms, Vout = 0.80 volt

R2 = 2800 ohms, Vout = 0.90 volt

Of course, who cares about voltage when we're sound engineers?!

To quote Ray Charles "How's it sound baby?" - well, we'll get there soon...

If we take into account that all dynamic microphones such as SM57/58, SM7, D12, MD421 or ribbon mics such as a Coles 4038 or Royer R121 have substantial varying output resistances with frequency - they use coils, transformers and/or large magnets to create inductive fields that convert acoustic movement into electrical voltage... what we get is a dynamically changing frequency response that can be heavily affected by the loading - or stiffness of the bridge!

The typical output impedance of an SM57 vs frequency looks approximately like this, it might remind you of a small loudspeaker:

If we were to figure out a potential divider for every point on that purple curve, we could understand the signal transfer for each frequency from the mic to the preamplifier. What we actually end up with is not just a change in signal level BUT A CHANGE IN TONE!

What To Expect & Listen To

On top of level changes (which you should be aware of if you want to do a proper level matched A/B) we can experience the following changes in tone when varying the load that the microphone operates into:

Speed of delivery - transient content

Punch

Detail - in particular the "room" pickup from the off-axis parts of the mic

Frequency response & timbre

Overall output level (-5dB for 220 ohms, -1dB for 1200 ohms, referenced to 0dB attenuation at 2800 ohms with a 150 ohm source)

I like to display these on something I call the TRIANGLE OF TONE. Essentially a system that allows you to mark up the audible changes to triangulate the appararent sonic footprint of a mic/pre combination.

Any of the descriptors can be as you desire - just make sure that opposites face each other on a line...

To describe how I hear it - the ASP880 when set to HI provides detail, punch and a fast presentation with lots of low end weight.

On MED the sound becomes a bit tighter and mid focused with a good balance of everything - a classic kind of presentation.

Set to LO, microphones tend to take on a different personality with a more glued transient to the main body of the sound, an overall slower presentation with some loss of space/detail - great for making a bad room sound a bit better!

Of course - each microphone reacts differently and it is definitely a case of FLIP THE SWITCH, LISTEN & DECIDE.

However - some things to bear in mind:

Moving coil and ribbon mics display the greatest tonal change

Transformer output capacitor microphones can also provide tonal variation with variable impedance

Solid-state output (50 ohm typical) capacitor microphones are such a well designed, light and nimble train that they are often immune to loading effects and will display a much more subtle change, if at all

Contrary to popular belief, many ribbon microphones provide more generous low frequency performance (with less ringing) and greater sonic delivery when operated into higher impedances, so be sure to try the 3600 ohm HI setting!

GET ON WITH IT ALREADY - "How's It Sound Baby?!"

Drums taken from our ASP880 session with Swift 89.

ASP880 - Swift 89 - Keep It Moving

Kick: Sontronics DM1B

Snare: Audix i5

Punch: SM7B

Overheads: Sontronics Orpheus

Tom Toms: Sontronics DM1T

For the actual record, we combined them, Kick on HI (for meaty punch), snare and toms of MED for a tighter sound etc. However below are three clips on Soundcloud that feature all channels on each setting.

The differences can be subtle and vary greatly depending upon the microphone, so experiment!

REMEMBER TO LISTEN ON STUDIO MONITORS OR HIGH QUALITY HEADPHONES FOR MORE ACCURATE JUDGEMENT.

LO Z: Snare presentation in room affected in an interesting way!

MED Z: Smoooooth!

HI Z: Punchy and fast!

Thanks for reading,

Tom @ Audient

Hey!

So we've just launched our ASP880 and we're super excited about it! I'll take you through the recording of our latest product video with Swift 89.

Production Background

When talking with my colleague & drummer Andy Allen about how to demonstrate the new ASP880 unit in a "project studio" environment - we eventually decided after watching loads of product vids to do a Travis Barker style drum video over one of my hiphop-style beats that we found lurking on my "sketches & roughs" hard drive.

The track at that point was pretty much an embryo - a sketch with some programmed drums, some horn samples and a few synths. Replacing the programmed drums with something altogether more real sounding and unique would be just the ticket.

As a hiphop fan - I often find myself spending a lot of time listening to The Roots, and in particular am a huge fan of ?uestlove's drum sounds. Always unique, often kinda lofi - they are such a signature.

The plan was to head to Chris Munday @ CJM Productions and his really interesting "wooden hut" studios to craft an odd, slightly lofi but punchy and oldschool drum recording with as few a mics as possible, armed with some inspiration from ?uestlove and an engineer I respect hugely, Russell Elevado.

Swift 89 Makes The Song

We sent the rough beat to friend, iD22 user and rapper Swift 89 for some lyrical contribution and he really turned the "rough" idea into a song with bags of hook and energy. He pinged me back an MP3 with all stacked vocal parts on it, straight from pen to mic within 3 hours and I can't thank him enough for really making a difference. We loved what he did with it and set a date to re-record his vocals later on after drum tracking (now that we had a better arrangement for a sub 2-minute video).

Meanwhile - Tracking Drums

We arrived at CJM Productions and Andy setup his large Animal drum kit with some Fiberskyn heads on kick (resonant) & snare (batter) - thick and old sounding with no hole in the front head - we left it that way along with some pretty unorthadox drum tunings (reference our inspriation from ?uestlove) and I looked at mics and rigging the ASP880 and iD22 into the CJM patchbays!

Microphone Selection

In terms of microphone selection, we typically try to use "only" commonly available types and steer clear of costly esoteric solutions so that we can show that great results are indeed possible without having major budgets. It's always fun to use C12s, U47 FETs etc on drums but it's also not "typical" for most users!

Here's what we went for:

Kick Drum - Sontronics DM-1B

Snare Drum - Audix i5

High Tom - Sontronics DM-1T

Floor Tom - Sontronics DM-1T

Overheads - Sontronics Orpheus

Punch Mic - Shure SM7B

The majority of the sound comes from 4 microphones - the kick drum body and meat from the DM1B, the snare and kick punch from the SM7B buried in the middle of the kit and the space and positioning of the rest of the kit from the Orpheus pair. The close snare mic provided a little bit of presence on the snare but isn't largely featured in the mix and the tomtom mics were only used in a few exaggerated tomtom overdubs for added THUNDER!

Microphone Placement

To keep in with the "retro" theme we decided to use a popular microphone technique based loosely on the 'Glyn Johns' technique as you can see in the photo above.

In this config the two Orpheus overheads and Sontronics DM1B are the same distance from the centre point of the kick & snare (always a compromise) and the phase on the SM7B punch mic was tweaked with some subtle mic movement to play nicely with the 3 mic technique (as you can see below).

Variable Impedance

When we got to line checking, I took Chris through the variable impedance controls on the ASP880 (he is now an ASP880 user too ;-)), settling in on a combination that worked really well for the track. A MEATY and punchy kick drum sound creeped out of that DM1B using the HI Z setting, whereas I found the snare and toms sounded more "glued" and sat back in the overheads using the MED Z setting.

Read our other blog to find out what variable impedance can do for you and what it sounds like!

http://blog.audient.com/post//asp880-using-variable-impedance-what-to-listen-for

I was particularly pleased with the sound of the hi-hats - which were coming from the snare side Orpheus and i5 mostly. Spill was definitely our friend here!

All seven microphones were fed straight into the ASP880 and once we had tweaked the positioning a little bit (reverse polarity on the snare mic) we obtained a sound we were happy with and set off.

Andy worked out the pats as he went and did a great job - drummer for hire anyone? (now he has a healed foot post football accident)...

Check out the sound of the unprocessed (and quirky!) drums here:

ASP880 - Drums Unprocessed:

Drums - In The Mix:

I used quite a bit of Lexicon-style plate reverb in the mix - but I really like how it moved the entire kit to the back - even though they are still the most upfront thing in the mix. I suppose I was aiming for depth and a way to make the CJM drum room sound bigger.

Most of the drums have some EQ - mostly to sort out some of the room colouration and a bit of odd tuning issues! From there I have a few parallel kick/snare chains and an overall compressed drum parallel.

ASP880 - Drums Processed:

Vocal Tracking:

We returned at a later date and tracked Swift 89's vocals using an SM7B and ASP880 (set to HI Z). When line checking we found the SM7B needed a bit of help to get the full body of Swift 89's vocal. So using the new insert points on the ASP880, we inserted a dodgy old 1176LN FET compressor with a broken meter (going by ear went with more than SOME compression!).

Comping as we went, Swift delivered some pretty aggressive takes that had good impact. The mic and pre combination had some chesty colouration but we liked the performance of the takes so stuck with that over switching out the mic for something else and going again. To be honest most of that is the 1176 line amp...

Check out the unprocessed vocals here - in this situation I found the ASP880 brutally honest and I should have worked harder on the vocal tone. One thing is true, what you give the ASP880, it gives back in a pretty open and unforgiving way! If you work with it, it'll make you a better engineer, no hiding behind smeary transformer colouration here unless you insert it.

ASP880 - Vocals Unprocessed (1176 insert):

Vocals - In The Mix

In the end, I used a CRAZY amount of parallel fuzz distortion to give the vocals a messy over the top energy. In many places I automate this on and off to emphasize delivery of certain phrases. An unhealthy amount of tape delay and some lexicon-style reverb and again I was liking the overall delivery, remembering the initial influences of the Travis Barker remixes and The Roots.

The nice thing about tracking with our mic preamps - is that they are pretty natural even though there is a hint of 2nd and 3rd harmonic in them. To this end, you can go nuts with processing and the tracks take it pretty well. The vocal still has a natural topend, even with the parallel fuzz. I promise that on our next video we'll do something open & natural that I don't abuse in the mix!

Check out the processed vocals here...

ASP880 - Vocals Processed:

Until next time...

Here's the finished video.

ASP880 - Swift 89 - Keep It Moving

Tom @ Audient