 |
VO-BB - 19 YEARS OLD!
Where A.I. is a four-letter word.
|
| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
davediamondprovo
Contributor IV
Joined: 22 Dec 2006
Posts: 103
Location: California
|
 Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2007 2:38 pm Post subject: My new mic gives TLM 103 competition. |
 |
|
Without a backup mic in my studio for years (pressing my luck I know), I decided to go out and pickup another mic. I had my eyes on several for months but I won't divulge those other than the one I purchased. I went with my first choice; the Rode K2 and boy is it schweet.
http://www.rodemic.com/?pagename=Products&product=K2
It's a bit naturally warmer than the TLM 103, my main mic for years and it has a more defined character in the lower register of my voice. Dare I even compare it to the U87? Hmmm.. I just may leave it in the booth for a while. Hope this helps someone.
_________________
David |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
louzucaro
The Gates of Troy
Joined: 13 Jul 2006
Posts: 1915
Location: Chicago area
|
| Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2007 6:54 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Thanks for the info. Can you shed some light on this, though...
"Operation power:
The K2 is designed to operate from a dedicated power supply (110 - 120 V/220 - 240 V, 50/60 Hz)"
Does that mean it gets plugged into the electrical? Sorry, I'm just working on putting together my first setup...most of the mics I've looked at have said they need 48v phantom power...I don't rememeber seeing anything like the above before.
Much appreciated!
_________________
Lou Zucaro
http://www.voicehero.com
"Well, yeah, there's my favorite leaf!" |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Hart
Assistant Asylum Chief
Joined: 03 Jan 2006
Posts: 2107
Location: Foley, AL
|
| Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2007 7:09 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Yeah, you plug it into the wall... or a power conditioner I suppose and then run a cable from the power supply to the mic.
_________________
Hart Voice Overs Blog
Brian Hart Productions |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
louzucaro
The Gates of Troy
Joined: 13 Jul 2006
Posts: 1915
Location: Chicago area
|
| Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2007 8:08 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Hart wrote: | | Yeah, you plug it into the wall... or a power conditioner I suppose and then run a cable from the power supply to the mic. |
Gotcha...thanks!
I saw right after that that they have the manual on the Rode site and it shows the connection method.
_________________
Lou Zucaro
http://www.voicehero.com
"Well, yeah, there's my favorite leaf!" |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
davediamondprovo
Contributor IV
Joined: 22 Dec 2006
Posts: 103
Location: California
|
| Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2007 9:37 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Don't let that scare you. I don't hear any hum, nothing! The warmth I get from my pre only adds to its believability as well.
_________________
David |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Yoda117
M&M
Joined: 20 Dec 2006
Posts: 2362
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
|
| Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2007 10:39 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Hey Dave, let's be fair to the majority of the folks...
The K2 is a tube mic (or if you're more old fashioned, a "valve mic"), which means that it uses a vacuum tube in order to complete the electrical circuit. This is both a good, and bad thing... and here's why.
Good: If you're not getting quite as much body or color off of your LDC mics, a tube mic can help to give you a bit more of what you are looking for. Definitely not brittle or sterile, as has been the complaint of several LDC users (particularly musicians for lead vocals)
Bad: All that body or color is actually distortion, because the circuit created with the vacuum tube is not nearly as nice as a solid state one. In a lot of cases, you'll find that a director will want a clean read and add the additional body at a later date. You can't do this with a tube mic since the distortion is already in there.
The end result is that it is going to have a vastly different tone and body compared to a transformer-less large diaphragm condenser microphones (such as the TLM103). Depending on your tastes, it may be better, or worse...
but it will be different.
As a side note, recently Neumann released the TLM49, a transformer-less LDC mic which simulated a tube circuit. While it does not effectively simulate the M49 (the vintage mic after which it was patterned, the mic is still quite pleasing as a VO mic.
_________________
Voiceovers by Gregory Houser
Philadelphia based Voice Actor
Blog - A man, a martini, and a lot of microphones |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
davediamondprovo
Contributor IV
Joined: 22 Dec 2006
Posts: 103
Location: California
|
| Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2007 11:23 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Yoda117 wrote: | | Hey Dave, let's be fair to the majority of the folks... |
Let's be fair? Hmm. I re-read my post 3 times and couldn't find anywhere in there where I said, "Buy this mic, it's perfect for everyone." I said, "Hope this helps.."
But, hey thanks for the LDC mic lesson. 
Oh, and BTW the distortion you speak of.. yeah it's there.. at 162 dB (@ 1% THD into 1k) or in layman's terms nearly three times the volume of normal speech. Just to be fair to the majority of the folks. 
_________________
David |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
billelder
Guest
|
| Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2007 12:55 am Post subject: |
|
|
| I have heard great things about Rode mics. I love choices and there are lots of them. The more "hands on" help we can get, the better. Thanks for sharing your experience. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Deirdre
Czarina Emeritus
Joined: 10 Nov 2004
Posts: 13016
Location: East Jesus, Maine
|
| Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2007 3:47 am Post subject: |
|
|
What the hell is an LCD mic?
I've got my mathmetician mind stuck at Lowest Common Denomiator.
_________________
DBCooperVO.com |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
tackerman
The Gates of Troy
Joined: 14 Jun 2006
Posts: 1741
Location: in the ether
|
| Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2007 3:50 am Post subject: |
|
|
I use a Rode NTK and I LOVE it.
Thanks for your thoughts on the K2 Dave. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
bobsouer
Frequent Flyer
Joined: 15 Jul 2006
Posts: 9882
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
|
| Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2007 4:41 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Deirdre wrote: | What the hell is an LCD mic?
I've got my mathmetician mind stuck at Lowest Common Denomiator. |
Deirdre,
I think they actually wrote LDC, which I take to mean Large Diaphragm Condenser.
_________________
Be well,
Bob Souer (just think of lemons)
The second nicest guy in voiceover.
+1-724-613-2749
ISDN, Source Connect, phone patch |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Philip Banks
Je Ne Sais Quoi
Joined: 20 Jun 2005
Posts: 11049
Location: Portgordon, Scotland
|
| Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2007 4:47 am Post subject: |
|
|
| davediamondprovo wrote: | | Yoda117 wrote: | | Hey Dave, let's be fair to the majority of the folks... |
Let's be fair? Hmm. I re-read my post 3 times and couldn't find anywhere in there where I said, "Buy this mic, it's perfect for everyone." I said, "Hope this helps.."
But, hey thanks for the LDC mic lesson.
Oh, and BTW the distortion you speak of.. yeah it's there.. at 162 dB (@ 1% THD into 1k) or in layman's terms nearly three times the volume of normal speech. Just to be fair to the majority of the folks. |
Editorial balance
All Rode mics suck. All valve /tube mics suck. Every voice on this site sucks except for me.
Notes
The above posting is merely for editorial balance, the content may not be true, accurate or literate. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Yoda117
M&M
Joined: 20 Dec 2006
Posts: 2362
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
|
| Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2007 5:16 am Post subject: |
|
|
| davediamondprovo wrote: | | Yoda117 wrote: | | Hey Dave, let's be fair to the majority of the folks... |
Let's be fair? Hmm. I re-read my post 3 times and couldn't find anywhere in there where I said, "Buy this mic, it's perfect for everyone." I said, "Hope this helps.."
But, hey thanks for the LDC mic lesson.
Oh, and BTW the distortion you speak of.. yeah it's there.. at 162 dB (@ 1% THD into 1k) or in layman's terms nearly three times the volume of normal speech. Just to be fair to the majority of the folks. |
It was a rhetorical comment, as least one person was confused based on the description of the mic (because they thought they were dealing with another large diaphragm condenser similar to the TLM103 in nature, which tube mics aren't).
as for the distortion, what spectrum analyzer are you using? I've always found tube mics to have some soft distortion in the mid-range. It's what makes mics like the U-47 so popular (gives them the "sizzle" and "body"). It's also one of the reasons that certain portions of the industry made the move away from tube mics (particularly the animation industry).
It does this without clipping (which I should have explained better). Let me borrow a clip from an old EQ article on tube preamps to better illustrate my point (the concept is better explained using the preamp, though the circuit and effect are similar with valve mics):
The green sine wave is a "clean" signal. Where the violet and red are what would be considered to be "soft distortion" using different tubes. Notice how the violet wave follows the green nicely, but falls short in the lower end, whereas the red is more symmetrical, but doesn't clip as is the case if an IC amp or transformer were overdriven.
Neither the violet or red waves are the "clean" signals that you would get out of an IC component (such as an LDC), They are distorted in relation to the clean signal, but offer a pleasing sound none the less.
Someone posted a better/shorter description of this in one of their posts here from last year.
LOL @ Banksey 
_________________
Voiceovers by Gregory Houser
Philadelphia based Voice Actor
Blog - A man, a martini, and a lot of microphones |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Jowillie
Lucky 700
Joined: 20 Aug 2006
Posts: 714
Location: North Carolina
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
louzucaro
The Gates of Troy
Joined: 13 Jul 2006
Posts: 1915
Location: Chicago area
|
| Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2007 6:07 am Post subject: |
|
|
This thread has been most educational for me in a number of areas, mostly, like many threads on this board, that I don't have any idea what I'm doing when it comes to "sound" in general.
Many of you seem to be engineers-turned-voiceover or v.o. actors who decided to learn about the engineering aspects of doing sound work.
I'm a guy who's always wanted to do v.o. work, and who's now trying to set up something in my office, but I have no experience with all of the technical aspects of working with sound.
That said, I'm not a complete idiot (I maintain status as merely an 85% idiot) so I think I can learn. But what's making me nervous is that I'm about to make some fairly big decisions, financially, about equipment and I'm just worried that I'll make "bad" or "wrong" decisions for my particular needs. Or buy a bunch of stuff that won't sound good together and not know how to make it sound better.
Anyway, just rambling I guess...like I said...posts like this are great in my case because every little bit adds another piece to the puzzle, and the fact that people here are generally respectful on top of being nearly endlessly helpful is a very good thing  SO glad I found you all!!
_________________
Lou Zucaro
http://www.voicehero.com
"Well, yeah, there's my favorite leaf!" |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
|
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
|
Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
