Recommend me a pair of LDCs

[The Kid]

It's for recording a philharmonic orchestra.
I have others for spot mics, but I need the main pair.
Not very expensive, please!

[kirk1701]

These are great value.

http://www.3uaudio.com/

[martifingers]

I am not sure about that particular application but I am more than happy with my Aston:
https://www.astonmics.com/EN/product...20and%20vocals.

But listen to an example I just found!

https://soundcloud.com/martin-mitche...-piano-soloist

[norbury brook]

I've used a pair of these for years on many natural sources to great effect.

https://www.sontronics.com/orpheus

My wife, who is a great singer preferred this to our 1960 original Neumann U67!!!!



M

[Judders]

I've always found Se microphones great. No nasty hyping and pretty flat.

Which one depends on the polar pattern you want.

[bjohn]

Not clear why you want LDCs for recording an orchestra; many people use a stereo pair of SDCs for that, or four in total (two SDC cardioids in ORTF flanked by two SDC omni mics, the so-called Faulkner array).

The main pair for orchestral recordings is very often a pair of SDCs; Shoeps and Sennheiser are typical. At the low-budget end you can't go wrong with a pair of Line Audio CM4s in NOS.

[The Kid]

Originally Posted by bjohn

Not clear why you want LDCs for recording an orchestra; many people use a stereo pair of SDCs for that, or four in total (two SDC cardioids in ORTF flanked by two SDC omni mics, the so-called Faulkner array).

The main pair for orchestral recordings is very often a pair of SDCs; Shoeps and Sennheiser are typical. At the low-budget end you can't go wrong with a pair of Line Audio CM4s in NOS.

Great to hear that, I already have a lot of SDCs
I don't know why I thought LDCs would sound better lol

[bjohn]

Originally Posted by The Kid

Great to hear that, I already have a lot of SDCs
I don't know why I thought LDCs would sound better lol

LDCs might have slightly lower noise floors, but otherwise I don't think you'd see any benefit.

[Fergler]

CAD M179 I make love to these

[Softsynth]

Originally Posted by Fergler

CAD M179 I make love to these

I trust you practice safe sax!

[Ramirez]

Originally Posted by bjohn

LDCs might have slightly lower noise floors, but otherwise I don't think you'd see any benefit.

Agreed. With a lot of common stereo techniques (such as ORTF), a lot of wanted sound is arriving quite a bit off-axis (ORTF has a mutual angle of 110 degrees, for instance). Therefore, the mic's off-axis response is crucial, and SDC are the undisputed champions here- an LDC inherently has poorer off-axis response (and less accurate sound*) due to the size of the diaphragm.

* This "less accurate" sound is often musically flattering, and is one of the main reason why we use LDCs.

[alanofoz]

Originally Posted by Softsynth

I trust you practice safe sax!

As a guitarist I always wear a capo when I need to practice safe music...

[Pule]

Beyerdynamic MC930 - nice and warm mike, SE8 smooth and well-balanced microphone, Telefunken M60 - very articulate/neutral and with a dose of finesse, Lineaudio CM3 or CM4 - very correct and linear microphone, slightly weaker output, in some situations it lacks a little articulation, extremely cheap, Neumann KM184 - industry standard in orchestra, very reliable, sound is mostly neutral with a small dose of presence effect (does not suit everyone)

[jnorman34]

I do classical and chamber music, and do not use any LDCs. LDCs generally have rather poor off-axis performance compared to SDCs, and are not commonly used in location work. I use schoeps MSTC64 as mains, with mk21 flanks, and a variety of other sdcs as spots. The above recommendation for line audio CM4s is an excellent choice for an affordable main pair. I just did a 33 piece chamber orchestra where I used two CM4s as section spot mics, and they performed admirably and blended into the main mix of schoeps and neumanns flawlessly.

[Pule]

I recorded/produced this saxquartet cd with only one stereo pair lineaudio cm3 and won the nomination for best sound that year.

https://open.spotify.com/album/4mir6NqALh6Uo27ixmGg0P

[Allybye]

One can hear why you had that nomination @Pule.
If I didn't already have a selection of mics I would be happy to add a cm3 or 4 pair as SDC mics.

[bjohn]

Originally Posted by Allybye

One can hear why you had that nomination @Pule.
If I didn't already have a selection of mics I would be happy to add a cm3 or 4 pair as SDC mics.

They're so cheap it's almost silly NOT to have a couple. The CM3 is no longer made; the CM4 is its successor; slightly less wide cardioid and has a few minor improvements.

The Omni1 (formerly OM1) is also excellent if you want a nice pair of near-field omnis for very little money.

Any two off the shelf can be used as a matched pair, as the guy who designed them (he's in Sweden, they're made for him in China) tests each mic to tight specifications; any that don't meet the specs are not sold.

One caveat with these mics (well, two actually): they have a higher noise floor than competing mics from big names like Schoeps and Sennheiser, and 2) the CM3/CM4 in particular are very sensitive to handling and wind noise. Don't use outdoors without a blimp or similar protection.