I'm considering purchasing one of these mics for home recording purposes. Its quality/price ratio seems fair to me. As usual, there are some mixed reviews on the web, so I would like to know if you guys have had some experience with this mic. What I've got in mind is to use the mic for recording electric guitar and bass, placing the B1 in front of the amp. Does it sound like a good idea or not? Thanks.
Any experiencie with the Behringer B1 condenser microphone?
- Thread starter Marcelo R
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Martin R
Friend of Leo's
For the same money you can get a Shure SM57. It's the traditional mic for guitar amps. It may not work as well for bass, but you can record that direct.
Large condensers seem tricky to use to me. An SM57 for a guitar amp is standard practice in studios where I've recorded.
Well, I'm not "shure"
You see, the options around here seem to be:
- Shure Pg81 (condenser, fair price)
- Sm57 Skp (a cheap copy, as far I can say)
- Shure Sm58 Original (I use these ones for vocals on live gigs - Beta version)
Other than that, there's a Shure Ksm32 - a professional recording mic, but its price is very expensive for a humble home studio.
A large diaphragm condenser is generally better for vocals and acoustic instruments — handy to have in your studio, but not really geared for the kind of blast you get when close-miking an amp (OK for a secondary distance mike, though). ... The SM57 and SM58 use the same cartridge. You could take the dome off your 58 and have something very similar to a 57 .
I didn't knew that. Thanks for the tip, I'll give it a try.
The OP doesn't have a bad idea, just an incomplete one. When recording guitar amps, one of the best tricks is to have a 57 close up on the grill, off center pointing at the dome. THEN you have a large diaphragm condenser back about 5 to 10 feet. Then find the right blend. You'll find that the condenser adds a bit more "size" to the sound of the amp.
If you want a decent low-cost mic, look into Sterling Audio mics. Great quality and low cost. the ST51 and ST55 are both excellent.
If you want a decent low-cost mic, look into Sterling Audio mics. Great quality and low cost. the ST51 and ST55 are both excellent.
Thank you very much for these tips, in fact I've read about the "mid-side" recording technique (http://www.sweetwater.com/insync/mid-side-miking/) and that's what I was thinking to do.
Martin R
Friend of Leo's
And just because....Here's the Tele, (about a minute in), recorded with a 57 angled to the speaker and a LDC about three feet away.
This. (I use a Behringer B2 as my go-to mic for vocals.)
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studio
Poster Extraordinaire
I don't have that Behringer mic but Vince from Audio Pros raves about that mic! He also recommends Samson mics which I purchased one of their Ribbon Mics.
The 57 / 58 is standard stuff, you might not have to remove the grill IMO.
Behringer also makes those multi pattern mics just slightly higher price than the one we are talking about.
The 57 / 58 is standard stuff, you might not have to remove the grill IMO.
Behringer also makes those multi pattern mics just slightly higher price than the one we are talking about.
studio
Poster Extraordinaire
The condenser mic will give you a wider frequency response than your guitar speaker will output. So you will have to cut the low end out and cut the highs at the other end. Lows would be around 80hz and below. The highs to cut would be around 5khz and above.
Hope this helps.
Hope this helps.
BariTele
Tele-Meister
This is true, but an SM57 will attenuate frequencies that a bass does produce. If you can only choose one, the condenser will be more versatile.
Rolling Estonian
Friend of Leo's
FWIW, my first mic purchase was an SM57. It helped teach me tons about mic placement techniques. Haven't used a condenser on an amp yet but the idea of blending of the two is something that's on my short list of trying stuff out.
M
M
studio
Poster Extraordinaire
I would rather go with the tried and true method of SM57 and keep the condenser for the distant mic placement.
PsychedelicTrip
Tele-Meister
I wouldn't be afraid to experiment. Simply going with an sm-57 is not written in stone like you have to breathe air. It defends upon the sound you want to achieve. There are many types of mics. If I was going to look at a budget line of mics I might look at Golden Age Project mics and preamps. I use one of their preamps and it is very nice. They make a lot of mics too including tube mics, ribbons, and other mics. Some are similar to the one you were looking at which is modeled in looks after certain German mics. What may set them aside from other budget products is they're known for delivering quite a bang for the buck. I'm actually interested in getting one of their ribbon mics for recording guitar. Ribbon mics too have found their way in front of guitar cabs too. Ribbons are known to record sounds more truer to nature compared with condensers which accentuate certain frequencies. Company calls themselves Golden Age because they borrow or copy ideas from the past. Their main focus seems to be to keep prices down and bang for the buck up. They impress many a high brower. They are made in China like many budget devices but they are not spread as thin as other companies since they only have a few dozen products. In the end it's all about the sound you want to achieve.
wildschwein
Friend of Leo's
I much prefer SM58s for guitar mics -- and I always have -- the 57s always sounded a bit brittle to me; although both mics are more similar than different. The 58 is a more versatile mic overall, at least to me. The Behringer condensers are very good for the money though and for vocals, acoustic recordings and as a distance mic they are a killer buy. You can use them on guitar cabs though but you may end up filtering out a lot of the content later.
Having said all this, my favourite dynamic mic is the Behringer XM8500 which is a 58 copy but it has a bit more gain. You can pick these up for dirt cheap and they are a great mic for guitar cabs too. I think you could probably get 2 or 3 for the price of one 58.
Having said all this, my favourite dynamic mic is the Behringer XM8500 which is a 58 copy but it has a bit more gain. You can pick these up for dirt cheap and they are a great mic for guitar cabs too. I think you could probably get 2 or 3 for the price of one 58.
