does mic placement even matter

[bigchungusstuckinmymouth]

yes obviously you can move it about the speaker to get a darker or brighter tone but in terms of what speaker you place it on - top left, bottom right etc - I swear the difference is negligible

 

[Floyd Eye]

It matters if one speaker sounds better than another, not because of which hole it’s in. If you think the individual speakers in your cab all sound the same then it doesn’t matter. At least in live sound, I have no clue about recording.

 

[TheGreatGreen]

Speakers aren’t very consistent. The difference between any two might be minimal but it also might be substantial depending on your luck of the draw.

Use your ears. Put a mic on each of your speakers and listen for yourself.

 

[DanTravis62]

Yeah, it does matter, speakers vary wildly.

You may get lucky and your speakers are super consistent, but that isn't necessarily the case - note how when people put duct tape to mark where to put the mic on their 4x12 it's always on ONE speaker? Probably the best sounding one

 

[RaceU4her]

If you find the difference negligible, I’d say roll with whatever and focus on something else, no need to complicate and over think things, it just leads to less production and constant second guessing

 

[BeZo]

Yeah. I try to keep all the microphones as far away from my bass player's asshole as possible. That motherfucker ruins takes! He has to record in the booth from now on and the rig stays in the live room.

 

[Rackman]

Position on the cone matters a shit ton. Close-micd differences between new speakers of the same make in the same cab are typically not that big and are often differences in cone position in disguise. Used/vintage speakers the differences can be arbitrarily big.

 

[Rackman]

Yeah, it does matter, speakers vary wildly.

You may get lucky and your speakers are super consistent, but that isn't necessarily the case - note how when people put duct tape to mark where to put the mic on their 4x12 it's always on ONE speaker? Probably the best sounding one

Or just they don't need two mics. I've only got 1 mark on my 4x12 to position an e906 live but I could just as easily have put it on the other three speakers.

For recording position by ear not eye.

 

[DanTravis62]

Or just they don't need two mics. I've only got 1 mark on my 4x12 to position an e906 live but I could just as easily have put it on the other three speakers.

For recording position by ear not eye.

If that was the case they wouldn't have any need to put it on in the first place would they?

For recording position by ear, and not eye

 

[Rackman]

If that was the case they wouldn't have any need to put it on in the first place would they?

It's for cone position not to remember which speaker to use. Live you can't set cone position by ear usually because you can't really hear through the PA while playing even if you get a good soundcheck. And you might not get a good soundcheck. So you mark a location you know has a reasonable balance with your chosen mic. I know if I put an e906 on the mark what's on the mic cable won't suck. Then it's up to the sound guy from there.

 

[DanTravis62]

It's for cone position not to remember which speaker to use. Live you can't set cone position by ear usually because you can't really hear through the PA while playing even if you get a good soundcheck. And you might not get a good soundcheck. So you mark a location you know has a reasonable balance with your chosen mic. I know if I put an e906 on the mark what's on the mic cable won't suck. Then it's up to the sound guy from there.

That's awesome that you are blessed to have four consistent speakers that are relatively similar, but that's not the case for everyone

I didn't randomly select the speaker with the duct tape on it, and I guarantee that lots of other people don't either

 

[Uzi Nein Millimetah]

yes obviously you can move it about the speaker to get a darker or brighter tone but in terms of what speaker you place it on - top left, bottom right etc - I swear the difference is negligible

Dude.....

 

[Rackman]

Dude.....

Page was distance micing. Different game.

 

[Alpha Stryke]

Is water wet ?

 

[Kapo_Polenton]

Sadly, a lot of the time we want to say it is negligible because we are too lazy to sit there and audition mics, speakers, and combinations of angle/distance to said speaker(s). Then, the cab itself as well as the room it is in or the location of it in the room. Everything will affect the final product but you could argue that despite 6 57's sounding different, they will all be in the same sonic tonespace so set it roughly to where it usually goes and you should have a usable product. But yes, it does matter. Sorry, I hate that fact as well. Probably why everyone runs to IR's now. Very consistent and sound good.

 

[valve]

well top or bottom matters on your typical marshall 1960A and 1960B because the depth is different and therefore you get a cancellation or resonances? (Don't remember which) at half the wavelength of that depth (speaker to back panel). on the 1960 bottom speakers for example. Kohle/Nolly have at least one video on this...
actually if the speakers are not mounted parallel to the back you don't get the effect (1960A top vs bottom)

 

[Tone Monster]

Sadly, a lot of the time we want to say it is negligible because we are too lazy to sit there and audition mics, speakers, and combinations of angle/distance to said speaker(s). Then, the cab itself as well as the room it is in or the location of it in the room. Everything will affect the final product but you could argue that despite 6 57's sounding different, they will all be in the same sonic tonespace so set it roughly to where it usually goes and you should have a usable product. But yes, it does matter. Sorry, I hate that fact as well. Probably why everyone runs to IR's now. Very consistent and sound good.

God I love IRs so much!

 

[itsgoodnow]

Mic placement may be the most important thing in the entire recording chain. Even just for phasing issues alone. Ultimately you are trying to capture a specific sound and even a few degree difference in angle or placement will affect the sound more than anything in your guitar or recording chain.

A lot of people do not realize the difference in mic placement because they adjust their mic positioning in the same room as their monitoring. You cannot get an accurate picture doing this. If you have the cab in a separate room, just buy a dynamount and fuck with it for 30 minutes and track different stems and the minor differences in position will be wildly different sonically.

 

[bigchungusstuckinmymouth]

Mic placement may be the most important thing in the entire recording chain. Even just for phasing issues alone. Ultimately you are trying to capture a specific sound and even a few degree difference in angle or placement will affect the sound more than anything in your guitar or recording chain.

A lot of people do not realize the difference in mic placement because they adjust their mic positioning in the same room as their monitoring. You cannot get an accurate picture doing this. If you have the cab in a separate room, just buy a dynamount and fuck with it for 30 minutes and track different stems and the minor differences in position will be wildly different sonically.

what’s a dynamount? I just put a loop pedal on, crank the volume of the mics on logic and then move the mic about and find where sounds best.

 

[itsgoodnow]

what’s a dynamount? I just put a loop pedal on, crank the volume of the mics on logic and then move the mic about and find where sounds best.

It’s pretty rad. It’s a motorized mic stand you can remote control from your desk to audition different placement. So just kind of nice because you can hear it on the fly without having to get up and manually adjust.