How do these mics sound together? 57/906 NOW CASCADE fattie

[Kapo_Polenton]

So I have been dicking around with amp isolation, mic placement, volume etc... I am toying with the idea of adding a ribbon mic like a fathead to my collection just to round out the snarl of the 57's which I find can lack detail and be a bit too fizzy in the top end. That said, I also like them for their cut. I had bought a 906 earlier this year to see if I might like it better and found it better in the detail department but also a bit warmer than a 57. A/B'd hum and hawed then figured why not put them together and see if the 906 could fill out the 57 and make the sound a little fuller. The result is here:

https://soundcloud.com/kapopolenton/mics

Crappy playing aside, how do they sound together? Not too shabby I don't think. The track is dead center as both would be blended to make the right or left side. Only added a bit of verb to combat the hiss from something in my chain. Occasional pops come from my 800 clone. No pedals, no EQ. For some reason I like the dry bark of lower gain Marshall with a heavy right picking hand. I think the combo captured it reasonably well. Thoughts?

mic placement pictured below. (weber legacy 65 watt, presonus mic pre into reaper)

 

[skoora]

Did you play with the presence switch on the 906. I've been thinking about one of these and was wondering if that was a useful feature over the 609? My go to for years has been mixing a 57 with a 421. Would like to try a ribbon as well but how the hell do you choose? There are a lot of budget ribbons out there.

 

[crankyrayhanky]

Clip sounds great, nice placement and tone IMO
That being said, a ribbon mic like that fathead would be such a cool addition. I love ribbons for that warm phat tone and the ability to move it back a bit for stellar room sounds

 

[Giga]

That sounds good but could you also upload a clip without the added reverb ? It feels like I'm listening to a room mic.

Btw: I have that same two mics and I find the 906 (or even the 609) sooo much easier to work with as it's much more forgiving on where you place it.
I've found (to the disgust of many soundmen) a 57 in a live situation sounds best hanging from it's cord with the capsule smack in front of the dustcap. Go figure...

Giga

 

[Crunchity]

I use that combo for everything (only two mics I own lol...I would love to add a Royer 121 $ome day). Clip sounds great to me but I am listening at work on cheapo spks. I tend to have my 57 more off axis than what you're showing, but that's just preference (I've never liked the 57 dead on with green/blackbacks).

 

[Kapo_Polenton]

Did you play with the presence switch on the 906. I've been thinking about one of these and was wondering if that was a useful feature over the 609? My go to for years has been mixing a 57 with a 421. Would like to try a ribbon as well but how the hell do you choose? There are a lot of budget ribbons out there.

I messed with it a bit yes. Found that i liked it in the middle in a more neutral setting. It hyped the top end a bit too much when the presence was boosted. I'd have to get it further off the cone and i seem to like it best in and around where it is.

The 57 is slightly angled towards the outer edge of the cone , never been a fan of straight on. It appears straight on in the pic but it is ever so slightly off. Takes away a bit of the fizz.

I'm big time tempted to pull the trigger on a cascade fathead but will there really be THAT much of a difference i wonder.

That sounds good but could you also upload a clip without the added reverb ? It feels like I'm listening to a room mic.

Giga

I'll try and get the dry tracks up tonight. What i like about this is that with no EQ and a small amount of verb, i think i have a usable sound. With some EQ it could only get better.

Overall though, liking the dual mic setup much more than just 906 or sm57. Getting the master volume up is probably the most important thing though. Makes a huge difference to the sound. Probably more important than a 1200$ mic.

 

[Anonymous]

nice and chewy. i like it!

 

[Kapo_Polenton]

Well, curiosity got the better of me so I now have cascade fathead in coming.. see how it pairs up with the 57 next week and i'l repost clips with no verb of both combos. Hopefully it's worth it!

 

[Greazygeo]

I hate the sound of that Sennheiser mic…..they just suck for guitar. I will look forward to the Cascade mic.

 

[JTyson]

Clip sounds good, its way too much verb for me for a rhythm track, but I get the idea.
You'll love a ribbon with the 57, I've got a ton of mikes and my go-to setup for what we're doing at the moment is a R121/57 combo, the Royer has nice body and detail, while the 57 adds a nice bit of snarl. I run the 57 at the edge of the cone and the 121 between the cone and the outer edge.
Look forward to hearing the combo when you get it!

 

[Kapo_Polenton]

Do you guys run the ribbons further back off the cone or roughly at the same point as the 57's capsule? oh and point taken, no more verb on clips! (though I kind of dug the effect!)

 

[JTyson]

I run both mikes the same distance from the grillcloth, about 2 inches out. I was messin with ya about the verb, its all whatever you think sounds good.

 

[Kapo_Polenton]

Alright, no reverb, swapped out the 906 for the fathead II (live). Thoughts? it's dark but it's got plenty of detail..in fact I could probably just use it right on the cone. Set it and forget it. Anyway turned up the 57 to get some bite. Thoughts?

https://soundcloud.com/kapopolenton/57-cascade-final2

BTW my 800 was crackling like crazy on the recording so either a preamp tube is on the way out or I might have a bad solder joint somewhere.

 

[Kapo_Polenton]

Listening back, I like the smoothness of the cascade but the rawness of the 906 + sm57... might need some EQ, cutting some lows because it is nice on the leads.This was just quick placement though and the 57 could come up in the mix.

 

[Kapo_Polenton]

bump for the original guys that were interested in how the cascade would sound..

 

[spiritledd]

here is a clip of my Fathead ribbon with MD421-U5 and SM 57 ...Fatheads really add a nice bottom end
https://soundcloud.com/rayfoster-1/there-we-go ...high and low cut on input ...summing all three mics at same level on guitar bus ...guitar bus EQ is -3db at 2.5k and +3db at 125hz ...i am using Jim Dunlop Heavy Core strings drop to C on Ed Roman Custom ...SH5 Seymour in bridge ...Randall RM100 Eminence in 4x12 ...i carefully measured out with ruler to get capsules all in phase ...Fathead not a Royer, but pretty good bang for the bucks

 

[spiritledd]

also I place all the mics right where the paper meets cone

 

[Kapo_Polenton]

Sounds good to my ears. What module were you using on that one? ( I have a lynch box as well in my collection) So you are cutting some lows on the fathead then. I would see that as a must. Then again, most people probably do this with ribbons. They provide the warmth but you don't necessarily want their big bottom.

 

[spiritledd]

thanks man, I have the Grail, Blackface and Jaded Faith Trilogy ...used the Grail on that one ...you know, I did not cut lows on Fathead sent all 3 mics flat and even levels to bus then EQ-ed ...but probably should have ...I will try some different levels and EQ-ing next though, thanks for input

 

[Audiowonderland]

I run the e906, a 57 and an i5 on my cab. With the old Marshall the 57 solo just kicks ass. A bit of the i5 added for more bottom if needed. The i5 is a better choice for a more modern scooped mid sound. The 906 is interesting. I never pick it as the only mic or even the primary mic but for certain things adding in a bit of it gives a bit of grind that works.

Contrary to a lot of what I read online I do find the 906 to be VERY sensitive to placement. If you just put it up against the grill cloth like so many do its a little woolly sounding. I get the best results with all of the mics placed 3-4" from the speaker on axis and aimed where the cap meets the cone