AKG C1000S

What type and size you need, and where you should point it. Does a large diaphragm do a better job in preventing pregnancy than a small? WTF is phantom power and why do you need it? All these important questions and more, discussed within. Entendre at your own risk.
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JD01
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AKG C1000S

Post by JD01 »

Evening,

I'm just experimenting with micing both accoustic guitars and an amp with a AKG C1000S

Which is the best way to point it? I know nothing about the mic or its pattern.
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rammer24
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Re: AKG C1000S

Post by rammer24 »

Can't help you with acoustic guitar micing, other than to say "See what works best". I can say that I use them for overheads and I like them a lot. They have a weird, bad reputation as being "brittle" and "sizzly" but I have never encountered that with them. I don't think my drums tracks are brittle or sizzly at all. But who knows how they react to other instruments. I have a friend who swears by using one SM57 up against the grill and one C10000s a few feet back to mic a guitar amp. Might be worth a try.
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Greg_L
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Re: AKG C1000S

Post by Greg_L »

Well it's a cardioid or a hyper-cardioid. That means it mostly picks up what's directly right in front of it and rejects off-axis signal. It has a narrow field. Point it at what you want to record.
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rammer24
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Re: AKG C1000S

Post by rammer24 »

Greg_L wrote: Point it at what you want to record.
That's kooky talk. :eek:
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Re: AKG C1000S

Post by Greg_L »

rammer24 wrote: That's kooky talk. :eek:
I'm thinking so far outside the box that I'm right back into the box.
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rammer24
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Re: AKG C1000S

Post by rammer24 »

You ARE the box. Be the box. Like Bruce Lee and his water.

https://youtu.be/cJMwBwFj5nQ
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JD01
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Re: AKG C1000S

Post by JD01 »

Greg_L wrote:Well it's a cardioid or a hyper-cardioid. That means it mostly picks up what's directly right in front of it and rejects off-axis signal. It has a narrow field. Point it at what you want to record.
Cheers. I had no idea what the pickup pattern is supposed to be.
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Armistice
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Re: AKG C1000S

Post by Armistice »

Depends completely upon the guitar, and what context the recorded track is going to appear in.

For a solo setting, with a single mic, I'd be starting at about 30cm, at the 14th fret (ie. body join), pointing at the 12th fret. If it was in a rock mix, I'd move it a bit towards the headstock, to reduce bass as you really don't want so much of the bass, just the strum. It's a Martin isn't it? They're not particularly loud and aggressive as a rule, and are relatively simple to record.

My Matons, on the other hand, are absolute beasts of things to record. Sound great in the room, but a PITA to record because they're so "big".

I'd have a HPF as a fairly standard thing on any acoustic track due to the amazing amounts of bass the damn things pump out, irrespective of where you put the mic.
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JD01
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Re: AKG C1000S

Post by JD01 »

Armistice wrote:Depends completely upon the guitar, and what context the recorded track is going to appear in.

For a solo setting, with a single mic, I'd be starting at about 30cm, at the 14th fret (ie. body join), pointing at the 12th fret. If it was in a rock mix, I'd move it a bit towards the headstock, to reduce bass as you really don't want so much of the bass, just the strum. It's a Martin isn't it? They're not particularly loud and aggressive as a rule, and are relatively simple to record.

My Matons, on the other hand, are absolute beasts of things to record. Sound great in the room, but a PITA to record because they're so "big".

I'd have a HPF as a fairly standard thing on any acoustic track due to the amazing amounts of bass the damn things pump out, irrespective of where you put the mic.
Yeah, its a Martin Ellipse. I bought it for my wife. Its the 2nd nicest accoustic I've played on! The nicest being the main guitar of the girl I bought it off.
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Re: AKG C1000S

Post by WhiskeyJack »

No idea how that mic works specifically or how your acoustic responds but when i mic my acoustic with a condensor i usually have it sitting in front me at around the 12th fret with the diaphram pointed largly at me with a slight angle pointed a bit towards the sound hole. This seems to work best for me amd my ears playimg style room etc. I cant reacall just how far off of the 12th fret i have the mic seems to me 10 inches +/- worked but it really kind of depends on you how you play etc.

I also will either record a dry line out from the pick up or put a 57 down by the bridge and aim it right at where i strum pick with a slight angle as well. Those two tracks i will rarely if ever use. However history shows its good to have them to fill in some sonic holes or make use of the high high mid freqs on the reverb treatment of the acoustic track.

If you do this dual track method be mindful of phase amd syncronization and stuff. If you dont nudge and adjust it will trick your ears imto thinking it sounds crappier than what it actually is.

Stoked to hear your results. Good luck.
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miroslav
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Re: AKG C1000S

Post by miroslav »

I know people use them and you can get them to work in some settings...but my own experience with these mics when we used them at my day gig many years back wasn't very good. They just seemed to sound like shit no matter what you did with them.
Over the years...I've read too many similar comments...so I don't think my impression was off....but some people seem to make them work.

You can make any mic "work"...I just don't think that with these, even when you do, you don't get anything good enough to write home about....
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Re: AKG C1000S

Post by rammer24 »

I don't know. I'm not just patting myself on the back. I'm my own hardest critic. But I think I get more than decent results with my drum tracks. I'd write home about my drum tracks, but who writes home any more? :D
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JD01
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Re: AKG C1000S

Post by JD01 »

I've recorded a few acoustic tracks with it now (I think I posted a couple up) and I'm relatively happy with it. Certainly better than anything I've recorded acoustic before... this might not mean its a great mic though, it might just mean its a better mic than I've used before. But I'm happy with it for now... if I really get into acoustic recording I might start to find limitations but that's not likely in the short term.
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rammer24
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Re: AKG C1000S

Post by rammer24 »

JD01 wrote: Sun Jan 15, 2017 4:37 pmthis might not mean its a great mic though.
I agree. I also agree with Miro saying it's not just his impression. The only mic I'v ever seen get as much hate is the AKG C3000, so there must be something there. I just don't agree with the statement that you can never get anything worth writing home about. I would have changed my overheads years ago if they sucked that bad. Maybe that's the only thing the C1000 is really good for. But I can't see any other pair of overheads sounding that much better.
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Greg_L
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Re: AKG C1000S

Post by Greg_L »

I've heard Rami's overheads-only tracks several times. They're pretty awesome.

If there's something wrong with the C1000 for drum overheads, I don't hear it. Maybe the mic sucks for other stuff, I have no idea. But it seems fine for drum overheads.
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Re: AKG C1000S

Post by miroslav »

rammer24 wrote: Sun Jan 15, 2017 4:56 pm
JD01 wrote: Sun Jan 15, 2017 4:37 pmthis might not mean its a great mic though.
I agree. I also agree with Miro saying it's not just his impression. The only mic I'v ever seen get as much hate is the AKG C3000, so there must be something there. I just don't agree with the statement that you can never get anything worth writing home about. I would have changed my overheads years ago if they sucked that bad. Maybe that's the only thing the C1000 is really good for. But I can't see any other pair of overheads sounding that much better.
Never tried them as OH mics...so like I said, the setting can make it possible to make them work for you.
Most of the time it was for other things, like spot instrument mics and such...and they just translated a shitty frequency response.

Maybe OH mics is their best use...so you can write home about that. ;)
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rammer24
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Re: AKG C1000S

Post by rammer24 »

Fuck it. I'll just send my Mom an e-mail. :eek:
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miroslav
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Re: AKG C1000S

Post by miroslav »

:P
Audio Monster
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Re: AKG C1000S

Post by Audio Monster »

Not sure where I saw it but there is a flat out HATE thread for the C1000s. Might be G-Slutz, don't care.

Personally I don't mind these mics but the black ones (AKG C1000s By Harmon) do fall short when compared to the originals. I've used these mics for aggressive rock guitars and micing the fingerboard of an acoustic guitar, and if you like a little snap on your floor tom they work well.

Whatever you do, don't accidentally sit on one.
Farview
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Re: AKG C1000S

Post by Farview »

When I was using them, they were just really bright, almost to the point of being thin. Not bright and open, but kind of scratchy bright.

I did use them for overheads and acoustic, but as I got better mics, I stopped using them all together.

The Oktava mc-012's were so much better than the C-1000's it wasn't even funny.
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