Saxophone Forum


by joe812119
(18 posts)
19 years ago

best mic to use

i was wondering which mic is best to use. i am lucky i have a wonderful stan getz sound. i play tenor and use a otto link 7* with a rico royal #3. i also double lip on my mouth piece. i want to keep that sound and if so enhance it when i use a mic. ive been told shure beta 58a, sm58, and sure 545s, are good to use. but most recently some one said that the audix d2 hypercardioid was by far the best. almost all the places i play i do not need a mic at all. but when i play in a large hall or out side i find i need a mic. so i really dont want to spend lots of money. any help would great. thanks joe

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  1. by connsaxman_jim
    (2336 posts)

    19 years ago

    Re: best mic to use

    The 545S is an old mic. It was one of the best Shure mics of the late 1960's and early 70's and was used by Getz and others. It's a hi-gain mic. I would recommend a low impedence microphone. The SM 58 would be a good choice and they are relatively inexpensive also. You can often find them for around $100. A Beta 58A has a slightly better frequency response primarily on the high end, and will take more volume without distorting or feeding back. I've seen Betas for around $150. The clip on mics are nice, but the condensors just don't sound as warm or as natural to me. I have a Sennheiser cordless clip mic I paid about $500 for. I use it sometimes for bar gigs, but it doesn't sound as good as my Beta 58. That would be my recommendation. I also use a Beta 58 for vocals.

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    1. by Candyboy
      (77 posts)

      19 years ago

      Re: best mic to use

      I use an SM 58 on a stand. I've tried clip-on mics and don't like the inability to change the dynamics the way I like to with the mic on the stand. I also use a Zoom rfx-300 effects box.
      Doug Coffman

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      1. by connsaxman_jim
        (2336 posts)

        19 years ago

        Re: best mic to use

        That's another good point Candyboy. It's a lot easier to pull away from the mic and vary your dynamics than to try to play softer. I just haven't found a clip on mic for any price that stacks up to an SM 58 or Beta 58 on a stand. I use an old Alesis Midiverb, which I originally bought as a vocal effects processor for my PA system. I upgraded to a better effects processor for vocals, and use the Midiverb on my sax. I also play keyboard, so what I do, is I use an 8 channel Mackie mixer, and I run my keyboards and my sax mic through the 8 channel Mackie and Midiverb effects processor. That way, the keyboards are pre-mixed, and I can also use the Midiverb if I want to add effects to my keyboards. Then, I run out of the Mackie mixer into my 24 channel Yamaha mixer which I use to mix the rest of the band.

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        1. by joe812119
          (18 posts)

          19 years ago

          Re: best mic to use

          has anyone ever heard of the audix d2 hypercardioid mic

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        2. by connsaxman_jim
          (2336 posts)

          19 years ago

          Re: best mic to use

          I have tried several, including AKG, Beyer Dynamics, Audio Technica, EV, and many others and NOTHING compares to a Shure. You see more Shure mics than anything else. I would stick with a Shure, unless you want a cordless clip-on mic, in which case I would buy the Sennheiser, but they are EXPENSIVE and they don't sound as good. The only plus is that you can go out in the crowd and play to tables of girls or dance on the bar like an idiot! (which can be fun)

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        3. by phathorn
          (165 posts)

          19 years ago

          Re: best mic to use

          I like the Shures. I just recently used an Audix f90 clip on though and was very impressed. For a $100 mic it absolutely blew me away... The Audix OM2 and B.L.U.E. mics are also impressive. The BLUEs are a bad design for sax though....too much surface area to bump your bell into.

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        4. by joe812119
          (18 posts)

          19 years ago

          Re: best mic to use

          thanks phathorn i will check those out.

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