Well I couldn’t resist and picked up a pair of Peluso CEMC 6 small diaphram condensors on Ebay. The last thing I probably need is more mics, but I wanted something a little different from my medium diaphram ADK A6’s. The Peluso’s are not a matched pair, but from what i read that quality control is good enough that i don’t think that should matter for stereo micing fingerstyle guitar.
My main goal is to get a good recorded tone at home while mitigating things like a less than ideal room, as well as computer and outside noise. My current setup is an iMac running Logic Pro and a Presonus Firestudio Mobile interface. Right now I am in a spare bed room so I have been close micing as much as possible.
Below are two sound clips in a spaced pair configuration, my Peluso’s and then the ADK’s. In both samples the mics are roughly 7 inches away, off the 12th fret and lower bout. I try to avoid the soundhole as much as possible so i can mic closer without the boominess.
My initial response was that the Pelusos have much higher self noise and will not work for fingerstyle guitar. A few folks online had mentioned that about the mics. But after sending the samples to a few friends with more recording experience than me, they concluded that the it is room/computer noise and not self noise from the mic. If you zoom in on the wav form in a DAW you can see the noise actually fluctuating, which apparently means that the mic is picking something up. So that is more reassuring and means improving my recording environment is in order. I think maybe due to their frequency response or polar pattern the Pelusos are picking up more room noise.
Hopefully we will be moving soon and my music room will be a bit bigger, as well not on a noisy road. So assuming I can cut down on the computer noise, and improve the acoustics with some broadband absorbers I should be able to get a better sound at home.
Regarding the sound quality I like them both. I feel the Pelusos are crisper and perhaps offer more detail. To me the ADK’s sound a bit smoother and warmer.
I will post some more samples soon, of XY and ORTF placement.