Well now
this was a surprising and unexpected discovery and has turned
out to be a real gem. A friend of mine put a studio together
some years ago. He had a large budget but no real idea of what
gear to buy so he took advice from several equipment retailers.
When looking at mics he was recommended a Sennheiser e609 for
close miking guitar cabs. He bought one but it was never used
(neither was the studio!). A few months ago he showed me this
mic and asked if I wanted to try it out so I started using it
on sessions and was very pleased with it's performance. I found
some info on the internet which said the mic was also good for
snare drum so this is where I started using it and immediately
loved it. It's now my first choice for snares- space permitting.
The three mics I have used extensively on snares for the last
few years are the Shure SM57, Beyer M201 and Neumann KM84 so
I will draw comparisons with these.
Let's assume we have a good sounding, well tuned snare played
by a drummer who knows how and where to hit it in order to make
it sound good...!
A '57 will always give a reasonably full-bodied sound with generally
not too much attack. This tends to have you reaching for some
upper mid-range EQ fairly quickly after you've exhausted the
positional possibilities.
The Beyer M201 is warmer and smoother in the upper mids than
the '57.
The Neumann has a nice crisp attack and space but less of the
fullness.
The Sennheiser has all of these qualities. Plenty of body with
a good crack on the sound. It also reacts significantly to repositioning.
This is not to say that I think it is the best mic for snares
because there are other considerations to take into account
so let's talk about SPILL!
Bear in mind that when you boost the upper mids on a 57 you
will bring up hihat and cymbal spill but not in a particularly
nice area and this may become troublesome at the mix, sometimes
even requiring the use of a Noise Gate! (shock horror).
A similar thing happens with the Beyer 201 although you'll be
reaching for some slightly higher frequencies but still not
too nice for the metalwork.
The Neumann will have plenty of hi-end spill on it without EQ
but at least that spill is sweeter (being a condensor mic) and
more usable, assuming you're not planning to replace
your live drum sounds with samples. You might struggle to add
body later and may try to bring up frequencies which the mic
has'nt reproduced.
The Sennheiser will provide plenty of fullness but with a bright,
airiness which is almost condensor-like.
If you want a good snare sound using minimum EQ and processing
then this mic is a good starting point and
I reckon it's as robust as a 57 as well.....an important consideration
with drum mics!
I also think this mic would be great for toms-certainly no more
expensive than a 421, more directional and less “industrial”
sounding.
So getting to guitar cabs, as recommended originally.
The shape of the mic is clearly to allow it to be placed flat
up against a speaker grille and this generally always provides
a very up-front direct sound (as you would expect) but with
little body or sense of space. Certainly the mic's slight mid-range
dip helps here, reducing some of the boxiness associated with
close miking.
Somehow though it's never enough and, this is'nt a criticism
of the Sennheiser, but I always feel the need to add another
mic for warmth and air. Usually a ribbon or a 47 further away
from the cab. The Sennheiser will give a good “presence”
to the sound but generally needs filling out a little.
To summarise, I think this is a good, workmanlike dynamic,
hypercardioid mic which won't break the bank but will last a
lifetime. Couple it with a good mic-pre and get some some great
results.
I haven't tried it on these but it will probably sound good
on acoustic guitars and assorted percussion too.
I was sorry to hand back my loaned one so I bought my own.'Nuff
said.
JS.
