anomie life

Once I had the mixing ability to record more than one channel simultaneously, I immediately had the problem of needing something to record more than 1 channel with. Specifically, I wanted to record some drums, something that, if done well, requires a bunch of microphones. Well, I love Shure, and all I had previously was an SM86, but its around $100 just for one SM86 or SM57! For drums I wanted at least 6 or 7 microphones, so that would end up being something around $600 or $700.-definitely out of my price range. So I did what any self respecting, budget conscious, person would do: I looked online for the cheapest package I could find. The first 2 cheapest packages only have 5 mics because they don’t include any condenser microphones to use as overheads. So I looked past those and found the Nady DMK7 7 Microphone Package.

I think a lot of people cringe when they think of Nady and just discount it as low end junk, but Nady has actually been around for over 30 years. Not only that, but their founder, John Nady, practically invented wireless microphones by patenting a process known as companding that compresses the signal for radio transmission and then expands it when it reaches the receiver. They are also credited with inventing the first wireless in ear monitor in 1978. Now they’ve broadened their horizons to everything from motorcycle communicators to camcorder systems.

The DMK7 comes with 7 microphones: 4 DM70’s, 1 DM80, 2 CM88 microphones, and a lovely carrying case. The DM70’s are for micing your snare and Tom’s. The DM80 has a bigger diaphragm and will pick up the low end of your kick drum a little better than a DM70. And finally, the 2 CM88’s are phantom powered condenser mics for picking up the overhead, overall sound of the drum kit.

Ever since I’ve been recording drums, I’ve been using the DMK7. Just last weekend when I recorded a 3 track for Flowers for Faye I still used the DMK7, but I actually ended up supplementing it with an SM86 for the Hi-Hat and an SM57 for the bottom of the snare. I found out after recording This Night that my new Mapex piccolo snare sounds like it has the beads lose if only miced from the top. Twice I’ve actually used the 2 CM88’s for recording live vocal recitals and they worked great.

Straight up, these microphones do exactly what they’re supposed to do, they pick up sound. What more could you ask for? And I’ve had mine for over a year now and they’re still going strong. Granted, I wouldn’t ever consider using 1 of these for a recorded vocal (actually, for rehearsals when I run out of mics, they do usually end u[ getting used for vocals), but for recording what your drums sound like, they work great. A lot of times the cymbals sound really harsh, but all you need is a little equalization and they sound fantastic. Having 7 microphones really gives you great coverage and allows you to create a great stereo mix.

Overall, I have no regrets in making a $170 investment in the Nady DMK7. It’s a great way to get a whole bunch of microphones for drum tracking without shelling out gobs of money.

I remember a few months after I got my first guitar, I looked on Ebay and found a cheap wireless system for only $50. I don’t even remember the brand. It was quite old and smelled like cigarettes, but it worked and thats all that mattered. It was great being able to be anywhere in the house and still hear my guitar, although it was quite quiet when I was 3 or 4 rooms away. That wireless and I had a great time together… ahh the memories… and then one day I let my friend, Scott, use it because I was playing drums in that band. While plugging it in, he accidentally switched my bass distortion power supply and the wireless power supply. Sadly, the polarity on the two power supplies was the opposite of each other and it resulted in my precious little wireless giving a small puff of smoke. Never to produce a sound again…..

That was then, but a few months after that sad incident, I decided to upgrade to a new wireless system. I didn’t like the whole “bodypack” concept where you’re still attached to this little box, so I decided to try out AKG’s “guitarbug” wireless system. The wireless transmitter is only about 2 inches long and it just attaches right onto your guitar.

Well, it sort of just attaches right onto your guitar… On guitars such as a telecaster or my Musicman bass, the wireless works great because it hangs down and you don’t have to worry about it falling off. I’ve had this thing for over 2 years and used it live on countless occasions, so I’ve found that its not perfect, but it is pretty good. If you have a standard electric with an input jack on the bottom, then you might encounter issues if you decide to jump around too much.

The problem is that the swivel design allows the transmitter to flop around. This is bad because eventually it loosens enough that you lose connection with your guitar. It comes with some velcro, which is great idea, but who wants to stick a piece of velcro to the bottom of all their guitars. I usually just use some gentle electric tape to ensure I don’t lose connection, but this can be a problem if you use more than one guitar. Also, on one occasion, after jumping off of something off of something, I came down and hit the wireless and knocked the gold connector piece of the wireless. Luckily, it comes with a second, slightly longer one that I’ve been using ever since.

As far as sound goes, it takes a little time to adjust to using a wireless system. There’s a volume control on the receiver as well as a gain control on the transmitter. If you don’t get the gain high enough then you’re signal ends up being weak. If you set it too high then the signal will peak and sometimes distorts the sound. And, as I’ve found with all wireless systems, the environment you’re in can also produce interference and an audible hum, especially if you put crazy amounts of distortion.

The range is plenty long for anything I can possibly imagine. I think the stated range is something around 300 feet. I tested it about 200 feet one time and it worked great. once you get that far then you can actually hear an audible delay between playing and the actual sound coming from my amp arriving at my ears.

I seem to have this strange affinity for buying things that look awesome, yet are quite inexpensive. So while everyone has their little Crate 40 Watt 1×10 Combo I have myself whopping Behringer 400 Watt 4×12 Stereo Cabinet. And then I realize I’ve gotta power it with something, so I get a Behringer head. I was so close to getting a Line6 head, but then I saw Behringer’s V Ampire LX1200. Wow… 32 amp models, 125 configurable channels, and its $200 cheaper!

Yea, I admit it. I’m somewhat of a Behringer addict.-so many great looking things for such a low price. As I’ve found, the keyword in that sentence is great looking. (Disclaimer: I have never received products for free from Behringer nor do I receive compensation for writing about their products.)
So anyway, now I have a very impressive looking Behringer half stack. Well, impressive at least to me and the casual passerby, but I’m pretty sure any serious guitarist would snub their nose at running their guitar through anything with the name Behringer on it. I’ve found that although many people look down on Behringer products, many of their offerings are actually quite good and useful.

But $450 for the Behringer 400 Watt 4×12 and 2×60 Watt Head is really a great deal for what you pay no matter how you slice it, especially with some of the features that head has. One thing that would be regarded as great by some (Me), and disgusting by others is the fact that all of its controls except the main volume are digital. This means those knobs can be rotated all the way around and keep going forever. It also means that once you decide your settings you can save them and not worry about someone messing with your settings. The head can hold 125 channels. What this really translates to is 5×25 channels. You have 25 banks and each bank has an A, B, C, D, and E channel.

The head also comes with a foot pedal that allows you to go up or down between these channels, but it only has 2 buttons so you can’t directly select a particular channel. This is really, really annoying. I’ve had more than one occasion where I was playing on, say, channel D and I meant to switch to C, but really ended up on channel B because I accidentally tapped the pedal twice. Also, when switching from a clean channel to distorted channel, it takes a second for it to get to the full volume you had preset for that channel.

The amp and speaker models are mostly worthless. There’s probably about 3 or 4 amp models I like and most of the speaker models just muddy up the sound too. Personally, my favorite sound I’ve gotten out of this amp is using a clean channel with the Boss Metal Zone distortion. That sounded amazing, but it was kind of noisy.

One really nice feature about this amp though is that it comes with a settable noise gate filter that works very well. I’ve found sometimes when using a bunch of effects, combined with a wireless system as well, a lot of noise is created, especially when distortion is on. The noise gate filter is great at knocking this extra stuff out. It also has a built in tuner.-a very useful feature.

The 400 Watt 4×12 Cabinet I’ve found to be rock solid reliable. My only complaint though is with the casters Behringer packages with it. These things are just downright awful. They aren’t ball bearing based and with the 75 lb cabinet pushing down, they’ll roll, but not necessarily in the direction you want them to. Countless times when people have seen me pushing the thing around they’ve asked if a wheel was stuck, and I assumed one wheel was gimpy or something. But after detailed inspection I’ve found that all the wheels are just cheap.

So for $450, I think my Behringer half stack was definitely a great investment. It has its flaws, but overall it makes a great deal. Yes, I’d rather have Vox AC30, but I’d also like a Ferrari. Point being, I can’t afford either one. Who cares if you can get a better amp for $1200, this amp is $450 and its worth every penny of it.