CharterOak E700 FET Mic -- awesome alternative to AKG 414

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mhschmieder
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Re: CharterOak E700 FET Mic -- awesome alternative to AKG 41

Post by mhschmieder »

I still haven’t had a chance to try the E700 on sax or guitar amp, but we did a shootout on kick drum today and the E700 will now be my outside kick mic.

We tried the “just inside the head” approach as well, but preferred it outside by about 4” (and also to the left of the hole by a few inches), with the trusty E/V ND868 still doing the inside kick duties (I hated the Crown PCC160 that I bought a few months ago, as there was too much bleed and it was either too clicky or too splatty depending on position, but that’s OK because I’ll keep that mic for special effects like footsteps and other ambient sounds).

We tried lots of positions, and other mic combinations, but found that the figure-8 pickup pattern was by far the best for a balanced timbre, detail, and warmth, as well as superior rejection of the snare and hi-hat. Anything closer than 4” started to get sensitive to the plastic head resonance, but we didn’t try taking it off and going headless.

We’re going to focus on snare mic testing next. Over the years, I keep getting better at all of this, but still feel I have too much bleed in both the snare and the kick mics.

As for the kick, two ND868’s work well (I've been doing that for years), but I think using two of the same mic also led to a bit of a doubling of “hump” frequencies. At any rate, the CharterOak E700 really changes character more than other mics, with the slightest change in setup, but once it is in its ideal setting/position, it adds a warmth and balance to any source as well as a fullness and dimensionality. I couldn't be happier with this mic.
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User avatar
mhschmieder
Posts: 11282
Joined: Wed Jul 06, 2005 10:01 pm
Primary DAW OS: MacOS
Location: Annandale VA

Re: CharterOak E700 FET Mic -- awesome alternative to AKG 41

Post by mhschmieder »

The bottom line, is that I am expecting to have to do VERY little at production time, to the outside kick drum track, using the CharterOak E700 FET mic.
iMac 27" 2017 Quad-Core Intel i5 (3.8 GHz, 64 GB), OSX 13.6.1, MOTU DP 11.31, iZotope RX 10
RME Babyface Pro FS, Radial JDV Mk5, Hammond XK-4, Moog Voyager

Eugenio Upright, 60th Anniversary P-Bass, USA Geddy Lee J-Bass, Yamaha BBP35
Select Strat, 70th Anniversary Esquire, Johhny Marr Jaguar, 57 LP, Danelectro 12
Eastman T486RB, T64/V, Ibanez PM2, D'angelico Deluxe SS Bari, EXL1
Guild Bari, 1512 12-string, M20, Martin OM28VTS, Larivee 0040MH
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