Omni madness or not?

[James Lawford]

I know the answer is “try it and see”, but has anyone used an omni mic for live saxophone?

I quite like the idea of getting right on the mic (close) where the direct to indirect sound starts to be comparable to a cardioid further away, and enjoying the more natural, fuller sound without proximity effect - the advantage being a consistent tone mostly regardless of varying distance.

Madness, or worth a try?

[resistorman]

I know the answer is “try it and see”, but has anyone used an omni mic for live saxophone?

I quite like the idea of getting right on the mic (close) where the direct to indirect sound starts to be comparable to a cardioid further away, and enjoying the more natural, fuller sound without proximity effect - the advantage being a consistent tone mostly regardless of varying distance.

Madness, or worth a try?

It depends on the monitoring situation, proximity to mains and loudness of the rest of the band etc.

A somewhat pricey option might be a Shure KSM8, which "reduces the proximity effect, improves off-axis frequency response and rejection, and delivers a more consistent polar pattern."

[Wonks]

If everyone is using IEMs, with no stage monitors, then it's worth trying it.

But otherwise there are some other mics like the KSM8 which can be used close up without much/or minimal proximity effect. Look for a used AKG D202 or D224E, which are earlier dual diapragm mics (like the Shure).

The EV RE20 is a fairly standard choice for live sax, and has minimal proximity effect.

An MD421 has an adjustable bass roll-off control so you can dial out most proximity effect.

[Sam Inglis]

Most clip-on mics for sax are probably omnis, though I'm not sure that really close-up sound qualifies as 'natural'. I think it depends to a certain extent on what sort of music you're playing. In a jazz band I think you'd be fine with a conventional omni as long as you didn't need to put a lot of sax in the stage monitors. In a loud rock band it might be more of a struggle.

[Wonks]

The AKG clip-ons I had were cardioid, the equivalent Sennheisers are super-cardioid and the DPA4099 with a sax clip attachment is super-cardiod.

[Sam Spoons]

Clip on mics are great but with them there is no option to work the mic if that is important.

[Wonks]

I blame Sam Inglis for raising the topic of clip-ons!

[Hugh Robjohns]

I quite like the idea of getting right on the mic (close) where the direct to indirect sound starts to be comparable to a cardioid further away, and enjoying the more natural, fuller sound without proximity effect - the advantage being a consistent tone mostly regardless of varying distance.

It can be done, but the obvious compromise is resistance to feedback from local monitors. So everything comes down to stage setup and monitor levels.

Most stage sax players are used to holding the instrument very close to the mic, so it may be that you would benefit from working on your mic technique, and/or choosing a cardioid mic with less proximity variation or use a clip-on mic.

But you're right, it's going to be a try and see if you can make it work for you.

[James Lawford]

Good point - I see sax players basically just get as close as they can to a 58 - and whatever will come out the PA system, will! I’m trying to get something a bit nicer than that.

I’ll see if I can give it a try and report back.

There will be a single stage monitor for the sax player, but it’s a very high quality one, and a Line Audio OM1 that is pretty tidy too. I’ll try and chuck both up for sound check, omni quite close and usual mic a little further away.

[James Lawford]

Update: did the sensible thing and bought a Beyer M201 instead!

Took a look at the stage sizes for the two gigs and realised things would be a bit tight…

In the end it sounded fantastic. A bit too much snare spill due to proximity, everything else was well rejected and it was a very natural sound.

[resistorman]

Cool!

[Drew Stephenson]

Update: did the sensible thing and bought a Beyer M201 instead!

You're very unlikely to regret that in the long term.