Audio interface for Line Audio CM4 and OMNI1

[vkvkv]

Hello,
I am looking for gear recommendation and would appreciate your responses. In particular, I'm looking to buy some (1) SDC microphones and (2) an audio interface with 4 mic inputs. I'd like to record a grand piano (Yamaha C6) in stereo and while also recording myself singing (hence the need for a 3+ mic input audio interface). I'd describe the type of music as singer-songwriter, indie, rock. I'd also want to record myself playing pure classical and jazz music. I'm recording in my house, but will be recording finished songs/pieces, not demos.

I currently own a Rode NT1, which I've been using for vocals, and a single Shure SM57 which I've been using to mic the piano. I run these through a Scarlett 2i2, which I still intend on using in another room for guitar and bass tracks. I record everything on my Macbook Pro 15" (2018 model) and use Logic Pro as my DAW.

I've been reading a lot of great things about Line Audio's CM4 and OMNI1 microphones and I feel they would be a great fit for me. So I'm planning on picking up a pair of each as it seems I will be able to do a lot with them, and their affordability is enticing. I could afford to spend up to $1500 on a pair of microphones, so I'm open to other suggestions if any of you might feel it would be worth it.

With regards to the audio interface, I was looking at the Universal Audio Volt 476p. I've read somewhere that the Line Audio microphones benefit from an interface with clean mic preamps, so the interface is the thing I feel most shaky about and would really appreciate your feedback on.

I'm also open to any other suggestions given my setup. Many thanks.

[monomoon]

I have a pair of CM4's and use them quite regularly (but for sound design rather than music recording). I find them to be very neutral sounding and easy to work with both when setting-up and in post-processing. I love 'em. I'd quite like to get a pair of their omni mics at some point.

I've had no issues driving the CM4's from a range of different interfaces and field recorders and I've always liked the results.

In terms of buying better mics than the Line Audio, I would be more inclined to worry about the room acoustics, the instrument and the mic positioning (experiment with it). Going from two mono mics to stereo arrays (and omnis) means the room and mic setup are going to have much more variance and effect on the results than before.

[James Perrett]

I have a pair of the older CM3s and find that they work well with my Audient 8 channel preamp so it may be worth looking at one of their interfaces which use the same preamp design.

[vkvkv]

Thank you very much for your replies!

I've done a bunch of research and narrowed down my search for an audio interface to the following devices, in the following order:
1. SSL 12
2. Audient EVO 16
3. Audient ID44

I've decided I'd like the capability of tracking 12 mics at once, so all of these devices provide that. I'm leaning towards the SSL 12 because of the all-analog controls (I don't like the idea of menu diving) and it also seems that the mic preamps are higher quality than the Audient's EVO. The things I like about the EVO are that it comes with 4 additional preamps and has a convenient-sounding "smart gain" feature (which can also be used to stereo match microphones).

Based on the forums that I've scoured, people seem to generally prefer the Audient ID44 (which feature the same Audient preamps you mentioned, James) over the SSL 12 -- some have subjectively described the latter as clinical sounding. However the ID44 is more expensive (SSL12 is on sale right now for $400 vs the ID44 which I've found for $570 at Thomann Music) and I doubt I would notice much of a difference. The SSL also has MIDI -- I'm not sure if I will ever use that, so it doesn't really factor into my consideration strongly. But it's certainly not bad to have the option.

Lastly, does anyone have recommendations for stereo bars for the Line Audio CM4s or OMNI1s? My understanding is that the XY recording pattern is not viable for the CM4s because of their wide cardioid pattern? I haven't done much research yet on microphone placement and would appreciate a good place to start.

If anyone has any further feedback/thoughts, I would definitely love to hear. Thanks for reading.

[Mike Stranks]

I have one of these:

https://www.thomann.de/gb/rode_stereo_bar_sb20.htm

and one of these:

https://www.thomann.de/gb/km_23560_stereo_bar.htm

The former is good because it has angles and spacing marked on the bar; the latter allows a wide range of adjustment, and I occasionally used my OM1s and CM3s in a variation of a 4-mic Faulkner Array on it. OM1s spaced 66cm apart and the CM3s in a NOS or DIN configuration.

[Hugh Robjohns]

For anyone not sure of those stereo mic arrays, they both use cardioids with a 90 degree mutual angle, but with different capsule spacings.NOS is 300mm while DIN is 200mm.

Tony Faulkner's variation on the OCCO theme uses cardioids at 90 degrees but spaced at 414mm.

He arrived at that odd yet precise distance by dividing the spacing of the omni outriggers (670mm is Tony's preference) by the golden ratio (1.618). Weird, but true!

[Mike Stranks]

Thanks for the amplification Hugh...

I'd surmised that the cardioid spacing was around the 300mm mark, but it's wider than I thought...

Noted for future reference... should I ever do any live recording again...

[Hugh Robjohns]

He often uses spheres on the omni outriggers too, and adjusts the mic angles to suit. He claims not to vary the cardioid spacing... but I'll bet he does in practice!