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Post by phdamage on Sept 28, 2021 22:12:51 GMT -6
Surprised to see no posts about this new(ish?) mic.
Capsule is made of two headphone drivers, supposed to be in the vein of an m380 or a D30. I had an m380 for many years but sold it once the prices started to get up there - I wasn’t using it so much. Given the price, this mic seemed worth a shot.
Anyone have one? Assuming mine will be here in a few weeks and will share my findings then.
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Post by sirthought on Sept 29, 2021 0:00:52 GMT -6
I bought one, as well as his sub mic. I haven't had a whole lot of experience with it yet, but what I did try worked well. I was able to get the kick to punch through the mix easier.
I haven't tried it on bass cab or other sources that I've seen Steve Albini go on about with the m380, but his praise of that mic basically lead me to try this.
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Post by phdamage on Oct 16, 2021 12:58:51 GMT -6
Just got to use this thing tracking some drums! More snap than I remember the m380 having but I think this is gonna be my go to kick in mic for now! No overdone top end like the beta91 or comparable and not so scooped basketball sounding like beta52/d112/d6.
I haven’t even messed with using just one of the capsules yet and I’m sold. Do yourself a favor and get one!
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Post by christophert on Oct 16, 2021 15:03:42 GMT -6
I purchased one too.
Extremely well made mic, have not had a chance to use it yet.
The video AB kick comparison sold me - as well as the design principals.
Price is great !
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Post by bgrotto on Oct 16, 2021 17:12:08 GMT -6
I bought one on the preorder. Love Al's stuff. Been using it on every kick since. Covered a pretty wide range of genres and kit types, and it has handled them all exceptionally well. I typically pair it with a 47 fet-type mic on the outside (I've got a Soundelux ifet7 and a Lawson 47 fet; i prefer the latter but both work well). Sometimes I use it with Al's sub kick.
I've also used it plenty as a kick-out mic, when there's no hole in the front head. Works great there, too. Killer mic. Very versatile.
I'd add that it generally needs *some* eq, but the bottom end on it in particular is quite nice and takes well to boosting when needed.
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Post by bgrotto on Oct 16, 2021 17:12:52 GMT -6
Oh, btw, it's rad on guitar and bass cabs, too.
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Post by phdamage on Oct 16, 2021 17:40:49 GMT -6
Oh, btw, it's rad on guitar and bass cabs, too. I’m certainly curious but I have an awful lot of mics to cover guitar and bass cabs. I pair mine with a Lawson fet for kick out as well! Solid combo!! |
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Post by christophert on Oct 16, 2021 18:48:57 GMT -6
I'm really keen to try it on floor tom too.
If it's great on this task, then I'll order another one.
I have a much loved Beyer TGX50 since the 90's for bass cabs, and also want a back-up for the day it decides to die.
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Post by vintagetubelug on Oct 16, 2021 20:25:25 GMT -6
Thanks for sharing about this, I pulled the trigger. Hope I dig it!! I can do an a/b to a nice sounding D12 when it arrives.
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Post by bgrotto on Oct 16, 2021 20:57:57 GMT -6
I'm really keen to try it on floor tom too. If it's great on this task, then I'll order another one. I have a much loved Beyer TGX50 since the 90's for bass cabs, and also want a back-up for the day it decides to die. I imagine ride and right-side crash bleed would be a huge problem with its rear lobe on floor tom. |
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Post by bgrotto on Oct 16, 2021 20:58:59 GMT -6
Oh, btw, it's rad on guitar and bass cabs, too. I’m certainly curious but I have an awful lot of mics to cover guitar and bass cabs. I pair mine with a Lawson fet for kick out as well! Solid combo!! Yeah, it's not so great on guitar or bass that it's gonna come off my kicks any time soon! Ha. The lawson fet is pretty exceptional. The fact that it outperforms my Soundelux was pretty big news for me at the time! |
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Post by christophert on Oct 17, 2021 1:46:45 GMT -6
I'm really keen to try it on floor tom too. If it's great on this task, then I'll order another one. I have a much loved Beyer TGX50 since the 90's for bass cabs, and also want a back-up for the day it decides to die. I imagine ride and right-side crash bleed would be a huge problem with its rear lobe on floor tom. Figure 8 should be OK - Ive used various ribbons and Fig 8 mics on floortom many times. The design is great, cause you can put them sideways and have the rear pointing behind the drummer. Experimenting to be done
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Post by phdamage on Oct 17, 2021 6:49:13 GMT -6
I'm really keen to try it on floor tom too. If it's great on this task, then I'll order another one. I have a much loved Beyer TGX50 since the 90's for bass cabs, and also want a back-up for the day it decides to die. I imagine ride and right-side crash bleed would be a huge problem with its rear lobe on floor tom. I feel like placement is the far bigger issue. With the two diaphragms, that’s an awful lot of real estate to have over the head |
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Post by Ward on Oct 17, 2021 9:03:59 GMT -6
It's VERY impressive. Has a tiny bit of the 47FET tone in the capture and a little bit of the D12e in it also. I like it better than a few others.
Thankfully, it sounds nothing like a D112.
Now I'm wondering if I need it . . .
current arsenal of kickdrum mics include
Neumann U47FETs(2)
Heiserman 47FETs (2)
EV RE27
AKG D12e and D112
Telefunken M82
Senn 421 (7)
and a ton of others not dedicated to such duties...
And yet, I still want one.
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Post by phdamage on Oct 17, 2021 19:01:44 GMT -6
It's VERY impressive. Has a tiny bit of the 47FET tone in the capture and a little bit of the D12e in it also. I like it better than a few others. Thankfully, it sounds nothing like a D112. Now I'm wondering if I need it . . . current arsenal of kickdrum mics include Neumann U47FETs(2) Heiserman 47FETs (2) EV RE27 AKG D12e and D112 Telefunken M82 Senn 421 (7) and a ton of others not dedicated to such duties... And yet, I still want one. Yeah, I have quite a few kick mics in my locker as well, but I find this to be pretty damn unique sounding. Good god, man, 7 421s?!! Def useful mics but I rarely ever use the 2 I still have. I guess if you like em on toms, having that many makes sense tho |
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Post by Ward on Oct 18, 2021 4:42:02 GMT -6
SNIP Good god, man, 7 421s?!! Def useful mics but I rarely ever use the 2 I still have. I guess if you like em on toms, having that many makes sense tho 421s are great on bottom of toms, flip the phase, but awful bleed on top. Great on congas, bongos, djembes and other hand drums. Steel drums. Bodhran. All horns. I rarely use them, but there are times when they just work like a charm. |
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Post by notneeson on Oct 18, 2021 11:58:19 GMT -6
I bought one on the preorder. Love Al's stuff. Been using it on every kick since. Covered a pretty wide range of genres and kit types, and it has handled them all exceptionally well. I typically pair it with a 47 fet-type mic on the outside (I've got a Soundelux ifet7 and a Lawson 47 fet; i prefer the latter but both work well). Sometimes I use it with Al's sub kick. I've also used it plenty as a kick-out mic, when there's no hole in the front head. Works great there, too. Killer mic. Very versatile. I'd add that it generally needs *some* eq, but the bottom end on it in particular is quite nice and takes well to boosting when needed. Does the switch on your iFet7 give you trouble? I miss that mic. |
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Post by enlav on Oct 19, 2021 7:12:17 GMT -6
Regarding the Alien8, how often are you guys using both driv... I mean elements?
What is really curious to me is that I can absolutely understand how the two headphone drivers could compliment each other inside a kick drum, but if you put this on something like a cab a few feet back, would you theoretically be getting a big null point with the positive and negative lobes facing the same source? (In practice, or real world applications, I'd assume this would equate to some funky response)
I'm guessing the mic isn't really designed for greater distances...
And the price point is low enough, it kind of feels worth getting just to play with.
Hmm. I wonder if they'd ever consider making a single driver mic at some point. I honestly think the individual element settings aren't bad either.
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Post by Ward on Oct 19, 2021 8:10:48 GMT -6
Regarding the Alien8, how often are you guys using both driv... I mean elements? What is really curious to me is that I can absolutely understand how the two headphone drivers could compliment each other inside a kick drum, but if you put this on something like a cab a few feet back, would you theoretically be getting a big null point with the positive and negative lobes facing the same source? (In practice, or real world applications, I'd assume this would equate to some funky response) I'm guessing the mic isn't really designed for greater distances... And the price point is low enough, it kind of feels worth getting just to play with. Hmm. I wonder if they'd ever consider making a single driver mic at some point. I honestly think the individual element settings aren't bad either. I only have this info to go on, but is there an output xfo? If so, is it possible to have a modified unit with two output xfos and take a signal from each element? I like all the sounds but would also love to be able to have each element's output on a separate path and be able to blend them to my liking, depending on the mix. |
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Post by bgrotto on Oct 19, 2021 14:10:13 GMT -6
Regarding the Alien8, how often are you guys using both driv... I mean elements? What is really curious to me is that I can absolutely understand how the two headphone drivers could compliment each other inside a kick drum, but if you put this on something like a cab a few feet back, would you theoretically be getting a big null point with the positive and negative lobes facing the same source? (In practice, or real world applications, I'd assume this would equate to some funky response) I'm guessing the mic isn't really designed for greater distances... And the price point is low enough, it kind of feels worth getting just to play with. Hmm. I wonder if they'd ever consider making a single driver mic at some point. I honestly think the individual element settings aren't bad either. The elements are “backwards” from one another so phose coherency is maintained |
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Post by enlav on Oct 19, 2021 15:00:22 GMT -6
Regarding the Alien8, how often are you guys using both driv... I mean elements? What is really curious to me is that I can absolutely understand how the two headphone drivers could compliment each other inside a kick drum, but if you put this on something like a cab a few feet back, would you theoretically be getting a big null point with the positive and negative lobes facing the same source? (In practice, or real world applications, I'd assume this would equate to some funky response) I'm guessing the mic isn't really designed for greater distances... And the price point is low enough, it kind of feels worth getting just to play with. Hmm. I wonder if they'd ever consider making a single driver mic at some point. I honestly think the individual element settings aren't bad either. The elements are “backwards” from one another so phose coherency is maintained Aaah, okay, I missed that bit from the manual; while the elements are in opposite directions (to allow for that difference in tone from one to the other), the bottom (from the manual) "has been wired in reverse so it is again in phase with the top capsule so it is additive rather than subtractice to the combined sound."
I'm wondering if I have something that would work as a mic body... for a similar sort of DIY (though single driver) sort of contraption...
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Post by draliensmith on Oct 20, 2021 6:12:24 GMT -6
The elements are “backwards” from one another so phose coherency is maintained Aaah, okay, I missed that bit from the manual; while the elements are in opposite directions (to allow for that difference in tone from one to the other), the bottom (from the manual) "has been wired in reverse so it is again in phase with the top capsule so it is additive rather than subtractice to the combined sound." I'm wondering if I have something that would work as a mic body... for a similar sort of DIY (though single driver) sort of contraption...
Hi all, My name is Al and I make the Alien8. Happy to answer any questions you might have but yes, the bottom capsule is backwards but wired in reverse so it adds to the top capsule. My first working prototype was just a single capsule which sounded good but after hearing the front and back of the capsules combined I made the decision to complicate things and include both  . For me the double capsule sound is hands down my favorite but the two other single capsule settings are great as well. Lots of familiar names on this thread, thanks for all the kind words! |
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Post by phdamage on Oct 20, 2021 6:29:43 GMT -6
Hi all, My name is Al and I make the Alien8. Happy to answer any questions you might have but yes, the bottom capsule is backwards but wired in reverse so it adds to the top capsule. My first working prototype was just a single capsule which sounded good but after hearing the front and back of the capsules combined I made the decision to complicate things and include both . For me the double capsule sound is hands down my favorite but the two other single capsule settings are great as well. Lots of familiar names on this thread, thanks for all the kind words! Welcome! And thanks for making such a cool and unique mic! Excited to see what you come up with in the future - keep us all posted |
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Post by draliensmith on Oct 20, 2021 6:38:28 GMT -6
Thanks! Cheers to christophert for letting me know about this thread and I'm happy to have found this forum, browsing around there are some great topics here.
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Post by enlav on Oct 20, 2021 6:42:39 GMT -6
Lots of familiar names on this thread, thanks for all the kind words! Great to hear from the creator! Any other microphones in the pipeline?
(This whole post has reminded me that I'm either criminally unaware of companies that make dynamics, sans the big names, or there aren't many out there)
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. For me the double capsule sound is hands down my favorite but the two other single capsule settings are great as well.