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Author Topic: new mic - Sennheiser e906  (Read 4612 times)

gwEm

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new mic - Sennheiser e906
« on: September 08, 2017, 10:30:16 AM »
So I watched the guys on 'That Pedal Show' rave about this mic and read some reviews online. I thought I'd pick one up as an alternative to my SM57. Here are my thoughts:

* The mics do have different sounds to them, but they both sound equally as good
* The SM57 is more sensitive regarding its placement - a good and a bad thing. Definitely the Sennheiser is less faff, though I can set up an SM57 very quickly these days. Just put the e906 around the cone and it sounds perfect.
* The e906 can just be hung over the top edge of the cab - no mic stand needed
* e906 lower profile, much less easy to knock
* I didn't use the e906 bass cut control myself, but maybe that will be useful to some people.

So yes, I do prefer the e906 to the SM57 due to its convenience, but please note my first point - it doesn't necessarily sound any better.
Quote from: AndyR
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AndyR

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Re: new mic - Sennheiser e906
« Reply #1 on: September 09, 2017, 12:36:19 PM »
Sounds cool. I was getting interested myself, reading online. I like the SM57 for rock vocal - and several folk seem to like the e906 for blues or rock vocals.

Then I found this :grin::

"For the curious, the mic is unsurprisingly bad for vocals. The very tight polar pattern is completely unforgiving for vocalists that move more than a few inches and the sound itself comes off as a bit throaty and shrill. Long story short, it's classified as an instrument mic for very good reasons." (http://www.proaudioland.com/news/sennheiser-e906-dynamic-instrument-microphone-review/)

Throaty = good
Shrill = not so sure
Vocalist moving around a bit = hmmmm :grin:

Still, the way I use a 57 when recording vocals is no pop shield and almost touching it with the lips (often hand held!). Gives me a nice thick throaty vocal. Maybe this would do something similar but different? A 57's really good on handling noise - not much comes through. What's the e906 like?

I'm also wondering about recording a resonator. My large condensor can't cope with the spikes you get out of a reso, 57's ok.

It does sound like everyone loves what this mic does on a guitar cab (the one thing I don't really use mics for!!).

Btw - are you sure it's a bass cut switch? Everything I've read seems to suggest it's a presence switch (Cut, normal, boost)?

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gwEm

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Re: new mic - Sennheiser e906
« Reply #2 on: September 09, 2017, 09:26:10 PM »
The e906 is definitely good at handling noise, I've not been recording with it very loudly, but it didn't pickup anything extraneous.

I've not tried it for vocals so I can't really comment. I would have thought though it'd be good for a resonator as it sounds very natural.

It is a boost/flat/cut switch. Settled on flat.
Quote from: AndyR
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Plenum n Heather

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Re: new mic - Sennheiser e906
« Reply #3 on: September 10, 2017, 01:36:24 PM »
I have four mics tha I use for recording electric guitar: SM57, Sennheiser e609, Audix D2, and Cascade Fat Head II. Depends on the sound I am going for.

Ironically, I have had much better results using the so called tom mic (D2) for electric guitar (it thickens guitar nicely) and the so called guitar mic (609) on snare drum!

The 906 is a wonderful mic, but as said above, not really different from the 57 aside from that slight boost in the upper mids.

I love using the Fat Head, it gives a huge guitar sound, but requires a lot of work when mixing due to its low frequency girth and massive proximity effect, which all ribbon mics have. Tracked with the SSL and adding the Helios channel strip when mixng, though, gives a great classic guitar tone.
« Last Edit: September 10, 2017, 01:39:55 PM by Plenum n Heather »