Hello, good playing! The Neumann has a more "standard" response to my ears, and I guess a wider group of people would prefer it over the nohype mic.
But I liked the nohype a lot, I admit I lean towards a darker sound. I heard a backgroud noise on the "isolated nohype" track like a hum.
Which recording set up did you use? A dedicated pre amp or an audio interface?

 

Sounds good and great playing too. But also try pointing the ribbon sideways for a midside setup. For me, this sounds better than facing the ribbon forward. Since it’s figure 8 you’ll pick up the ambience on the sides which sounds good when blended with the condenser track. You’ll need to duplicate the ribbon track and flip the polarity on one track then pan to taste.

 

Thanks for the kind words, all!

@bb - Good observations! The "hum" you hear is probably a bit of self-noise from the ribbon mic as a result of it requiring much more gain than the Neumann. For reference, when recording saxophones, I keep the Neumann at +8dB of gain... the ribbon requires something like +25 or +30dB, somewhere around there. The u87 is just much, MUCH more sensitive and high-output than any ribbon ever could be. The ribbon's self-noise disappears quickly in a mix, but I'm sure you can hear it in isolation. I'm using the preamps on my RME Babyface ProFS, which are ultra clean.

@olds1959special - I saw your post about recording in mid-side! I know it can be a great way to go, particularly for capturing a big sound for ensembles or solo performances. It's not usually appropriate for the majority of the work I do, so I don't normally bother with it, particularly with the polarity homework required in post. I normally use the ribbon as a color option instead of a function of its fig-8 polarity for m/s. Most of the producers I work with (including myself...) just want mono saxophone tracks without any panning so they can pop them into their mixes without too much fuss! I'll have to play with m/s at some point, though, I think it'll be interesting.

 

Sounds great!

The "hum" you hear is probably a bit of self-noise from the ribbon mic as a result of it requiring much more gain than the Neumann.

The self-noise on these should be pretty negligible. I can't hear any noise on my NoHype at any level at which it would be practical to record a saxophone. However, I always use a Fethead with mine.

If you're using a longish cable run, that may be the source of the noise. The relatively high output impedances of these microphones make them more susceptible to EM and RF interference in the cable. One advantage of using something like a Fethead is that you can place it at the mic end of the cable (rather than at the preamp/interface end), which:

1. Reduces the effective output impedance of the mic+Fethead system, decreasing its susceptibility to interference.
2. Amplifies the signal at a point in the signal chain that comes before the cable EM/RF interference, so that the cable noise is not amplified along with the mic signal.

 

@mmichel – To be honest, listening back to my files, I don't hear any hum or self-noise to speak of in the playback of either isolated file... so I'm not sure what @bb is hearing. I thought I'd offer a possible culprit, but you're right, I can't hear much self-noise to speak of at all! Very curious.

 

To be blunt, I can't stand the sound of the U87 in this context. This has nothing to do with the playing, just how I like to hear it. I've heard more than enough of your clips to know that you can play, and play well. I listened on my monitors, cans, earbuds, computer speakers, nothing did it for me. I'd take the ribbon anyday over the U87 for your alto playing.
BUT, I tend to like darker.....
Great to hear it though, thanks for posting!!

 

That's interesting, Benny! I've noticed over the years, as I've done more producing in mixing, that my perception of isolated instrument tracks has changed... kind of like I hear them imagining how they'll sit in a mix. In studios, I've had moments where I really disliked my sound in isolation only to love it after hearing everything else thrown in. Almost invariably involving Neumanns!

 

I really wanted to love it, and I did listen to the whole mix, but I just wanted more mid range.
I checked those ribbons too, what a great price!

 

To me the mixed track had the sax too loud. I think that throws off the way it sounds (as you mentioned it sounds different in a mix than alone). If the sax gain were lower so it blended more, it wouldn't sound overly edgy maybe. I usually find there is a magic level for the saxophone, almost like tuning, where you just know it's right and it sounds more natural. Though I like edgy in general, I do think in this particular case that the sound doesn't fit well unless it is pushed back into the mix a little more. I would probably also drop back 2-6 kHz maybe 3-4 dB and try to take some of the presence bite out. Maybe add a little more reverb/echo and experiment with "room size". If the cymbals and snare were louder, that would help balance things out. Here the mix seems to get in the way of your good playing.