On Wed, Jan 28, 2009 at 12:05:53PM +0100, Atte André Jensen wrote: The important point is not if the mic is condenser or dynamic, but if it is designed for on-stage vocals or not. Most condensors are 'studio' mics, they also tend to be more sensitive to handling noise and environmental conditions (in particular humidity and air currents). Yours is explicitly advertised as a 'studio mic'. That's again a 'studio' tool, its function is to reduce reflections from the singer's voice which it does by being close to both the singer and the mic, i.e. by shielding both the source and the receiver. It will be much less effective for 'external' noise, and I don't think it will help much to protect you from the house PA. Ciao, -- FA Laboratorio di Acustica ed Elettroacustica Parma, Italia O tu, che porte, correndo si ? E guerra e morte !

Atte André Jensen wrote: what is the polar pattern of that microphone? for loud live use, cardioids are preferred (or hyper-cadioids, but then move your monitors to the sides, into the nulls of the polar patterns - not an issue with headphones, obviously). it all depends on how loud your music needs to be. large diaphragms are generally a bit tricker wrt feedback. if all you need is "slightly louder than unamplified", you can even get by with a load of omni microphones on stage. make sure you have a good PA eq that will allow you to set narrow notches, and be sure to have time for a good soundcheck. place all mikes on stage, bring them up and increase their volume until it howls, then place a notch that is deep enough to kill the howl. increase the volume some more, next notch. stop doing it when the howls are getting really close to one another in pitch - that is when you've reached the usable maximum PA gain. yes, it would totally ruin the experience for your audience and turn the gig into a nerdfest... (/me runs and hides) does this mike even have XLR outs? or are you feeding it into a computer only? if your computer connects to the PA, watch out for crappy mini-jacks, and be sure to use short leads into a pair of good DI boxes before you patch into the stage box. have a good gig! jörn

Atte André Jensen wrote: I've used AudioTechnica AT2020 condenser mics very successfully several times at live concerts for 700 people. Once for fairly close miking a resophonic guitar with a small backing band (CW Stoneking and the Primitive Horn Orchestra), and as drum overheads for Colin Hay Band. As one poster mentioned the pickup pattern must be cardioid for best feedback rejection in a live situation. ps. There seems to be a big increase in traffic on this list lately. Does this mean Linux audio is much more popular now? :) Roger