Ramirez

The Line Audios are indeed very good mics, and hold their own against much more more expensive mics. Be careful if trying the CM4 live though- in truth it’s slightly wider/more open than a true cardioid, and is approaching a hypocardioid pattern. I think the CM4 are closer to true cardioid than the CM3 they replaced though. There’s much more to small-diaphragm mics than ‘adding detail’. A true single diaphragm omni like the Line Audio OM1 will go down to lower frequencies than any other type of microphone, and does not suffer from any proximity effect. An omni pattern created by summing two back to back cardioid capsules like you get in a switchable-pattern large diaphragm mic doesn’t quite offer the same low frequency benefits, but can still sound great. To be honest I find large diaphragm mics to be of limited use apart from vocals- their main benefits are: *lower self-noise (which is rarely a problem with SDCs when close mic’ing anyway) *reduced proximity effect compared to small-diaphragm cardioids (this is due to the use of two diaphragms). This is why they work so well and have become a standard for close-up vocals. *They are less accurate than a small-diaphragm (larger diaphragm covers a larger area- the opposite of ‘pin-point accuracy!), but by the same token they have more character, so they often just sound ‘nice’ Personally I prefer to take the time to find the right position for a single mic rather than use two or three- and if you have a nice room, the ideal position might be a bit further out than you expect! Also keep an ear out for any phase issues if you do use multiple mics.

There shouldn't be noticeable latency as the Apollos are designed to host and run the UAD plugins in real time on the interface itself, just like any other digital effects unit. It can also host them as VSTs in a DAW when used as an interface, which is where latency might come in. But used standalone it should be good.

Old thread I know, but if going this route I wouldn't use anything but the Apollo. It can do all your signal processing, so no need for the Noble or pedals. It has a 2nd input that you can use for a mono monitor mix, and it can feed your signal to FOH as well as feed your IEMs (are the main outputs separate from the HP out?) Neat all in one rig!

Well, had my fretless debut on an all-nighter BBC session las week that's broadcast tonight!

Yes. Melodyne is very good. I haven’t tried AutoTune yet 🫣 Getting used to it- I had a Harley Benton short scale fretless that sounded wonderful, but seeing as I’m trying to play upright bass as well, the jump in scale lengths was one step too far and the more I played one if them, the more out of tune I seemed to get on the other! Everything seems to fall into place easier for me on the standard scale fretless. That said, playing along to other tracks still show that there’s work to be done! One thing I find helps quite is to ensure that you’re playing your FRETTED bass on top of/just behind the fret - ie. at essentially the correct position for a fretless. Muscle memory becomes much easier then, as you don’t have to change your technique as much when switching basses.

Well, to answer my own question, I tried the 3 they had at Wunjo’s in Denmark St yesterday, and walked out with one. I was very impressed, sounded beautiful, and the weight, feel, sound and build quality were very consistent between the three. Also a shout out to the excellent and patient service at Wunjo, even on a busy saturday. They currently have the Casady fretless at £649, which is cheaper than anywhere else I can see.

The mics will be fine. Ribbon mics with conventional XLR wiring are also perfectly fine with phantom power as long as nothing’s faulty- it’s become a bit of an internet myth that phantom power WILL break ribbons! XLR outputs from other equipment is a different story - some (most, perhaps) are fine being connected to an input with ohantom power present, while some don’t like it. I’ve seen a few digital mixers shut down when their outputs are connected to an inout with phantom, and I’ve some some older equipments outputs go bust. It will PROBABLY be fine, but it’s safer to use the jack inputs* if you can (or a t transformer isolation box/phantom blocker) *Phantom power should not be present at the jack inputs, and this is true in most cases with properly designed equipment, but sometimes, on some equipment using XLR/jack combi inputs, the phantom can be present on the jack input. Always best to check!

Anyone else had a go on one of these? I'm seriously tempted.

I think you're confusing 'professional' and 'elite'. Most professional players play off the shelf basses, and I'm sure plenty of them own and play Squiers. My DPD delivery guy doesn't get to drive Max Verstappen's F1 car, but they're both professional drivers.

Quite- I was using them as examples that ‘unbalanced’ isn’t inherently ‘lower quality’ - it’s just a different system. ‘Line level’ and ‘headphone level’ can be quite close though. And they can all vary a lot!

Certainly! It’s always a good idea to balance them as soon as possible with a DI box, whether that be a guitar signal or an unbalanced out from an amp. Speaker and headphone feeds are usually unbalanced though, without problems. And there’s the added bonus that you send a stereo unbalanced signal down one XLR if you’re willing to take the risk with noise! I’ve done that a few with robust line-level signals from keyboards on occasion- worked fine and cut down on stage clutter.