Anyone know how to setup a dummyhead?

[philodox]

As it says in the title, think it could be a fun way to share vinyl while streaming.  Thoughts?  Any info on them?  Something like they use for the STAX recording.  Can I just use a bust and get microphones?  Is it that simple?  I have a Behringer DEQ2496 with a room analysing microphone for what its worth.

 

I also need a more localized (just my voice) streaming microphone,  Anyone have experience with BEACN?  Or best to stick with Shure?

[grawk]

This post just made me break out in hives

[philodox]

Wait wut? Itll be so fun! *This is your left ear*

They recommended the SM7B over on the other place over BEACN. Did I just stream of consciousness too hard. You ok Grawk? Need a mint? 

[Dusty Chalk]

6 hours ago, philodox said:

Can I just use a bust and get microphones?  Is it that simple?  

No.  Not unless your head has the acoustics of styrofoam, the dummyhead needs to mimic the acoustics of a human head, mostly because of the proximity of your head to the microphones (earholes). The sound at the microphones is a very complex signal that is not just a function of the sound coming from the sound sources (unadorned live music -- throats and musical instruments; recordings -- speakers), but the HRTF that the acoustics of your head do to the sound as well.

Paging @Dreadhead...

[philodox]

Ok, interesting. So a Styrofoam head would be ideal and some sort of small size and highly sensitive microphone? Would the omnidirectional test microphone work, or are those crap. What about my roland device with some damping? 

 

Edited yesterday at 02:03 AM by philodox

[philodox]

Oh, I misunderstood.... So I need an actual human head. Is this how Frankenstein starts????

I have a polar bear named Baloo in Minecraft, if I get another one I should name it Grawk.

[robm321]

For legal reasons, you probably shouldn't actually say it. Where you source the head is non of our business. 

Is that a flip phone strapped to a portable amp?

I have no business commenting in this thread. Good luck with your measurements. 

[philodox]

6 hours ago, robm321 said:

For legal reasons, you probably shouldn't actually say it. Where you source the head is non of our business. 

Is that a flip phone strapped to a portable amp?

I have no business commenting in this thread. Good luck with your measurements. 

LOL, I'm dieing.

Seriously though, what if I use a legally obtained skull and fill it with something the same consistency as human brain matter? 

Please comment more as that was entertaining AF. Lol

That is a Roland R-05, though it does kinda look like an old flip phone 

 

[Torpedo]

This short could be relevant for your interests:

 

[grawk]

The sm7b is a fine choice for a podcasting mic with some form of cloud lifter or a preamp that can add 60+db cleanly.   An sm58 is probably also good enough and doesn’t require the extra gain. 
 

recording speakers with a shitty diy head mic instead of just running the turntable into an adc like you’re doing a needle drop will make for an experience that is painful to listen to. 

[MexicanDragon]

3 hours ago, grawk said:

The sm7b is a fine choice for a podcasting mic with some form of cloud lifter or a preamp that can add 60+db cleanly.   An sm58 is probably also good enough and doesn’t require the extra gain. 
 

recording speakers with a shitty diy head mic instead of just running the turntable into an adc like you’re doing a needle drop will make for an experience that is painful to listen to. 

https://www.shure.com/en-US/products/microphones/sm7db

Know how good this is relative to separates?

[philodox]

4 hours ago, grawk said:

The sm7b is a fine choice for a podcasting mic with some form of cloud lifter or a preamp that can add 60+db cleanly.   An sm58 is probably also good enough and doesn’t require the extra gain. 
 

recording speakers with a shitty diy head mic instead of just running the turntable into an adc like you’re doing a needle drop will make for an experience that is painful to listen t

 

4 hours ago, grawk said:

 

Thank you so much. How would you do the idea in that case? Try to take outputs and feed via cables? 

I'd be using the Behringer for mic, so not sure which Shure is best, thoughts? 

Also not sure why the dummy head would be SO bad, but I'll trust your judgement there.

Edited 19 hours ago by philodox

[philodox]

What about using a Jecklin Disc? Might be better for the speakers, or you still think this is the wrong approach? 

[grawk]

Mics good enough to be worth it aren’t worth it if you don’t already have them. 

[grawk]

A Jecklin disk is useful where you can't control your placement and are using a stereo pair of omni mics.  If you just spread them a foot farther apart, you don't need the disk.

My setup is an apogee element, and a parasound phono stage with xlr outs.  I've used quite a few podcasting mics, most of them are fine.  The nice thing about the SM7B ($250-300 used) is it sounds good while rejecting almost any noise RIGHT at the microphone.  It needs a lot of gain to not sound anemic.  The SM58 is the classic vocal mic.  Runs about $50-100 used.   Built like a tank, sounds pretty good (it's the standard vocal mic for a reason), doesn't require a lot to work well.

It's not that a dummy head is inherently bad, it just takes a lot of everything to make it work right.  Schoeps and Neumann both made dummy head microphones that were remarkable, but even they were hard to get good results from.  Mostly useful for binaural listening, which honestly, most people don't like once the gimmick of it wears off.