At pro 35 mic

[Dan Voight]

Was just wondering if anyone had any experience with this mic or anything like it. Anything will help.

[bradeinhorn]

i have an at pro 7a that i am pretty happy with. can send it up to you when i send the case if you want to try it out. it seems to be a similar mic howeer it is not on the gooseneck, however it is pretty easy to mount other ways.

[steve V. johnson]

I've used the AT 35xPro mics for a while now, and I really like them. I originally got one to use for my wife's bodhran (Irish frame drum) onstage for gigs. It worked well clipped onto the rim of the drum, but we sort of evolved away from that use when we found out how well it worked on the fiddle, clipped onto the chinrest. Now that's our regular use for that one.

The AT 35s are condensor mics, and so need phantom power. The only problem I've had with them is when the fiddler puts his fiddle down, then we have to be very, very careful to keep it away from the stage monitors to avoid feedback. When it's clipped onto an instrument, it's usually so close that feedback isn't much of a problem, but they do have a good, hot output, so in a loud band with hot stage monitors feedback is a possibility.

I bought some others for use in the studio. AT shows them used on toms on a drum kit and on brass. I've used them on just about every instrument since then, and I find them to be really good when space is at a premium, because of the way they clip on to instruments (or music stands, etc. They're good for 'spot mics' on featured or solo instruments in a large ensemble, like, say a flute solo in a brass band, or a solo violin in a string ensemble. Still, our main use is on the fiddle, live.

Buying one can be a little confusing, and I still haven't got the terminology that AT uses quite right. But the thing is that they make two versions:

One, the one I like, has a skinny wire from the mic capsule to a 1/8" mini-jack that goes to a female adaptor on one end of an AT cable that has an XLR on the other end. That allows me to use the mixer or preamp's phantom power, and the player puts that 1/8" connection in a pocket when they use the mic.

The other, which seems more commonly available and a tad less expensive, has the light cable from the mic going to a male 1/8" jack that plugs into a battery pack (and I think the pack has a belt ciip) that has an XLR output from that. I dislike this because I just don't want yet -another- set of connectors, and I'd rather use preamp/mixer phantom power than to worry about (yet another) device that needs batteries.
But that's just me...

I doubt that there is any difference in sound performance between the two (unless the batteries weaken or a mixer provides poor phantom power). I've bought several of these used and found them to be good values that way.

These mics have been discussed here elsewhere, and as I recall, much of it was about how to mount the AT 35s on mandolins or on other instruments. Other discussions have been about the relative merits of using a the AT35's cardioid pattern vs other mics' omni patterns and how that affects the sound and how they're mounted and used onstage. Have a look in the archives for those, there's good stuff there from a number of smart users.

I hope this helps... If you have questions I'll be happy to try and answer 'em.

stv

[tterral]

Check out the K&K Silver Bullet, less than $100, has a gooseneck and sounds very good.

[Tim2723]

I haven't used that model, but I've found AT products to be among the most reliable on the market, if that helps.