Ear Trumpet Microphone

[Hubs]

Hello!
Since it is my first posting, a little introduction:
I am from Austria, Europe, age 53, and play guitars and mandolin for many years now, and I like Bluegrass, Blues among others and I play with some friends, mostly at home.
Every once in a while, we play in front of people
Now I'd like to know how good the "Ear Trumpet microphones" work in live situations, when it is a little bit "noisy ".
What about feedback problems. Any expieriences?
We would like to use it for single micing.

[Toni Schula]

Hi Hubs,


welcome to The Cafe! It's nice to meet a fellow Austrian here.

Besides having two "Ear Trumpets" I have no idea what an ear trumpet microphone is I guess I have to google...


Servus
Bauzl

[Spruce]

Here ya go...

They are all the rage these days in the acoustic music world--you see 'em everywhere...
I must have seen a dozen on stage at Wintergrass this year...

Never have used one...

[mandroid]

503 area code , so they are made not far from here, 541 is a lot of the rest of Oregon.

[fredfrank]

They do seem to be all the rage these days with bluegrass bands. I worked for a pro sound company last year at a festival where a band showed up with one. I wasn't blown away with the sound of it. But that may be because we didn't really get a chance to EQ it properly. We just plugged it in and did what we could to make it work without making it squeal.

These are basically a large diaphragm condenser mic. The appeal here is just the looks. Inside, you could probably do just as well with an AT 4033 or Shure KSM32 style mic.

[BradKlein]

You can learn more via the Fretboard Journal podcast HERE - Podcast 75: Philip Graham of Ear Trumpet Labs.

There are some great bands using these, including Milk Carton Kids who certainly care about their sound. But I suspect the visuals are what have drawn so many musicians to this product. They like the look on videos and social media.

[Spruce]

These are basically a large diaphragm condenser mic.

From the Ear Trumpet website:

"Edwina is a medium-large diaphragm (26mm) condenser microphone designed for live vocal use. The physical design features a bracket-mounted pivoting head which allows flexibility in positioning, from a side address ‘lollipop’ configuration to a full end address. The body and head feature a distinctive early-industrial design aesthetic, and are made largely from standard plumbing and electrical hardware. The head basket incorporates a very effective silk and stainless steel mesh pop filter as well as Sorbothane shock and vibration damping to minimize handling noise.
The capsule is a Chinese-made electret condenser individually tested and selected – roughly 30% of capsules are rejected for not meeting design criteria. The circuit is a transformerless FET with fully balanced output and EMI noise suppression. Other electrical components in the signal path are highest quality metal film resistors, polypropylene and polystyrene capacitors, and individually tested, hand-matched and biased transistors and JFETs."

The appeal here is just the looks.

For a band like the Milk Carton Kids or Foghorn (and a lot of others), there's a lot to be said about that appeal...
It is a cool look...
And they sounded fine...
YMMV...

[almeriastrings]

What is actually inside them is discussed in this recent thread.

[foldedpath]

What is actually inside them is discussed in this recent thread.

Good link there.

If these mics are mainly being used for the visual appeal... because yes, they do look different than tried-and-true stage mics, even if there is nothing special about the performance... then what happens when the "cool look" becomes saturated because everyone is doing it, and you have to find something that looks even more different?

Is this the start of a new arms race in retro/steampunk mic art, for the sake of the camera? Does anyone care what the band sounds like anymore, with the least amount of visual distraction? And yes, I know we crossed the line a long time ago, with MTV.

Bah, humbug.
/end curmudgeon

[Marty Jacobson]

Wow. Seems like someone with a CNC mill and some time on their hands could take some Shure or Neumann components and do them one better.

[foldedpath]

Wow. Seems like someone with a CNC mill and some time on their hands could take some Shure or Neumann components and do them one better.

I think I posted this in the other thread, but Wes Dooley (home of AEA ribbon mics and great ribbon mic preamps) has been doing this for years, with replica vintage RCA ribbon mic shells. You can even get your own custom-engraved "flags" with your band's radio call sign, like Bill Monroe had on his mic.

They're designed to take side-address, modern high end condenser mics inside like Schoeps SDC's, so this idea isn't exactly cheap. But you get the 1940's retro look and great mic performance if you can afford it. Here's the link (scroll down to Props & Shells):

http://www.wesdooley.com/parts-accessories#Props

[aphillips]

So I love them and every time I've used them in a live setting, people have told me the sound was awesome.

I also use them for my video series the Santa Barbara Sessions - http://www.santabarbarasessions.com/sessions.html

I have no sponsorship btw, I just love how they look AND sound.

[almeriastrings]

To really understand this, you need to know a bit about what is inside microphones, what all those parts actually do (and how they do it), how the parts interact with each other, and what the purpose is going to be, i.e., how the specification translates into desired results - and the answer to that is often not what most people might think it would be. Unfortunately, 99% at least of musicians are not familiar with hardly any of this, and indeed, a lot of what they might think they know is just plain wrong.

Two of the best examples of this are those who say "we use a single large diaphragm condenser on stage, just like those classic bands did" and go on to cite (for example) the Audio Technica AT4033 or an MXL 990. I have heard that, or similar, hundreds of times, and it is - to be blunt - total nonsense.

Myth no. 1: None of the classic bands used LD condensers on stage. Not Monroe, Flatt and Scruggs, Stanley's... none of them did. Ever. They used ribbon microphones and dynamic microphones. These microphones have totally different properties than LD condenser microphones.

Myth no. 2: The AT 4033 are MXL990 are large diaphragm microphones. They're not. The AT4033 has an electret capsule using a 2-micron diaphragm measuring 11.5mm in diameter! That is smaller than many mics sold as small-diaphragm models! It is of very high quality construction, however, with excellent design and high grade components. The MXL 990 "large diaphragm" microphone is also a sheep in wolf's clothing, another SD capsule in a "large diaphragm" microphone body shell.... so many people are using these , thinking they are a LD mic, when they are no such thing..... the Shure KSM 32 is not strictly speaking a "LD" mic either. It has a 19mm capsule.

The Ear Trumpet mics use mass produced (very cheap) Chinese capsules. Compare... you can buy one of these capsules yourself for well under $15. If you want to buy a true, high quality capsule, something similar to that fitted on a Neumann, for example, that will cost you anything from $200 to $600. Here's some genuine high end K7 and M7 capsules. Of course, there are real differences... just like a $60 Rogue mandolin is nothing like a Heiden or an Ellis, or a Gilchrist... apart from the fact they are all mandolins and sound kind of similar and are all made of wood and are roughly the same shape.

I am not surprised, though, that for live use many are happy with them. Why? Quite simply because the highest technical specifications do not necessarily translate into the best performance in a live setting. Very wide, flat frequency responses, high sensitivity, low self-noise, high SPL capabilities... all mostly meaningless through a PA system, and the very things that make a truly superb and versatile studio mic can be counter productive on stage, particularly with regard to feedback. So, in that respect, a rather limited performance microphone in technical terms can win out.... you can sound great through an old SM-57 too. If you know how to use it.

I cannot help but think that if the same innards as in these fancy looking microphones was in a simple, plain casing, how many would be using them? There is about $25 worth of parts in there.....

[Spruce]

Interesting Fretboard Journal podcast here...

[Hubs]

Hi Hubs,


welcome to The Cafe! It's nice to meet a fellow Austrian here.

Servus
Bauzl

Hi, Bauzl
Nice to meet you!
Servus! Greetings from Vorarlberg!

[Hubs]

Thank you all for the quick and very helpful response!
This helps me a lot to make a good decision. By now, I don't buy one but I will try one out, if I can. But now I know, that there are some alternatives in the game.

[Timbofood]

Almeria, true the classic bands didn't use them, had they been available I bet they would. This is one more time when time has advanced the technology.
Escoffier didn't use a Cuisinart but, if it had been invented, he would have.
Just an observation.
The "they didn't use....." argument is a strange one.

[almeriastrings]

I simply pointed out that many people (erroneously) believe they used them.

[Timbofood]

No, worries, I understand exactly what you we saying we're good!
I also appreciate your breakdown of the components used in some of these "newfangled" gizmos!

[foldedpath]

Almeria, true the classic bands didn't use them, had they been available I bet they would.

I don't think that's a very safe bet. The "classic" bands didn't own and operate their own PA systems, like many bands do now. Especially bands just starting out, which is mainly what these mics are aimed at, in my opinion.

The classic bands would have used whatever the house engineer set up on stage to use, and they would trust the engineer's opinion on what to use. Mics would be paid for by the venue, and selected for ruggedness and best sound available at the time.

When you see mics like the Ear Trumpet used by today's bands, it's really more about the visual flash than the sound, and the mics are being selected by band members, not engineers.

If Bill Monroe stepped out of a time machine and was offered something like the Ear Trumpet, I'd be putting my own bet on him saying "that ain't no part of nuthin'" and asking for an RCA ribbon mic he'd be comfortable with. And you know, you can still get ribbon mics built like that today (although not usually the best choice for a stage mic now). You just won't get them at Ear Trumpet pricing, and without the steampunk aesthetics.*

Again, just my opinion here.

*P.S. I've been waiting for the Steampunk thing to die off, but there isn't any sign of it happening yet. None of these fads last forever though.

[Timbofood]

Kind of splitting hairs now aren't we? Sound engineers did use the best things "available" whether or not the classic bands would have walked in and said "I have to have..." is another story.
The point is they would have used the best available, not from an industry standpoint necessarily but from what was in the house exactly.
I get the steampunk weariness, I am a bit over it myself but, some of it is pretty interesting

[Mandoplumb]

I disagree that the classic bands didn't own their own P.A.s. Bill Monroe at one time carried his own circus tent I suspect if he used a P.A. That he owned it. As a child dad took us to see Flatt and Scruggs and my brother and I helped carry instruments and sound equipment to the bus. As the bands got "bigger" they could demand that the P.A. be provided but at first they operated like us mortals.

[almeriastrings]

Well... I did a bit of research on that topic many years ago, and actually got to ask some of these guys what they used. The most common answer was, in effect, "I ain't got a clue!" They had zero interest in it (which was frustrating for me, because I really wanted to know).

The first PA systems were very primitive by current standards. Many were simply adapted tube radio sets or converted 'electric gramophones'! These typical late 1930’s-40’s PA systems had power outputs in the 4-12 Watt range, often feeding a pair of single 10-12” speakers. Churches in the US were one of the early wide adopters of sound reinforcement, and it is likely that this is where many traditional musicians first encountered working with a PA. The big names at that time were Western Electric and RCA.

By the early post-war years, PA installations were common in theaters, halls, and churches. The equipment used was very low powered by today’s standards, and offered only the most basic facilities. This is a typical PA amplifier, by RCA, from 1949. It features a 10-Watt output and has the ability to mix two microphone inputs. There is a single ‘tone’ control, a master volume, and an on-off switch.



That is very typical of what these bands played through.

Here's a pair of speakers actually used at a country music venue way back when....



Both of these ran from an amplifier that supplied 12 watts (total). Audience size? Could be 300 or more. Most would now think that this is impossible, but it is not. It is what they really did.

I spent some time trying to extract info on this from both Carl Story and Don Reno, who toured with Monroe in those early days. Reno did say that as soon as multi-mic systems, mixers and "proper PA's" became available, they could not wait to use them, they were so much better than "the old stuff". Reno preferred a Shure Unidyne, later SM57, for his guitar and banjo (this was when he was with Bill Harrell at the time I interviewed him). I have some notes (somewhere) on the gear Flatt & Scruggs used... and I recall there was mention of using "big old horns" at some events, which I think were metal horn compression drivers as used at outside fairs and fetes, etc. Again, these were very low powered and very badly suited to music indeed! They sound a bit like an old telephone... their main advantage is they are waterproof!

One other thing, though you don't hear this mentioned at all, for some reason.. but it was not just moving coil (dynamic) and ribbon mics that were used.. but crystal mics! The 'Webster W.1236' was one that was certainly used...they continued to be used right up to the early 60's in some venues.

[almeriastrings]

Flatt & Scruggs PA System.

From my notes.... primary system was a STROMBERG-CARLSON. This was an integrated 'mixer-amp' of 20w output.

Very basic gain controls, and EQ was 'Bass' and 'Treble' - across everything.

Image is of a later, (AU35) model, but gives an idea of the facilities, or lack of, they had to deal with in those days.

[Timbofood]

Seems like that was "State of the art" for the times, no?
Whether they hauled it themselves or it was part of the venue, the art was no where near as "stately" as today's stacks.