# KEL Audio mics



## bagpipe (Sep 19, 2006)

Anyone know anything about these KEL audio microphones? Apparently he company is based in Winnipeg:

http://www.kelaudio.com/index.html

I believe the mics are made in China, like pretty much all budget mics these days. I could only find one mention of them on GuitarsCanada:

http://www.guitarscanada.com/Board/showthread.php?t=1266


I've been looking for a new condenser mic purely for recording acoustic guitar, resonator, mandolin, harmonica etc. Doesn't have to be super high quality as its only for my home recording, but I"m looking for something better than the Behringer that I currently use.


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## Andy (Sep 23, 2007)

It's like a Telefunken U47 with leather. You'll love it.

Their mics seem to get glowing reviews from anyone who's worked with them, so it's definitely worth a look. I'll also recommend the Audio Technica 20 series. I have a pair of 2020s that sound fantastic on drum overheads, acoustic guitar, and vocals. They're in the low $100 range, or you can get a set with one large diaphragm and one pencil condenser for under $200, which is perfect for doing an acoustic and vocals simultaneously.


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## Guest (Nov 18, 2009)

I have an Apex 435 I like on big bodied acoustics. You're welcome to borrow it if you'd like to try it out. I'm not doing any mic-based recording these days. Here's what it sounds like set about 1.5 feet from my Guild jumbo, inline with the soundhole but rotated so it's aimed towards the bottom of the fretboard:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/870088/sounds/angels-acoustic.mp3


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## shoretyus (Jan 6, 2007)

iaresee said:


> I have an Apex 435 I like on big bodied acoustics. You're welcome to borrow it if you'd like to try it out. I'm not doing any mic-based recording these days. Here's what it sounds like set about 1.5 feet from my Guild jumbo, inline with the soundhole but rotated so it's aimed towards the bottom of the fretboard:
> 
> http://dl.dropbox.com/u/870088/sounds/angels-acoustic.mp3


Try it for a while . I am using one too and liking it ok.


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## zdogma (Mar 21, 2006)

I have an Audio Technica 2020 which works well for a cheap condenser. You're quite welcome to try it out as well, I rarely need it. I have a little cheapie tube pre with fantom power as well. They also make a USB 2020 now so you can record directly to you mac or whatever.


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## zdogma (Mar 21, 2006)

I had a listen to the comparison clips on the site, and the HM2D is a nice sounding condenser. I found the HM1 a bit fuzzy sounding, but it might be just the thing for recording lapsteel or reso.


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## bagpipe (Sep 19, 2006)

Thanks for the offers of letting me try out your mics.

I was experimenting last night with this technique of using a stereo pair of mics and recording them to a single channel:

http://www.kelaudio.com/tips.html

it worked out really well ( I was using a pair of Naiant condenser mics which I've had for a while but hadn't really used much up until now). I find a resonator guitar is a bit harder to mic than a regular acoustic, as there are two separate "sources' for sound ie the sound coming from the cones, and the sound coming from the soundhole. The dual mic technique worked really well for this. 

Anyway, I want to go back and listen to the clips today - see if they still sound good in the cold light of day. If they do, I might post some comparison clips of the different micing methods that I tried.


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## Guest (Nov 22, 2009)

bagpipe said:


> Anyway, I want to go back and listen to the clips today - see if they still sound good in the cold light of day. If they do, I might post some comparison clips of the different micing methods that I tried.


Cool beans. I tried stereo mic'ing once and the results were atrocious because of the signals were so hard to phase align (I wasn't using a matched pair of mics).

At the time I didn't know you could get phase alignment plugins. TriTone makes a nice free one called PhaseTone.

If you aren't liking the sound of your dual mic setup try running one channel through PhaseTone and playing with the phase setting until it sounds full.


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