SD Systems LDM94; LCM89

Viewed with suspicion by purist players, brass bugs are still the best solutions to many problems, Dave Foister comes over all saxy

SOME MICROPHONES are born specialists, others have specialisms thrust upon them. Many of our favourite one-job microphones were intended as all-rounders, but the discovery of a particular characteristic linked them irrevocably with a specific application. Less common are the microphones designed from the ground up to perform best in a one-niche application. One give-away is a fancy mount for a particular instrument, so no prizes for guessing which pigeon-hole these two models from SD Systems belong in.

Sax players are a breed apart. On stage they can strut their stuff almost as much as guitarists, with an instrument almost as phallic. They can do this because they clip little microphones on to their bells, freeing them from the constraints of standing still in front of a microphone stand. Trouble is the little microphones usually aren't up to studio use, yet the players resent having to stand rooted to the spot in front of something that might actually record their sound properly. It's the same with double bass players; the bug that's good enough night after night on stage sounds crap in the studio, yet the difficulties of miking them up don't interest them.

Several solutions exist for the saxophone, usually in the form of a grown-up clip-on microphone like the DPA miniatures on their little goosenecks. While many remain all-rounders with a mount that happens to work with saxes, these SD Systems microphones commit themselves 100% to the sax with
big wire spiders that clip over the bell and could hardly fit anything else. There are two models, dynamic and condenser, distinguished largely by their colour and the presence of a powering box on the end of the condenser's lead.

The mount is common to both and resembles a small tripod, with a soft plastic covering round the ends of the legs. These are gently curved to clamp snugly on to the bell of either a tenor or an alto (soprano's too small and baritone too big) without scratching the lacquer. The legs are surprisingly long, and place the microphone capsule itself considerably further out of the mouth of the bell than some such devices, which can only be a good thing in my opinion. Regardless of the quality of the microphones themselves, many of these arrangements fall down because they are simply too close, putting spill rejection and inconspicuous mounting before sound quality. I've always wondered why they bother, as most saxes are loud enough that spill isn't a problem and most players seem only too happy to have so much stuff strapped to their instruments that they look like a weapon out of Star Wars.

The mount, then, holds the microphone firmly in a fairly suitable place, and has at its top a rubber suspension (spares provided) that supports the microphone element itself. The simpler of the two is the LDM94 dynamic, a remarkably small black capsule connected by a thin wire direct to an XLR. Properly balanced, it can handle up to 155dB SPL (just as well really) with a reasonably respectable frequency response. For me this one remains more suited to the stage, as it puts brightness before depth to give quite a pretailored sound, with plenty of edge to cut through. It also seemed susceptible to LF bumping effects which could have been either the mechanical shocks of the keys being moved or a bit of wind from the bell itself--perhaps less likely as the capsule has a foam shield to prevent this.

More interesting is the LCM89 condenser. This is coloured brassy gold to match the instrument (tough if you've got one of the flash black lacquered ones) and its lead ends in a small plastic box with a belt clip. This can take a 9V battery (with a claimed life of 1-2 years) but also accepts 48V phantom power via its output XLR. It even has two controls on it, allowing the player to adjust both volume and tone (funny but I always thought they did that with their mouths). There is also a mute switch, which is either a boon for the player or a pain for the engineer according to your point of view.

The big plus point is that its sound is altogether cleaner and smoother and more appropriate for use in the studio. It's still on the bright side compared with a more conventional studio microphone in a more conventional position (a 414 in this comparison) but much more complete than its dynamic stablemate at the lower end. The overall curve gives a full spectrum with a useful presence lift, and this can be smoothed out with the tone control on the player's box if desired.

Sometimes a player comes into the studio saying 'it is all right mate, you can take a feed off this' and your heart sinks at the prospect of the mix of diplomacy and EQ it is going to take to make it work. If it is a sax player with an LCM89 you can relax--it will work and it will carry on working when he starts swinging that bell around.