Exciting MiSi Developments

Andrew thanks for the great detailed answer. It is appreciated by all of us. Here is hoping the Air Trio with its ability to blend the levels of the two inputs is a success. I love the Misi acoustic Trio I have in a Pono spruce and mahogany baritone. It is actually the most naturally sounding combo I own.

Thanks Dave! Btw, when I said guaranteed to be the pickup of your dreams, I meant hopefully will be the pickup of your dreams. Haha! It just struck me what a nerdy dream that would be.

AndrewKuker said:

Thanks Dave! Btw, when I said guaranteed to be the pickup of your dreams, I meant hopefully will be the pickup of your dreams. Haha! It just struck me what a nerdy dream that would be.

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We are all Uke Nerds around here anyways. So that dream would be very appropriate.

By the way...........when do you sleep???

Thanks for your thoughts Andrew. I was planning on putting the air into my new [to me] Collings tenor, which is lightly built and resonant as hell, good things in a uke, but probably a bad match for the air. Ordered from Elderly and they are not showing them as in stock yet, probably should just cancel the order and use a mic, but it sure is handy sometimes to just plug and play.

LR Baggs is sending me a nylon voiced Lyric mic pickup to experiment with in ukulele. You can learn more about that here http://www.lrbaggs.com/pickups/lyric-acoustic-guitar-microphone. The reason I think this is a better fit is because it’s a PZM or boundary mic so it doesn’t capture reflection. This is even more important in a smaller chamber. It has phase cancellation and a compression on the low end that helps prevent feedback too. From what I have heard in guitar gives a better mic pickup sound than anything on the market. It would need some tweaking for ukulele and it won’t be as easy to install as the Misi, but for this type of system for ukulele I think it’s the most promising.

Where do you put a 9v battery in a uke?

I can't imagine if you put that much mass on the soundboard that its a good thing.

Most of the active pickups we used to install had the 9v which would be mounted on the back. But they have made this system with the 3volt and that's how it would be if it's modified for ukulele.

DownUpDave said:

We are all Uke Nerds around here anyways. So that dream would be very appropriate.

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Indeed, similar dreams have happened to me already...

AndrewKuker said:

LR Baggs is sending me a nylon voiced Lyric mic pickup to experiment with in ukulele. You can learn more about that here http://www.lrbaggs.com/pickups/lyric-acoustic-guitar-microphone. The reason I think this is a better fit is because it’s a PZM or boundary mic so it doesn’t capture reflection. This is even more important in a smaller chamber. It has phase cancellation and a compression on the low end that helps prevent feedback too. From what I have heard in guitar gives a better mic pickup sound than anything on the market. It would need some tweaking for ukulele and it won’t be as easy to install as the Misi, but for this type of system for ukulele I think it’s the most promising.

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Andrew - Thanks so much for testing these pickups for us.

Without the resources you provide to this community, many of is would be left with little to no information. I'm sure that other folks here appreciate your efforts too.

Mahalo,

Booli

Booli said:

Andrew - Thanks so much for testing these pickups for us.

Without the resources you provide to this community, many of is would be left with little to no information. I'm sure that other folks here appreciate your efforts too.

Mahalo,

Booli

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Amen to that

Just tried the dual system. It doesn’t totally cut out the mic with the blend all the way to the trio and we were getting all the same problems. Certain frequencies overdriving at moderate volumes and an overall imbalance. Plus the volume knob is going from 0 to 100 in the first 10% of it’s sweep like they used an audio pot instead of linear.

Anyway, thought I would share my experience. Wish I had better news. Maybe someone else will have more luck with it.

Bummer. Here's to 2.0.

Thanks for being the guinea pig.

AndrewKuker said:

Just tried the dual system. It doesn’t totally cut out the mic with the blend all the way to the trio and we were getting all the same problems. Certain frequencies overdriving at moderate volumes and an overall imbalance. Plus the volume knob is going from 0 to 100 in the first 10% of it’s sweep like they used an audio pot instead of linear.

Anyway, thought I would share my experience. Wish I had better news. Maybe someone else will have more luck with it.

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So dissapointing that both products do not deliver clean sound. So much for this being the pick up of my dreams eh Andrew, more like a bad dream. Thank you so much for trying these out and being straightup and honest about all of this. Fortunately there are other good picks out there............including the tried and try Misi acoustic trio.

Yes, thank you Andrew. I guess this seals it, if even the combo doesn't cut it, I guess there really isn't much hope for the Air. I'm reluctantly cancelling my order, since they're still not in stock.

I may keep in mind your earlier comment; maybe the uke I had in mind is meant to stay acoustic... That seemed to have worked just fine for the first ten thousand years of music.

mmfitzsimons said:

Yes, thank you Andrew. I guess this seals it, if even the combo doesn't cut it, I guess there really isn't much hope for the Air. ...

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More kudos to you again Andrew. Mahalo.

Seems like the new Mi-Si is falling short of expectations.

So, to go in the opposite direction - Andrew have you ever done a live show using those great Schoeps mics that are in so many of your videos that yield such great audio in your demos?

If so, How are the Schoeps mics with regard to feedback on a stage environment?

Thanks in advance and sorry for the off-topic.

Well the Schoeps are really expensive. But there are similar mics for much less and you can use a condenser live but there are factors to consider. One is your polar pattern. You want a tight cardioid for as little off axis as possible.

Another factor is that you’re gonna get the best sound quality from a condenser at least 3-6 inches away from it and that’s harder to get really good gain without feedback on a loud stage. On a moderately quiet stage that’s much more achievable. So like with an SM58 your best sound is when your kissing it, so you have a lot less to ask from it, gain wise. That along with the small proximity it’s picking up makes it a lot easier for a sound guy to control but with a tight cardioid polar pattern it’s doable.

So it depends on your sound and volume as well as the design of the condenser. I want to get a mic from this guy that custom builds them in Portland, Ear Trumpet Labs, made for live and recording. - http://www.eartrumpetlabs.com/ I don’t just have UAS, I have GAS! Love of gear never goes away.

But back to the topic, thanks Booli and others. I have to say we’ve been installing the Trio regularly for the last few years with practically no problems and many great musicians choose them. Gerald Ross was recently telling me he uses them in all his ukes and never has issues, and he has a great sound. So I don’t mean to bad mouth the company. It’s just that this product didn’t work for us. Like Brad said, here’s to 2.0/

Ken Middleton just uploaded a video, using the MiSi Air. He plugged directly into his Zoom H4N.

It sounds great - but that's directly in, rather than on stage.

Here's the video:

mmfitzsimons said:

Yes, thank you Andrew. I guess this seals it, if even the combo doesn't cut it, I guess there really isn't much hope for the Air. I'm reluctantly cancelling my order, since they're still not in stock.

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ditto ,so did I .................

SOLUTION

I have figured out what the "buzz" was on my first recording using the MiSi Air. I listened through headphones and realised I had heard it before. It is simply the buttons on my waistcoat (vest) rattling on the back of the instrument. It happens with all pickups, including undersaddle ones, when I move about too much. Solution: take the waistcoat off.

Feedback is another issue.

Just put one of these in my MP tenor.
Very easy to install. When I first tried it there was a little feedback from the "C" string.
A little adjustment on the amp and all is good.