hi all,

I would like to nknow if anyone has experiences with the Crown PCC-160 mics... I would like to specifically know if they pick up floor noise (footsteps, shuffles etc) on the stage during plays etc?

I have just started working for a Amdram here in Australia.

cheers,

Julie

Welcome, both to the Blue Room and to wonderful world of Amdram!

Yes, lots of us in here have used PCC160s quite a lot, as well as cheaper alternatives.

To answer your specific question, yes foot noise can be a problem and most users recommend isolating the mic from the floor with some form of soft rubber. In the past I've suggested cutting out the base shape from old (soft) mouse mats...that seems to work as well as anything.

There are quite a few existing topics about the use of boundary mics. If you enter PCC160 in the search box you get when you click the "Search" button in the menu bar above, you'll get lots of info but the most recent topic is HERE but, as I say, there are lots of others.

Cheers,

Bob

I've got a couple that I use now and again. The mic element inside the casing has a bit of physical decoupling to minimise any mechanical transmission of noise to it. The last time I tried just lifting it on & off the surface of the stage, the difference was negligible. What I think people sometimes forget is that foot steps make acoustic noise and the mic will pick that up alongside the voices - short of everyone wearing soft soles, there's not much that can be done about that.
Raising it off the surface of the stage also affects how well it works as a boundary mic - it needs to be sat on a large surface to effectively utilise the boundary effect up to a sensibly high frequency.

Concert Systems (Manchester) have a pair listed on their website. I bought a pair from them a couple of weeks ago, though am still waiting for details of dispatch. The actual units are in the US and concert systems are acting as the brokers.

I can't remeber if I bought the last 2. Won't reccomend them until mine turn up though!

Hi and welcome!

Just wanted to pipe up and say I've had some good positive experiences with these mics in the shows I've used them for. In fact I'd recommend them more than shotgun or other flown mics for the same purpose.

Like others here, I've found foot-noise and the rustling of clothing to be a problem - but that same limitation would be true of any "distant" mic trying to pick up one source out of a collection of others (Wanted or not).

Sound-wise, I've had good results with them placed either directly onto the stage surface or raised less than 1" on thin rubber or foam mats to isolate mechanical noise - in all cases make sure it doesn't get trodden on or kicked!

PCC160s are specifically designed not to pick up mechanically coupled noise, and as Shez notes above, and I will confirm, it works in practice. But PCCs do pick up all the acoustic noise of people moving, and if your actors project less than well (ie you've got the PCCs turned up) then you do get a lot of stage noise, especially cloppy shoes.

Having said that, despite the drawbacks, they are still by some way my favorite stage mic. For several shows I rigged both short shots and PCC160s, and the PCCs never lost the comparison.

The other thing about the PCCs is that they are hard as nails; the manual claims something along the lines that they cabn be danced upon...

I've seen a pair that have been tapdanced on and can quite confidently say they sounded just as good and despite a few scuffs, held up remarkably well.

They aren't called "landmines" in my parts for nothing.