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Paul Antonell, owner of Clubhouse Studios in Rhinebeck, NY, and I were recently able to audition the Earthworks PM40 PianoMic system for grand piano recording and sound reinforcement. Arriving in a sleek aluminum airline case, we placed it across his 1922 Steinway B and took a listen.
The system was originally designed for fixed installations but touring musicians found it easy to use too. Physically, there's not much to it: a small telescoping tube (in the PM40T package) with two small Earthworks' Random Incidence omnidirectional 40 kHz High Definition microphones. Note that the standard PM40 system is also available, which is what we used, featuring non-telescoping tubes.
Features
The omni condenser microphones are 48 VDC phantom powered and feature a frequency response of 9 Hz to 40 kHz. They can handle SPL up to 148 dB with a sensitivity of 15 mV/Pa (-36 dBV/Pa) and provide a noise floor of 22 dBA. The mies are mounted on a small gooseneck (4.825 inches) and can be pointed towards either the dampers or out into the piano. The bar itself is 64 inches fully extended, 46 inches collapsed and mounts in just a few seconds, supported by the sides of the piano case; it's adjustable for virtually any piano width. It's also very low profile: the lid can be kept either open or closed while in use. There is a cable attached to what looks like a small Dl box with two XLR connectors, one per microphone. That box features a...