MXL 990 or MXL DRK?

M

Moon2006

New member
Hope this means something to you guys - im just starting out and want to record some vocals (male, bit lower than average). I was about to buy the MXL 990 and buy a 48v phantom power supply adaptor and buy the cables to plug it in and convert it from XLR to 3.5 for my external sound card but.....
I see the MXL Desktop Recording Kit includes all the essentials as well as a mic-

My question is: How much poorer is the mic with the DRK than the 990 - is it still a decent mic? Without a lot of money would I be better off getting the kit and still be able to get a good quality recording.

Hope someone can help though it might be unlikely that someone has used both. Any advice appreciated

Thanks in advance,

Moon

PS - Im leaning towards getting the kit at the moment - it just seems a lot easier and probably quite a bit cheaper.
 
My reconsidering

Me again

OK I know i should have done this b4 I posted but I have read nearly everything in the threads about the MXL 990 and I'm certainly not about to rush out and buy either that or the kit (though they're not ruled out).

I'm looking for something that will pick up detail, be crisp but warm - kinda the opposite to what middleman said the MXL 990 wasn't:
"
This is not a ballad mic
This is a loud source mic
It is not subtly responsive
It is not wide ranged
"!
(tell me if this is not totally accurate.)

Maybe this is what everyone is looking for??!! Anyway, something sensitive and smooth but crisp - FOR BALLADS!.

Forgive me if you have just vomited at my stupidity but I have only been investigating mics for about 2 1/2 hours in total and am still very much a learnist.

- now leaning towards a SP C1 or B1 depending on differences
 
A quick search of the forums here should reveal the most popular mics at various pricepoints (the FAQ is great, too).

Here's a summary:

Sub $100 condensers:
MXL V67g - colored sound, somewhat wooly midrange
Studio Projects B1 - somewhat bright, but fairly natural

Sub $200 condensers:
Studio Projects C1 - bright and clear, can get harsh on some voices
Rode NT1 - same general sound as C1
CAD M179 - Fairly neutral, somewhat bland, multipattern

Of those, I own the CAD M179 and the Rode NT1. For general purpose, the CAD is tough to beat. For detailed vocals, I like the Rode on my voice.
 
Moon2006 said:
This is not a ballad mic
This is a loud source mic
It is not subtly responsive
It is not wide ranged
Click to expand...

Myself, I found the opposite to be true. Well maybe not the opposite but I liked it better on acoustic/harmonica than on guitar cab. It does seem strange to me how some people say that the 990 sounds dull and lifeless and others say it sounds harsh and tinny. To me, it sounds boxy/one dimensional but the one I had was very sensitive and picked up detail fairly well. I can pm you a link of a recording in which the 990 was used for vocal/acoustic/harmonica if you like.

I can't imagine that the DRK is gonna be all that.......it looks like one of those usb mics. I could be wrong though. I have'nt tried one.
 
i own the 990

check it out im a newbie to only recorded probably 20-30 home recordings, but the 990 is an outstanding mic i use it for vocals all the time and as long as you dont put too much processing on there their fine...

if you want clear crisp vocals from a 990 just put a little compression and a little reverb...
 
Its not an outstanding mic. That statement is way off. Now for the money its not bad at all. I've used a bunch of 50 dollar condensers and its the best one. However you jump to a hundred bucks and you're already getting into much better mics. I can say that I use my 990 during every session, as a talkback mic and thats about the only thing I'll let it do. Go with a studio projects or a Rode or something, but not the 990. This is all my opinion and I'm somewhat picky so you should take what I say with a grain of salt. Also it is very possible that you could use this mic and get very acceptable results with it, you just need to be talented, and I'm just not talented enough to do that yet.
 
okokok

sorry ill rephrase "outstanding mic for the price"...

ive never used anything but the 990 and a cheap dynamic, so yeah, i was just saying from personal experience that the 990 will most definiatly do the job for ballads/clear/crisp vox


of course if you got more money its usually a case of you get what you pay for...

"with the exception of sm57/58"
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top