Need some condenser microphone advice for home:

imsharris

Member
I am wanting to get a single condenser to use for recording at home. It would be pretty exclusively set as kind of an overhead for vocals. I don't mind if it picks up a little acoustic guitar but the majority of the acoustic will be recorded running direct. The style is of course vocals and acoustic. Singer/songwriter-type stuff. Right now my budget is around $300. I have really been considering the Rode NT1 but I was wondering if there were some others that I should be looking at as well?
 
Not gonna lie, IMO, I think that at your price point, it doesn’t matter too much what LDC mic you get. They’ll all sound pretty similar. Of course, they’ll have difference frequency response, but there’s nothing some adjustments here and there can’t fix. Go for the NT1.
 
If you have never owned a decent microphone, as opposed to a poor one, you will notice a difference. Hard to define a sound in words - but you can hear things you'd not noticed on voices or instruments. ~Could be good things, but sometimes less pleasant surprises. While all microphones have a characteristic tone - often described as clinical vs warm or detailed vs bland - the real differences are often in the hands of the user. Position, and aim are the critical things. Folk seem to have forgotten basic EQ. If you have a bright mic, and it's too bright - turn it down!

The NT1 is a fine mic. Up until last year I have been importing Chinese mics and in all that time - with perhaps 30 different models, I had just two lemons - and I suspect these were actually faulty. They all sounded similar, but different. I bought a TLM 193 Neumann, and frankly was a bit disappointed - it didn't sound like a thousand pound microphone, and was just cardioid - My work colleague was impressed and we had a Neumann - but we both found we chose other mics to record with - often much cheaper ones. We found a pair of AKG 414s on Ebay, and took a chance and for the same money we had stereo capability and of course the extra patterns. We took a £200 hit on the Neumann, but this funded the AKGs and now I doubt I'd want to buy another Neumann. I always found I was dialling in a bit extra at HF to get the sound I was used to, and on the Chinese ones, I'd often take off a bit of HF. The AKGs seem to be neutral.

My advice is to buy the NT1 because it's well known, and dirt cheap. Then start to experiment with it and see if it does what you want. Once you've got used to how it sounds and how it responds to orientation - then consider potential upgrades - which could be to buy a second one!

I don't sell mics any longer, but have always kept the nicest ones I've sold (usually a pair) and in the studio this week needed two large format mics in a hurry - and my mic box was at a venue being used for a live event - I grabbed a couple of the Chinese ones off the shelf - omni/cardioids, and recorded with them with little thought. Afterwards, I checked and they were brand new, five years old and cost me £50 each. I've left them on the stands in the studio - they're really nice! Never really used them in anger before - shame!
 
You should look at the sE Electronics sE2200a II. I have great experiences with female singers and singer-songwriters with this mic. Though I have the older one, not the II.
 
I am not really a newb when it comes to sound or mics but I also know enough to know that I don't know a lot! HAHAHA! I have done recording with really expensive mics (in other people's studios) and things like the AT2020 and MXL990 in my own home. Both recordings went on the same album and I guess the big difference was how much work our producer had to do in post. I guess that I am just thinking out loud but I know what you mean by those subtle differences. I used a Shure SM58 live forever and never thought a thing about it. Then one night someone handed me a Shure SM58 Beta and I was shocked just how much more "natural" it felt to me. That is all I use now. I guess I am kind of just looking for a good starting point with condensers. I mean I have already started with an AT2020, Blue Yeti, and MXL 990 so I am looking for the next logical step up from that. Something to take a "live" sound on video to the next level.
 
The Blue Baby Bottle is a well reviewed mic in the same price range. I bought one recently but have not used/tested it yet.
 
One of the problems is, that all those mics mentioned, exist in several generations.

To take the SE Electronics SE2200 as an example, that's at least three different mics. There's the original, pre 2004 ""SE2200", then came the "SE2200a" and then, in 2012, the multi pattern "SE2200a II". Different capsules, different body, different electronics. Add aging to that and you wouldn't know what you're buying.

Now, place that mic in another room and it changes again.

And to make matters even worse, there's even an "E2200T". With a tube in it.

My take on this is: buy some mic. Test it. Don't like it? Flog it and lose a bit. Like it? Keep it. And these days there are Chinese condensers for 20$, including spin, cable and box. Even these can be decent. I was very skeptical about the Neewer 800, fi. I bought a couple to use the body for DIY. It's an electret, 6 mm, but it's not so bad. I might even not scrap them :D
 
A/C guitar and vocal.. CAD M179 is a very decent versatile mic that goes from omni to fig-8 (and everything in between). Check out Fig-8's with nulls pointed at the 'other source..
 
The new RØDE NT1 Kit is an excellent microphone, it is completely built in RØDE's plant in Australia and is one of the quietest microphones on the market. In my experience, it is a good sounding microphone with a smooth response and no harshness. I personally believe it is the best value in the market today. That said, ideally a vocal mike should be matched to your voice and if you can possibly try out different microphones with your voice, that would be the best option. If you don't have that option, the NT1 is probably a good choice and it is a mike that you should keep in your locker even if you buy others.

Mark Karney
studiomiczone.com
 
The new RØDE NT1 Kit is an excellent microphone, it is completely built in RØDE's plant in Australia and is one of the quietest microphones on the market. In my experience, it is a good sounding microphone with a smooth response and no harshness. I personally believe it is the best value in the market today. That said, ideally a vocal mike should be matched to your voice and if you can possibly try out different microphones with your voice, that would be the best option. If you don't have that option, the NT1 is probably a good choice and it is a mike that you should keep in your locker even if you buy others.

Mark Karney
studiomiczone.com

You almost sound like you work for RODE. Lol

I contest that it’s the quietest and the best value in the market. Like I said, the differences in electronics of lower tier microphones is marginal at best, and the differences in frequency response can be adjusted with EQ.
 
But there is at least some truth in it. It is the quietest well-known mic.

You can find equal or even better mics for less money, if you're prepared to buy several that are far worse and you keep buying till you find a real good one.

Rode's mics are all very close in specs. Another advantage.

They can sound harsh, like most condensers, but that's dependent on source and room. If that happens, just go for another mic...
 
I picked up a Roswell MiniK47, It's really a good mic, especially for that price point. It does a good job on my vocals, and I really like it on acoustic guitar. I know you said you were going direct but, with this mic you could do both. Not sure about your budget but. I noticed AVantone now offers a Black Lion Audio modded CV12, upgraded components and capsule. I sang through one with a Jolly mod, it did a real good job.
 
I think a little transformer love can reduce some of the high freq's harshness, the crossover from the primary winding to the secondary has its effect and high freqs have a chance to be smoothed out a bit.

someone (a pro) mentioned a MikTek MK300 and i read about that yesterday, seems a well done mic too.
ever since I got the shure ksm44 i have trouble with making up excuses to upgrade to myself, truth is MXL mics sounded great, and others did too.....and just being a HR solo I dont really need a mic locker for bands/customers.
hell I ran a lot of tests with my KSM27 to 44 and with pop filter and etc..etc.. the KSM27 for $125+ and once mixed in a recording was probably undetectable. What really gets me on the KSM27 is its built as tough as a SM58 and can handle the live, but has that crisp highs of the LDC....the old gold ones too are $150-$200 range. Its 1" Capsule and all that.

theres thousands to choose from it seems... pick a brand and then try out the different ones is what I did.
 
RØDE NT1000 would be an excellent, versatile, all around workhorse at your price range. Check out some reviews. Our videographer uses a pair to record videos of our band at live venues with great results. He borrowed two Neumann TLM-103s one night, and we could not distinguish the sound from the RØDEs.
 
Just a question, but at what price do condensers really start sounding different?

THIS is the age-old question and has been batted around and around since the advent of online recording gear sites such as this one.

Several important and mostly over-looked factors shape this answer...and as with anything YMMV...

One is the environment you wish to record in. ALL LDC's mics and also some of the more sensitive SDC mics will exhibit different responses in different environs.

Two is the source you are wanting to capture. ALL LDC mics have a frequency response curve that will "stamp" ,if you will, all sources put in front of them with their signature. A lot of advice given here was about trying different mics on whatever you're recording in order to 'know' what they will sound like for YOU.

And the third is quality of components in the mic build. All mics are not built to the same specs although many many are built to a standard circuit design and simply implemented to a price-point. It is here where the divergence of sound quality begins to show.

If you are in a situation where you cannot try before you buy, then your online research should include a visit to the manufacturers site and learn as much as possible about their techniques for building their offerings....a check into online sound bites with the gear you seek....and , of course, questions on sites like this one seeking opinions of those who have actually USED the piece in question.

Unfortunately there's also the factor of spreading information by those who are simply repeating what they have "heard or read about" with no hands on experience to bolster their views.

All that being said....and this is my experience on this....LDC mic's don't really stand out as different from each other with similar builds around similar circuit designs unless the builder/designer takes into account the "voicing" of a mic in a way that makes it more usable for a specific job rather than trying to cover a huge extended realm of sources. As has been suggested here, the use of EQ can mitigate a lot of uses with a small amount of tweaking. Some of the problems with this is some of the less expensive mic builds do not take to EQ'ng well at all and you wind up chasing a sound down the wormhole without the results you seek. Your list of mics you have experienced would be in this category. Since you have said you like the "natural" feel you got from the Beta58, I would suggest to you at this price point and as a beginning condenser mic for a voice, a Shure KSM 32. Bullet proof...sounds great...very smooth...can be had used for a bit more than your $300 and will not depreciate although I know very few people that sell theirs.
 
I'm looking myself too. My instinct on the rode nt1a is that although it's likely a very good mic it benefits from the momentum of either marketing or hearsay to some extent becoming urban myth.im not suggesting it isn't good . What I'm suggesting is theres very likely other relatively buried mics that are just as good or better but havent yet benefited from the same length and level of exposure in the market
 
Shoot, an under a hundred dollar MXL mic from ebay is better than the internal mics.
Starting to drive me crazy with these multiple threads. Just get something and go to work. :D
Just do some fucking music. As time goes on, your skills will improve and you'll outgrow your gear. Upgrade then.

Too much blah, blah, blah. Im out.
 
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