Electro Voice RE20 - worth the $$$?

[amonte]

I was wondering if anyone had any experience with this mic. I used to work with it in a production studio at my college radio station. I used it for some recordings (acoustic guitar, vocals) as well as for live broadcast performances. Does anyone think this would make a good studio mic for acoustic guitar/guitar cabs/vocals? I don't feel that my ear is trained enough to make this kind of decision - it sounds good to me, but then again, what do I know?
Thanks for the help.

[Recording Engineer]

I believe no one will even contradict me when I say it's best for bass drum miking.

Anotherwords, it's one of the best dynamic mics out there-although I wouldn't use it for acoustic guitar.

[amonte]

Really? I am new a this stuff, as I said, so would you mind explaining why? Is it beacuse it tends to get "too boomy" on the acoustic guitar? How about as a vocal mic?
Maybe I should just stick with a condenser.

[Fishmed]

I have the RE-27 which is very close to being the same mic. I have used it for vocals, and it is the awsome for not being a condenser mic (very hard to tell that it isn't). Another good thing about these mic's (RE-20 & RE-27) is that because they are not condensers they do not require phantom power, so you can use just about any mic pre you want, and they are not overly sensitve. This is good for home recording where it is hard to isolate the sound source.

Bottom Line: If I were to have a one mic home studio, this is the one I would choose.

[amonte]

Are there any major differences between the RE27 and RE20? Have you used it for guitars at all? Thanks again for the info - this really helps.

[Fishmed]

Other than the color, I don't think there is that much diference although I've been told the RE-20 is a SLIGHTLY better for kick drums. I have used my RE-27 on accoustic guitars, and I have been pleased with the results.

[Recording Engineer]

I really don't know how it would sound on acoustic guitar; I've never tried it, so open still open to it. It's just I've never heard a repitiable dynamic do a better job on an acoustic giutar than a condenser. In fact, some say small-diaphragm condensers are the only way to go for acoustic guitar, though I've never been a subscriber to this theory; disregarded it when I bought a matched-pair of Neumann TLM103s and used them to mic an acoustic guitar. They're one of my favorites for acoustic guitar.

[johnnyfever]

The RE-20 and RE-27 are the most overated microphones in use today. I use them everyday in radio broadcasting and I'm not impressed at all. Give me a Sennheiser MD-421 mic any day of the week. The MD-421 is the optimum mic for voice and for large drums such as floor toms and bass drums.
My home studio mic is a Rode NT-1 condenser mic. I think it is one of the best mics on the market for the money!

[Recording Engineer]

I'm very surprised you say that about the RE-20. I really don't know for voice, I've never used one on voice, but do you feel the same way for bass drum, overated?

[Fishmed]

I don't know about the RE-20, but I used an RE-27 for vocals on several projects. At that time I had a board whose phantom power was messed up, so I used a dynamic mic. The results are very supprising. I have switched boards, and now I am using condensor mics again.