How about a different approach - what mics are great, but lowest price in the group?

junplugged · #1 06-30-2004

I mean, instead of naming a price first, how about the best mics that are still great, but the lowest price out of all of those great mics.

Like, if I can't get a good mic for $150, fine. Then what is the lowest of the best, then I'll save up for that level. If opinions are that a model that is the lowest price but best deal for it is $450, then I can accept that.

If a vintage c12 is $8,500 then that's not affordable for most of us. There are good mics that are new - or so says some famous producers/engineers....

So If AKG or Sure whoever, has great mics, what is their lowest price good mic. Not their lowest price crap mic.

I think everyone knows sm57 for elec. guitar amps/cablinets, and some vocalists who perfer it, but a lot of engineers/ producers say it's 80% mic and pre. And they're not talking about electric guitar cabs usually.

So I'm thinking of the application of acoustic guitar, vocals, distant mic'ing, other acoustic instruments.

post link to threads too, i'm sure i'm duplicating something, my searches aren't so good for some reason....

chessrock · #2 06-30-2004

I'm confused.

junplugged · #3 06-30-2004

seriously? Ok, I've been up all night so maybe I'm crazy at the moment. New gear....

I figure, all the companies make great mics and cheapos but then there are the really good deals. those in betweens that aren't $1200 but not $150 but are a huge upgrade and can possibly make a really big impact on recordings.

I have the cheapos and I'm sure a lot of us home reccers have em, but the next level up that a lot of us consider not to be affordable, but really, we do spend that kind of dough on stuff, maybe just not all at once. I type too much. Don't reply confused again or I'll start thinking that I'm confused.

Michael Jones · #4 06-30-2004

I think I understand....

I guess, if I were going to look at AKG, then the lowest of their best would probably be the C451B. Its an SDC, great for detailed miking, probably work great on acoustic guitar. It'll run you about 400 bucks.

In AKG's LDC catagory, I'd say the C414BULS would be the lowest price of their best. It'll run you about $650.
In the AKG line that would be considering everything from the lowly C1000S all the way up to the C12 or C12VR.

In the Neumann line, I guess a great entry level Neumann has to be the TLM103. Its just under a grand. Its no U87, but its not 3 grand either.

Shure, well that's all over the scale.
Great Shure mics can be had for $70 (SM57)
Or you could spend $330 on an SM81
Or $380 on an SM7 and walk away happy with all of them.

xstatic · #5 06-30-2004

Is $1000 for a Soundelux U195 too much? It holds up very well against most of the mics in the 2-3k range

DJL · #6 06-30-2004

Quote:

Originally Posted by junplugged

I mean, instead of naming a price first, how about the best mics that are still great, but the lowest price out of all of those great mics.

Like, if I can't get a good mic for $150, fine. Then what is the lowest of the best, then I'll save up for that level. If opinions are that a model that is the lowest price but best deal for it is $450, then I can accept that.

If a vintage c12 is $8,500 then that's not affordable for most of us. There are good mics that are new - or so says some famous producers/engineers....

So If AKG or Sure whoever, has great mics, what is their lowest price good mic. Not their lowest price crap mic.

I think everyone knows sm57 for elec. guitar amps/cablinets, and some vocalists who perfer it, but a lot of engineers/ producers say it's 80% mic and pre. And they're not talking about electric guitar cabs usually.

So I'm thinking of the application of acoustic guitar, vocals, distant mic'ing, other acoustic instruments.

post link to threads too, i'm sure i'm duplicating something, my searches aren't so good for some reason....

And I bet you want just one mic to do it all... keep dreaming.

Michael Jones · #7 06-30-2004

Quote:

Originally Posted by DJL

And I bet you want just one mic to do it all... keep dreaming.

No, that's not what he's asking.
He's saying any given microphone manufacturer makes mikes from $150 to $3000 and up.
Of those, what is the least expensive I could purchase, and still have a really great mike.

DJL · #8 06-30-2004

Quote:

Originally Posted by Michael Jones

No, that's not what he's asking.
He's saying any given microphone manufacturer makes mikes from $150 to $3000 and up.
Of those, what is the least expensive I could purchase, and still have a really great mike.

Oh ok, so what he really wants to know is what our favorite mics are... does he want us to list all of our favorite mics? I have a bunch of favorite mics but not one of them works best for absolutely everything.

Wolfman140 · #9 06-30-2004

DJL don't be a dick. :-) Just wants to know what mics are good for someone with a low budget like myself, if you don't care to help anyone out with info then don't bother replying. We can't all be recording experts in the beginning.

-Kevin

imissthewar · #10 06-30-2004

It seems like we're roughly in the same boat, man. I recently set up a project studio and here's what I ended up getting.

Studio Projects C1 (vocals, bright mic)
Marshall V69ME (vocals, darker mic w/tube)
Oktava MK-012 pair (drum overheads, acoustic guitar, strings)
CAD m179 (toms, guitars, multi pattern - gotta have one of those)
Studio Projects B1 (toms, guitars, really cheap and highly praised)
Audio Technica ATM-25 (kick drum)
Shure sm57 (guitars, snare, a necessity)

sdelsolray · #11 06-30-2004

Quote:

Originally Posted by junplugged

I mean, instead of naming a price first, how about the best mics that are still great, but the lowest price out of all of those great mics.

Like, if I can't get a good mic for $150, fine. Then what is the lowest of the best, then I'll save up for that level. If opinions are that a model that is the lowest price but best deal for it is $450, then I can accept that.

If a vintage c12 is $8,500 then that's not affordable for most of us. There are good mics that are new - or so says some famous producers/engineers....

So If AKG or Sure whoever, has great mics, what is their lowest price good mic. Not their lowest price crap mic.

I think everyone knows sm57 for elec. guitar amps/cablinets, and some vocalists who perfer it, but a lot of engineers/ producers say it's 80% mic and pre. And they're not talking about electric guitar cabs usually.

So I'm thinking of the application of acoustic guitar, vocals, distant mic'ing, other acoustic instruments.

post link to threads too, i'm sure i'm duplicating something, my searches aren't so good for some reason....

I think I know what you're asking. Here's some subjective choices:

AKG: 414, 451
ADK: 51 Hamburg Edition, TT, TL
Studio Projects: C4, T3
Marshall: V69, V77, 603
Neumann: KM184, TLM103
CAD: M179, M9
Shure: KSM 44, SM81, SM57
Oktava: MC-012, 319

There are no doubt others from other manufacturers. I believe, again subjectively, that certain manufacturers make mics that are "all good", such as Schoeps, DPA, Microtech Gefell, Royer, AEA, Soundelux, Lawson and Neumann, to name a few.

chessrock · #12 06-30-2004

I think I get where he's coming from now.

Hmmm. Of the Shure mics, the SM-7 is about the lowest priced of their "really good" ones at about 3-4 hundred bucks. Of the Audio Technicas, the 4050 or 4047 are the lowest-priced of their more elite models.

The Dragonfly would be the most affordable out of Blue's top tier.

Out of the Sennheisers, it would likely be the 421 . . . and of the Beyers it would be the M-201, I suppose. I don't consider the TLM-103 to be that great of a mic -- just my personal opinion (since I know many who have them, like them, and get good results with them), so I would say the U87 would probably be the least expensive of their really good ones.

Out of the Marshalls, I would say the least expensive good one would be whichever one you could get the Royer mod performed on for the least amount of money.

I suppose what all of this means is that you're probably not going to start seeing a sizeable jump in quality from a manufacturer's "entry level" mics until you get around the $350-500 range. Some of them not until you get to around $800 or even higher. Is that what you wanted to know?

junplugged · #13 06-30-2004

Hey, awesome responses everyone. (almost) That's exactly what I'm looking for.

I was asking opinions and that definitely subjective, that's what I'm talking about.

The, just-above-entry level where you've maybe, say, just learned for a year about decent placement, got some better gear for recording and monitoring, and now, your next step is to really make the next level into a better sound - on the way in.

This is where I'm at right now, so now that I can, if I'm good enough, to actually be able to hear the difference on the way in. I have to admit, it takes me what seems to be waaay to long to hear the difference in things I'm doing, but it eventually clicks in my brain. It took me about 8 hours to even decide that I now appreciate the sound of my monitors vs. my crappy stereo and speakers. But it did take me no time to hear the mic placement differences and now - with monitors, the placements are even more different, I may be even adjusting them once again now that I hear it all differently.

Thanks, I have a place to start looking, more research, again...

DJL · #14 06-30-2004

Here's a list of some good mics that don't cost too much.

AKG C451
AKG C414
Audio-technical AT4033
Audio-technical AT4040
Audio-technical AT4060
Beyerdynamic M201
Beyerdynamic M88
Earthworks M30
EV RE20
Josephson C42
Neumann U87
RCA 77-DX
Sennheiser MD421
Sennheiser MD441
Shure SM57
Shure SM81
Shure SM-7
Shure KSM44
Soundelux U99

Han · #15 07-01-2004

The best SDC's I've had the pleasure to experience are the Sanken CU31/32's.

They're in the $1200 range, but absolutely awesome mics, quite unknown because of poor promotion. 1 micron diaphragms, go figure.

The CU44X is one of the very best mics, George Massenburg uses it often, one of his favorites.

http://sanken.ch/english/index.htm

xstatic · #16 07-01-2004

A couple of those mics are pretty spendy DJL, but the majority of that list represents a good quality to cost ratio

chessrock · #17 07-01-2004

I've used a hell of a lot of different mics . . . particularly over the past 5 years or so. I'm no Dan Richards, but I've played with enough, and I've used them extensively enough to get a good idea of their strengths and weaknesses. So far, from a pure quality / cost ratio, there are two companies that really seem to stand out to me -- Audio Technica and CAD.

Shure, there are others (intentional feudian slip).

But those are the two that just really seem to stand out to me as companies who's products should/could cost more but don't. The AT's in particular will appear on the equip. list of just about every major studio, large/small/mid-sized/project. They're used extensively by just about any accomplished / competent / respected engineer you talk to, and were probably used on many of the records in your CD changer right now.

Sklathill · #18 07-01-2004

I think I agree with the CAD assessment, although they just don't put out a very diverse lot of products. I personally don't like their relatively few dynamics much.

And since when does a U87 not cost much? I suppose one might say: What price a killer sound...but still. And the ribbon?

DJL · #19 07-01-2004

That's cheap when you compare it to the cost of some of the other Neumann, Microtech Gefell, Brauner and etc mics.

junplugged · #20 07-01-2004

I'm a little behind my work at the moment, but I'm making a list of all the mics mentioned and the one's I'm reading about, then I'll look up all the new prices from a couple of sources, online, music stores, maybe Ebay?

I'll consider used as long as I can get someone who has experience with them to test it out with me, determine if it's really working the way it should.

This place is a real resource.