$1,000 mics?

HogansHiro

HogansHiro

Now with 25% more sarcasm
ok....finally got some serious cash in my mic fund. (sold a kidney in Tapei)

I always hear comparsions about the lower price mics...which I have a few of to include the usual suspects below.

At4040
shure sm27
Se Electronics
crap load of mxls
Mostly Shanghai mics obviously.

anyway.... I am looking at picking up a used Neumann U87 since it seems to be the industry standard but is there something better out there or a combination of two other mics that add up to $1,000. Will be used for Vocals only since I have favorites for everything else already.

I really don't see any comparisons among mics at these levels and nobody I know has any on that price scale to compare with.

Thanx guys
 
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steveanthony said:
The Gefell M930 is a good mic in that price range. What are you using for a mic pre?
Click to expand...

I have a Joe Meek OneQ on order through the local store. I have the usual ART MPII rack Tube pre-amp, Begringer Vintager ((It works great as a DI(((shudder))). I've been saving up for a pre so I've been slumming with those two. Surprisingly enough I use the pre's on my board alot...its a Tascam M3500 32 Channel/ Dual Fader board. I actually liked the pre's on my Tascam more than the Tube pre's I have but thats probably because they're chaep and my board wasn't. But I plan on the Joe Meek being the work horse. Isn't Gefell somehow associated with Neumann?


Slobber monster:

I've only used a Neumann U87 once and that was years ago in Denver. I remember had a great sound...real true to my voice. I haven't seen any of the new stuff. Out of all my friends that record I have the most high-end gear so none of my friends have a basis of comparison and the pro studio guys are dics about competition so they wouldn't let me check one out unless I paid the hourly fee. Whats the diff in the new ones. Another studio friend said I might save a few bucks and get a Neumann T104.
 
Yo Hoganshiro! Microtech Gefell *is* Neumann, the half of the family business that wasn't sold to Sennheiser. Several people on this board don't love the U87. Mostly, their objection isn't that it is a bad mic, just that it is overpriced.I have used the U87 quite a bit, and I like it a lot, but you *do* pay for the Neumann name. Frankly, finding a U87 in good condition for $1000 is tough. It's more like $1500-2000. Closer to $1000, I like AKG C414XLS, Soundelux U-195, ADK TT, Microtech Gefell M930. The AKG is the lowest priced, but very versatile, and the ADK, IMHO, may be the most bang for $1000. The others are more like $1300 mics. If I were looking for a pure vocal mic, and $1000 was the limit, I'd be looking at the ADK. The next step up is closer to $2000, where you get into the likes of Neumann U87, B.L.U.E. Kiwi, Soundelux U99 and ifet7, Lawson L47 MKII.
The end of the line is Brauner, Manley, the higher priced Gefells, and other mics I can't afford. I'm fairly unimpressed by TLM103. I'd trade it for a good C414 in a heartbeat.-Richie
 
Thats what I'm talking about. Thanx for the run down on reasonable alternatives....I'll start doing some research on the other mics you mentioned.
Thanx alot Rich!
 
Howdy, I might suggesting checking out the new mojave audio tube mic. I havnt used it, but I met the guys and made a couple of thier tube kits - they are amazing. the clearest and most detailed mic I've used, and had a nice even frequency response. I'd guess the new, non-kit mic, going for ~1000, would be even better. One thing to keep in mind though - Ive used some of the akg c414's, and i like them a lot, especially overhead. very useful, but have a totally different sound than the mojave audio tube mic - also very smooth, but a little more muffled, a little less detailed. thats not bad though - it would depend on the use. The mojave tube mic (MA-1) might have too much detail - someone i used with it actually thought it was too much detail. There is also a noticable amount of tube compression - all the room noise became pretty audible - which could be a problem in less than quiet studios. Hope this helps,
Patrick
 
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