AKG C3000B x 414

S

Senryoku

New member
Hello people,

I was planning to buy an AKG 414 to record vocals and
acoustic guitars at home. It was really hard to find one,
then I bought a 3000B. I use it plugged directly thru my
phantom powered digi001 mic pre amp. I´m not sure about
the differences between both models and I´ve heard that the 3000 is better for female vocals or flutes, etc... I´ve even
heard of stuff like rotating the 3000 a little bit, to cut the
highest frequencies... I´d like to know If anybody could clear
it up for me which are the most important differences about
both models... Was the 3000B a good choice? Thanks a lot.
 
Senryoku, IMHO it's a nice microphone.
I had one, however, it was too sensitive for use in my non-acoustically
treated home, other than the walk-in closet (hate singing there BTW).
You may want to try out a Joe Meek channel strip to "warm" up the
signal path as the C3000B is a bright mike.
The optical compressor should thicken up the sound of it if it's sounding
a bit thin right now. The MQ3 runs about $200, the website is
www.joemeek.com

For what you'd pay for a new or used 414, there are more cost effective
alternatives, and you may want to use the search function as there's
tons of info about that on this site.
There's a good review of the C3000B at www.sospubs.co.uk/search
by Paul White.

Chris
 
I have a 414 that I keep around for that "go to" mic. It will always pull me out of a pinch. I had a C3000, and while it is a good mic, it just does not have the musicality of my 414.

T
 
Yeah, I guess enhanced is an OK word. The B stands for Bass Rolloff as I remember. I have one at work that we use for recording voicemail messages from the Firm's Chairman. He likes the "big mic". I owned the original. In any case, I have used both. All I have to say is that there is a reason the 414 costs more. :)
 
Thanks dudes

Thanks a lot guys. I was afraid of finding out that the
3000B is not a good mic, now it´s clear for me that
the 414 may be or really is a higher quality mic.
I´ll check out JoeMeek, thanks.
 
Now all that said, for the same money, I would get an AT-4033 or the new AT-4040 or if you can, pony up for one of the others. I think they sound better overall than the AKG. Wow, a couple years ago, I was so into my AKGs that I never even looked at Audio Technica. Now I have a locker full. Hmmmm. Glad I am getting more open minded in my old age. :)

T
 
Actually, even though they have the same housing and VERY similar names, the C3000B is a different mic from the C3000.
They have different capsules and a different sound.
All that's the same is the looks, and the 3000B is NOT an enhanced 3000.

Also, 3000 have bass rolloff too.
 
I may get flamed for this, but I don't like the 414 at all. In fact, I find all the AKG mics I've used to be too shrill and crisp. I've owned an AKG C1000, 3000 and 414 at times, and I've sold them all. I realize that many people love that crispness, but to me it translated into harshness. So I guess this is just another example of "Try it before you buy it" mentality.
 
I have a C3000 and dont really like the harness it produces for my acoustic guitar. I tried every possible location and switch on that thing. I dont mean to discourage you, but the mic just isnt working for me. I bought the mic on the fly and didnt do a bunch of research on it... now i wish I wouldve came here first. Im putting it on ebay next week, meanwhile I'm looking into the best acoustic mic for around $450. If Harvey will somehow skim across this I wonder what he would recommend.
I should also add that Im using a Mackie 1402 pro for a preamp
 
Thanks again

Thanks again guys. I haven´t tried it with my acoustic
or even with vocals yet, in fact, I haven´t even used it,
It´s just standing there, beautiful. anyway, thanks for
the help and tips. Btw, is the Joemeek compressor already
available for ProTools? I was searching the joemeek website
and could not find any software related link...

thanks.

Senryoku
 
FWIW, in the past I've seen comments about the C3000B and
414 as sounding better in an analog tape context than a digital
one, due to their brightness.
When I had the C3000B, my 4 track was a Tascam 414 cassette
portastudio (upgraded since!), and the C3000B sounded good
on it-better still with a decent warm mic pre or compressor.
Having a warm mike, like my present Studio Projects C1, seems
to simplify things-especially for going the digital route IMHO.

Chris
 
I got an AT4040 for a month to really work the crap out of it. I will let you know what I think. I may try to post some files of my AKG414B/ULS, C3000S, AT4033S/M, and AT4040 the AT4040 just for giggles.

I never really put 2 and 2 together but the 414 is certainly a design that was meant to work with lots of tape. Maybe the digital thing is an interesting idea.....
 
Bottomline:

The AKG C3000 (original version) SUCKS.

I have two and I hate them. They sound like everything is recorded in an aluminium room.
 
So why don't I sell them....

uuuhhhhmmmmm......

actually if I sold them I wouldn't get many cash for them, so I could mayby just buy 1 fairly nice mic for the cash. I allready own lots of really nice mics,so these AKG's keep lying in the tray untill I really get out of mics on a recording. They sometimes can come quite handy for that triangle in the back.
 
Come to think of it, that's brilliant--the 414 always DID sound better on tape than on digital, but never made the connection. I used to use the 414 in a 2" tape studio and always loved the 414, but then when i got my home studio I could never seem to get a decent sound. That certianly makes sense. I wonder if AKG has any suggestions or has heard of this before.
 
octoruss said:
I used to use the 414 in a 2" tape studio and always loved the 414, but then when i got my home studio I could never seem to get a decent sound.
Click to expand...

That makes no sense.

i used to drive a ferrari, but the fiat i drive nowadays just doesn't do it.

Were you fired? :D
 
Not quite Downside...

It would be like saying I used to love this Ferrari when I was racing but now that I deliver pizza for a living.....:D

T
 
Not quite---I went to Berklee College of Music where we had access to an Otari 2" recording studio. But after I graduated years ago, *poof* ....no more access. Curses! Now I'm stuck with a Roland 1680 dreaming of the day when I can afford to buy my own 1" tape machine.

But more importantly, I used to be a "minimalist" recorder, and I recall how I'd set up a signal path of 414ULS to a midrange preamp (nothing special) and record vox or guitar straight to tape with no FX. Using the same signal process with my 1680, I notice a vast difference in mic tone. Thus I conclude that the 414 may not be the best mic for me to be recording digitally.
 
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