Best affordable studio mic

J

Jazzman1949

New member
I am a performing-recording musician of over 40 years. I have been continually improving my home studio equipment as I can afford to do so.

QUESTION: what would be your studio microphone of choice, and if you can, give a ballpark price.

I need to invest in a fairly decent condenser mic, not just for vocals, but for wind instruments (saxophones, clarinet).

Up to this point, I've been able to work with close-pattern stage mics for vocals and doing a lot of direct-signal with guitar, keyboard, bass, etc.

I need to invest in a good mic for wind instruments.

What's your choice?
 
I have an AKG Perception 200 that's kind of nice. Used was about 100.00 If all else fails, this question has been asked once or twice so you can use the search button on the site. It might be hard to find exactly what your looking for at first but you will find it.
 
I need to invest in a fairly decent condenser mic, not just for vocals, but for wind instruments (saxophones, clarinet).
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That's okay, because I barely ever put a condenser in front of a vocalist anyway. Or a sax for that matter (unless it's from a bit of a distance and I'm going for that "alleyway window" sound).

In any case - Knowing your approximate budget would be a big help... I could name several mics for a few hundred $$$ up to several thousand. And the ones for brass & sax probably aren't going to be the ones I'd use for woodwinds & flute...

A decent preamp is going to be as important as the mic. I'm assuming you already have some sort of reasonable converter and interface...?

Cascade for example (because there's probably not a better bang for the buck anywhere)...

A FatHead would be great on a sax - but on a clarinet it would sux unless you have quite a bit of nice room. The V57 would sound nice on the 'net, but too sensitive for the sax. The M39 would be a fair middle-ground but I wouldn't want it too close to either. Avenson STO2's would rock on either, but again - the room is going to be a big freaking deal.

So many variables...
 
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i agree,,preamp and budget amongst others, are very important....


you say you need a condenser?? do you????

if i wanted to record vocals and brass....i'd probably be looking for an re20/md421/sm7b
 
Jazzman1949 said:
QUESTION: what would be your studio microphone of choice, and if you can, give a ballpark price.
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Picking one microphone is tough, what's best for one use is not necessarily best for another.And not having a budget to work with is swinging blind; like John said above, I can give recommendations from a couple hundred to a few thousand per. And - again like John correctly said, preamp makes a difference too; many of the mics on my A-list work best with mics that provide the proper gain and impedance personalities.

But those caveats aside, and ignoring both the cheapest and the most expensive ranges, and trying to concentrate on a midrange sweet spot for the most bang and most versatility for the buck, here would be a short list to start with, very roughly arranged from low to high in price:

ElectroVoice RE-20 (LDD)
Senheiser MD441 (LDD)
AEA R84 (Ribbon)
Mojave Audio MA-200 (LDC)

G.
 
depends

Jazzman1949 said:
I am a performing-recording musician of over 40 years. I have been continually improving my home studio equipment as I can afford to do so.

QUESTION: what would be your studio microphone of choice, and if you can, give a ballpark price.

I need to invest in a fairly decent condenser mic, not just for vocals, but for wind instruments (saxophones, clarinet).

Up to this point, I've been able to work with close-pattern stage mics for vocals and doing a lot of direct-signal with guitar, keyboard, bass, etc.

I need to invest in a good mic for wind instruments.

What's your choice?
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what is your budget
how good is your studio

i would consider an mxl990 for 50-70 for vocals
or one of their models with pad and cut for under $100

get a pair of 990/991s for about $80 each set for stereo or instruments plus vocal and a spare.

Then the sky is the limit in the future. Thousands of mikes at all different prices with uses for any type of recording.

I would not rush out and buy the most expensive mike you can afford until you get some experience with these.
 
What's you budget?
That's often the deciding factor.

There are great mics from the bigger names --- AKG, Neumann, Sennheiser, Audio Technica...and then some great values from smaller companies like Cascade, as mentioned.
There are are also many brands in the "middle".
I've been telling people to take a close at the ADK mics...which are IMO both great values and also excellent build quality. They have some mics aimed at orchestral recording, and also some that cover multiple uses equaly well.
 
Insufficient data, dude. One man's affordable mic is another man's paperweight. If I was in your position, I'd buy 2 mics, a solid dynamic (Shure SM7b-$349, Electrovoice RE20-$429), and the best condenser mic the rest of my budget would allow.

Multpattern mics-versatile due to omni and figure 8 options:

For cheap: CAD M179-$200, Audio-Technica AT2050-$229

mid priced- AT4050-$549, Rode K2-$699, AKG C414B-XLS-$849, Shure KSM44-$799

to die for (when your wife finds out the price)-B.L.U.E. Kiwi-$2000. Microtech Gefell UMT800-$2850, Brauner Phantom V-$3,075, B.L.U.E. Bottle-$6,999.

As far as cardioid only mics, I could name a hundred easily, but here are some of my all-stars, in ascending price order:

Marshall Electronics MXL V67G-$99, AKG C2000B-$299, Audio-Technica AT4040-$299, B.L.U.E. Baby Bottle-$399, Rode NTK-$529, Shure KSM32-$549, B.L.U.E. Dragonfly-$599, Bock Audio 195-$1080, Microtech Gefell M930-$1275, Audio-Technica AT4060-$1,295, Neumann TLM149-$1600. To die for- Brauner Phanthera-$1950.

Those are just some of my favorites, listing only brand new prices for currently available mics. Folks here on this board could create three or four more lists, all valid, that didn't contain any of my choices. There are a ton of choices. Hope this directs you to some mic in whatever your pricerange is that you haven't considered. For my affordable #1 choices, I would start with Shure SM7b and AKG C2000B. What one doesn't work on, the other one usually will.-Richie
 
I don't have a huge inventory of mics but my 'desert island' mic would be a Neumann TLM 103 (around a grand new) If I had to choose a lower cost mic it would be a AKG 535EB ($200 used).
 
if your budget can handle it why not buy a few mid priced rather than one expensive mic? chances are several "lesser" mics will serve you better than one higher priced mic..


btw the guys here did keep mentioning the MXL67g for $100.....and they were right, bought one last week...hell thats a lot of mic for the price
 
kcearl said:
if your budget can handle it why not buy a few mid priced rather than one expensive mic? chances are several "lesser" mics will serve you better than one higher priced mic..


btw the guys here did keep mentioning the MXL67g for $100.....and they were right, bought one last week...hell thats a lot of mic for the price
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I disagree. One fantastic condensor mic can do wonders.

I got a Neumann U-89 about 20 years ago. It has been my staple mic for so many things. Sure, an SM-57 sounds very good on guitar amps and snares, but for anything else, having one great mic makes a huge difference compared to a handful of mid-priced mics. (of course, mid-priced dynamics, like the SM-7B, RE-20 or 422 are wonderful in their own right).
 
Just go ahead and purchase a Shure SM7b, an EV RE-20 and a MXL V67g then you'll be a set for any situation that you may encounter.



:cool:
 
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