Budget LDC

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Bored

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Hi,
I just started gathering material for a low-budget homerecording studio.
I'm currently looking for a large diaphragm condenser mic, but with my limited budget, i'm not sure which to choose.
I'm sorry that i have to bother you guys with a "which mic to choose" question, i'm sure you get dozens of those questions, but here goes anyway.
My budget is around €400 for this mic (= approx 534USD), and i'm currently looking at the Audio Technica AT 4040SM, AKG C 4000 B or shure KSM27 or a better alternative in this price range.
Until now, not knowing which one to choose.
The mic will be used in general for vocals, and maybe eventually for guitars in cases where it sounds better for the music than the SM57 that i'm using now.

Thanks in advance
 
Not trying to be a jerk, but this topic has really been beat to death, so if you search, you will find a lot more info...

Now, in an effort to prove I wasn't trying to be a jerk, I do own two of these microphones (and the 57 to boot.) The 4040 to me seems to be a less hyped, flatter sounding mic, and in my experience with this mic the better the source-- the better the sound. The KSM27 is a nice vocal mic, but I haven't been as pleased with it on other sources. It can really bring to life certain vocal qualities, but it can be unsuitable for others.

Really, you can't go wrong with either of these mics.

What are you using to record and what is your signal chain (mixer, preamp, compression, fx, etc?) You might be able to get a few goodies with that kind of cash or a decent mic and save some $$.

Hope this helps.

Pete
 
Thanks for answering anyway battleminnow.
The signal chain is as follows:
Mixer: an old Mitec 1602 (modded with line output per channel, phantom power etc.)
Preamp: either the preamps from the mixing desk or my presonus tubepre
the preamps run into an ST Audio DSP2000 AD/DA convertor.
Everything is recorded into cubase and from there on the VST's do their work.
As you see, everything is rather budget, but so far it all does the trick.
As for now I'll go search the board, thanks for telling me.
Further comments are still welcome.

Edit:
so what I currently found is that the AKG is pretty unforgiving if not used on the right vocal, and the AT is a more all-around choice.
On the other hand the AKG would sound very nice on guitars, sometimes even better than the standard SM57.
Am I right here?
Also the AKG has 3 polar patterns to choose from, the AT is stuck on a cardioid pattern.
All this searching makes me even more confused unfortunately
 
Last edited:
Well, I haven't had the C4000b, but I do have experience w/the C3000b, and it wasn't great. Seemed very sibilant to me. I did w/out the 4040 for a while (sold it) but I bought it again. I do love the ksm27, but the 4040 was just more versatile of mic.

Pete
 
I've read about how poor the c3000b would be, the c4000b in the contrary should be a decent mic.
Gonna catch a sleep now, tomorrow's another day for some more research.
Thank you so far for the advice, it's appreciated.
 
Give GT a Try

Groove Tubes Microphones but I think now they're called Sterling.

cheap (try Ebay)/sounds pretty good

just one more to add to the list. . .happy researching
 
Out of the three mics the C4000 would be my choice. That mic is actually a real sleeper IMHO and gives you the extra patterns where the other two don't. You may want to check out ebay and see if you can pick one up used. I've seen them go for around $300 to $350 on ebay so maybe you'll get lucky and snag one. The best thing about buying a used one is if you don't like it you can re sell it for what you paid. Good luck. :)

Here's a review of the C4000 from Ty Ford.

http://homepage.mac.com/tyreeford/.Public/Gear_Reviews_Mics/AKG_C4000b.txt
 
Thanks for the tip, ljmaxx

Problem is that the mic would most of the time be used for male rock/hard-rock/even harder rock/... vocals.
With the mic having some added low-end, i'm afraid the vocals would sound too dark, of would miss presence/brightness.
Seems like it wouldn't work just fine for the type of vocal i tend to record.
Of course I'm only speculating now, but I'm not really planning on spending €400 on a mic that doesn't work for me, that's why i want to be so sure. (Can't seem to find one on ebay in my regions either)
(correct me wherever I'm wrong, but this is what i gathered from reading some reviews and other people's opinions)
That's why I'm currently leaning some more towards the AT4040. Unfortunately it misses the extra patterns.
Another option could be: buy the C4000 now, god knows, maybe it'll work just fine for me, and eventually buy an AT4050 later (which is currently out of range for me, with my limited budget) to have "best of both worlds". But it can take some time for me to save money for a new mic, because of other equipment i need more at the moment.
That's the reason why i'm looking for the most versatile mic in this price range at this very moment.
Harvey, thanks for the tip, I checked on the T3, but unfortunately the price was slightly out of range (€560 was the cheapest I found, no results on ebay here).
 
From everything I hear from people I trust, a mic for that kind of source would be the SM7b, a dynamic mic that was used by guys like Lenny Kravitz and Dave Grohl. Honestly, it will be my next mic. I have heard though that the preamp makes a huge difference w/this particular microphone. Oh, and it retails new for $350-400 USD.

Pete
 
Bored said:
Thanks for the tip, ljmaxx

Problem is that the mic would most of the time be used for male rock/hard-rock/even harder rock/... vocals.
With the mic having some added low-end, i'm afraid the vocals would sound too dark, of would miss presence/brightness.
Click to expand...

Go to the link below and listen to When The Wind Blows & Bound To Fly. Vox were done with the C4000 --> VMP-2 --> Akai DPS. My voice is not rock but it is kind of bassie.

http://www.broadjam.com/index.asp

Good luck and I hope this helps a bit.
 
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