Buying a New Mic!

ZiZO

ZiZO

New member
Hi guys,
It's been a while but I'm here again an I need your help. I have been using my SM57 for everything from recording vocals and acoustic guitar to random noises around the house and in the garden. I really love my SM57 but now after recording 2 EP's with it and experimenting with it over the past couple of years I am at the point now where I am ready to get a new mic to record my first full length album.

What I need in a mic is clarity, quality and evenness in frequencies. The main problem with my SM57 is that it puts a lot of focus on the mids and picks up a lot of bass from my Takamine EG523SC acoustic guitar, which is obviously undesirable. I want to also start recording electric guitars from the amplifier instead of using guitar rig. But for now, the main focus is vocals and acoustic guitar. I also use distortion with vocals sometimes so excess bass and mids can get a bit too much. I want a microphone with character that captures voices in a clear enough way so that when I colour the sounds with effects it remains high quality.

I'm a bit flexible with my budget and I am very keen on getting an AKG microphone. I have hear all the best things about them and they come in a big range of prices to suit every budget. So by October I should have enough money to get me a new decent mic and these are the options that caught my eye so far:
- AKG C3000B.
- AKG C 4500 B-BC.
- AKG C 214.
- AKG C 414 (most expensive but I can wait a bit more and get it)

Has anyone tried any of those before? What would be the best choice without paying more money unnecessarily? More suggestions are welcome :)


Thanks guys.


Releasing 1st EP next week:
soundcloud.com/BoomaOfficial
 
I really recommend the Oktava MK-219. I have a matched stereo pair and they work well on practically everything. I use them for vocals, drums, organ, piano, guitar amp and loads of other things and they always produce a great sound.
 
I have a c214 but it's the only one on the list I own so I can't really compare to the others. It does seem very warm sounding to me. When I get home tonight I can hook up my 57 and my 214 and record a small piece of acoustic and a small vocal and let you hear the difference between the two. Maybe that will tell you if it's the sound you're looking for.
 
James K said:
I really recommend the Oktava MK-219. I have a matched stereo pair and they work well on practically everything. I use them for vocals, drums, organ, piano, guitar amp and loads of other things and they always produce a great sound.
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+1 for the oktavas.

I'd consider mk012s and shure sm81s too, but really just for acoustic guitar.
I use sm81s more often than anything else for acoustic.
 
I'm with Steen on the Oktavas. I have a matched pair of MK 012's and as much as I try other brands I come back to them a lot. They're hard to beat for acoustic guitar work.......but truth be told......I've used them for almost everything including vocals......both main and back up. If you get a chance.....you might want to demo a Sennheiser 935e for vocal work too. It's a dynamic with tons of clarity and does not color mids like the SM57 does in my opinion. I have one and it's moved me away from my SM57 lately. So there you have my two cents worth.
 
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