Overheads $500????

1

127Riot

New member
I am in need of buffing up my over heads. Right now I am using oktava mc-012's. I record analog and digital. Mostly hard rock and roll.

Budget $500
Any suggestions are welcome.
Thanks
 
Stick with the Oktava's, with a good mic placement, you should have very pleasant results, just play a little more with them and you'll find the magic spot ;)
 
There are lots of other possibilities. You might like some of them better than the Oktavas - who would know other than you?

SM81's, AT4041's, and various small diaphram offerings from Studio Projects, Marshall, Rode, etc. are all possibilities.
 
Well provided you have the "original" 012's and not a pair of the unofficial Chinese copies then you're unlikely to see much improvement within that price range. I know of a couple of reputable engineers that would say that even if you go well up from $500 you may be scratching to find too much improvement.

:cool:
 
I'd go for a pair of used sm81's. I have those and the oktavas and honestly I can't understand what people hear in the oktavas that is desireable. In my opinion they lack focus, and on cymbals they can really sound like dimestore mics. It's an ok drum sound and I can bear with it for close micing drums (best part is that if I hit one it's not the end of the world). But, for overheads they are my last choice, after even a few EV dynamics.
 
127Riot said:
I am in need of buffing up my over heads. Right now I am using oktava mc-012's. I record analog and digital. Mostly hard rock and roll.
Budget $500. Any suggestions are welcome.
Thanks
Click to expand...
A tad higher in price ($679-ish) the sE ELectronics SE3 matched pair would certainly give you a very nice OH sound among other uses.
http://www.seelectronics.com/
Warren Dent did a comparison with the SE3 and the older Neumann KM84 version on snare, acoustic guitar, and set-overhead.
Info is here:
http://forums.frontendaudio.com/index.php?showtopic=334
Both sound very nice but the SE3 has more depth and airiness IMO.
In fact on this Ac. Gtr. recording, the SE3 has a sort of magical sound about it.
The KM84's are no longer available and the KM184 go for about $729 apiece street and are said to be not nearly as good as the originals.
Also, Bob Reardon of sE/Sonic-Distribution told me awhile back that there are plans to make available an omni-capsule for the SE3.
FYI, Front End Audio shows a pair of the Octavas going for $375-ish.
As some have suggested, the move to another pair of $500 SDC's may not the best one for your money :confused:.
How about add 1 SE3 ($299) as a center OH to blend with your Octavas then you have an awesome acoustic guitar mic as well ;)
 
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Indeed. I just switched from Nady CM90s to a pair of MK-012s. The sound quality of the mics on their own isn't that different (maybe the 012s are a little less self-noisy), so I wasn't expecting much....

I had no idea how poor my stereo separation was with the CM90 mics until I heard the MK-012s with the same exact mic positioning. Whoa. Night and day.

I knew everyone said they sounded good for that, but I wouldn't have expected them to be such a huge improvement. I'd be very impressed if you found something better for overheads for under $500, as the 012 mics seem absolutely great for near field stereo.
 
127Riot said:
I think I am going to go with the sm 81's.
Click to expand...
I really didnt like the stereo separation of the 81s for overheads, (at least in a spaced pair set up). Actually,my buddy ended up selling his 81s after he heard my MC012s. But,.... I just bought a pair of older AKG C451EB-CK1s,for around $525 (used,....obviously) and I think I really like what Im hearing ( havent used them in a mix of a tune yet, though).
 
Get a pair of fabulous MSH-1O SDCs, and whatever else you wanna spend the other $450 on.
 
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