REALLY good FET condensers?

S

superelixir

New member
I have been searching for a good "workhorse" condenser. I need it primarily for vocals, but also acoustic guitar (and other random uses, like hand percussion and drum overheads). The character I am looking for is "present" and "airy" but without sibilance... to me this means a slight push in the upper mids, and no HF rolloff (not necessarily hyped, but extended frequency response to at least 20KHz). Basically I want something that sounds open and pristine, not choked or muffled at all.

My budget is $1000 - $2000... I am willing to buy used or modded, or even a DIY project... I just want the best possible quality in this price range.

I've found a few options for tube condensers that I can afford. I like the way they sound, but I am worried about reliability... I don't want to deal with waiting for it to warm up, replacing tubes, etc. Some of the mics I have looked at are ADK CS-12, CharterOak SA538, Peluso P-12, Pearlman TM-1 (local mic builder), Cathedral Pipes (another local mic builder).

Does anyone have suggestions? Any advice will be much appreciated...
 
If you have a decent budget then you should definitely check out the Josephson large diaphragm condensers - they are some of the best modern mics I have heard - very well balanced and sound great on almost everything. I'm also a big fan of the Sony mics - the C48 might meet your needs.

I haven't tried the other mics that you mention, but whatever you go for at that kind of money you should try before you buy.
 
The Josephson mics are unfortunately out of my price range. It's a shame, because the C715 sounds BEAUTIFUL!

The C48 also looks nice, and it's well within my budget. Supposedly it's modeled of the U87 circuit, but it's more open-sounding? I'm having a hard time finding samples though...

I should also mention that two of my favorite mics that I've heard are the C12 and the Ela M 251. Yeah... I know they're both tube mics. :( I guess I haven't completely ruled out tubes, but two important parameters for me are low noise and reliability...
 
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