AKG 414. Piece o' Crap?

3

37point5

New member
Okay, something seems wrong with the world the past few days, and I just have to get this out into the open:

I like the Rode NT1 better than the AKG 414.

GASP!!!

Here's the story: On Monday, the lead singer for the band I'm currently in came over to lay down some vocal tracks for the Howard Stern song parody competition. He mentioned that he had an 414, so I told him to bring it 'cause I figured it would blow away anything I had (NT1, Oktava MC012, etc.). Plus, I wanted to see if my mics were the weakest link in my chain, or if I should keep the ones I have and spend my money on better preamps, cables, etc. Just wondering which was the suckiest part of my setup....

Well, the singer comes over, we hook up the 414 (through an ART Tube MP, into a Delta 66 (with Monster Cable all the way), and into Cakewalk), set it on cardiod, and 'roll tape'.

And to my dismay, it sounded muddy. I looked over, and he was at least a foot away, so it wasn't the proximity effect. I wasn't clipping the Tube MP, so it wasn't the distortion muddying it up. The mic just didn't have any presence (something which the Rode seems to almost have an over-abundance of). At the end of the session I ended up having to severly cut the lows under 300 and boost the highs over 8000, 'cause the vocals were dull and just weren't cutting through at all.

So what gives? Why does the 414 sound just decent through my setup when the NT1 sounds noticibly more decent? Is it possible that the Tube MPs can somehow ruin the sound of the 414 but not the Rode? Was it just that the guy's voice was not suited for the 414?

I have to admit, though, I love the selectable patterns on the 414. We set it to omni and three of us were able to to some great background vocals standing in a vague circular pattern around the mic. So, that's cool....

Ryan
 
ive recorded vocals with the 414. i love it, i dont know what you were doing wrong. but a pair f 414s id take over anything. ver versatile for everything.. ahh they are great. anyway. a foot away? i was about 3 inches away from the mic, and i think that might have been a problem for you. try the guy up closer.
 
hi,

I don't know what could be wrong, but I have read in MANY places that different microphones interact with different preamps differently.

I have a c414b/uls, but I have used a rode nt1, and I hated the heck out of it and still hate the heck out of it, because it made my lyric baritone voice sound bassy.

So, the problem might be the preamp.
 
A mic is not a flat referonse. With vocals you have to fit a mic to a voice.
It has nothing to do with the quality of the 414.
 
I agree, the 414 is supposed to be a really, REALLY good mic. That's why I was so spazzed about being able to use one on a session, and so disappointed when it didn't blow me away.

I guess, upon analysis, that maybe the 414 just isn't suited to the singer's voice. I should've tried it out on mine, and seen if I liked it. He's got a raspy, Otis Redding type voice, and maybe the thickness of his voice just doesn't work on the 414. Who knows. They made a CD before I got into the band, and his voice sounds great on that; I'll have to ask what kinda mic they used. Probably not the 414....

Of course, maybe the Tube MPs just hate really good mics ;)

Ryan
 
I've worked with various incarnations of the 414 over the years,and I owned one a while back,and if anything,this mic has a rep for being a tad on the bright side.
 
Hi. I've never used a big cool mic like the AKG 414 before, but I want to at least try and offer some advice here.

I own an AKG C3000 model and there are two distinct patterns; Cardroid and Hyper-Cardroid. Now, when I set the cardroid pattern on. The back of the mic sounds muddy and bassy, while the front side sounds clear as a bell.

So, could it have been that kind of a problem? The front being bright and usable and the back being.. well.. duffed on that pattern?

Adam.
http://www.adamsalbum.co.uk
 
Actually, thanks to Sonusman's mic quiz, I realized that there was nothing wrong with the 414, I simply don't like the way it sounds. I guess it's just a subjective thing. I picked it out immediately from the files Sonusman posted; it has what to me is a very distinctive "dull" sound on vocals. I guess I just like lots of that sparkly high end sheen. I like the vocals to sound like someone has run them through an exciter or something. The Rode NT-1 gives me that without EQ (although I think it lacks a lot of the body of the 414). For the 414, I probably WOULD have to run it through an exciter to get the sound I'm looking for. Just my personal preference on vox sounds.

Thanks everyone for your comments and suggestions.

Ryan
 
I've never really picked the 414 as my first choice for vocals either, once I even found a beta 58 (i don't know why) to sound better under a certin condition. But when recording vocals not all mics work on all voices. Also I've always admired the 414 for its high's not lo's, I don't think it sounds nearly as good on Lo's.

omni...
 
I've used a 414 for years for vocals but as Shailat said you choose the right mike for the right vocalist. I ususally put up the best mikes I've got and get them to sing into each.
Sounds like either the 414 was backtofront or the diaphram was covered with spit (common occurance) I find the NT1 too bright for vox (female vox in this case) and have had to use a deesser to get rid of the sibilance.

cheers
John
 
Years ago, when I bought my studio, I recorded with the darn thing backwards on my first song... of course, NOBODY else could be so lame-headed.
 
AKG c414buls

After purchasing a brand new AKG c414buls, I realized that the mic had a "muddied" sound, i.e. the highs were not quite right and the resolution was comprimised. I immediately pulled out the AKG c414tl-II and confirmed that the buls version was quite bad in comparison.

I spoke with the nice folks at AKG and sent in the mic. They replaced a defective component and now the mic records a very clean and resolved signal.

I was told by AKG that a very small percentage of the mic's end up in the consumers' hands in less than optimal condition.

Anyway, I also own mics of various models by Sure and Audio Technica. I think the AKG c414buls mic is a great mic and the TL-II version of the c414 is even a little better for the vocals.
 
kmar - you weren't the first to put up an AKG414 back to front. :) Incidently the NT1 is the other mike prone to that ;)

cheers
john
 
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