What's a good affordable condencer for recording acoustic guitar?
- Thread starter lttoler
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dgatwood
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Depends on the sound of the guitar and whether you like the sound of the guitar. To brighten up a boomy guitar, go with an SM81. To tame the rough edges of a brighter guitar, go with an MK-012. There are many choices in between.
OK..flame away but...I have used a BEHRINGER b2pro on acoustic and it did sound great..I did double it up with a neuman but.....
Rimshot
New member
This suggestion is a lot cheaper than what you asked....
I own a lot of very expensive mics and I like most of them.
About a year ago I read about the niants X-S mini here and thought I'd give it a try. WOW! what a little trooper that mic is. It's damned CHEAP too. I used it on one of my fishskin derbekkes and I could actually hear the attributes of the fishskin. We used it on sitar, sarod and bouzouki, all with wonderful results. Used it on an oud (Arabic lute) and it was wonderful. With the cable and the mounting bracket, the entire set-up will cost you about $70 and the fellow that sells them is a member of this site. It's nice and quiet too and I found it to give a very accurate picture of what the instrument sounds like. Oh yeah and we used it on an old Martin gut string parlor guitar and it made that puppy sing.
I own a lot of very expensive mics and I like most of them.
About a year ago I read about the niants X-S mini here and thought I'd give it a try. WOW! what a little trooper that mic is. It's damned CHEAP too. I used it on one of my fishskin derbekkes and I could actually hear the attributes of the fishskin. We used it on sitar, sarod and bouzouki, all with wonderful results. Used it on an oud (Arabic lute) and it was wonderful. With the cable and the mounting bracket, the entire set-up will cost you about $70 and the fellow that sells them is a member of this site. It's nice and quiet too and I found it to give a very accurate picture of what the instrument sounds like. Oh yeah and we used it on an old Martin gut string parlor guitar and it made that puppy sing.
soundchaser59
Reluctant Commander
go to ebay and search for Audio Technica AT2020......selling now for $59 bucks, and better than any China built mic in the same price range.
I made the mistake of using it as an overhead....but for accoustic guitar the B-2 actually sounded great. Vocals throung an ART DMPA were great too.
Fishmed
Well-known member
I would call that more of a learning opportunity than a mistake; if you did it a second time, then it would be a mistake.
I use a M-Audio Nova microphone and it's good for guitars and vocals
folkrock75
New member
SM81 - its worth it
I was in the same situation as you a while back, and following the advice of this forum, I sought out an SM81. The SM81 can be had for $200 if you are lucky and wait it out on craigslist. I had previously been using an AT2020 large diaphragm mic or SM57 for recording acoustic. The SM81 is noticeably better than both for my acoustic guitar. To my ears the small diaphragm mic captures a very focused, clear sound without unwanted background noise. Using it is very easy, basically point it anywhere on the guitar's neck and get a great sound. I find it to be a much more "specialized" mic, in that I pretty much only use it for acoustic guitar. It is not really practical for vocals or amp mic'ing, and i don't record drums. For a point of comparison, I recorded the same thing using an SM57 and the SM81 and played it for my girlfriend, who is not a terribly analytical listener, and she instantly picked up on the supreme clarity of the SM81.
That said, if you can't find one for your budget, or would rather find a more universal mic, the SM57 is of course always a good one.
I was in the same situation as you a while back, and following the advice of this forum, I sought out an SM81. The SM81 can be had for $200 if you are lucky and wait it out on craigslist. I had previously been using an AT2020 large diaphragm mic or SM57 for recording acoustic. The SM81 is noticeably better than both for my acoustic guitar. To my ears the small diaphragm mic captures a very focused, clear sound without unwanted background noise. Using it is very easy, basically point it anywhere on the guitar's neck and get a great sound. I find it to be a much more "specialized" mic, in that I pretty much only use it for acoustic guitar. It is not really practical for vocals or amp mic'ing, and i don't record drums. For a point of comparison, I recorded the same thing using an SM57 and the SM81 and played it for my girlfriend, who is not a terribly analytical listener, and she instantly picked up on the supreme clarity of the SM81.
That said, if you can't find one for your budget, or would rather find a more universal mic, the SM57 is of course always a good one.
antichef
pornk rock
I'd just point out that whatever it is, you'll probably want two of them so that you can record in stereo (I guess some mics come with two capsules for stereo recording, and so one of those would work, but I don't know much about them).
Anyway - not much to add in terms of SDC recommendations over what's already been posted. I have a pair of Marik-modded MXL 603s that I have yet to try out. Based on my other Marik-modded mic, I kind of expect them now to be better than any of my other mics for acoustic, but I suppose we'll see. I didn't like them stock, and I didn't like them very much after my initial capacitor mods. I like the SM81 (2 of them would be out of the price range, even used) and the MK-012 (2 of them might be in the range, used). I also like Naiants (I've got X-Q - well inside the price range for 2). I've got some AKG C451E mics (out of range) that I haven't done too much with yet - they seem a little bright for my acoustic, but maybe not with good placement -- all around nice sounding.
Outside of the SDCs, I like the AT4033 (2 used would be out of range) "medium" diaphragm condenser, and the AKG C414 B-ULS (out of range, unless you find a cheap used one like I did). I've got a fairly full complement of cheap (sub $200) LDCs, but I don't really like any of them on acoustic.
Anyway - not much to add in terms of SDC recommendations over what's already been posted. I have a pair of Marik-modded MXL 603s that I have yet to try out. Based on my other Marik-modded mic, I kind of expect them now to be better than any of my other mics for acoustic, but I suppose we'll see. I didn't like them stock, and I didn't like them very much after my initial capacitor mods. I like the SM81 (2 of them would be out of the price range, even used) and the MK-012 (2 of them might be in the range, used). I also like Naiants (I've got X-Q - well inside the price range for 2). I've got some AKG C451E mics (out of range) that I haven't done too much with yet - they seem a little bright for my acoustic, but maybe not with good placement -- all around nice sounding.
Outside of the SDCs, I like the AT4033 (2 used would be out of range) "medium" diaphragm condenser, and the AKG C414 B-ULS (out of range, unless you find a cheap used one like I did). I've got a fairly full complement of cheap (sub $200) LDCs, but I don't really like any of them on acoustic.
Fishmed
Well-known member
You certainly can get great results recording mono.
soundchaser59
Reluctant Commander
Got any photos of this?
Fishmed
Well-known member
johnreelsound
New member
Check out the videos on this site http://www.recording-microphones.co.uk/recording-Acoustic-Guitars.shtml
john
john
Ironklad Audio
New member
the NT-2A is a nice mic...but in the price range, i would still prefer either the SM81 or AT4033 in most instances.