Mics to avoid like the Plague

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darrin_h2000

darrin_h2000

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Ever get tired of some of the questions asked in here...mostly about Chinese mics...why not just give them a thread to refer them too.

Ill go ahead and get the whole Nady and Behringer lines out of the way...what other POS mics have any of us wasted our money on?:rolleyes:
 
I wouldn't say the whole Nady line as there are a few Alctron mics in there's that are good modding platforms. TLM1050, RSM line etc.
 
God if you ever find a U67, run like hell

...though in all seriousness, I haven't found a mic that I haven't liked. Well, then again, I bought a second SM57 for no reason. I don't even use SM57's anymore....

An SM57 is a good first mic, but eventually you'll have enough mics in your locker to never needing to use it.
 
Seafroggys said:
... I haven't found a mic that I haven't liked...
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Me too, I even keep some dumb cassette deck ones "just in case".

Probably the mic that comes to mind when everybody asks a question like this is the SM58. For whatever reason that mic always sounds real boomy and muddy for my voice on stage. I've been using a Sennheiser 441 for vocals at gigs for several years, and I really like it. For recording it is good but I rarely use it - it's kinda cold and clinical. But for gigs it sure is clear and I like the adjustable tone ring.

SM58's are great mics for sure, I guess it's because so often they are the mic the sound guys bring... "normal" people see a SM58 as I see a U67!

The SM58 isn't horrible on kick either. The problem with vocals is that at many gigs you need to eat the mic to be heard and the SM58 goes ballistic when you do that... the 441 doesn't... maybe that's it.
 
SM57 and SM58? Why do we keep recommending these antiques? They were good in their day but, the bar has risen long ago.

For example, try an A/B test with an EV N/D767a (almost the same price.) I guarantee you will never look back.

Just like Lemming behavior, people keep perpetuating the old-school advice without knowing any better.

(Buyer Beware, if you go shopping for this mike. The little "a" at the end of the model number is extremely important. It indicates a major revision/upgrade from an older model.)
 
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RawDepth said:
SM57 and SM58? Why do we keep recommending these antiques? They were good in their day but, the bar has risen long ago.

For example, try an A/B test with an EV N/D767a (almost the same price.) I guarantee you will never look back.
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no joke. I've been using an old N/D 70 for years and don't even consider a Shure for gigging anymore. The N/D just sounds so much better.
 
Red 5 RV6 ... avoid like the plague, sounds like it's still in the cardboard box on vocals.
 
darrin_h2000 said:
Ever get tired of some of the questions asked in here...mostly about Chinese mics...why not just give them a thread to refer them too.

Ill go ahead and get the whole Nady and Behringer lines out of the way...what other POS mics have any of us wasted our money on?:rolleyes:
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BEEEP - wrong right off the bat.

mics I think are good from those companies:

the behringer b2 pro is the same capsule and basic overall sound as the AMAZING cad m179, but the b2 pro has normal polar pattern, not cv types like in the exceptional cad mic. it's a broke man's cad m179. great microphone, incredible if you mod it.

nady has some decent mics too.

none of them are any worse than those offered by apex or even mxl's stuff (which gets pretty crappy in some mics they still try to sell because of their good looks).

mxl makes good mics and terrible mics. same with apex (although I don't like any of apex's LDC mics and personally dislike their sdc as well even though most love 'em). apex ribbon, the 205 (better than the 210 but overall similar sounding) is outstanding as well, a great studio mic stock and only improved by the various mods out there (but the improvements are subtle, it's stock really very very good already).

end of "good" mics list.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

anyway, my list of BAD mics to avoid would include:

apex 435, imho only useful on sax and there are better still on sax (and only useful on sax if you're looking for a very bright sound).

um, any of the mxl mics who's freq. response plots show a 10db rise in the hf area. those are absolute crap and are what gave chinese mics a bad name (like the apex 435 actually, similar sound imho).

really cheap dynamic mics from nady and behringer (only ones I've tried, others may suck too) - just say "Ewe". the more expensive apex dynamics are quite decent, haven't tried apex's cheapo ones though.

anything from sony in a plastic box you can buy off a rack for $20 or less.
 
RawDepth said:
Just like Lemming behavior, people keep perpetuating the old-school advice without knowing any better.
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It's not really bad advice. Most preamps and such are designed to work well with said mics. So you can't really go wrong with an SM58/57. There is better, but it may not be as universally usable independant of what gear you have on a given day.

It's hard to say that there's a bad mic. It's all a matter of your POV. Even dud companies get it right once in a while. A less than desirable mic can be left out and no one will steal it. You can also leave it out and on and recording and no one will suspect that you're using it. You can leave it out in the rain while recording and not be traumatized for life. You can also sell it to your competition at too high a price, and keep the status quo. Points of view and perceptions change over time, but to someone who's never seen a TV in their lifetime, that first one is always magical.
 
Okay, I admit, before I started buying studio gear I used a 15 year old Realistic Mic that my dad bought for my mom years ago, I'd sit that behind me and record my drumset playing straight into an SB Live. It actually worked pretty damn well, picked up everything even bass drum. So while its nothing compared to my other mics, I actually had good success with it.
 
Id have to admit that in some lines there might be something tolerable with a mod or a complete over haul...but mostly nadys and Behringers can be beaten badly by other mics at thier price point.

How about some models...I saw the AKG3000b listed...Im sure most would agree with that.
 
darrin_h2000 said:
How about some models...I saw the AKG3000b listed...Im sure most would agree with that.
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yeah, I have one ......... it's an all-purpose mic. It sounds shitty on everything.
:)
Just really harsh and nasty sounding.
 
I know many people like it, but I HATED the Apex 460. Rented it for a day, and it was hiss-crackle-pop city. May have been a bad tube in it or something, but the mic was useless.
 
Seafroggys said:
...though in all seriousness, I haven't found a mic that I haven't liked. Well, then again, I bought a second SM57 for no reason. I don't even use SM57's anymore....

An SM57 is a good first mic, but eventually you'll have enough mics in your locker to never needing to use it.
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HILARIOUS! I forgot how much I love this place!!!

This is from an Eddie Kramer interview I read yesterday:

What mic techniques do you think are the best for recording guitar?

I like to use multiple mics on the guitar amp. I may pick just one mic that I like, or three or two. Some people like close miking. Some like distance miking. Some like a combination of the two. Some people like ribbon mics and others like dynamic mics or condensers. I put all of them up. Each microphone has its own individual sound. I use different mics to give me different tone qualities from the guitar amp, although the Shure SM57 is my main go-to mic for guitar amps. You could do an entire session with just SM57s if you were smart, and I can’t do a session without one. A lot of the recorded sound has to do with the amp itself. The guitar player matters too. How is he hitting those chords? Does he execute cleanly?
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