$2000 worth of Mics

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Milkfaj

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I have a $2000 budget for microphones for the studio i want to open. what Mics would people recomend? I cant decide if I should blow $1000 on a Neumann and spend the rest on SM57s or if I should get more large diaphram condensers at a lower price (maybe 2 or 3 CAD mics or 2 Shure KSM32 or KSM44) Im going to be recording drums, vocals and electric guitars/basses to an open real multi-track. please tell me what mics you would get. thanks!
 
ADK TL $499
Shure KSM 32 $499
Shure SM 57 $79 X2
AT 4033 $439
Shure SM7B $349
 
Milkfaj said:
I have a $2000 budget for microphones for the studio i want to open. what Mics would people recomend? I cant decide if I should blow $1000 on a Neumann and spend the rest on SM57s or if I should get more large diaphram condensers at a lower price (maybe 2 or 3 CAD mics or 2 Shure KSM32 or KSM44) Im going to be recording drums, vocals and electric guitars/basses to an open real multi-track. please tell me what mics you would get. thanks!

For $2000 on just mics, I would get:

2x SDCs - SM81 ($700)
1 multipattern LDC - AKG C414BULS or KSM 44 ($700)
1 versatile LDD - EV RE20 or SM7b ($300-$400)
3-4 dynamics - SM57 or similar ($300)

with some decent preamps, there wouldn't be much you couldn't record with those mics, and all are keepers.
 
Those are both decent lists -- I would lean towards scrubs, but we gotta ask the questions!

"The studio I want to open" -- this sounds like an attempt to have a studio people pay for, as opposed to "What microphones should I start out with my home studio". If I read that right, 2,000 is just plain not enough $. If you go too cheap on the microphones, it will be obvious, both in names and quality. If you go to great sounding, but a little more expensive, that works - but you need more microphones. For example, there are minimalist ways to record a drum kit, but many people expect you to put a microphones on the kick, snare, each tom, a couple of overheads, and usually one or two special ones for highhat or something. This easily ends up being 8 microphones, just for drums, and you'll want a specialized microphone for the kick. You can get away with 57s for snare and toms, and the SDCs for overheads.

If you really are looking to open a studio for pay, 2K is not going to cut it for a budget.

A minor point - watch your spelling. Its "reel" not "real". Also, be aware that Quantegy (the last 2" tape maker in the US) just went out of business -- recording tape is likely to get a lot more expensive quite quickly.

Modern groups are spoiled. In my DAW, I can easily run a couple hundred tracks without any problems, then comp performances down etc. later. Yes, I typically have less than 32 tracks for the final mix, but having the extra tracks available means I don't have to make hard choices earlier, and warn the performers that "We're working with tape, so this means I'll be overwriting your last performance as we punch this in....". That adds stress to a session, and much of running a great session is about vibe.

-lee-
 
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