A mic that does for condensers what a MD421 and SM57 does for Dynamics?

[Mongoo]

Almost everyone seems to like the MD421 and SM57 as if all studios should own at least one. What is the equivalent to that in the condenser department?

Thanks,

Mongoo

 

[chessrock]

AKG C414 and/or a Neumann u87

 

[Big Kenny]

Professional studio or home studio?

 

[Mongoo]

.

Home Studio.

 

[foreverain4]

what? change air pressure variations into an electrical current?

 

[Docaroo]

lol that post made me chuckle!

 

[Big Kenny]

414 is probably affordable and has good utility, AT 4047 (I like the 4033 better but I think I am in the minority there), Cad as high up in the chain as you can get VSM is very sweet, some folks talk about ADK alot, I don't

 

[xstatic]

As far as the studio standard mics go.... Chessrock hit the nail on the head here. AKG 414 and Neumann U87. Next would probably be an AT 4050, and then maybe AKG 451's and Neumann KM84's for the small diaphragm condonsors

 

[scarboro78]

BLUE mics get no love.. ::sniffle:: I love my wil Dragonfly.. =0)

 

[usekgb]

AKG C414, Shure SM81, Shure KSM44, Neumann U87, AT4050

 

[nuemes]

Another for the AKG C414ULS. It has mutiple patterns, 2 pads & 2 roll-offs. Nearly neutral but has boosts in the right places at the very low and and very high end. Ideal for acoustic guitars, horns, drum OH. Not very good for vocals in most cases, and not good for micing electric guitar in my experience.

 

[chessrock]

BLUE mics get no love.. ::sniffle:: I love my wil Dragonfly.. =0)

The Dragonfly gets ignored, in this particular post, due to the fact that it's so "application-specific." It's far from what you'd call a workhorse, but that doesn't mean it's not a good mic that will sound brilliant when matched with the right source, in fact.

.

 

[Yareek]

AKG C414, Shure SM81, Shure KSM44, Neumann U87, AT4050

Yep. Those are the old standbys.

What you're thinking of are mics that stand the test of time. Sure, for nearly any application, there's something better, sometimes for more or less money. But any of those mics usually sound at least decent on a source, most of the time they sound really good.

 

[scarboro78]

The Dragonfly gets ignored, in this particular post, due to the fact that it's so "application-specific." It's far from what you'd call a workhorse, but that doesn't mean it's not a good mic that will sound brilliant when matched with the right source, in fact.

.

I guess I wouldn't know as far as other applications are concerned since I'm limited to tracking only vocals.. but as far as vocals are concerned I haven't heard anyone sound less than great using this mic (to my ears). I wouldn't know what it sounds like on instruments.. from what I've read it's supposed to be really good on instruments as well though...

What I can say though is that I've heard the same artists using akg 414's and Nuemann's TLM103 and I kinda liked the sound of dragonfly better.. I like the 414 alot though, it has a nice full sound to it. The TLM103 was a little bland to me.

 

[Tape Phreak]

AKG C414 and/or a Neumann u87

I completely agree!! My main two condensers for years and years.

 

[noisedude]

Definitely C414 ... seems like just about everyone has an AT4033 or a Røde NT2 as well nowadays ...............

A bit like the SM57, they don't become standards by being the best at anything, just by being good at most things.