About to buy AKG C214 matched pair, any alternatives you suggest I check out?

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JohnDaniel

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Just before I pull the trigger here, wanted to know if there were some good alternatives. It'll be used for various instruments, probably some vocals, so a good all-around mic is what I'm after. If you think there's something I should be checking out instead, please let me know!
 
Honestly, there are countless other LDC's in a similar price range and of varying quality to the C214's so, depending on what else you have or if you have any audio examples of what you're recording you could share, suggesting a long list of other LDC's will probably murky the water more than it would help you make a decision.

However, in the interest of answering the question;

sE2200a
sEZ3300a
Rode NT1a
Rode NT2a
Avantone CK6
Avantone CK7
MXL V67
Neumann TLM102 (slightly above the price of the C214 but you may find it used for the same kinda price)

Whether these are "better" than the C214's is really personal taste. They are certainly all different sounding, but the C214's are good mics are should serve you well :)
 
If you like the thought of a matched pair, be sure to check out the sE4400A which is their equivalent to the AKG 414. It has the switchable pattern like the 414 but, to my ears, a smoother, more neutral sound (so it's less likely to provoke the usually love them/hate them debate you get with the 414).

Hmmm...I should explain why I recommend sE so much--it's not any connection with the company but, while I still lived in the UK, I lived in the same town as their distributor--and made full use of their one week loaner service!
 
Bobbsy said:
Hmmm...I should explain why I recommend sE so much--
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Dude, there's no need to explain, sE make great mics and it makes me happy that someones like sE mics as much as i do :thumbs up: (although, for some reason, and it's probably the teacher in me, i feel that i should offer alternative suggestions :D). The sE4400a's seemed like wonderful mics from the couple of times i used them, and i still swear by the older sE2200a's if you just need a general purpose cardioid LDC. Heck, even the sE X1 is outstanding to say it's about £100 new! I had to overdub some vocals a couple of months back that had been recorded somewhere else with a AT4047. After going through all the LDC's available to me at the time, i was gobsmacked when the sEX1 the singer had bought along (mainly so we had more mics to try) was very close to the original vocals and, with a hint of EQ, the difference was practically unnoticeable. i've not heard an sE mic i haven't liked yet and, as i said to moresound on another thread a while back, after looking through their entire back catalogue of mics on the recordinghacks site i'm itching to get my hands on some of the older discontinued models (the first gen or so from when they moved to their own factory rather than being made by Feilo)
 
I appreciate the leads, I hadn't considered sE mics in the slightest! I'll check that out, I like the idea of a C414 type that's more neutral in color. No applicable recordings I can link, sorry to say! I was just chosen to do the score for a low-budget film from a mini-major studio. So the budget isn't too deep but the quality expectation is high. I want to make full use of my project studio here at home to record a lot of backgrounds and leads that won't be sonically in the foreground. Finish up the foreground/solo stuff in a more snazzy place. I play a lot of woodwinds, alto/tenor sax, flute, clarinet. I'll orchestrate around that a lot. I'll add some strings, trumpet, trombone, french horn, tuba. Just a petite orchestra (which I'll fill in with sample instrument arrangements).

Don't know if that helps. Of course I understand for a specific dollar amount, the idea of the 'best' mic is a bit of an illusion. You just chose color, trade offs, etc...
 
Justsomeguy said:
Dude, there's no need to explain, sE make great mics and it makes me happy that someones like sE mics as much as i do
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Hey! Another fan!

Anyhow, I don't believe in recommending (or criticising for that matter) any mic I haven't used. My explanation was more because, in a normal world, I wouldn't have had a chance to try and use nearly so many mics from a single manufacturer. However, having a warehouse full of them about 5 minutes from my house was an opportunity I couldn't pass up--it got so I was on a first name basis with the guys there. They'd even ring me when something new came out.

I miss having that connection now I'm in Australia but, even here, my local (well, 100km away) dealer tends to have special events for new products for invited customers to come in and try things--that's how I got to know the new model sE2200, the sE2200T tube version and the sE X-1.

Anyhow, I'm with you on the original sE2200A. I now own 3 of them and they're my main "workhorse" mic.

Edited to add: It was very weird typing the above. In the ad just above the edit screen is a pretty blonde holding an Aussie Rules football and every ten seconds or so she blinks (not winks, blinks) at me. Weird.
 
Bobbsy said:
Anyhow, I'm with you on the original sE2200A. I now own 3 of them and they're my main "workhorse" mic.
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I've owned 2 since 2003 and love them to bits. On one of them the body work has become a bit tarnished as i lived in very damp, essentially underground, flat for 2 years and, although one of the was fine, the other got effected. However, dispite the body work looking a little....weathered shall we say.... it still works and sounds exactly like it did when i first got it so i'm not fussed. They're still very much workhorse mics for me but over the past couple of years i've found myself leaning more towards intentionally coloured mics to add some more flavour to my collection. i was very, very tempted by the sE2200T but in the end went down the Avantone route as it was a very different colour to the sE mics i'd tried and suited my voice beautifully (imo).

Although not totally neutral sounding, but just as, if not more, detailed, the sE Titan and newer sE T2 are fantastic mics for anything that needs that kinda "larger than life" sound, and although the newer T2 is slightly more expensive that the C214's the older sE Titan is about the same price (although it does have a very odd look to it. i love it but it does but some people off, whereas at least the T2 looks like a C414 or sE4400a)

Edited to add: It was very weird typing the above. In the ad just above the edit screen is a pretty blonde holding an Aussie Rules football and every ten seconds or so she blinks (not winks, blinks) at me. Weird.
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that's slightly bizarre, although i'm very envious as i never get pretty girls appear on my screen. I normally have to pay for that kinda thing, or at the very least go out of my way to look for it ;)
 
Bobbsy said:
Hey! Another fan!

Anyhow, I don't believe in recommending (or criticising for that matter) any mic I haven't used. My explanation was more because, in a normal world, I wouldn't have had a chance to try and use nearly so many mics from a single manufacturer. However, having a warehouse full of them about 5 minutes from my house was an opportunity I couldn't pass up--it got so I was on a first name basis with the guys there. They'd even ring me when something new came out.

I miss having that connection now I'm in Australia but, even here, my local (well, 100km away) dealer tends to have special events for new products for invited customers to come in and try things--that's how I got to know the new model sE2200, the sE2200T tube version and the sE X-1.

Anyhow, I'm with you on the original sE2200A. I now own 3 of them and they're my main "workhorse" mic.
Click to expand...



I have the same *GOOD* problem here with the EarthWorks microphone company.

Everyone should have a microphone manufacturer in their back yard!
 
Hmmm...the beer is good in Germany. Perhaps I should move to Berlin next door to Neumann!
 
Welp, I have arranged for a loaner for a sE4400A - I'll have to check it out! I've listened to some recordings people have made with it and I'm very intrigued. I'm a studio horn player and I've never used an sE. Excited to try something different! Thanks guys. And I like that moving in next to the Neumann factory idea...
 
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