Best Under$500 Mics for Vocals, Cab/Distance Miking, Acoustic.

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guitarplayr

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Hey There! Yes, I am a newbie and sorry for this question thats probably been asked a million times but there's so much info here it hard to digest it all, so I figure its easier to ask for my specific needs.

I am looking for a a decent large condenser for $500 and under. I am thinking multi pattern to do lead vocals and group harmonies. For the guitar end of things I'll be doing distance miking in conjunction with a SM57 shoved in front of a Marshall Cab, and want to be able to go vice versa just to mix it up.
Might as well have it do acoustic guitar while were at it too :D

I guess I will need 20-20 response, fairly high SPL, and low noise.

I have been looking at some of the Rode's, Studio Projects, Audio Technica's
Marshall's and there looks like a lot of good choices too.

Were looking to do a classic rock sound, Zep, Who, with male vocals.

Any help is MUCHO appreciated.

Rock On! :cool:

Steve
 
ADK 51S TL

AT 4050 (im thinking would be your best choice..sounds AWESOME on guitar cab, voice, acoustic guitar, anything really)

Studio Projects LSD2
 
Hey Ray, thanks for the quick reply, the AT4050 looks like it has it all, would you know how the Rode NT2-A stands up against it, the specs are not much different, but seems to be around $100 difference.

Where are cheapest places to purchase?

Thanks Again!

Steve
 
I dont like Rode mics too much. IMHO they are cheaply built and sound like it.(generally speaking)

www.sweetwater.com is where i Bought mine. ASk for Chris Koehler.Good customer service.

Tell him Teddy from Germany in the Army sent you.

I am confident youll be happy.

teddy
 
Very cool, will do. I have one last question, How would a AT3035 or the AT4040 handle the tasks I have mentioned, I seen the major differences between them and the 4050 is that the 3035 and 4040 are cardioid pattern only...
 
guitarplayr said:
Very cool, will do. I have one last question, How would a AT3035 or the AT4040 handle the tasks I have mentioned, I seen the major differences between them and the 4050 is that the 3035 and 4040 are cardioid pattern only...
Click to expand...

I have heard some recordings done with a 3035 by a guitar player who I have recorded, and his micing technique was the same as I did.

I don't the the 3035 sounded anywhere as good. It had a "harder" sound to it.

I don't imagine the 4040 is going to be much different.

Really, the 4050 is a brilliant mic for the money! This workhorse is a staple in MANY good smaller recording studios. Few I have talked to have thought it was too much for what you get! Most agree that if it cost more, it would still be worth that price!
 
guitarplayr, the 4050 is neutral, bright and has a grainy sound. It's often used on female vox, acoustic gtr and drum OH's. 4040's are used more on amps as well as acoustic gtr. They're good mics, but you're not going to get any kind of "classic rock" sound out of them. But I'd recommend the 4040 over the 4050 for what you're wanting.

Some other options:

I think you might want to look into getting a Shure SM7B. They're around $350. A large dynamic, and a solid mic for someone doing rock. A mic you can use forever.

For a "classic rock" sound I think you'd get further with an ADK Hamburg than you would with an AT4040 or 4050. The Hamburg runs around $250.

There's also the MXL V69ME, which is a tube mic that's got a darker "classic" sound. Runs around $300.

Groove Tubes GT44. Excellent workhorse mid-sized tube mic that allows for interchangeable capsules.

My 2¢
 
Dot said:
guitarplayr, the 4050 is neutral, bright and has a grainy sound. It's often used on female vox, acoustic gtr and drum OH's. 4040's are used more on amps as well as acoustic gtr. They're good mics, but you're not going to get any kind of "classic rock" sound out of them. But I'd recommend the 4040 over the 4050 for what you're wanting.
Click to expand...

Hmmmmmm....So all the below vocals and acoustic guitars sound "bright and grainy"?





 
Ford Van said:
Hmmmmmm....So all the below vocals and acoustic guitars sound "bright and grainy"?
Click to expand...

Yeah, they do all sound grainy. Even Schoeps have a "grainy" sound. "Grainy" is not a bad word.

The male vocal on YouDontHaveToSay.mp3 sounds thin.
The female vocal on Captive.mp3 sounds thin and sibilant.
The male vocal on AnotherDay.mp3 sounds thin and overly bright and sibilant.
The male vocal on DaysOfWonder.mp3 sounds thin. The amps sound weak.
The male vocal on SecretHeart.mp3 sounds thin.

All the vocals sound 2-dimensional. The acoustic guitars are what sound good on these recordings.

The vocals on your recordings demonstrate my point perfectly. And there's no "classic" sound to any of it.

I think for what he's looking to do that guitarplayr could find better mics for the job than a 4040 or 4050. And I listed some of them.
 
Last edited:
The V69ME example you posted sounded easily "grainy" and was also distorted. Not a vocal sound I would want too often. Maybe try a de-esser too. I couldn't hear the ADK Hamburg example, because I am not going to sign up to yet another bbs just so I can listen to it.

The GT sound cleaner, but definately has a big ol' problem with needing de-essing.
 
Sorry, didn't realize you'd needed to sign up to download. Wasn't my intention. Here's a direct link to a guitar recording to demo the Hamburg on all tracks. Pre is an A Designs MP-1.



Also, put up a cleaner first track to demonstrate the MXL V69ME.
 
guitarplayr said:
Very cool, will do. I have one last question, How would a AT3035 or the AT4040 handle the tasks I have mentioned, I seen the major differences between them and the 4050 is that the 3035 and 4040 are cardioid pattern only...
Click to expand...

I have been using an AT3035 to record my Martin. I'm happy with it. I can't compare it to the other mics, cuz I don't have 'em.
 
Dot said:
Yeah, they do all sound grainy. Even Schoeps have a "grainy" sound. "Grainy" is not a bad word.

The male vocal on YouDontHaveToSay.mp3 sounds thin.
The female vocal on Captive.mp3 sounds thin and sibilant.
The male vocal on AnotherDay.mp3 sounds thin and overly bright and sibilant.
The male vocal on DaysOfWonder.mp3 sounds thin. The amps sound weak.
The male vocal on SecretHeart.mp3 sounds thin.

All the vocals sound 2-dimensional. The acoustic guitars are what sound good on these recordings.
Click to expand...

I think it is very subjective, but I agree. I can hear what they mean by "grainy" in these tunes......but like he says, it is not a bad thing, just different. The acoustic guitars are excellent.

I think the V69 sounded good, but the GT sounded more like what I would think of as "grainy", but again it wasn't bad just different. The ADK sounds excellent, but for a direct compare it needed to have some vocals in it like the other tracks.
 
NTK, 4040 or 4050. That's what I'd say are my top three in my price range...

jacob
 
NL5 said:
how does the 4033 compare to the 4040 and the 4050?
Click to expand...

First off, it's an MDC (as Harvey told me and then I researched), and the 4040 and 4050 aren't. As far as I know, the 4040 and the 4050 are very similar to each other, except the 4050 is multi-pattern and the 4040 isn't. The 4033 has a completely different capsule design.

Jacob
 
Audio Technica AT4033CL

I have not seen anyone mention the AT4033, any thoughts?
 
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