...You know, I often wonder if there are some "giant killer" SDC mics out there that, regardless of price, will genuinely sound as good as mics costing four and five times as much. For example, the AT 4041 is darn hard to beat on acoustic guitar. This mic (I have a stereo pair) consistently turns out incredible recordings of my acoustic guitars and mandolin.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not hesitant to drop some serious coin on a mic. I just purchased a Manley Reference Gold for vocals and acoustic instruments. Had a Shure KSM 44 before that. I also have a Royer R 122 and some nice tube pres. But sometimes I think a company just really hits a grand slam with a less expensive mic that's very difficult to improve upon.
OTOH, I've not tried a Neumann KM 184 or a Gefell, or even a Schoeps for SDC applications and I'm not as experienced with them as I am LDC mics. I've read pros and cons regarding all of them. But for $300 the AT 4041 is a tremendous mic...at least for acoustic guitar. I've been using them in both spaced pair and X-Y recording with very good results.
However, I'm about to do some experimenting with M/S recording of acoustic guitar using the Manley and Royer. Maybe that'll change my mind about how good the AT 4041 is? Anyway, I just wondered if anyone else has had similar experiences with less expensive SDC mics?
Tom
Don't get me wrong, I'm not hesitant to drop some serious coin on a mic. I just purchased a Manley Reference Gold for vocals and acoustic instruments. Had a Shure KSM 44 before that. I also have a Royer R 122 and some nice tube pres. But sometimes I think a company just really hits a grand slam with a less expensive mic that's very difficult to improve upon.
OTOH, I've not tried a Neumann KM 184 or a Gefell, or even a Schoeps for SDC applications and I'm not as experienced with them as I am LDC mics. I've read pros and cons regarding all of them. But for $300 the AT 4041 is a tremendous mic...at least for acoustic guitar. I've been using them in both spaced pair and X-Y recording with very good results.
However, I'm about to do some experimenting with M/S recording of acoustic guitar using the Manley and Royer. Maybe that'll change my mind about how good the AT 4041 is? Anyway, I just wondered if anyone else has had similar experiences with less expensive SDC mics?
Tom
