Heard a great, but decently priced mic today...

[tubedude]

I heard a Neumann KMS-105 ($499) through a standard Mackie pre and a pretty good power amp and some half decent JBL speakers today. Dudes, and ladies... this bitch is smooth as hell for a live vocal mic. I could't compare it to anything else at the time, even if other mics were available, but I've heard many a 57 and 58, and there was just an "air" to this mic that was super duper nice. I'm gonna try to get a chance to play with it for an hour or two one day, if these people will let me.
Honestly, I may have just been temporarily blown away at how smooth it was, but for $500, I would consider taking this one over something like the NTK, and use it for live AND studio. Really nice sounding mic.
Keep it in mind if you are gonna spend $400-$500 on a mic. For real. I can only imagine it through a nicer preamp with a better cabinet being superior to any live mic I've ever heard.
Check em out, seriously.
www.neumann.com/infopool/mics/produkte.php?ProdID=kms105

 

[tubedude]

Oh, there is a demo on that page too, but I didn't listen to it. Tell me how it is if you listen. Make sure its the 1st one, the other demos are KMS-150's, not 105's.

 

[Downside Studio]

I've been using multiple KMS-140's for over two years now. It's like the precessor of the KMS-105. (and 2.5 times the price). These mics are widely used in stage performances. The only trick is ......the PA companies don't own them, the performers do!

A normal PA company would offer like a SM58, SM58 beta or mayby a SM87. Nice mikes, and overall excepted. The Neumanns are to costly for most companies. The problem isn't buying the mike, but giving it to a teen hardrock punker who thinks he has to spin it round with the mike chord......and here comes the tricky part of the neumann........tripple check if the neutrick 'clicked' into the mic.

No kidding, this weekend I was happily in dreamland while mixing a theaterproduction (show 36 of 65 in a couple of months) when I heard a big POP. Luckely for me the lead singer doesn't handle the mic with his hands, but always leaves it in the stand.
In the pauze I went to check the mic and saw the cable was only 1mm in the housing. The POP was the cable loosing contact with the mic for a split second. Never trust roadies with Neumanns...always double check.