Help me pick a mic, please !

  • Thread starter Thread starter mattkw80
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griffd said:
I have wasted allot of money trying to save a few bucks. First, I purchased mics in the $150 to $250 and $100 for pre-amps. Wasted money.

Then I purchased $300 to $400 mics. Still not happy and more money wasted.

This year I purchased a Mojave M200, Royer 122 ribbon, and a Great River pre. Ahhhhhh. What a difference! Well worth the extra money.

Dan
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I understand and agree with the concept, although not all of those $150-$400 mics are wasted. There are a lot of really good, use them every day, kind of mics in that price range - especially if you buy used. Shure SM7; EV RE-20, virtually all of the 40 series AT mics -- AT-4050, 4049, 4051, 4053, 4047, etc.; Beyer M160, M260, M500, M88, MC930; Groove Tubes MD1a and A40/GT44; Senneheiser MD421, MD441; Audix VX10; Josephson C-42,; to name just a few.

So while there is certainly a lot of truth to the maxim that in recording gear you really ought to buy the best you possibly can, even if it means waiting and saving for it, I think that there are a variety of ways to define "best" and it isn't always a linear thing.
 
I can't say enough good things about my SP T3, haven't found a singer it doesn't suit yet. Apparently it is also good on acoustic and classical guitar, but I don't record too much of that.

AT4050 is another superb and versatile mic - it's a little less boosted in the high end and is extremely versatile. In fact I sort of think of it as a 'safe' mic - i.e., if you have a good source you will get a good recording. It does most things well.
 
Love my 4050 - but I was surprised at how much I love my RE-20. It's a perfect vocal mic for me. It sounds good on anything I point it at.

If you follow the link in my sig there's a song called "A Measure of Salt". All the vocals and guitars were recorded with an RNP and an RE-20.

Outstanding mic at any price. If it were stolen I'd replace it immediately.
 
Wow..... it may be my destiny to buy the AKG C414.

My kid was watching his shows up stairs, and one of his shows showed some people in a bg studio, recording some kid's songs.

I took a close look at the mic they we're using...... had to be the AKG C414 or something very closely related.
 
A lot of the older c12's look similar to the newer 414's. Nothing against the 414's, cause I love my pair, but the c12 is a whole other mic. The share a heritage, but not so much sonic similarities.

As for other mics, the Mojave is a great mic as is the Soundeluxe U195. Soundeluxe is not around in the same format anymore. Now the equivalent mic would be the Bock mic. As for other nice mics in a similar price range, the geffell UMT70 is an awesome mic and the Red mic that I have for sale (typeB with the R7 capsule) also sounds great. Peluso also makes a p12 tube mic with multiple patterns that is fairly affordable and will probably get you closer to the C12 style of AKG than a current 414 would. Personally, I do not care a whole lot for the Neumann TLM103 mentioned earlier.
 
Matt,
An AKG 414 is a great all around mic. I purchased a b-uls version (silver grill-black body) back in the mid 80's and I use it on pretty much every session. Any acoustic instrument, vocals, you name it. The silver grill uls version is not hyped so pretty much what goes in comes out. The gold grill TLII version was intended more for voice. It is slightly hyped and most voices will be flattered by it. Of course if your using it on an instrument you may or may not like what it does. Being that this would be your first "very good" mic I would think the uls version might be more usefull for you on a lot of things as it is not hyped. If you start stacking a bunch of tracks all with say a 414 TLII you might not like everything getting hyped the same way. A more neutral mic might cover more bases for you. Good Luck, Dave
 
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