I only want the best........

[chessrock]

Nothing in audio exists in a vacuum.

A tale of two mics:

Vocal harmony number one is tracked with mic A and it sounds great and fine and wonderful.

Vocal harmony number two is tracked, again with mic A. Sounds superb when auditioned.

Vocal harmony three is similarly tracked with mic A and with similarly stellar results in solo mode.

Mixdown: Vocal harmony tracks one, two and three are blended together. Mixer has sour look on his face. Hears something really nasty somewhere but can't quite figure out what is giving his ears so much trouble. Messes with EQ but just can't figure out what is wrong when trying to blend voices together.

In agony, mixer throws out all mic A tracks.

Pulls out mic B and records the same three vocal tracks. Each track, in solo mode, sounds pretty good. Nothing special. Tracks are mixed together. Brilliant. No tweaking necessary. Good harmonies. Good blend.

Moral of the story is there are intangible qualities a mic -- or any gear for that matter -- may impart that can't be detected in solo mode. Like how well it works and plays with other mics and/or other peices of gear.

Most tracks don't exist in a vaccum. What sounds wonderful in solo mode may be a different strory when the rest of the faders are brought up. Most of us are already aware that the reproduced sound of anything can translate very differently on different monitors, speakers or in different rooms.

There are so many intangibles, paricularly with mics. The biggest one I can think of is how well a recorded track will take to EQ-ing. Some mics just are a lot more EQ-friendly than others. If you don't believe me, try boosting the high end (somewhere between 6-10 khz) of a track recorded with your favorite Chinese Large Diaphragm Condenser . . . and then try the same thing with a decent mic like an Octava MC012. Not the differences.

Some mics don't even take to reverb or compression as well as others

Not to mention compatibility with various types of preamps and even the chords they are hooked to.


So many factors to consider. That's not to say that cheaper mics can't be really good. Hell, just point an mc012 at a nice guitar for a perfect case in point . . . or play around with an RNC for a while.

Just be on your toes and try and see a bigger picture before you assume a cheaper piece of gear can hang with the big boys.

 

[strmkr]

Good,better,best? I don't think those terms necessarily apply to mic selection. A $5000.00 gold plated hammer isn't worth a shit if you are trying to drive a screw,and what you could really use right then is a $10.00 phillips screwdriver.

A good example of this was last month during a tracking session for a local songwriter. The guy was a really good singer,but had a rather unique and unusual voice. A good friend of mine who owns a studio across town had come in to hang out and lend a hand just for the fun of it and asa a bonus had brought some of his mics.Among his mics was a tlm 103 and a gorgeous sounding tlm 170 as well as a rode ntk. After spending over an hour swapping out mics,trying to find the best fit,It turned out that his particular voice sounded best to all 3 of us using a shure beta 57a.Who would have thought it?

Now,if I had $550.00 to spend and was looking for bang for the buck,I would buy a pair of sennheiser md-421's. They are great sounding mics for the money and I have used my pair on just about everything that makes noise at one time or another with good results about 99% of the time.I think the only instruments I have found that they didn't sound at least acceptable on were banjo and mandolin.And hey,you would have a stereo pair of great dynamics for the price of one garden variety condensor.Just my .02



Peace

 

[SS454]

AKG 414s are a very good buy for around that price. $800 ..I think.
They're a little bright, but very versitile. That's what I've had my eyes on for a while.

 

[smellyfuzz]

HERE IS YOUR FUCKING MIC !!!!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=911107839

 

[pipelineaudio]

someone buy it and pop it open...looks very suspicious

 

[dcptnsdcvd]

how about that fuckin mic!
what are it's uses??
why the hell is it so expensive??
where can i hear it??
Mike...

 

[sjjohnston]

eBay listing

Well that's about $1,000 off of normal retail, so that's nothing to sneeze at (assuming it's not broken or something).

You can spend a lot more than that on a mic, if you want. A vintage U47, or a new Brauner, etc.

 

[littledog]

Speaking of the ELAM, my dealer just got back from AES and said that Telefunken is coming out with an exact reproduction of the original ELAM. It's supposed to be an exact duplicate.

Price: $10,000!

 

[pipelineaudio]

thats dirt cheap...try to find a stephen paul redone/modded 251 for 10k...good luck

 

[littledog]

you're planning on picking up a pair then?

 

[pipelineaudio]

we'll see what they are like when they actually ship

I got stupid excited when AKG was " reissuing the C-12" what a let down that turned out to be

 

[natpub]

Well, all the diatribe is amusing, but DOT was right on. The 797 C1 rules for all around use at the pricepoint requested (hehe, actually, it is WAY in the bottom of the pricepoint at about $200).

The BLUE Dragonfly is another good option, though it is at the high end of the pricepoint.

Also at the top end, and perhaps the most used condenser in the world is the akg414. The transformerless model is a tad over the requested cost, but the lesser model is OK also.

Considering that this fellow didn't bother to reply, and never specified what he planned to use this ULTRA ALL PURPOSE MIC for, I suggest he go get a Radio Shack "lavalier" mic for $20 and piss off=)

cheers...

 

[littledog]

I got stupid excited when AKG was " reissuing the C-12" what a let down that turned out to be

I'm definitely feelin' you on that one, bro'!

 

[anti alias]

Ok here I am again..... Forgot that I posted this. I will use this mic for vocals only. The studio I used to go to had an akg 414 and it was pretty good. But I was wondering if any other mics in the price range of an AKG 414 is better than it. I was looking at those BLUE mics. Has anyone used these?

 

[anti alias]

also, how 'bout that at 4047? I read that mic shootout about it and it seems it would be pretty good. Is there anyone who has some negative feedback about it?

 

[natpub]

hey anti, i was only yankin yer chain figurin you had forgotten the post=)

anyway, i am not a mic expert or anything, but i think the blue mics sound awesome on vocals. as far as mutli purpose, the only thing i have seen used a lot on a wide variety of instruments and situations was the 414, but that may just be the studios i visit being old fashioned. it seems to me that some of the newer mics are really cool and worth experimenting with.

see if someone at guitar center will let you mess around with the BLUE and some of the others--they usually have a good supply of neat mics

lates

 

[rushfan33]

also, how 'bout that at 4047? I read that mic shootout about it and it seems it would be pretty good. Is there anyone who has some negative feedback about it?

I would suggest that you NOT buy that mic based on a mic shootout! Especially from the internet and without hearing it first. Have your own mic shootout. Also consider...you said "the studio I used to go to"; how does your gear compare to the studio's? It may not have been the mic that you liked..... it may have been a preamp, or a compressor, or something esle in the chain. Even the headphones and monitors could've been what you liked. It's just a thought!
RF

 

[gorbyrun]

For the money, I would say go with the Studio Projects T3, I've had it side by side with some very exspensive microphones... I love it. But it really depends on what (who) you are going to record with it...