inexpensive overheads

[coldoatmeal]

Sorry to bother you guys with a sort of ridiculous question, but:
Here is the situation as detailed as I can describe it. I am a beginner in a band which is basically hard rock, but plays a lot of softer stuff also. I have an AT4033, a bunch of sm57s, and two c1000s's (which I am currently using for overheads, and don't like). The room which my drums are in has a very low ceiling. I want to buy different overheads, and based on my price range and research I have narrowed it down to either mxl603s or ecm8000s.

Which should I get?

I am a poor college student so even though these mics are dirt cheap, it would be kind of ridiculous for me to buy a pair of each. And I probably won't be upgrading again for a long time, so I want to make sure I get the better mic for my situation (in other words, please don't say "$70 for the behringers-how can you go wrong?").

I will also probably be recording acoustic guitar, mandolin, recorder flute, and maybe? amps with this, but overheads are by far the main concern.

Please share your opinions, and thanks so for your time.

 

[Whoopysnorp]

I have both, and I prefer the MXL603s. I got my ECM8000s the other day, and when I did a drum recording with them overhead, there was a dull quality to the sound. They don't seem to capture as much high-end energy from the snare as the MXL603s, probably because of the presence peak in the latter. And since the overheads are the groundwork for the overall sound, this is a very important consideration. I haven't used them much on other stuff, but I did record a banjo with them, and that sounded great. They gave a duller sound on a guitar amp than an SM57. I've also used them to mic a bass amp to combine with a line-in signal, although the sound I got from them was basically no different from the sound of an SM57 in that position. It provides a little extra low end, in case you need it.

And don't worry, that's a very important question, and a lot of us have nothing better to do than check the BBS several times a day looking for interesting topics.

Good luck.

 

[Gidge]

apoor college student should get the ECM8000's...they will do you a very good job...then you can still afford those Calculus books....

 

[Whoopysnorp]

For the record, I'm also a college student, and I'll be a poor one if I don't stop spending every cent I earn at my $7.00/hr part time job on recording hardware. I try not to think about how much cash I've poured into this.

I'd still get the MXL603s, although if I'd known about the ECM8000s when I was in the market for my first SD condensor pair I probably would have gone the cheaper route.