I've never used a mic I didn't like

junplugged

junplugged

Taking the slow road
I have a dozen mics, mostly the ones I got info about here in this tread. Either I don't have the ears, or I like all the sounds I get, but I never hear anything bad. And the differences are kind of minimal, but then again, I'm only recording me & my drums, bass, guitar, vox, so it's not like some client wants Alanis' crispy sound that she got on Jagged Pill, or whatever.

OTOH, the biggest differences are between patterns. The directional effect w/ deep bass w/ vocal near a cardiod ldc is big, but all of those that do that again, sound extremely similar. Using an omni up close on my acoustic is amazing, the x/y pattern on directional sdc's are nice. So I'm sticking to the basics and brands don't seem to matter to me. Then again the most expensive mic I ever got is only the 4040, but I just don't really think a Neumann will get me.

ok, the sdc behringer i have is a little tinsely but not so different from my other sdc's like the oktava or 603.

I get a sound, I get a level, I keep it clean and noise free, I like it. done.

I also wonder if the classics we all know and love... did they just use what they had? or did they go out of their way for a specific mic for a specific sound, and if they got the right performance w/ clean sound good levels, I tend to think they used it.
 
Most work for you, only a few don't. A mellow mic on a mellow instrument is tricky but a bright one one a bright one rarely sounds good!
 
Well, over the years I've probably worked with hundreds of mics and can only name ONE that I really don't get on with...the AKG C1000S. I've yet to found anything that didn't sound harsh and "screechy" on this mic.

It makes a great doorstop though.

Beyond that I've used almost any mic on almost any programme material and managed to get pretty acceptable sound. However, once you have a choice, the subtle (and sometimes not-so-subtle) differences can be useful.
 
If you have an incredible sounding room (I'm taking pro level studio) pretty much any mic will sound good, not only that you will be able to use omni mics and not worry about spill quite as much like al schmitt (the lucky bastard)
 
Ah, now that's something different...

Most mics can sound good but not all are suitable in terms of pattern, sensitivity, or whatever for every job. An omni when you need a shotgun isn't going to cut it...but it's not the mics fault and doesn't me it doesn't "sound good".

Similarly, I have some condensers that have a sensitivity and clip level that they'd go into clipping in front of a loud guitar amp. Again, that doesn't me the mic doesn't sound good though.
 
yes, patterns and combinations of multiple mics definitely get important, and as a pro, and with a band, I can see it for sure, but one at a time, in a decently padded room, eye on the levels, I can get good stuff done. OTHO solo that one recording or if it's a single track or very few tracks and the subtle becomes amplified. Totally depends on the situation, so I'll adjust my title, which I'm surprised has no flames on it... to something else... maybe, "some situations, you can use any decent random mic and it'll be cool" or, in my particular situation, which is a whole lot easier than many other situations, to use any one of my dozen decent mics and still be cool.
 
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