mic for everything

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nddhc

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haha heres another one of those threads that everyone seems to write

however, ive ran a few searches and cant find exactly what im after. they all just left me more confused...

im starting out slow, but im tryin to improve my current setup. right now ive got everything (guitar, bass, programmed drums, keyboard) running through a PODxt directly to the line in my soundcard. vocals are recorded through the pod as well and my mic is a $20 radioshack mic haha

im getting a delta 1010 soundcard to improve the quality and give me more ins/outs and im also getting a maudio dmp3 preamp to go with my 2 yet undecided mics.. which is why im here..

i need to buy 2 mics for recording an upright piano (one on the bass, one on the treble) my style of playing is very percussive and i think the upright will be perfect for that tone. (im actually looking forward to the mechanical noise, hammers hitting the strings, etc)

however, i need those mics (or at least one of them) to sound good on vocals. im recording in my bedroom and have read that using a condenser might not be a good idea because of all the reflections, etc, in a small space...

id hate simply getting a pair of SM57s because ive read that theyre not that great on most vocals and pianos/acoustic instruments.. so i am leaning more towards the condenser side because ill strictly be micing acoustic instruments and vocals

what mics do you suggest i get for recording a stereo piano, vocals, and acoustic guitar? the most mics i can buy right now is 3, assuming they all are under $80-100.

right now the option thats sounding best for me is to buy the MXL 990,991 pair and use the large one for the low end of the piano and the small one for the high end. with buying these, id have enough $$ leftover to buy the MXL 909 mic (which ive heard good reviews of) for my vocals.


however, ive heard mixed reviews of EVERYTHING and ive read just about every forum and every post i could find.. i thought you guys could give me some opinion?

thanks!
 
The piano is one of the roughest things in the world to mic. My only advice might be to throw down the whole kitten caboodle on a LDC tube mic and just work until you find a sweet spot. Then you'd also have something really nice for vocals instead of a few mics that are just okay.

cheers,
scott
 
cad m179 is a good natural everything mic. And its cheap. Go to the listening sessions and sample a few.
 
Don't sweat the reflections issue - condensor mics can get nice and tight on a sound source easily, especially if there's a pad to use. I've found the at4033 to be fairly versatile and not too pricey - an at4050 would be a step up, but also cost more. MXL v67's can be cool on some vocals, and you may also like an ADK v51, which sometimes go way too cheap on ebay.
 
Another vote for the CAD m179 ..... varialble pattern, nice open sound, not too bright, takes eq pretty well, and great bang for buck.


-mike
 
darrin_h2000 said:
SM57 dude.
Click to expand...

Thats only good for guitar pickups..thats a dynamic mic as well..the Studio Projects C1 has the best pickups overall..
 
Hi, Folks, If you guys ever need good condenser Mics you might consider building one yourself...I found some Simple Plans on the Net for Building a Condenser Mic and Picked up all of the Parts for under $10 and was able to Put it together in Under an Hour...I was totally shocked when I Plugged it in and it worked and actually sounded quite good....

The secret to building a Good condenser mic is Finding a Good Mic element and For under $5 you can get one with a frequency range from 20 to 20,000khz and a Totally Flat Frequency responce...You can even Build Noise canceling Condencors and Small and Large Diaphram Condensers and even Multi Element Condencors.....

If anyone is Interested in trying to build there own Condenser Mics Let me Know and I"ll post a schemetic for you.....

Cheers
 
studiomaster said:
Thats only good for guitar pickups..thats a dynamic mic as well..the Studio Projects C1 has the best pickups overall..
Click to expand...
What are you talking about?
 
Minion said:
Hi, Folks, If you guys ever need good condenser Mics you might consider building one yourself...I found some Simple Plans on the Net for Building a Condenser Mic and Picked up all of the Parts for under $10 and was able to Put it together in Under an Hour...I was totally shocked when I Plugged it in and it worked and actually sounded quite good....

The secret to building a Good condenser mic is Finding a Good Mic element and For under $5 you can get one with a frequency range from 20 to 20,000khz and a Totally Flat Frequency responce...You can even Build Noise canceling Condencors and Small and Large Diaphram Condensers and even Multi Element Condencors.....

If anyone is Interested in trying to build there own Condenser Mics Let me Know and I"ll post a schemetic for you.....

Cheers
Click to expand...

I'd be very interested in any links you have on this topic, schematics, sourcing parts, etc. I love the DIY stuff.


To answer this thread, what about a matched pair of Oktava MK-012 mics? Very open, wide, flat frequency response... can be used on everything from piano to drums to vocals to guitars, plus they would stay right around your $300 budget (you might need to watch eBay to get there though). Nice things about chosing a matched pair of relatively neutral mics are that:

1. You can use them as a stereo pair (obviously)
2. They can be used for a wide variety of applications
3. It leave the door open to use EQ to put things where you want them in your mix...

On item number 3 though, there is a lot to be said for using different mics for different applications that naturally EQ things where you wan them so that tyou don't have to rely on heavy EQ'ing to get your mix right...

SUMMARY: The Oktava MK-012 is a very nice, very versatile mic for the money.

Side note: Keep in mind that you're going to need phantom power for the condensor mics (condensor mics are best suited to your application IMO). If that's a problem, you might want to start researching dynamic mics with a flat frequency response.
 
Here is the Schematic for Building a Condencor Mic:

Micwiring-02.jpg


These are the Parts that you will need:

(1) Panasonic WM-66AY Omnidirectional Microphone Element (available from Digi-Key at 800-344-4539, part # P9959-ND). This Element is a high-quality back electret type with a frequency response that is ruler flat from 20Hz to 20kHz. It contains an internal FET impedance converter making an external FET unnecessary.
You can also use Other Makes and Models of Mic Element Like the Ones at Radio Shack but the Better the element the Better the Mic..
(1) 1000 pF ceramic disc capacitor
(1) 10uF mylar or metalized polypropylene capacitor (DO NOT substitute an electrolytic!)
(1) 2.2Kohm 1% metal-film resistor
(1) 9-volt battery terminal w/leads(You can also use other Battery Sizes as Long as they Put out at least 3v -9v, I used 4 Watch Batteries, There is also a way to have it connected to Phantom Power but you need a Different Wireing schematic with a couple extra Parts)
(1) 9-volt alkaline battery
Insulated copper wire
(1) Male XLR Connector

I personally Built mine arround an Old Dynamic Mic I got for $3 which allready had the XLR connector....

Here is the Site I got the Instructions From But the Schematic I posted Is easier to Follow than the One at the Site:

http://www.prosoundweb.com/recording/tapeop/buildmic/buildmic_16_1.shtml

Here is a Couple Links to Sites were you can Order Mic elements....The best ones are the Ones with 20-20,000khz frequency but there are others that are good depending on the Use Like For Drum Mics you might get a Better sound useing a Uni-Directional Element with a Frequency of 100-15,000khz...


http://www.jlielectronics.com/spec.htm

and

http://www.digikey.com/

There are also Noise Canceleing Mic elements which also might be Good for certain applications...

You can also Make Multi-Element Mics useing different elements and use a Small Switch to activate certain Elements depending on the Application....

If you need any Help with with this Give me a shout and I"ll Try to help...
I"m not the Best when it comes to Wireing elecronics but I"m OK and Condensers are Pretty Easy to wire...

Cheers
 
Minion -- thank you! That will be my next DIY project after I finish the analog delay I'm building.
 
Minion said:
Here is the Schematic for Building a Condencor Mic:

Micwiring-02.jpg


These are the Parts that you will need:

(1) Panasonic WM-66AY Omnidirectional Microphone Element (available from Digi-Key at 800-344-4539, part # P9959-ND). This Element is a high-quality back electret type with a frequency response that is ruler flat from 20Hz to 20kHz. It contains an internal FET impedance converter making an external FET unnecessary.
You can also use Other Makes and Models of Mic Element Like the Ones at Radio Shack but the Better the element the Better the Mic..
(1) 1000 pF ceramic disc capacitor
(1) 10uF mylar or metalized polypropylene capacitor (DO NOT substitute an electrolytic!)
(1) 2.2Kohm 1% metal-film resistor
(1) 9-volt battery terminal w/leads(You can also use other Battery Sizes as Long as they Put out at least 3v -9v, I used 4 Watch Batteries, There is also a way to have it connected to Phantom Power but you need a Different Wireing schematic with a couple extra Parts)
(1) 9-volt alkaline battery
Insulated copper wire
(1) Male XLR Connector

I personally Built mine arround an Old Dynamic Mic I got for $3 which allready had the XLR connector....

Here is the Site I got the Instructions From But the Schematic I posted Is easier to Follow than the One at the Site:

http://www.prosoundweb.com/recording/tapeop/buildmic/buildmic_16_1.shtml

Here is a Couple Links to Sites were you can Order Mic elements....The best ones are the Ones with 20-20,000khz frequency but there are others that are good depending on the Use Like For Drum Mics you might get a Better sound useing a Uni-Directional Element with a Frequency of 100-15,000khz...


http://www.jlielectronics.com/spec.htm

and

http://www.digikey.com/

There are also Noise Canceleing Mic elements which also might be Good for certain applications...

You can also Make Multi-Element Mics useing different elements and use a Small Switch to activate certain Elements depending on the Application....

If you need any Help with with this Give me a shout and I"ll Try to help...
I"m not the Best when it comes to Wireing elecronics but I"m OK and Condensers are Pretty Easy to wire...

Cheers
Click to expand...

This is the old "Tape Op" mic! I built two of these years ago. They're OK, but are noisy as crap! Plus, if you plug them into a channel with phantom power, bye bye mic!
 
PhilGood: If you get the High Quality Mic elements then they aren"t Noisy at all and the Good ones Have a Perfectly Flat Frequency Responce with a Very Low Signal to Noise Ratio....

I Compared the Specs of Some of the Good Mic elements to the Specs of some Mid Cost Condencors(in the $100 to $300 Range) and the Specs were Very Simular and even Better in Many Cases as I couldn"t Find many Mics in this Price Range with a allmost perfectly Flat frequency responce...

There are also Elements that are Noise Canceling if You want to filter out some of the High frequency Noise....

There ia also a way to wire these Mics to Run on Phantom Power but you need to wire in a Resistor that converts the +48v to under +10v.....I like the Fact that it uses it"s own Power supply cuz I sometimes have to use the 1/4in TRS Input on my Mixer for Mics which aren"t Phantom Powered

Cheers

PS: This Schematic is for Wireing a Ballanced Output (With XLR Input) if you want un-ballanced Output I can Post the Schematic for that also(1/4in TRS Input is not Ballanced).....
And if you spend the extra on the Better quality elements it will make a world of Differance...
Also Do not Plug the Mic into a Input that has Phantom Power enabled as it will Fry the Mic Like "PhilGood" said.....
Also if you use this Schematic it will only Drain Power when the Mic Cable is Connected to the Mic.....
 
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