Mics to avoid like the Plague

  • Thread starter Thread starter darrin_h2000
  • Start date Start date
Seafroggys said:
To the guy who attacked my post about the SM57.
Click to expand...

dude, I didn't attack your post. You said it was "a good first mic". I just thought it was hilarious because I just read Eddie Kramer saying he still uses one in every session, and could get a great sounding session using ONLY 57's.

otoh Eddie Kramer is no Seafroggys. :p
 
Yeah, he's not me.

It *is* a good first mic, mainly because its inexpensive, and it sounds at least decent on pretty much everything, and works real well on some things, such as snares and guitar cabs.

I just think other mics do a better job at those. Its just they're more expensive and more limited in scope.
 
No badmouthing the great Eddie Kramer...Ill have to come in and get redneck on all of you.

The only sessions I dont use the SM57 is when I get an American Idol wannabee and their Karaoke CDs...but I dont mind...its the easiest money I make...you kinda have to put up a big mic for them.
 
re sm57 bashing...

IME the sm57 is touchy about the pre it goes into. It can sound great or not, depending.
 
One of the criteria BEFORE I buy a piece of gear, is whether or not I can sell it. IF I can't do that much, I'm not going to buy it on specs alone. And hopefully I can sell it at costs. So an SM57 or SM58 are good mics, if only because their popularity makes it possible to offload them if you don't like them and/or need the cash more than the mic.
 
XLR said:
re sm57 bashing...

IME the sm57 is touchy about the pre it goes into. It can sound great or not, depending.
Click to expand...

Just look at that as a barometer on weather the pre is good or not.
 
darrin_h2000 said:
So I hope that you can understand why I was confused...lol.

Besides this thread is about mics like the samsons and Behringers and chinese stuff so many of us buy and then regret.
Click to expand...

One of the most under-rated mikes around is the Behringer C2. It is an awesome live mixing mike, great for instruments. It is superb on brass, and surprisingly, on double bass.

Short sample on sax: http://www.box.net/shared/vpjk5hldbr


Short sample on bass:http://www.box.net/shared/uim1h825c4
 
I gotta come in to defense of the Behringer B series. They were (or are) made by 797, who although doesn't make great mics, they make some good ones. The MXL 2003 (not the new A version) was also a 797 mic and could be made very good with some alterations.

The major problem I find is that the Chinese mics from the past few years always seem to use a K67 style capsule and I really don't believe they tension the diaphragms correctly. Plus it all depends on the company making them. There are a few new ones out there that are starting to sound really good. I got one from a contact in Hong Kong that I was going to gut and turn into something else. Instead I fired it up, listened very carefully and decided to keep it as is! To my surprise it was very smooth, warm and full sounding.

Some companies still don't get it over there, but some of them are getting better at it. I predict within 3 years there will be some mics coming from the east that will earn high praise.

IMO.;)
 
Shadow_7 said:
One of the criteria BEFORE I buy a piece of gear, is whether or not I can sell it. IF I can't do that much, I'm not going to buy it on specs alone. And hopefully I can sell it at costs. So an SM57 or SM58 are good mics, if only because their popularity makes it possible to offload them if you don't like them and/or need the cash more than the mic.
Click to expand...

That's a major factor for me too. I've been shopping for kick mics lately and it's the main reason why I didn't bother with the Audix D6. While this mic has a good rep, I think virtually nobody knows about that mic here in Europe. So I picked up both a Beta 52 and a Beta 91 off ebay.
 
I don't mean to change the subject here but, the sound of mics can be badly skewed by cheap monitors, poor room acoustics, a junk preamp, and many other factors.

I have two sets of playback monitors. On the Behringer Truth with sub many of my mics sound very similar. On the Polk Audio with sub, (not much better,) I can hear far more distinct differences throughout the entire spectrum.

Perhaps I should upgrade my monitors before I damn any more mics.
 
RawDepth said:
I don't mean to change the subject here but, the sound of mics can be badly skewed by cheap monitors, poor room acoustics, a junk preamp, and many other factors.

I have two sets of playback monitors. On the Behringer Truth with sub many of my mics sound very similar. On the Polk Audio with sub, (not much better,) I can hear far more distinct differences throughout the entire spectrum.

Perhaps I should upgrade my monitors before I damn any more mics.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I have two sets of Truths... B2031s and B2031As.

I also have a set of KRK RP-8s with an RP-10 sub. The difference is mindblowing.

Everything sounds way too "good" on the Behringers - I hear far more subtle imperfections on the KRKs.

Nonetheless, the Truths are great for mixing on (I'm a DJ), and very loud. I just wouldn't want to have to produce on them.
 
Aren said:
I know many people like it, but I HATED the Apex 460. Rented it for a day, and it was hiss-crackle-pop city. May have been a bad tube in it or something, but the mic was useless.
Click to expand...

i looove the 460. never had any pops or cracks or anything :confused:
im 99% sure you had a bad one. its deff worth taking another look at
 
RawDepth said:
I think all newbies should definitely avoid balloon mics like the plague.

http://www.mymorninglight.org/ham/insaneBTN2.htm

It sounds like a POS.

:eek:
Click to expand...


wtf? i think nearly everyone but noise-enthusiasts would want to avoid something like that. it can't sound natural or even close to clear, can it?


and this would be a good place to ask, anyone know anything about ANY of the Av-Jefe mics? (yes, i asked in another post and got limited responses)
 
Theres a link for one of them at the bottom on that list for the backers of this site...and I think if we all look at those links every once in a while it helps them justify the money for this place.
 
RawDepth said:
Perhaps I should upgrade my monitors before I damn any more mics.
Click to expand...

Perhaps, but one side of high end recording is to better deliver optimal results on conventional / consumer gear. It's not like everyone buying $10 CDs will be playing them back in $10K studio environments. Granted that those with $10K studio environments tend to be a little hyper critical of the results. Even though most of the flaws will not be reproduced on conventional gear. But then again, sometimes great recordings can sound like utter crap on low end gear. And vice versa.

When I first got my Korg MR-1000, the very first tune I sampled on it was Evanescence's My Immortal. Which on that piece of gear is yucky. So hissy / noisy / WTF. I thought my gear might not be as good as I expected. And then I sampled others and the Wreckers in comparison sound almost clinical / sterile. A little too perfect. And a few other greatest hits that sounded like they just recorded them from the radio. And not a very good one at that.

Sure upgrade as you can. But just be aware that you audience as it were might be sampling your result on your current gear. And if it doesn't sound good there. It doesn't really matter what mic was used. (bringing it back on topic) Every mic has it's strengths and weaknesses, as long as you don't test it's weaknesses, you should do alright. But you should know what those weaknesses are, to avoid any issues you might otherwise NOT be aware of until afterwards, which could be the worst time for a reality check.
 
Its more than that...you get the wrong mics and when you pile on tracks you end up with a buildup of harshness that you cannot get rid of...its really best to avoid the cheap mics...and know what will be a good tool...and what will give you results that are trash.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top