mics under 500, several applications

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obzenguitar

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new here and wanted to get some recommendations for my project.

looking for mics (or one that does it all) under $500 to record drum overheads, acoustic guitar, banjo, ukulele, violin, guitar cab, vocals, and upright bass.

so far, im thinking about getting the sm57 and MXL v67g. Any opinions about this setup? Is the MXL too much treble or balanced?

im a hobbyist, but willing to spend more than just the "budget" mic cost, but am mainly concerned with value. if I found a mic I liked for $400 but another one that was 85% as good for half the cost, I would always go for the $200 mic.

any mics that should be avoided? with so many "good" and "great" reviews for mics its hard to make a decision. makes me wonder if just buying the lowest cost 4 1/2 star rated mic is the best option for value.
 
Rode NT2, Nt1000 are decent canidates, and they are below your budget and will indeed match up to any 500$ mic.
 
I personally own a rode NT1000, and have recorded countless amzing vocal tracks that are of great quality, also depends on your hardware, keep that in mind. You r pre amp is really what defines your quality and all of other stuff, but this is a safe route. Hope it helps
 
Your applications, especially Mando, uke, banjo, and drum overheads, make me think a small diaphragm pair would be a good choice. And no, I'm not saying a pair of large diaphragms couldn't work. On the other hand, vocals are usually done with large diaphragm mics, and standup bass calls for a dedicated low frequency mic. The real problem is that there isn't a do-it-all mic. If there was, studios wouldn't have mic cabinets.

My best suggestion is:

http://www.8thstreet.com/product.asp?ProductCode=45039&Category=Microphones

AKG C2000B. It's a small diaphragm mic in a larger housing than most SD's, so unlike most of them, it's a pretty good vocal mic. A pair would be much better. I can speak from experience that this mic can handle everything you are asking for, except possibly the standup bass, which I've never tried it on. It rocks in particular on cabs, vocals, percussion, and stringed instruments. For acoustic bass, I usually use:

http://www.8thstreet.com/product.asp?ProductCode=1053&Category=Microphones

AKG D112- People think of it as a "kick drum" mic, but it was designed for double bass, which is what it does best.

If you spook around on ebay, you can find C2000's for about $150, and D112's for $125 or so. A pair of C2000's and a D112 could be had for less than the stated $500 limit, probably brand new. There are other perfectly good small diaphragm mics I could recommend in your price range, such as Studio Projects C-4 and Rode NT5, but I can't see them as vocal mics.
And what the hell? the C2000B might work on that bass-they work on almost everything else. Another alternative would be a pair of V67G's, and a D112, but I think a small diaphragm mic will work better on the smaller bodied instruments. Best of luck.-Richie
 
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I have SM57's and I'm not a super big fan of them, but I think they sound real good on ukulele. They're also good on snare, shakers, hand drums, guitar cabinets and certain vocals.

Seeing as you'll find them used for $50 and new for not that much more I'd get one. There are some phony ones out there apparently, there's some threads here about that.

I try to buy stuff used.
 
Studio Projects CS5 would work great for what you want. Low Pass and High Pass filters.....variable patterns, can be found on ebay for $350 or less. This mic has done a very good job at most anything I have recorded with it.

DB
 
Squizzle said:
I personally own a rode NT1000, and have recorded countless amzing vocal tracks that are of great quality, also depends on your hardware, keep that in mind. You r pre amp is really what defines your quality and all of other stuff, but this is a safe route. Hope it helps
Click to expand...

I was not really surprised but very happy with the Rode NT1000 that I found used in great condition for $125.
I say not surprised for I have several other Rode models and they all have toted there own when ever I have called upon them to perform any audio capturing duty.






:cool:
 
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