Need Help Starting Mic Collection!!

B

berkleywoods

New member
Hey guy,
I'm putting together my mic collection and have no idea where to start. I'm purchasing the Yamaha AW2816 recorder. I'll need to mic drums, guitars, and vocals.

Im not understaning the difference between Large Diaphragm and Small Diaphragm mics. Which is used for what??

Does anyone have suggestions on some good mics for the buck???? I'd like to start with a good all around mic that I can focus vocals on. I'd probably not like to spend more than 300 bones right now (lol the Yami is kinda putting me in the hole).....im hearing these beringhers are good......and SP C1??

Thanks for the insight...
 
I'm not sure how much of a "collection" you'd be able to get with 300 duckies, but for a first mic, it's hard to go wrong with a Shure SM-57. After that, it's all subjective. Maybe a Rode NT-1?
 
get a couple sm57's, they can be used on almost anything. Good on snare, toms, gutar amps. For $80 its pretty good deal for a mic that sounds good on many things.Industry Standard.
 
I agree you can't go wrong with 57's but I wouldn't recommend the rode nt1,personally I'd wait until I had atleast $300.00 and I would look at audio technica 4033, studio project c1, akg 3000b,if you buy a rode nt1 as your primary vocal mic I think you will regret it.Then you'll just have to go out and spend even more money to be happy.Trust me!! I took the plunge and found out the hard way$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$.
 
Berkley,
I'm with Gidge here. That sounds like the best $300 mic collection imaginable (unless you happen to find some good used mics).

If you want to learn EVERYTHING about microphones, then take a good look at this thread https://homerecording.com/bbs/showthread.php?s=&threadid=27030 (towards the end of this thread, one guy posted a Word file of all the useful information given in the thread. Download, print, and read it. Then read it again.).

Good luck with your AW2816!
/Henrik
 
Gidge?

Now that you have the ecm8000's how do they sound for overheads and acoustic guitars? Have you used them for ambience mics in like a jam session with everybody in the same room? I went to mars here in michigan and they no longer carry them so I hope musicians friend still have them in stock.Thanks,Greg
 
You will certainly get plenty of opinions on what mics to get. But if I was starting out I would get:

1-SM57
1-AT4033

This will cover any vocal, accustic instrument and guitar cabinet you run into.

After that there are more options than any of us have cash - but I gotta say I just picked up a couple of V67's - for drum overheads(I was thinking about the ECM8000's, or C1's but no one in town had any - and the engineers I talked to thought the ECM's were too noisy), anyway, the V67's for the price are very decent - I actually like them as a vocal mic better then my KSM32 (at least on my voice - haven't tried other voices yet) .
 
I've never owned an NT-1, so I'm curious. That mic used to be the darling of this forum. What changed?
 
Wow...

Everyone, read the thread Henrik mentioned, if you haven't already. Good thing posts are archived here for so long!
 
I think what changed was the appearance of other cheap large diaphram mics that have a better and smoother top end than the Rodent1.

If you have a decent micpreamp and a better format than a cassette multi-tracker the Marshall V67, Studio Projects C1, and even Rode's newer NT1000 are just better sounding mics than the NT1 which was a good deal before these others came along but is kind of bright and shrill sounding in comparison.
 
I've had an AT4033 for about a year now, and do not recommend it to anyone on a budget. It's great on vocals and acousitic guitar and even as a room mic in some cases, but it's expensive. It may seem modest in the overall context of audio equipment, but anyone who doesn't think $350 is a lot of money needs to have their damn head examined.

Some of the best vocal recordings I've mustered involved the 4033, and some were done with different combos of a C1000S, 57, and 58. Results vary wildly, but the point I want to make is that very good recordings can be made with 'lesser' mics.
 
I don't think the 4033 is expensive. Many of the lower cost LD condenser mikes don't have the -10db pad and the bass roll-off that it does, two very useful features. Some make you buy the shockmount separately. It's a mic with a real track record in pro studios, and that's something that the lower cost Chinese mikes can't say. It also has a high resale value. Buy a Nady or Behringer and it's resale value will be almost nothing.

Is $300 too much to pay for a mic ? I just bought a Gibson Les Paul and a $500 preamp. I'm not the person to ask about careful money management. :rolleyes:

What is expensive is buying a cheap mic that ends up sitting in it's case because you later upgrade to the mic that you should have bought in the first place.
 
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$350 is going to be a ton of money to some people and almost nothing to others so whether you call it a budget mic or not is all relative.

You can get decent results with cheaper mics but trying to put them into some kind perspective compared to each other can be useful to someone trying to decide what to go with.
 
Does anyone have suggestions on some good mics for the buck???? I'd like to start with a good all around mic that I can focus vocals on. I'd probably not like to spend more than 300 bones right now (lol the Yami is kinda putting me in the hole).....im hearing these beringhers are good......and SP C1??

Thanks for the insight...
------------------------------

Yup, both are good choices. The C1 @ $300 is excellent for vocals. I would also look at the Behringer b2 at $200. Keep in mind, though, that the difference in quality between these two is pretty significant. If the extra hundredge isn't a lot to you, then go with the C1 by all means. These are large-diaphragm condensers -- great for vocals, and good all-purpose mics.

Small-diaphragm condensers are good for capturing the higher frequencies . . . ideal for using as drum overheads, and for cymbals, hi-hat, and especially accoustic guitar.

Get a pair of the Behringers -- ecm-8000's if you can. I just can't believe I was able to snag a pair of these for $70. Use these as drum overheads . . . and get yourself an Oktava mc-012 for around $100-$200, and use that on accoustic guitars.

Good luck.
 
Fair Price!!

I recently purchased a brand new 4033/se for $295.00 tax free including shipping.It comes with shock mount, dust cover, and a wood box to boot.Can't beat it, price verse quality is very reasonable.Why pay $199.00 for a rode nt1 when for a mere $100.00 more you will aquire a microphone that you will be happy with for many years to come.I'm not saying the rode nt1 is a bad mic but in my opinion if you don't have the money for a 4033 then keep putting money aside.I have alway's bought twice instead once,just trying to upgrade as cheap as possible and kicking myself in the ass a month later!!!!!!!! If I used my brain atleast once a month with some sanity involved I would have made the right purchases the 1st time.I'm learning this more and more everyday.It's like buying a behringer 2442a 4 bus mixing board just to turn around a month later and purchase a mackie 24/8 with meter bridge.What the f--- was I thinking!!!I
 
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