newbie, looking into mics

Capt Hair

Capt Hair

Jeff
I'm just getting into AE, new to the site, and just got my first little rig set up this week. I have the Tascam US-1641 so I can have 8 xlr mic inputs going at a given time and am running cubase 5.

So far I have the MXL 990 and 991 combo set. I actually really like these I've got some great sound from them with an acoustic guitar and the 990 has worked well for vocals so far, no issues or anything.

I think I'm going to plan on using a pair of 991s as overheads for my drum kit. I have the one as a single overhead right now and the sound clarity is just awesome to my ears.

So what mics would you guys suggest I look into?

I definitely think I'm going to buy another MXL set just so I can get the matching 991 and have a back up 990.

As for the rest of the drums I was thinking about going with the Sure drum mic kit, that comes with 3 sm57s and 1 beta 52A. I know I was going to get a 57 a some point, so why not get 3 all together lol;). How great is the 52A for the bass drum? Is this fine, or should I look into another bass drum mic?

One thing I really don't know anything about, is mic-ing up a bass cab, what mics are best for this?

Any other mics or anything you would suggest let me know. I'm kind of starting at the bottom here and building up.

thanks for the help!
 
As far as lower end overheads go, you should also look into the MXL 603's, MXL 993's, and the Audix f15's. The Beta 52 is personally my favorite out of it's competetors for kick drums, and it sounds even greater once EQ and tweaking are applied. By tweaking, I mean noise gates, compression, and other methods used to expand (and sometimes exaggerate) the sound of your instrument. I have heard that the Beta 52 sounds good on a bass cab as well. I have the MXL 990 and the 991 and i have not tested them much, but they are great value, especially for the price. The SM57 is used by pros and can sound great on snare, toms, guitar cabs, etc. especially when EQ'd. Here are video's that may help.

YouTube - Shure DMK 57/52 MIc Pack
YouTube - Best Kick Drum Mics - HD
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Here are some video's of overhead mics which can also be used for acoustic guitar, some brass instruments, etc.:

MXL 991's:YouTube - ** Original** "Home"......

MXL 603's: YouTube - MXL 603 - XY Drum Overheads Demo 1080.mov

MXL 993's: YouTube - one man band jam

Audix f15's: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q02OAjWQlQM

Hope that helps...
 
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for the bass, you might want to try just running it through a DI box and straight into the system. you can often get a better result that way instead of trying to mic an amplifier.
 
+1 for Bass via DI

I'd rather have MXL603's over MXL990's. But MK-012 and other options are a bit more common. MXL990 is fairly disliked by too many IMO. You're kind of spinning your wheels, and wasting your time (and theirs) if you don't get a result that you like or can live with. Saving $100 isn't really worth fiddling for 10 hours on each project in post to compensate for a mics inabilities. Assuming that you have greater plans than one project a year or something.
 
I really can't say enough about the Sennheiser e602 for a kick drum microphone and a bass amp microphone as well! ;)
 
appreciate the in-put guys, I went ahead and purchased the sure drum kit set. Still a little on edge about some of the others, haven't really made a definitive decision on anything yet. Figure that will be a good start though.

I'm starting some AE classes in the fall so I'm going to get the chance to do a lot of fiddling with different mics then, but until then I just want to find something that even a year from now will still be worth having and using.
 
Ok now for a pretty good to good vocal mic, where should I be looking? I'll probably set aside $150 to $200 for one.

The MXL4000 on musicians friend is priced at $200 with a MXL 603 for free along with a stand. Opinions one the 4000 anybody? After watching some videos on it, that is the one I'm looking into right now.
 
LOO - Love Of Omnis

Omnis are cheap and safe and you don't have any. You can get a good pair of condenser omnis for $100 new or a good pair of dynamic omnis under $50 used. Or maybe a little more for real good omnis.

Thanks,

Hairy Larry
 
Capt Hair said:
Ok now for a pretty good to good vocal mic, where should I be looking? I'll probably set aside $150 to $200 for one.

The MXL4000 on musicians friend is priced at $200 with a MXL 603 for free along with a stand. Opinions one the 4000 anybody? After watching some videos on it, that is the one I'm looking into right now.
Click to expand...

You should be looking at the MXLV67g. ;)
 
Or for a little more money either the MXL 2003a or the Stellar CM6.
Both of these microphones are talked about here in the microphone forum.
 
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