Next mic in my arsenal???

[drbluezz]

Here's my current setup: Royer R-122, Sennheiser e906, two Shure SM-57s, Universal Audio LA 610 tube mic preamp/channel strip, Digi 002R interface, Protools LE 7.4. I play and record bluesy jazz and jazzy blues. My "studio amp" is a Louis Electric Tremblelux tweed based, single 12" speaker (Hellatone G12H30, but I have a Scumback H75 on order). The amp is approximately 25-30 watts.
My questions are...Do I need another guitar amp mic like a Sennheiser MD421 II, or a vocal mic like a Shure SM7B or AudioTechnica 4050? In my studio I only mic the amp and vocals. Everything else is direct in (i.e. Sample Tank 2 and Roland GR-33 for keyboards and horns, BFD 2 virtual drums, and a Fender P-Bass Special).
Maybe I don't need anything else? The Royer R-122 through the LA 610 and Sennheiser e906 through the 002R, simultaneously, already sound killer with a guitar amp. I can't imagine anything sounding much better? But I'd like to have a nice mic collection that would pretty much cover anything really well.
Wha'da'ya' think? Sennheiser MD421 II? Shure SM7B? AudioTechnica 4050?


Tom

 

[WhiteStrat]

Opinions are just that--opinions. Everybody's got one. So do I. I like (love) the SM7b. I know you're just vox & guitars--that's exactly where I was a year ago. I got the SM7b for vox, and I love it for that. But I also use it for bass amp, kick sometimes, and in spite of all the other cac mics I have, I use it for guitar cab sometimes.

Next opinion please...

 

[JTC111]

Maybe the next mic should be primarily for vocals? It sounds like you have your bases covered as far as cabinet mics go. The 4050 is a pretty bright mic and I'm not sure how that would sit with your blues recordings. The SM7B is a lot less bright but a nice inbetween could be the 4040 or the 4033. An ADK Vienna might be a nice vocal option too.

 

[griffd]

If you interested in the SM-7B you might take a look at the SM57 with the TAB-Funkenwerk transformer from www.mercenary.com.

 

[Somnium7]

I mainly record vocals and electric violin with my mics. Occasionally I'll run a synthesizer or drum loop through a guitar amp for effects that fit with the music I make.

I don't have a great need for a big collection of mics. So the plan I devised is such...
To cover my bases I need the following mic types.

1. Clean and natural.
2. Colored but realistic.
3. Unusual colored.
4. General purpose.

So to fill these I acquired the following mics... (in order as above)

1. Sennheiser MD-441U
2. Group Buy ACM-4
3. Oktava MK-219
4. Audix i5, Naiant XQ

Having thought carefully about my needs and considered things I would like to do in future projects it wasn't hard to list the applications. This in turn gave me a pretty good idea of what to look for and try out. I then posted some very specific questions about which mics for a specific application here and in other places to help narrow down the choices. I then went out and tried as many of the suggestions I got in reply as was possible.

I'm not a recording studio. I basically stick to one or two genres of music and bought only what I thought I needed.
The result is a modest but satisfying little pile of mics. They all work well for their intended usage and I'm pretty happy so far.


I hope this helps a little.