Pencil Condensers

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nicolaad30

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I'm in the middle of a hard desition to make. I'm going to spend no more than 250 $ on a pair of pencil condenser mics and no more than 200$ on a large diaphragm condenser. For the last one I was thinking of the MXL 960 and for the pair on the AKG C430 or the MXL 993...any suggestions before wasting my money???.... :confused:
 
What are you recording, and what is your room like? It's hard to recommend a product without knowing the answer to those questions.

250.00 for SDCs... I'm thinking NT5 for darker, MXL603s or SP C4s for brighter sounds... LDCs there's more options. MXL and RODE make some decent budget LDCs that might fit your bill. But like I said, it depends on what you want to do..


peace
 
Maybe kill two birds with one stone and get two good, versatile LDCs?
 
Let's say I've got a little crisp on my room's sound and that I will be using these pencil condensers as overheads on drum miking. There are too many small condensers out there, many of them relatively cheap and some of them a little expensive. I've found that lots of people here like the MXL 603, but they seem to be discontinued or something and now MXL offers the 991 and the 993. How do they perform against the 603?. Is it worth it?. How about the Behringer B-5... still the same sh**?.

I see that nobody talks about the Beta98/S or the AKG C430?... are they too expensive for what they offer??.

So, I'm moving towards the MXL for now, but among the 603, 991 and 993 must be differences in the sound quality they throw... please recomend me a good pair of overheads.... thanks
 
pencil mics

I know I like my 603's. great mics for the money.
 
Get a pair of 603s those are probably the best ive heard for the money...especially if you get them on sale...I got 2 for 100 bucks.
 
Janesaid2me said:
Get a pair of 603s those are probably the best ive heard for the money...especially if you get them on sale...I got 2 for 100 bucks.
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Where did you get them for that price?
 
nicolaad30 said:
So, I'm moving towards the MXL for now, but among the 603, 991 and 993 must be differences in the sound quality they throw... please recomend me a good pair of overheads.... thanks
Click to expand...


You can find out a lot about a mic from it's frequency response graph and polar pattern before you buy it or even plug it in.

As far as the MXL's specs go, try here. Click on condenser mics and find the mic in the list. Study the response curves and read the recommended usage for the mic. There are big differences in those mics you mentioned.

I think my choice would be the 991
 
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OK I decided now on the overheads... thanks a lot...

Now... the easy part I guess... The kick drum mic. Kinda like the Audix D6... it gives more punch than the D112 and for the same price?... Should I get any of these or maybe a Shure?
 
Birdhouse said:
You can find out a lot about a mic from it's frequency response graph and polar pattern before you buy it or even plug it in.

As far as the MXL's specs go, try here. Click on condenser mics and find the mic in the list. Study the response curves and read the recommended usage for the mic. There are big differences in those mics you mentioned.

I think my choice would be the 991
Click to expand...

If you do a very simple modifcation to the 603's it really makes them even better. I did the modification Gus Smalley came up with. Just changing 3 capacitors. It made them very transparent.
 
Let me guess.. the caps were a higher mfd value and you ended up flatening the peak response above 8K.

I could be wrong but it's fun to think tech and crossovers and...

I need a life. :D
 
krs said:
NT5's are dark???
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Dark-"er" but not considered to be dark in my opinion. The SP C4's are a better value with the extra capsules etc.

War
 
Birdhouse said:
Let me guess.. the caps were a higher mfd value and you ended up flatening the peak response above 8K.

I could be wrong but it's fun to think tech and crossovers and...

I need a life. :D
Click to expand...
Yep--also higher quality which also makes a huge difference in the sound quality overall.
 
Someone posted once a few pictures and instructions on what to change to the 603 mics to achieve a noticeable improvement on the sound. Does anybody remembers the web site??... :D
 
the two 603s i got were a green tag sale at guitar center....total came to 104 with tax for two mics...thought that was a pretty sweet deal...they sound incredible as drum overheads and on acoustic guitar,.
 
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