Quality Vs. Quanity.

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Wack

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Would you rather have numerous (say 4) decent mics for a variety of sounds. Or One really good sound for one good accurate sound. I have an offer being trading my mic for 3 mics being mxl and such, all studio no live. But I'm not sure if I can part with my mic.
 
everyone in their right mind would disagree but I would take many flavors over one really good mic. You can get very usable sounds out of decent mic's and having a bunch of them assures that one'll work on it no matter what.
 
I have one nice mic. It's accurate and transparent and I wouldn't trade it for three or four mediocre mics. Until I can afford more good mics, this one will do for now.
 
I would take three good quality mics over one great mic, but again those three over thirty low-quality mics.

The problem with one mic is you can't record in stereo, or set up close mics, room mics, etc. The difference between good and great is not enough for me to give up stereo recording.
 
Wack said:
Would you rather have numerous (say 4) decent mics for a variety of sounds. Or One really good sound for one good accurate sound. I have an offer being trading my mic for 3 mics being mxl and such, all studio no live. But I'm not sure if I can part with my mic.
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What is your good mic and what are the other 4 your trading for?
Give makes and models.
 
Keep the one good mic. Junk sounds like junk, no matter how you mix it.

But it does depend on your specialty. If you're going to be mixing with a variety of sources you want variety. As one good mic might sound awesome on Tuba, and horrid on flute. If you're going for a one time live deal to never be seen again, you need quality over quantity. And you probably need at least two good mics. Unless you're just recording for yourself and only have one ear. (you never know if you don't ask)
 
I have a bunch of mediocre mics and one great mic. I pretty much use the one great mic as often as possible because it seems to sound the best on everything. So I guess I would trade the rest of my mediocre mics for one more great mic.

-Barrett
 
It depends on what you're recording needs are.

One of my friends only has a Neumann U87 and a KM84, that's his only two mics - he records mostly vocals and guitar, and has won Grammy nominations and his songs have been used on Sesame Street, so for him that works great.

For me I'd have to get a U87 first, then a KM84, then another KM84 and with those 3 mics you aren't in the amateur hour show. Add an SM57 and you can record drums, or even without it.

So I'm more the buy Neumanns type. You could think of them as the cheapest mics because if you hound for super deals you can sell them for a profit in a few years.

I have a dozen mics but use a U87 and a pair of KM84's for 99.9999999999% of everything I record.
 
It depends on what mics too. If you can haggle enough budget mics to surpass the value of your good mic. You could turn around and sell the lot of mics for a profit, then turn around a buy a newer good mic and still have money left for a movie. Although budget mics are hard to offload and don't really retain their value much. So that movie might take six months to pay for itself. That's a lot of work and time to have valuable assets tied up. And to otherwise be without your good mic.
 
dintymoore said:
I have a dozen mics but use a U87 and a pair of KM84's for 99.9999999999% of everything I record.
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Well that's not really a compromise is it? A more relevant question would be if you would choose between a U87 or a KSM44 + a pair of KSM141s. I would take the latter.
 
There just isn't one mic for every application, just like there isn't one tool for every job. Would you prefer to own the finest hammer in the world or a 64 piece cheap Chinese tool kit? That depends. If you are a carpenter, and you hammer nails all day long, maybe you want that hammer. If you need a hacksaw, even a cheap one is better than the best hammer in the world.

In the beginning, you need to learn to use the tools, even if you can't afford the best ones. You need an identical pair of small diaphragm condensers, so you can learn stereo recording. Then you need at least one multipattern mic, so you can learn what omnis and figure 8's do. You need one good dynamic, because they aren't quite like condensers. That's the bare minimum.

It's also a matter of style. Would you rather sleep with one supermodel, or 4 cheap ugly whores? No one can answer that question for you, and either experience could leave you unsatisfied.-Richie
 
Both

Wack,

The answer is both. Good mics and several of them.

And since you can get many good mics used in the $100 range there is no need to have only one.

Thanks,

Hairy Larry
 
Since we are on Home Recording:

How good are your acoustics? That in itself could negate a lot of decisions right there.

I used a Neumann USM 69 on some quickly-arranged female narration one time, in a lousy room. That $5900 mic sounded much like a Shure 58 under those circumstances.
So several cheap (or mid-priced) mics may be the only choice that gives you your money's worth unless you have good enough acoustics to tell the difference.

C.
 
One really expensive one,that way you can tell everybody how great it sounds and how you could never record on anything else.Which of course would be true because you only have one mic.
 
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