Starting a mic collection...

J

janthemetal

New member
Hi,

It is getting to that stage where I feel I would like to begin my own mic collection (instead of borrowing the college ones) and was wondering where to begin.

I'm thinking some sort of condenser would be most useful. I have got my eye on and MXL 604 and the fantastically titled sE X1. Would either of these be a worthwhile investment?

This should give an indication of my price range. I do not want to exceed 150 pounds (but maybe persuaded to go over this if something good pops its head up) if it can be helped.

If you have any advice on these, or peers to, the above mics, please, err, advise me...

Thank you!
 
What are you going to use these microphones for? Instead of the 604 I would set my eye on the MXL V67g if it's for a vocal.
 
i'm looking for something that is a good all rounder, if such a thing exists in this low price bracket.
ideally, i will get something that i can use as an overhead, an ambient mic, for wind instruments, a far mic on a guitar cab, acoustic guitar and vocals.

@moresound with regard to mxl, do you know what the 2001A/600 pack is like?

thanks
 
Dynamic - SM57 / SM58
SD Condensor - Røde M3
LD Condensor - AKG Perception 220

Just my two cents :) great all round mics on a low budget and if your in Europe (I'm guessing England from the 'Pounds' bit :P) Try Thomann

Thomann Cyberstore great value gear
 
awesome. i will give those a look. was contemplating some rode mics, but decided on mxl. i will have another look now though on your recommendation. and you got the pounds bit right. my keyboard doesn't have a pound key though, so i have to write it each time :P with regard to thomann, they are brilliant with pricing, but a friend of mine bought a guitar from them, and it arrived in unplayable condition, and after 2 months of waiting, so i am dubious... to return the favour though, check out Dolphin music, GAK and Hard To Find Records (all based in the UK)

Thanks again!
 
One thing I've noticed with my own mic collection...as I buy "up", most of the "lesser" mics rarely get used anymore.

Moral of the story - wait/save for as long as you can, and buy a really good mic instead of 2-3 cheap ones...
...then start the process again for the next mic. Of course, it all depends on what kind of mic collection you want to end up with.

There are some inexpensive bread-n-butter mics (like the 57) that are must-haves, and a good way to get started when ca$h is low.
If you want to know what mics are real "keepers"...bounce around the various studio websites and check their gear lists. I don't mean the million dollar studios, as they have big budgets...I mean some of the smaller/private studios...but in either case, you can get a sense of what mics are worth getting and keeping as a collection.
 
thats a useful tip miroslav, thanks. i was actually just doing something similar earlier today :P it has ruled out the X1 for sure. it has good things said about it as a project studio mic, but i dont just want to record in my bedroom, so forking out that extra bit will pay off. thanks for that, it made me think about it in a new light :)
 
janthemetal said:
i'm looking for something that is a good all rounder, if such a thing exists in this low price bracket.
ideally, i will get something that i can use as an overhead, an ambient mic, for wind instruments, a far mic on a guitar cab, acoustic guitar and vocals.

@moresound with regard to mxl, do you know what the 2001A/600 pack is like?

thanks
Click to expand...

Sorry I don't, But you'll want to goggle up the MXL 2003s and the Stellar CM-6 as possible choices as well.
 
Dynamics

I know they don't have the sex appeal of condenser mics but they are more frequently used and more generally all purpose. EV vintage mics are nice. I love my Beyer dynamics. I just got a pair of Audio Technica MB3000L mics used for next to nothing. (under $50 for both)

I also recommend everyone have at least one pair of dynamic omnis. The EV 635s are great and still in production at a little over $100 new. My goto omnis for field recording are the Realistic 1070b. (or c or d) They are RE50 clones and the RE50s go pretty high.

Also a nice clean preamp will make all your mics better.

Thanks,

Hairy Larry
 
the 2003 is a very nice mic, but its just out of price for the minute (this is not coming out of my money, it is a present, hence the tight budget). do you have a link for Stellar? i can find plenty of references to them, but googling turns up no website..? (google shopping turns up a load of knives?!)

with regard to dynamics, i have a sennheiser dynamic (variety escapes me at the moment) that is very nice, a random img stageline (nope, me neither) that is alright and a Beyerdynamic i rescued from the tri-annual update of the college music department, so i want to 'diversify'. the next on my list of things to get is a pair of dynamcics (an SM57 and an audix i5, i think) though, so never fear :)
 
janthemetal said:
i'm looking for something that is a good all rounder, if such a thing exists in this low price bracket.
ideally, i will get something that i can use as an overhead, an ambient mic, for wind instruments, a far mic on a guitar cab, acoustic guitar and vocals.
thanks
Click to expand...
Fat Head is a very descent all rounder.

Don't overlook the mic pre.

Not to over generalize, but I've found inexpensive Condensers can be a real hit or miss with the top end... this and an inexpensive pre, can be somewhat lacking. Select carefully.

Afford the most quality you can.
 
Try the sE Electronics SE2200A and the tube version SE2200T.
I believe you can get them fairly reasonable $$$ in the UK.
A used Z3300A would be great too!
I agree with person who suggested to save and buy better equipment as opposed to buying a number of low-cost mics.
The RODE NT2A would be nice as would the RODE NTK.
BG
 
janthemetal said:
the 2003 is a very nice mic, but its just out of price for the minute (this is not coming out of my money, it is a present, hence the tight budget). do you have a link for Stellar? i can find plenty of references to them, but googling turns up no website..? (google shopping turns up a load of knives?!)

with regard to dynamics, i have a sennheiser dynamic (variety escapes me at the moment) that is very nice, a random img stageline (nope, me neither) that is alright and a Beyerdynamic i rescued from the tri-annual update of the college music department, so i want to 'diversify'. the next on my list of things to get is a pair of dynamcics (an SM57 and an audix i5, i think) though, so never fear :)
Click to expand...

Use the advance search here in this forum of microphones, there is a very long thread about the Stellar CM-6.
 
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