Studio Mic Survey

[dwillis45]

I got bored one day and decided to collect some data on mics commonly used by professional level studios. I located a web site with a state-by-state listing of studios (http://www.talentbox.com/music/recordingstudios) and went to each page looking for mic-related information. I gathered mic lists from well over 100 different studios and complied them by mic and manufacturer. Here are the results. Please, don’t shoot the messenger! I’m not trying to pass this off as great research and I’m not trying to tell anyone to buy mic X or Y. Just thought someone out there might be interested.

Top Twenty Mics

Manufacturer/Model Number of Mics

Shure Sm57 119
AKG 414 115
Sennheiser MD 421 109
Neumann KM84 84
Neumann U87 82
AKG D112 75
Shure SM 58 66
Electrovoice RE20 65
AKG 451 62
Neumann U47 49
Shure SM81 46
Sennheiser MD 441 39
AKG D12 39
Neumann U67 32
AKG C12 26
AKG 460 25
RCA 77 25
Audio Technica 4033 24
AKG 1000 21
Audio Technica 4050 20
AKG Tube 20

TOTAL 1,143


Manufacturers by Number of Mics

Manufacturer Number of Mics

AKG 503
Shure 398
Neumann 391
Sennheiser 208
Electrovoice 185
Audio Technica 130
Beyer Dynamic 98
Sony 73
RCA 50
Crown 35
Rode 25
CAD 22
B&K 19
Audix 17
Microtech/Gefell 15
Telefunken 15
Octava 13
Royer 13
Altec 13
BLUE 12
Earthworks 11
Groove Tubes 11
Marshall 10
Schoepps 9
Coles 9
Lawson 8
Stedman 8
Sanken 6
Other 64

TOTAL 2,371

 

[wheelema]

Sure appears to be a vote of confidence for the Shure 57/58!

 

[acorec]

I got bored one day and decided to collect some data on mics commonly used by professional level studios. I located a web site with a state-by-state listing of studios (http://www.talentbox.com/music/recordingstudios) and went to each page looking for mic-related information. I gathered mic lists from well over 100 different studios and complied them by mic and manufacturer. Here are the results. Please, don’t shoot the messenger! I’m not trying to pass this off as great research and I’m not trying to tell anyone to buy mic X or Y. Just thought someone out there might be interested.

Top Twenty Mics

Manufacturer/Model Number of Mics

Shure Sm57 119
AKG 414 115
Sennheiser MD 421 109
Neumann KM84 84
Neumann U87 82
AKG D112 75
Shure SM 58 66
Electrovoice RE20 65
AKG 451 62
Neumann U47 49
Shure SM81 46
Sennheiser MD 441 39
AKG D12 39
Neumann U67 32
AKG C12 26
AKG 460 25
RCA 77 25
Audio Technica 4033 24
AKG 1000 21
Audio Technica 4050 20
AKG Tube 20

TOTAL 1,143


Manufacturers by Number of Mics

Manufacturer Number of Mics

AKG 503
Shure 398
Neumann 391
Sennheiser 208
Electrovoice 185
Audio Technica 130
Beyer Dynamic 98
Sony 73
RCA 50
Crown 35
Rode 25
CAD 22
B&K 19
Audix 17
Microtech/Gefell 15
Telefunken 15
Octava 13
Royer 13
Altec 13
BLUE 12
Earthworks 11
Groove Tubes 11
Marshall 10
Schoepps 9
Coles 9
Lawson 8
Stedman 8
Sanken 6
Other 64

TOTAL 2,371

The top 7 tell the truth why you should stay away from cheap mics of today.

 

[Mark7]

Re: Re: Studio Mic Survey

The top 7 tell the truth why you should stay away from cheap mics of today.

And yet some quite pricey models (Royer, B & K, Schoeps, etc) appear outside the top seven as well. So what are we to make of that, eh!?

 

[acorec]

Re: Re: Re: Studio Mic Survey

And yet some quite pricey models (Royer, B & K, Schoeps, etc) appear outside the top seven as well. So what are we to make of that, eh!?

Yes, you are quite right! Stay away from those too. The most popular mics are there for a reason. Expensive, or not, the least popular are not there for a reason.


The most popular mics tend to be very versitile and not "one-trick-ponies"