The Ultimate Utility Condenser?

[gravitywilling]

Okay, gents: I'm looking to buy a pair of condensers to do... everything. I want to spend $400 or less for each mic. Uses will include acoustic guitars, drum overheads, strings, the odd horn, random noises, and vocals (although I use an Audix OM5 for that right now, and it works fine for my demo purposes). What is the Ultimate Utility Mic (pair) for these purposes???

Best,
Nick
Gravity Willing

 

[bvaleria]

Audio-Technica - 4041 (lower cost), 4051 (higher cost).
(BTW these are small-diaphragm - so I wouldn't use 'em on vocals myself, but you could try. Most vocals would normally be handled with some flavor of large-diaphragm, but there are no hard-and-fast rules!)

Bruce Valeriani
Blue Bear Sound

 

[The Axis]

AT4041 is a very versatile and rugged mike. Less than $400 per pair at http://www.8thstreet.com

Rick