What do you all like for mics on an acoustic guitar?

[Papanate]

I'll admit I've only played around a little with mid/side... but I abandoned it pretty quickly because it sounded expansive in headphones... but created this weird "hollow' and moving feeling as you moved your head around the listening position on my mains, as the side phase-reversed recordings got louder or softer depending on which speaker your head was closest to, and it sounded pretty awful in the room. It's possible there was something I was doing wrong here, but... if not, my takeaway was this was only really a good approach for headphone listening, when it was even remotely close to a near field source. I hear it's better as a distant mic on a large stereo source, like a choir, or something, but I can't say I've tried.

Just curious did you copy and invert the side track - or used a plug in get it (Brainworx V3 for instance)? I haven’t got a phased sound - although as I widen the stereo the signals sometimes get weird - as in to big a spread.

 

[DrewPeterson7]

Just curious did you copy and invert the side track - or used a plug in get it (Brainworx V3 for instance)? I haven’t got a phased sound - although as I widen the stereo the signals sometimes get weird - as in to big a spread.

Copy and invert. If you've had better luck with a plugin, well, if there's any way you can share an MP3 of the solo'd acoustic sound here with a fairly wide spread, I'd be curious to hear it!

 

[Papanate]

Copy and invert. If you've had better luck with a plugin, well, if there's any way you can share an MP3 of the solo'd acoustic sound here with a fairly wide spread, I'd be curious to hear it!

I don’t do it often - let me look for one.

 

[TalismanRich]

I just use the relative volume of the two side tracks vs the main center track to control the width of the image. Join the two side channels to one fader and play with the mix. Remove most of the center and things get wide and weird. No side and you just get a collapsed mono. There is usually a sweet spot that works for me.

 

[CoolCat]

Which ones? The KM84s or the SM81s?

I went through a test drive on SM81's a long while back and got ocd or something on the USA versions vs the MIM versions, and during that expensive test hobby $$$ hole...
grabbed the Shure PG81 (the old discontinued., not the PGA)....and recall I didn't hear a difference of US vs MIM, then a big surprise was the PG81 sounded so good and were bought off Craigslist super cheap for a pair...$150? pair used.
+ Another nice benefit to the PG81 original - is they had a bigger diameter and fit into a standard 57/58 mic holder, instead of the small diameter SM81 holder that was a pain if it didn't come with the clip. Lower sensitivity a little 3.8mv/pa sensitivity. (SM81 5.6mv/pa). (beware fakes on Temu-Alibaba)
+There's even original cases and US pieces to find, and you can spend >$1000 buying antique SM81's stuff aka the antique US case candy and parts. I spent too much time and money doing that in hindsight, I sold it all as usual. Shure sold very quickly as is a benefit of Shure name brand. I only miss the PG81 though, such a good deal/good sound.
Back then Used US SM81 were $175. New were $250. so it must have been awhile ago I did the mics. SM81 were used on some Eagles acoustics (Eagles used many mics).

Another good budget SDC imo, the MXL 603 ....pocket friendly PAIR $129 now, brand new with aluminum case and Isolation mount holders.
Weezer used them as drum overheads as a name drop from old- a bit more touchy though at Sensitivity 10mv/pa. more like the Neumann K184 at 15mv/pa.
Seems the MXL are liked or spiked though, maybe QC is low?

Shure 81 has its sound, kind of compressed and less range, with the MXL603 more sparkle, higher freq's, picks up more everything. Brand New pair of MXL 603 are $129, with case and Isolation holders. Harvey Gerst liked them, said cut a little 7k, no problem...EQ is a friend too. For a bright room maybe I'd do the PG81's, if the rooms nice the MXL603 or something in the SDC norm.

The Neumann have the old war of 84 vs 184 which is similar to the 87i and 87ai never ending debates.... if these don't sound good its probably your room or something else.
Never owned the Neumann s, still too expensive for my wallet.

 

[Papanate]

Another good budget SDC imo, the MXL 603 ....pocket friendly PAIR $129 now, brand new with aluminum case and Isolation mount holders.

The MXL 603s are fine - albiet a bit noisy - t.

Weezer used them as drum overheads as a name drop from old- a bit more touchy though at Sensitivity 10mv/pa. more like the Neumann K184 at 15mv/pa.
Seems the MXL are liked or spiked though, maybe QC is low?

I don’t know what Weazer used for Preamps do you? - QC on the MXL line is OK - but the 603’s can also have an uneven and sharp frequency response, with dips and boosts that cannot be easily corrected via EQ - my pair are excellent though and unusually quiet - my friends really can’t be fixed with EQ.

The Neumann have the old war of 84 vs 184 which is similar to the 87i and 87ai never ending debates.... if these don't sound good its probably your room or something else.
Never owned the Neumann s, still too expensive for my wallet.

I have the KM84s - and I used the KM184s on some session - I did hear a difference - but not one that mattered - so I don’t know if I would get involved in a debate - possibly if they were naked with an exposed sound - I might choose one over the other - on guitars in a mix - I wouldn’t care.

 

[CoolCat]

Neumann site even states QC is a part of the extra cost in their mics. The transformer and transformer-less and the latter being better specs for noise.
But I agree, can it be heard in a mix ? as some extreme difference? Transformers add to cost, some swear they like the sound of transformers.

QC is real. I worked manufacturing and new products and testing and QC is costly, we did military spec and consumer level and interesting short time doing that.
QC became a huge issue when it was offshored, the Foundry was caught de-calibratng things to PASS more parts which they made more money
as a motivation to PASS everything...Foundry allowing crap parts to PASS then the end builder who got burnt dropped the product line.
Military stuff really did go through a lot more testing steps in cold, heat, vibrations, but is military spec needed in my closet-studio? probably not .
But its a good feeling to know the product passed QC and is well built, and each part is consistent , right? I think so.

Neumann kept their level QC up there and its in-house. But wow $1500 to $10,000 for a pair..serious stuff. Good resale.

Shure seems to have managed offshoring ok, I don't know, but no one seems to complain much about them as being inconsistent or SM81 or 57 made cheaper. I don't think Ive bought any Shure China stuff except the PG81 which were really good, low sensitivity with transformers. SM81 seems $800 a pair. As I noticed I didn't hear a difference of USA made and MIM. Some swear they did.

MXL sdc's, Behringer $51 pair, something has to give in materials, QC, designs to get that cheap. Maybe they sound ok? if not EQ or put a piece of toilet paper over it, like studios did the NS10 tweeter..lol Im on Antelope Audio Interface now and bought a AA LDC thats great, and thinking of buying their Edge Note SDC. $99 each.
I've read the WA-84 is one of WarmAudio best offerings. $600 pair used, based on the transformer 84i.

 

[CoolCat]

I went and grabbed the Antelope Edge Note, $99.

It seems small but the dimensions near the same as the "industry standard" K84/184. Length ~4.5in x .8in width...
Sensitivity is 8mv/pa closer to the KM84 at 10mvpa (184 is 15mvpa). No transformer. Capsule diameter .61in Edge and KM84 .78inch
self noise 25db(a) the.KM84 17db...for reference. SPL 146.

just surfing around, Tim Campbell posted he worked with Igor at Antelope on Edge series (LDC). Antelope mics built in house and designed in house.
Edge Solo LDC $120 (used) + Edge Note SDC $99 (on sale). Hooking up to Zen Go interface 2-channel, seems like a nice combo- will find out.

 

[DrewPeterson7]

I guess semi-relatedly, I caught a B-stock deal n a Warm Audio WA87, so I'll have one of those arriving in a week or so. I don't expect it to replace a se4400 for strummed rhythm parts, but I can see it working very well as an alternative for single note lines and I do want to give it a shot as a second mic on a guitar amp (something I'd be nervous about doing with the $4k real thing), and while I don't sing myself, it'll be a nice mic to have in the cabinet for recording vocals.