Which Mic to get for around $300

Which one to get

  • Audio Technica 4033

    Votes: 10 16.7%

  • Audio Technica 4040

    Votes: 10 16.7%

  • Audio Technica 3035

    Votes: 5 8.3%

  • Studio Projects TB-1

    Votes: 12 20.0%

  • MXL V77

    Votes: 7 11.7%

  • Blue Baby Bottle (around $370)

    Votes: 6 10.0%

  • Other (please comment)

    Votes: 10 16.7%
  • Total voters
    60
knowdoubt said:


"when you position it correctly" is the key phrase here. I guess I'm a little less satisfied than you are with the mounting mechanism of the B series, since the mic can & will fall out of the mic if upside down & turned to a position in which the extrusion lines up with the gap in the mic clip. This means you don't have the full 360 degrees of rotational positioning in the mic clip at your option when mounted upside down. It's not an insurmountable handicap or a design weakness worthy of disqualifying the mics but I believe it deserves mention as a weakness or something that could have been a little better implemented. I suspect over time in the hustle & bustle a few mics will hit the floor because of it. :)

-Stephen-
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I guess we'll hafta agree to disagree. I just came from doing a session where my MXL V77 slide out of its shock mount and would have hit the floor from about 6 feet up (if I hadn't thought to secure the cord securely to the stand). I'm still trying to find a 100% safe solution to using a mic upside down in the Chinese shock mount.

I think the B series mount is a pretty clever way to hold the mic in place. Insert, then turn to lock.

I try very hard not to "hustle or bustle" when I'm putting mics on stands, since I do have a few very heavy ribbon mics that would be severely damaged were they to ever fall.
 
Harvey Gerst said:
I guess we'll hafta agree to disagree. I just came from doing a session where my MXL V77 slide out of its shock mount and would have hit the floor from about 6 feet up (if I hadn't thought to secure the cord securely to the stand). I'm still trying to find a 100% safe solution to using a mic upside down in the Chinese shock mount.

I think the B series mount is a pretty clever way to hold the mic in place. Insert, then turn to lock.

I try very hard not to "hustle or bustle" when I'm putting mics on stands, since I do have a few very heavy ribbon mics that would be severely damaged were they to ever fall.
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Hmm... yes, considering it needs no shock mount, then compared to using a mic with those Chinese shock mounts it's actually an improvement in security. I don't see it as a big problem or anything. I'm just being nit picky. I gave a quick try out of a pair of B1's as drum overheads tonight & it seemed they would do alright in that application. I haven't had a lot of time to use them yet. I'll be interested to here your comments on what you think their best use is.
 
I agree with Harvey on the B-series mount. After a "duh" moment or two , I decided that this was a clever idea. It works well if you pay attention to what you are doing---and there is no end to the problems in a studio if you do not pay attention!
Bill
 
I'm still trying to find a 100% safe solution to using a mic upside down in the Chinese shock mount.
Click to expand...

I just use one of those little 6" velcro strips to secure the mic cord to the boom, and thread it through the shockmount before plugging in...

onboom_small.jpg


How I do it...

Queue
 
Harvey Gerst said:
Yes, the TB-1 and the V77 will go head-to-head. The V77 is gonna be a hard mic to beat - I use it a lot around here. And I'll be comparing all these to the TLM103 as well.
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I'd also like to hear how your findings match up with all the guys who voted for the TB-1. Maybe they can chime in their findings and you can compare notes. We seem to have a lot of people on this board with extensive experience using it.
 
Hey Harvey, If you open the shock mount all the way, There's just enough room to clamp it onto that thin little rim just below the screen.I know this is'nt the proper way to mount the mic, But it holds the mic quite abit more snug in the mount. But i still wrap the cord about the stand just in case.:cool:
 
Geez---I can't wait to see the results of the TB-1. I wonder how many orders SP will get if Harvey's reviews are favorable....:p
 
octoruss said:
Geez---I can't wait to see the results of the TB-1. I wonder how many orders SP will get if Harvey's reviews are favorable....:p
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A LOT!!! That's pretty much par for the course. When Harvey recommends a mic, sales go up for said mic.

As well it should. One of the major banes of our existence existence as inexperienced ones, is wading through all the sales hype and fluff.

When you have someone that has the technical experience, and the real world experience of Harvey Gerst, and then add that to the personal integrity that he has always displayed in "telling it like it is", you really have something that you can't put a price on. At least not someone of my financial means.

There is really not anything any of us can do to pay that back. How do you pay someone back for steering you through a mine field? Think of how long, and how much MONEY would be wasted being misled by tainted reviews, sales hype, or salesmen just trying to make a sale.

Harvey certainly isn't the only one who has shown this kind of benevolence. But he is pretty exceptional. Who else would have taken the time to do what he did in the big thread. That was all strictly for the benefit of us. He didn't teach himself anything.

I for one am pretty grateful.

Taylor
 
MrZekeMan said:
Harvey certainly isn't the only one who has shown this kind of benevolence. But he is pretty exceptional. Who else would have taken the time to do what he did in the big thread. That was all strictly for the benefit of us. He didn't teach himself anything.

Taylor
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Whatcha mean, "He didn't teach himself anything."? I learned I need to be more careful about what I say when I'm not fully awake, and I also learned that I oughta keep my mouth shut a little more often. :D
 
We haven't had time to check any of them yet. Pimpadelic has been in here for the last month straight and we haven't tried the mics on anything yet. Hopefully, we'll have a break in the next few weeks.
 
Harvey, here's a "philosophical" question for you:

You've got a two room facility that is apparently jumping - booked solid with many of the bookings being relatively big name artists. You're not located in the usual hot spots, as far as geography, so obviously your reputation is strong enough to draw people to go out of their way to record with you. It would seem that you must be grossing well into six figures per year. Congratulations on your successful business!

But here's the question: how have you managed to avoid the deadly addiction of gear lust? From your comments on many of these threads, you are perfectly happy using some of the most inexpensive microphones available today. I'm assuming that if that is your philosophy with microphones, it might extend to other parts of the signal chain as well. I'm certainly not putting that down - if you are getting results that continually draw name acts to your studio using cheap gear, that's a tribute to you and an inspiration to all of us. But given the money you are making, aren't you at least a little bit tempted to upgrade some of the budget stuff to either cool vintage pieces (telefunken, elam, neve, helios, LA2A's, 1176's, old neumanns, etc.) or top current models (cranesong, massenburg, avalon, earthworks, tube tech, pendulum audio, stephan paul mods, brauner, etc.)?

I'm only asking because that's my personal "downfall". The more money I make, the more I want to buy more gear. Apparently you've got that licked! So, what's your secret???
 
Not to answer for Harvey but my own experiences.
This looks like a good thread on its own.
No big names here but making a decent living...

I do believe that once you get decent equipment and LEARN how to use it to its maximum potential you go with it and enjoy making (recording) the music.
You know how some people just have to have a new car every year or two while some take care of that clinker and they both get to where they are going at the same time BUT one doesn't have a loan to pay every month?
(must be a Texas thing...I'm originally from Austin, TX)

I just got a client who went to a studio in Pittsburgh for his last album.
It sounded BAD - washed in Expensive REVERB/EFFECTS etc...
The client told me: "man he had racks and racks of stuff...1176, LA2A, eventide, neuman's, avalons, adams...." (you get the drift)"....

I do believe that some young folks (I'm up there too harvey) fall into this trap of Buying buyingbuying...it is tempting - but that's what Ad execs, salesmen get paid for...also young folks going into studios to record see all this equipment and get sucked into thinking that it will sound great.

I think folks go see Harvey because he is EDUCATED in the art of Recording.
They are booking time at his studio NOT because of his equipment but because of the way HE USES the equipment that he has....man its early in the morning and I could say so much more but I got to prepare for a client...been a pleasure...great thread!!!!! Dan
 
Man just bought an MCI board and you're suggesting he's immune to gear lust? Have another look at that Indian Trail gear list.
-kent
 
Not that I want to pull y'all away from Harvey's review (I'm using a C3 and I care)., but I want to know where you're buying your gear. TB1, 4033, etc., around $300? Help me out here, is $500 close to $300, or are all your mics used? I agree that a tube mic isn't necessarily the best choice for one main vocal mic. For *really* around $300, I'd say C3, I love it. If tou really are at $500, audition NTK, after you get a LD with no valve.-Richie
 
knownuttin said:
Man just bought an MCI board and you're suggesting he's immune to gear lust? Have another look at that Indian Trail gear list.
-kent
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Yep,

Plus, those inexpensive mics complement a closet that includes names like Neumann and RCA.
 
knownuttin said:
Man just bought an MCI board and you're suggesting he's immune to gear lust? Have another look at that Indian Trail gear list.
-kent
Click to expand...

Thanks for the tip, Kent. I'll do that. I haven't been around here all that long - never knew the name of Harvey's Studio. I guess I'll do a Google search on "Indian Trail" and wade my way through a few thousand hits about Mesa Verde, etc.
 
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