Which of these Tube mics for vocals?

M

Mr Funk

New member
Hi there,

I want to get a tube mic for my vocals, as I have a few FET based condensers and want something smoother and richer. I do intend to try to test all these mics and preferably at the same time, but what are the opinions here? Which offers the best sound for the pound (£)?

Rode K2, SP T3, ADK A48, ADK TC, SE Z5600? As anyone ever heard the Oktava MKL 5000 (bottle)? All these nics are around the same price, the K2 and the TC being the cheapest I think.

Thanks
 
I don't have expirience with any of them, but in the States, the SP T3 is probably the cheapest out of all of those. The K2 is about $200 more. Maybe you're thinking of the NTK?
 
In the Uk the prices are as follows (from Digital village & Turnkey):

ADK TC £329
Rode NTK £299
Rode K2 £349
SP T3 £375
ADK A48 £399 (£325 B Stock)
SE Z5600 (& 5600A) £399

As you can see, only the ADK TC is cheaper than the K2, but this is a single pattern mic and I would like a multi pattern really. The B Stock A48 may be worth checking out? In fact, I'm sure i saw a B Stock T3 for £275!

How does the K2 differ from the NTK tonally? The T3 is the only mic out of these that I have used and I liked it a lot, buy could only afford the C1 at that time.
 
For the money the T3 is the most versatile of the bunch. I'd put your money on that one. You'll get a lot more mileage out of a multi-pattern than you will a cardioid-only. Other than that - if you have a chance to try as many as you can on your voice, that'd be the best way to go.
 
You should PM Alan about prices on the T3. He might know of a European distributer that you don't. I remember him mentioning in another thread that the European prices on his mics have recently gone down...
 
IMO the K2 is the most versatile . i do like the sound of the T3 though.
seeing that i have owned a Tc.. i can say its a great mic too.. but pattern wise its not as versatile as the k2 or t3
i also use to have the se z5600. its actually a nice mic.. i sold mine on ebay for $300.. more that i bought it for...
my list goes like this:
K2
T3
TC
A48
z5600
NTK
not saying the ntk doesn't sound good b/c its an awesome mic.. i'm just looking at at which mic is the most versatile
 
I have a Groove Tube mic that is really nice. The prices have come way down, you might consider one of those too. (assuming you can get them there)
 
Hey Farview - just out of curiosity, where did you get your GT mic? I've been looking all over for an online retailer just so I can get a sense of the prices of the different models....but I can't seem to find one. They have the prices on the Groove Tubes site, but hopefully the street prices are a little lower...
 
OneRoomStudios said:
Hey Farview - just out of curiosity, where did you get your GT mic? I've been looking all over for an online retailer just so I can get a sense of the prices of the different models....but I can't seem to find one. They have the prices on the Groove Tubes site, but hopefully the street prices are a little lower...
Click to expand...

Guitar Center had them (GT 66) for 500, but you can find them for substantially lower on ebay. I have it, it rocks. I feel like I'm always pushing this mic on people, but I'm that impressed with it.
 
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OneRoomStudios said:
Hey Farview - just out of curiosity, where did you get your GT mic? I've been looking all over for an online retailer just so I can get a sense of the prices of the different models....but I can't seem to find one. They have the prices on the Groove Tubes site, but hopefully the street prices are a little lower...
Click to expand...

I got mine 8 years ago, it's an original MD-1. $600 is not a lot to spend on a tube mic. This is a quality mic at a good price and it includes the power supply. And you can get different capsules for it.

I would never buy a tube mic where the cost of a 12at7 was 10% of the total cost of the mic and power supply.
 
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