your first condenser, how did it feel?

  • Thread starter Thread starter cordura21
  • Start date Start date

What did you feel when you got your first condenser?

  • Big difference

    Votes: 381 80.9%

  • Not so big difference

    Votes: 37 7.9%

  • Realized you could have get same results with dynamics

    Votes: 27 5.7%

  • other (please specify)

    Votes: 26 5.5%
  • Total voters
    471
Getting my first condenser, rode k2, by fedex tommorrow, i can't wait.....im off from work ALL DAY LONG!!!......should be fun.

I've been using 58's and some lousy f'in radio shack mics
Ill let ya'll know how it feels..... :D
 
Warhead said:
My first condensor felt cold, until I held it for a few minutes. Then it was warm.

War :p
Click to expand...
depends on where you put it, placement.... :)

I got one recently that smelled up my studio, so it sounded, felt, and smelled differently. I took the cover off and sprayed it with Fantastic and rinsed it with water, dried it, blow dried it to remove all moisture, let it cool down, and replaced. Much improved, but if I get close enough, the insides smell.
 
Jeeeeeez,

OK. My first 'condenser' mic was about 16 years ago. It was (I can't believe I'm saying this...) a CARVIN cm90. ...You may now throw objects and laugh out loud!!! It was as brittle as a push broom. It's not even good for overheads.

(sigh) Those were the days...
 
My first condenser, how did it feel?

Shure BG 4.0 pair. (It's like a cheapo version of an SM81, with higher impedence and can use a battery if you don't have phantom power.) Their sound made me feel excited, no ... obsessed, about recording.

I bought them in 1995. My use was nylon str guitar. Prev experience was just with dynamic vocal mic's pressed into service on guitar and they sounded lifeless in comparison. The sonic detail made me think there was a lot of possibility here. It also made me a little frustrated as they seemed to magnify aspects of my sound I didn't notice as much while I was playing. But that turned out to be a good thing for me.

The sound of those mic's was the initial cause of my ongoing problem with gear lust (you can maybe sympathize with this). My cassette multitrack couldn't capture their clarity so I had to get a DAT. And it just cycled out of control from there...

Just my 2c,
Tim
 
My first condenser was an mxl 990... EUGH. harsh and tinny on vocals. i'd rather use a sm58. decent for drum overheads. not really good for anything. then i got a shure pg81. Good for drums o/h, good on some vocals (not mine) but still nothing too impressive. then i bought a c-1. Wow. My vocals suddenly sounded full and textured, almost grainy, and just so much better. it was the opposite of when you first hear your voice recorded on a cheap tape player as a kid and go "ugh, do i really sound like that?" I played back the take and though "wow, do i really sound like that?!"
 
Like many here, my first was the C1000s. A pair. Anyway I've picked up most of the Gerst collection since then, but I do like the C1000s on the snare. Hat tip- Track Rat.
 
My first and only mic is an MXL 990 , which I'm using to record my violin playing.

Coupled with my limited playing skills and my cheapo violin and bow, the recordings I make with this microphone are excessively harsh. Today I recorded my playing while practicing with a mute and much of the sound consisted of bow noise, sort of like a cat hissing angrily at a threatening object.
 
Like many, I started with dynamic mic's, then tried condensers (described earlier in the thread). But actually, a few years after I used my first condenser, I used my first ribbon mic and discovered a different quality of sound altogether. Since a ribbon is technically a dynamic mic, I guess I've traveled full circle.

Tim
 
My first was a KSM32... I just recently got a TLM103 and though there is a difference it is not huge, maybe due inpart to my room (or lack of).

Anyway, I loved the SKM32...when I decided that hanging a sm58 from my ceiling fan was not the way to go i purchased it for about $450. I had read a ton of reviews but never really realized how much better it would be.

I could hear the bus, my neighbors, my annoying voice...I mean really hear it. It teaches you a lot about mic control, breath control and how to get the best out of your voice...These mics don't lie. I learned alot with in the first couple months of using a condensor mic. My only advice to new buyers is buy one that you know you will use for a while. If it takes you a while to save enough money to get the one you want...wait...Don't buy $100 condensors. You will thank yourself in the long run.
 
I just bought a pair of Studio Projects B-1's, I've been using them as overheads and they are the missing key to a "lively" drum sound. Condensers pickup a wider range of frequencies, and are extra sensative, maybe that has something to do with it. I dont know, all I know is that my 2 SP B-1 Condensers make my drum tracks kick ass! And they are good for micing guitar cabs too! I havent tried them on vocals. If you havent invested in one of these $99 dollar kick ass mics, I suggest you get one. They make a NOTICABLE difference.
 
I have a CAD M177. I am waiting to receive my Presonus Firebox in the post. I am a little apprehensive about how it will all sound. I am expecting to be able to pick up every imperfection of my acoustic guitar playing and singing. I have always used cheap radio shack dynamic or uni directional mics previoulsy, in conjunction with an SBLive. In a way, my old rig probably masked and muffled a lot of mistakes. So, I am expecting that I will have to really work out how to place the mic, play, sing, and colour the tracks the way that I think sounds nice. Should be a bit of fun though.
 
my first condenser.. i'm looking at it right now. i have no idea what brand it is.. the markings are all scratched and the tape is ripped up..

i found it in my closet left over from my days playing live gigs.. i never bought it i just somehow ended up with it..

i plugged it in and it didn't work so i got mad and smacked it a few times.. then it started working..

then i realized all the padding in it had rotted and it was pretty much worthless but i repaired it with a ripped up sock as best i could..

i recorded a song with it making sure to smack the crap out of it when it quit working.. it took many takes to get a whole vocal track recorded. and when it was all said and done.. i had a terrible vocal track.

it was a good time..

ahh.. memories..
 
My first experience with a LDC was when I bought my first one from a church. It's a TLM 170 and still my main mic, despite all the cheap mics they make today. Buy a good one and you'll never regret it.
 
Ocktava MK 319

the mk 319 I bought a year ago,and after recording my acoustic I realized that putting the danged parakeet downstairs and out of the way wasn't going to cut it. I couldn't hear the bird from upstairs with my own ears, but apparently that mic could. Crisp and clean, but of course I've been using cheap mics up until I bought that mk 319,so the increase in clarity and sound was fairly large.
 
Rode NTK - which cost me a pretty penny and worth every cent.

Found it smooth and clean with a kind of compressed sound to it - but still clean and clear. It doesn't have that bass boost proximity thing that a 58 has though. It also doesn't "cut" through the mix like a 58 - it sort of rides above it all (hard to describe really).

I like it so much that I use it "live" in my studio (aka basement), but because it's so sensitive it feeds back if you turn it up too loud.

I left a post in the microphone forum just now asking for any advice as to how I can use it "live" and get some more "balls" out of it.
 
Excellent thread and I'm learning a lot -- like the observation that there are very few Studio Projects products here.

I bought an SP B-1 a little while ago because I thought I was supposed to have some kind of condenser. When I tried to use it the subsonic energy coming out of it completely overwhelmed anything else. Fixed that by replacing the electrolytic dc blocking capacitors in the power supply with smaller film caps, of course improving the entire spectrum in the process. Now it has a very narrow and very intense high treble spike in the response, that actually breaks into feedback sometimes. Maybe I'll build a filter some day, maybe I'll just sell it.

Apart from all that I'd say that the experiment was promising and I could see getting a better one some day. A mic like this one but without its problems would be good enough for me for now.
 
Oh, Oh. Here lies the path to temptation and ruin . . . . Sigh.

The first condenser mic I got was a Groove Tubes AM-52 when they were severing their relationship with Alesis and the stores were blowing them out. I think I paid $250 for it and thought it was a bargain. It certainly sounded novel next to the plain jane AT-41HE dynamic I had at the time. Way more detailed. Pad. Roll off. Etc. Then I picked up a GT AM-30, also from said blowout. Again, surprisingly detailed next to the AT and different than the AM-52. A decent instrument mic. Followed by a Groove Tubes MD1a tube mic which had a really different, really big sound. And then . . . Several years later, I have something like 89 mics at last count (both dynamic and condenser). I just bought another one last week so I would have a pair of SD omni condensers. And that's not to mention the other recording gear that then somehow becomes "essential" so that you have a good recording path.

I'd turn back if I were you. :D
 
When trying my first 6 or so condensers, specfically on acoustic guitar, my thoughts were "Damn ! Why do these things sound so tinney ?!?!?!?"

Most large diaghragm condensers emphasize high frequencies and make acoustic guitars sound like crap. I finally settled on some Earthworks small diaphragm condensers.

In retrospect, I think many cheap dynamic mikes will sound better than most large diaghragm condensers on acoustic guitar.
 
Let me just say two things.

First of all, I'm contributing that I just spent $70 on a pair of MCA SP1s. First mics ever. I have yet to have any other mics other than some panasonic mics my friend gave me where the noise they contribute to the trak is louder than me playing my trombone into them. They go direct into a 1/8 in. jack. So that being said, the MCAs are a bit of a step up for me. It's too bad I still can't use them because my mixer doesn't have phantom power. But also:
This thread is AWESOME for looking up microphones and getting to know different product from different companies. I've learned a ton about condensors as well as dynamics just by googling ever mic I see mentioned. It makes me wish I had the money to buy all of them. But this thread has been very educaitonal. Hats off to everyone who has contributed thus far. :D
 
Well I just bought an MXL 2003 for $150. When it was new it was listed at $399, so I'm getting it for less than half of that. I could literally get two and still be $100 ahead. If it's a really nice mic and I'm totally happy with it I'll probably buy another one.

It just shipped yesterday. It'll probably get here sometime next week. I can't wait! And I hope I'm not disappointed with it. I really can't see how I would be. Up to this point the best mic I've had in my studio was a 57. :) I'm going to treat this thing like my baby. sniff sniff... my first condenser mic...

pohaku, that's a really funny story. I know what you mean about never having enough equipment. I'm FAR short of 80 mics... but it is funny how even at this point I'm already saying I want a second MXL 2003. But really I do, I need a matched pair for overhead drum micing. After that I won't need any more mics I swear!!!! :D haha.
 
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