I'd go with the C4's first. I doubt you'll beat them with that budget.

But if you can save another $2-300 you'll get a pair of Josephson C42s
Or you could get lucky and find some second hand.

I know its tough waiting it out...but I really gotta second the C42 pair from Josephson...

I've been using them on more and more stuff...most recently, as the OH/side pair in a 3 drum mic setup...talk about clarity!

+3

Josephson C42's. Excellent clarity & tight. I also use them on acoustic and they are very rich.

Just FYI I've recorded with $100 chinese SDC's and SP C4's SDC's. While the C4's were much better than the el cheapo's the jump between the C4's and the Josephsons was just as dramatic.

IMO all excellent value mics where "you get what you pay for".

I'd take a look at the sm81's I swear by them, even the shure ksm109's are bad mics. sm81's will run about 650 a pair and ksm109's will run you about 300 a pair.

any vote on the Rode NT5's?

Thanks guys. It comes down to how much I make this weekend (It's my birthday Saturday). Right now I've got $400...lets see what happens.

Why don't you take a close nice look at ribbonmics.

$600 could probably get you apair of used Beyer M160. which are so ridicouououously(never knew how to spell that word) much better in oh application than the rest of the mics mentioned in this thread imho.

I really believe you should explore that option.

m160's do sound excellent on overheads.. smooth out the cymbals. Delicious!

But, if you wanna use them for guitar too, I think you would be better off with a SDC pair.

Keep the GT-44's in mind, too. They also have a "smoothing" effect on harsh cymbals, etc. They are 3/4" dia Cardioid Condensor TUBE mics! Guitar Center had a crazy sale on them for $200 each with PS, Shock Mount, and PS Cable - and hard to beat unless you step up to the Josephsons or KM-184's (I'm still on the fence if I like my GT-44's or KM-184's better for Overheads - seriously!).

:cool:

The KM184's do sound amazing as OH. But I can't afford a pair of my own. I went with the C4 option and I'm extremely happy with the results..

I have the NT5's.

Im not that stoked about them.

Haha, well there ya go.
My vote goes to Josephson C42's
Probably safe to go with SP C4's if you don't have the cash though.

what do you not like about the NT5's, Manfriday?

dynomike wrote: m160's do sound excellent on overheads.. smooth out the cymbals. Delicious!

But, if you wanna use them for guitar too, I think you would be better off with a SDC pair.

The m160 sounds amazing on acoustics too.
no excuse there.

I'm not shure how the Beyer compares to my R-121 but it's my favorite mic for acoustic gtrs now (among lots of other things). I'm not shure how I'd like it in an overhead pair, I think I'd prefer SD Omni Condensors. What are thoughts on Omni versus Cardioid? Anyone looked at the Avenson Audio STO-2's ? (used to be called the Stapes Mic).

(Dead Link Removed)