what are you looking to record? nothing beats simply listening to them for yourself and letting your ears be the judge

I've been looking for a good all-purpose large-diaphragm condensor and I just found a good deal on a used U87Ai locally.

The U87Ai is a very versatile mic. If you have the funds and this paticular mic sounds good I would go for it.

:h: Treena

Originally posted by scenaria:
...what are you looking to record?

Everything, but most often vocals and acoustic guitars.

...nothing beats simply listening to them for yourself and letting your ears be the judge

If I could get them all in my studio together for a few weeks, that would be a great strategy. But I can't, so I'm just looking for some outside opinions to help me with my choice.

This was very recently covered. Read through these...

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Originally posted by AudioGaff:
This was very recently covered.

Well, I'm not really asking "Which is the best vocal mic" or "Is the U87 the only mic worth having". But I take it from those threads that you find the U87 to be significantly (i.e. 15% - 25%) "better" or "more useful" than a 4050 and that overall you feel it is a good investment. Consider that noted.

Thats a decent price for a very decent mic.Its one of those mics tht 'may' work on a lot of sources.It also may not.If you are planning on using it for your own vocals then I would give it a very detailed listen.If you are getting it as a purposed vocal mic for an array of vocalists I would think twice about it.For the same amount of money you can buy three really decent mics and cover a larger pallette of sounds.The U87ai is not my favorite, though it is a Neumann.

Attached files

Someone told me that new U87´s are completly different from those manufactured pre-Sennheiser age.
I compared an At4050 with a U87, for vocals and accordion:
1)U87 is fuller under 240Hz. Vocals sounded deeper
2)At4050 has a slight bump around 8k/12k, which can provide sibilant tracks with some vocalists. So verify mic placement.
3)At4050 had more gain than the U87 vintage model.
However, for 1/3 of the price and as Roger Nichols mentioned at a past EQ issue, this microphone rules, could be more expensive.

Hi ever looked in to RODE mics? Check em out!

I LOVE the NT1000.

At that price, I know where you can get a used Rode NT1, a used AT 4047, and still have quite a bit of cash left to buy a new ADK Area51 TT.These should cover ANY recording situations you might have come up.They're all different and all really good quality in build and sound.

I'm not totally sure of the price,
but so a search on a mic called "Mouse" by "Blue".
Some friends of mine used it for vocals when they recorded they're demo. Producer "Pete Thornton" suggested they use the mic I think.
He just called it the "Blue Mouse".
It's a truly wonderful mic.

Actually....
heres a link to a pic and description of it.
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Greetings J,

Originally posted by jroberts:
If I could get them all in my studio together for a few weeks, that would be a great strategy. But I can't, so I'm just looking for some outside opinions to help me with my choice.

Couldn't you hire them all for a week or two? I know it'll cost money but, as has already been mentioned, nothing beats evaluating them for yourself.

HTH