No kidding - One of the coolest mics out there. I don't think I've dragged out the 414's since I had a pair of those things.

Long story - Here's a sample file...

(Dead Link Removed)

It's a rehearsal (so please, no comments on the performance - this was minutes after they got the music).

Keep in mind what was stacked against this recording -

* The mics were grid mounted, around 16 feet high, 8 feet apart, tilted in towards the condutor's position (very unnatural stereo image). Right over the string section.

* The kit was around 25-30 feet LOS away from the mics

* The horns and precussion around 50 feet

* Behringer Ultra-Mic 2200 (sorry, that's what was there)

* Somewhere between 2 & 300 feet of mic cable (per channel) to the preamp in the control booth at the upper rear or house

* Sony gen-1 MD recorder from around 1994

In other words, if they sound that good with all that stacked against them, you should hear them with a decent chain...

No EQ, no rolloff (the mic's built-in is fantastic, BTW) no post-processing (except for some bad editing to shorten the file down to almost nothing).

WOW!!!

Damn, that sounds nice! I'm mainly going to be using this mic as an overhead mic on drums, plus for vocals. Have you, or anyone else tried it on rock vocals? I'd be sold on it as a drum mic, though! I like to mic my drums with just one overhead (really, sort of behind the kit about 4 feet, aimed towards the snare/kick area) and an SM57 on the snare. I like natural sounding drums. I like to hear the rack tom ring a bit when I hit the kick drum, stuff like that. Also, I wonder about using the Solaris to mic a guitar amp. I think I should try to buy a pair of whatever I get, to mic the drums in stereo for better imaging. Alot more options with two mics...Thanks for the input, the recording sounds great!

drumist69 wrote: Has anyone heard or used the M-audio Solaris? It seems like it would be a good versatile mic for $300 (it has 3 polar patterns, bass rolloff, -10db pad, etc). My other options would be an AT 4040, or possibly the CAD M-9 (if I go for a tube mic)...any thoughts on these three mics?

Hi there,
I'm not sure whether you've bought the Solaris already. If you have'nt, give the RODE NT-2A a try. On the sonic front, there is nothing that comes close to this one (not for another additional grand). It works superbly on drums, acoustic instruments and guitar cabs. Of course, its the vocals on this one that are stunning. Its a multi-pattern mic too, but comes in at $399. This one has a sensitivity of -36dB and a self-noise of 7dB. More than anything else, its the overall sonic beauty that excels in this one.
Hope this would help!

great recording...you've sold me massive. aS you say, what a brilliant sound with all that stacked against it!

orig poster: I've heard fantastic things about the CAD m 9 and they appear to be quite cheap now.

But those solaris's sounds great! they look good too...for the clients

I think I've settled...

Thanks to all here, and in other posts I've picked through for mic tips. I think I've settled on a decent starting mic selection. I'm probably going with 2 Kel HM-1's (for drum oh's, also to try on guitar cabs, etc), 2 (or more) sm57's (snare, guitar, etc), a Studio Projects C-1 (vocals, try it out on kicks, bass amps, etc), and a CAD M-9 for mainly vocals, although I like the sound of a tube mic on drums as well. All these mics are affordable, and pull double or triple duty. I can pick up this group of mics for around $800 or so. Thanks again to all involved!!