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anonymous 20 February 2002

Hi,
I have a project studio and am starting to invest in microphones. I have the basics, a 57, a 58. Can anyone suggest three to four mics that are "must haves". Along with my 57 and 58, I was thinking of maybe an AKGC3000, or AKG414. Any other sugesstions. Thanks.

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anonymous Wed, 02/20/2002 - 08:40

I would recomend that you buy some inexpensive classic mics. These not only sound great, but hold their value. Neumann km84's sound fantastic and can be bought used for around $600 bucks. The silver AKG C414 EB (make SURE it has the original capsule) is a true classic mic that can be found for under $1k. Sennhieser 421 and 441 mics are great workhorses and are easy to find used. Be careful because they tend to get a lot of abuse.

If you want a new mic, I like the Soundeluxe U195 a lot.

anonymous Wed, 02/20/2002 - 13:49

No, you would not necessarily be disappointed.
I have a C3000 (the original version) in my project studio and it is a very good mic for acoustic guitar and soft vocals, be they male or female. I bought mine for 200$ and it works just fine.

I have heard bad stuff bout the "B" version (guy I know gave it a bad review in a german recording mag, but it was a prototype, so it might be OK, too). Since this is only hear and say, you`d better try for yourself.

Cheers,
Stefan

Mike Simmons Wed, 02/20/2002 - 16:09

Originally posted by Han:
If you can afford it, buy at least one top quality microphone.

;)

Of the mics mentioned here I can second the 421's... they are real workhorses.

Nice inexpensive mics might include; AT4050, MK012, ECM8000... but these may not be "must haves" for most folks.

Try searching the database for lots more advice. Good luck!

coldsnow Wed, 02/20/2002 - 16:56

Yea another vote for at least one really good mic. Stuff like the Studio Projects and the Rode NTK are great for the price but I've owned both and although they are worth having, I don't believe they take the place of a really great vocal mic. Depends on your budget though, if you don't have the budget to buy a high end mic those will do just fine. A good singer can make any of the formentioned mics sound good and a bad singer can make a great mic sound bad. You may want to look at Lawson's mics. They offer some of the best deals in high end mics.

ahyatt Wed, 02/20/2002 - 17:28

Originally posted by coldsnow:
Yea another vote for at least one really good mic. Stuff like the Studio Projects and the Rode NTK are great for the price but I've owned both and although they are worth having, I don't believe they take the place of a really great vocal mic. Depends on your budget though, if you don't have the budget to buy a high end mic those will do just fine. A good singer can make any of the formentioned mics sound good and a bad singer can make a great mic sound bad. You may want to look at Lawson's mics. They offer some of the best deals in high end mics.

I think you hit it right on the head. If the budget just can't afford an expensive mic, "some" of the lower cost mics will do 90% as good. There is a diminishing return to where you pay much more, but don't get that much more. If the song is good, along with good engineering skills, you will get great results with a Studio Projects or the RODE.

Guest Wed, 02/20/2002 - 17:54

Originally posted by Traumakind:
No, you would not necessarily be disappointed.
I have a C3000 (the original version) in my project studio and it is a very good mic for acoustic guitar and soft vocals, be they male or female. I bought mine for 200$ and it works just fine.

I have heard bad stuff bout the "B" version (guy I know gave it a bad review in a german recording mag, but it was a prototype, so it might be OK, too). Since this is only hear and say, you`d better try for yourself.

Cheers,
Stefan

I don't know - I know everyone's mileage varies - but what other mics do you have to compare it to, Stefan? Maybe you have an unusually good one, or I have an unusually bad one, but I can probably safely say that of all the condensor mics I have ever used, it is probably my 3rd least favorite. (Original Oktava large diaphragm would be #1, AKG C1000 would be #2). Really ugly sounding upper mids.

Of course, my opinion means no more, (and perhaps a good deal less!) than yours, but at least the prospective buyer should know there are some seriously mixed opinions about this model!

I'm firmly in the "get one good one" camp, if at all possible. If you can't spring for the 2 grand, maybe the TLM 103 would be a nice compromise. In the cheap category, I've been hearing nice things about the new Shure KSM-27, although I admit I've never laid hands on one yet. Good luck!

anonymous Sat, 02/23/2002 - 15:42

Originally posted by littledog:

Of course, my opinion means no more, (and perhaps a good deal less!) than yours, but at least the prospective buyer should know there are some seriously mixed opinions about this model!

Yeah, that`s why I posted, too. :)
You are right of course, it depends on the application. For the stuff i used it for (mostly on a female singer with a beautiful warm voice) it worked a treat. On a male singer with a harsh voice it was terrible.
I had people asking me "to which studio did you went to record the vocals?". Guess how broad my smile was when I showed them our basement :D

Shameless self promotion: In case you are interested, http://www.traumakind.de. under "music" try "crater lake", all acoustic guitars, strings and vocals recorded through a C3000.

Oh, and BTW, the best way to use it is letting the upside dangling at chin height, just in case you did you know.

Cheers,
Stefan

anonymous Tue, 02/26/2002 - 05:22

Originally posted by Alan Hyatt:
I think you hit it right on the head. If the budget just can't afford an expensive mic, "some" of the lower cost mics will do 90% as good. There is a diminishing return to where you pay much more, but don't get that much more.

Sure, maybe if your running it through a Mackie into a Alesis 3630 to a budget soundcard into your DAW they're "90% as good", where you get that 90% figure is a mystery to me.

If you have a good signal chain the differences are not subtle, until you get a good signal chain you will be forever doomed to believe the hype and not realize the full value of having good equipment.

ozraves Sun, 03/03/2002 - 16:02

I think most of the equation is talent in front of and behind the mic and matching the mic to the situation.

I've heard some great results out of a Rode NT1, a Studio Projects C1 and an Audio Technica AT3035. The Rode NT1 great results and the Studio Projects C1 great results were by the same persons. The Audio Technica AT3035 results were by a second group of people.

I've yet to hear good results out of the much talked about MXL V67G. I've heard a lot of mediocre sounding vocals through these that probably would have sounded the same through a $6K Sony tube mic.

There are absolutely no rules or rules of thumb. Use your ears. Most times the usual names will be the ones you like as that is how they became classics but every now and then you'll come across an AT3035. Good luck. :w:

ahyatt Mon, 03/04/2002 - 16:43

Originally posted by mp@soundtechrecording.com:

Originally posted by Alan Hyatt:
I think you hit it right on the head. If the budget just can't afford an expensive mic, "some" of the lower cost mics will do 90% as good. There is a diminishing return to where you pay much more, but don't get that much more.

Sure, maybe if your running it through a Mackie into a Alesis 3630 to a budget soundcard into your DAW they're "90% as good", where you get that 90% figure is a mystery to me..The fact is very simple Mark. If you are a qualified engineer, you will get 90% of the results of expensive high end gear by using "certain branded" less expensive gear. You will not get 10 times the performance of gear costing ten times as much.

I have been in studio after studio that has the finest gear money can buy. Is that gear better...Yes! Is it 10 times better because it cost ten times as much...No! Not only have I obtained these results, but Jason Miles, Doug Oberkercher, Marcus Miller, and the list can go on and on if you want, but they have found the same thing.

Just remember, I am not talking about every brand that is out there, however there very good innexpensive brands out there now that excel in the cost vs. performance factor. I was not talking about Mackie and Alesis, but I think there are quite a few people out there that like the Mackie mic pres, so be careful of what you step in.

Alan Hyatt

homerg Thu, 03/07/2002 - 10:49

Billee,
I'm on a very low budget and what these guys call low cost alternatives my wife calls expensive.
I just picked up a couple of Marshall MXL603S http://www.mxlmics.com/ condensor mics for drum over-heads and acoustic guitars for $160 for the pair. They sound pretty good to me. Prior to these I was using my C3000 for acoustic guitar and it always sounded like ass. These really make the acoustic guitars cut through the mix really nice. The C3000 is OK for vocals. I've also gotten pretty good vocal sounds with an SM57. I guess it depends what you call low cost.

anonymous Thu, 03/07/2002 - 13:22

Hello.

Mics I love to use now in my home studio....

TLM-103 (awesome mic!)
Shure SM-81 (great one too)
Studio Projects C1 (for the money good mic)
SM-57 (great all around mic)
AT4033 (I love this mic as well)

Out of all these I really recommend the TLM-103. It is a really nice mic. It will cost you like $700 but it is well worth it. I also love the SM-81 and AT4033. Oh yes....the D112 is cool too...

So many! :)

Just my .02.

Bye,
Michael

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