One of my questions is....

is it better to have a matched pair of mics (in my case 2 NTK's) or...is there perhaps an even better choice in the $500 and under category that I am overlooking.

A friend of mine recently recorded a c.d. and used AKG C414 on his Weissenborn guitar and it sounded amazing....but a bit out of my price range for now...is having a matched pair of mics worthwhile. And/or can I find a better value than having 2 NTK's to record acoustic music?

For the price, SM81's are good...using an AKG C3000 and a AKG C1000 together works well, too. Sorry I couldn't be more helpful

What's your monitoring chain going to be? That's an important part of the puzzle.

Rob,
What you have chosen is very good ... sounds like you know what you want. The Rodes are fine but there are better as you know .. Studio Projects has the C4's which come as a matched pair for under $500 street. But I wouldn't say one or the other is "better".

I am not meaning to step on anyones toes here but I do not recommend the AKG C1000s in any situation ... I have used these mics a lot and I have gotton good results with them but these are really cheap fixed charge electrit mics and there is a lot of stuff out there for just a bit more that is much better.

hi there. might want to check out the shure ksm44 since you're in that price range. I had an opportunity to hear them in action somewhat recently and I think they are pretty great for the $$$. Plus multiple patterns. I owned a c414 at one point, and I would say the KSM44 is a contender quality-wise with that mic for sure (for my application, that is, YMMV).

I also have the c4's that Kurt recommended- they're great as well. If you don't have any mics yet...I would suggest going with large diaphragm condensers (like the ksm44 or ntk)...the c4's are cheap and can be picked up down the road. LDC's will be pretty versatile (can be used on vocal duty which I wouldn't recommend the c4's for).

...oh, I forgot to ask...isn't the fireface Firewire 800? If your Dell is a 1.8 ghz, I'm assuming it's not brand new, so you may have to budget in a little $$$ for a PCI FW800 card. If I'm wrong about the fireface or your dell, disregard this :).

My Budget

Thanks for responding. I really appreciate it.

I already own a KSM 32 which will be my 3rd recording mic. BTW, I also own an AKG CE535 and a C1000, but I was looking at those mics as more appropriate for live sound, not recording.

Thanks for the suggestions-I will definitely check out the KSM 44 and the C4's

I contacted RME and they gave me two suggestions for Firewire cards - I just ordered one 2 days ago. I have read some of the stories about systems compatibility so I thought it would be best to ask them for their recommendations.

As far as monitoring system goes, for the time being I am going to rely on my computer speakers, definitely not the best, I know, but they are really not that bad - Altec 5.1 - and I will make a real investment on something good a little further down the road.

I am praying, hoping that this rig will deliver the sound qaulity I am hoping for.

Thanks again,

Regards.
Rob A

hey dude,
go with the ntks man...i own 2 and they sound great - overheads and room-micing drums + vox...acoustic...strings...b3...these mics will handle anything and they sound really nice - very quiet - very warm and thick - i know the uncertainty of buying stuff you have only auditioned in stores but i have been using these mics for 2 years now and i own a 414 - a classic mic also but the ntk is fatter! (i couldn't afford matched 414s but i'm stoked with the ntks!)
have fun bro!

id check out the Rode K2's rather than the NTKs as they are very simular mics, the K2's only slightly more expensive, but you will have far more vesatility with them as you can alter the polar pattens on them