The 421 is pretty much a no-brainer. You can't go wrong having one (or four) of those in your locker. I love the sound of it on a Marshall cab for heavy guitar. I've never used the K2, but there is a lot of good word on them, and I may also be looking to pick one up soon. The Beyer I know jack about.

421 is great- can't go wrong there- like mccheese says if you can get 3 or 4 for toms :D
K2 I use a lot- male vocals at 11:00 am- female vocs at around 9 am or 3 pm has been working for me. stereo pair good on percussion. Forget it on acouctic guitar- there's better mics for that. Ok on guitar cabs though i prefer a 57- really a good overall mic- beyer I have no idea... 8)

The Beyer M160 is my new favorite mic! So far it has sounded great on everything from drums to sax, and if I point it at my guitar cab it sounds exactly like it does in the room :D

Not used it for vocals yet (apart from a voice over), but I will probably try it before my valve LDC next time.. 8)

Well, as stated above - all of those mics are terrific.

For Vox, I agree, the K2 is nice. With higher pitched or higher-overtoned stuff, I go more in the direction of omni, it fills it out nicely. With lower stuff, I go closer to fig-8.

The 421 is a necessity. You could record anything in the world with 421s. (Yeah, there are better mics for most jobs, but the 421 does well on almost everything!)

The Beyer (the 160 or the 130) is a GREAT choice. It's a tad dark sounding, so for female voice, have the EQ handy. Other than that though, I can't imagine much of a better mic anywhere near that price. Well, except for the K2. But, I should say that I could use the M130 on far more things than I could the K2. (Yeah, I know, you asked about the 160, but I use the 130. They're identical except their patterns though - same elements, same circuits...)

I haven't found a source that the Beyer WOULDN'T work on yet.

J.

Cucco wrote:
I haven't found a source that the Beyer WOULDN'T work on yet.

I wouldn't recomend it on the kick drum though.. :shock:

IIRs wrote: [quote=Cucco]
I haven't found a source that the Beyer WOULDN'T work on yet.

I wouldn't recomend it on the kick drum though.. :shock:

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
Okay... 1 source...

BTW - it's a thing of beauty on snare and toms!

Cucco wrote:
BTW - it's a thing of beauty on snare and toms!

I know, its taking me every inch of self control to stop me buying another so I have a pair for stereo overheads.. if I didn't like my Rode NT5s so much I would have caved in by now! :lol: