the 414's are nice mics. I don't know why you'd want an extra dedicated omni mic

I wouldn't necessarily say they're much of a step up, but have you tried the KM183 - smaller profile, works well on acoustic guitar, might be up your alley?

Edit> I've also had some very good results live with the 480 / 62 omni capsule on stage with choirs and such, perhaps you might want to check them out as well?

Crankitup sez:

I don't know why you'd want an extra dedicated omni mic

Choices, man! Experimentation, that's the name of the game!

You cannot go wrong with Schoeps MK2 capsules for both applications.

Through much experimentation, I have found that a true omni always sounds so much better in distant acoustic music applications than any Braunnmuhl-Weber design, including those of the highest caliber.

Crankitup wrote: the 414's are nice mics. I don't know why you'd want an extra dedicated omni mic

Well for orchestral recording I'd probably move the 414s to my middle ORTF pair and use the new omnis as outriggers. Now, I do orchestral recording on a volunteer basis for the local High School. So I can't justify buying a pair of Schoeps just for that. But I'd really like to try true omnis for acoustic instruments in the studio. (And yes, I'd be better off just working on making better music and recording with what I've got.) It will be a while before I wrap my mind around a situation where the Neumanns are the "bargain" option.

How about a pair of the Rode NT-55's with their omni capsule? I attended a classical guitar concert last month at a local recital hall. One of the students' dads came down from Atlanta and recorded it. He used a pair of NT-55s; one in cardioid at the lip of the stage, the other in omni in the room. The playback was unreal-great depth and detail. He said that a dealer had loaned him various DPA, AKG, and Neumann SDC's to try, but that the Rodes did almost as well, and at their price...

If you're going that route, there's always Oktava. Besides the hundreds of other user accounts to be found on teh internets, I"ll say that I once AB'ed them against KM-184 in the same spot, and they stood up very well.

Consider the AKG Blueline as well.

Also - the reason why to use a dedicated omni (as David hinted to) is that a dual capsule design does not create omni the way that a mechanical pressure microphone (true omni) works.

A true omni has unbelievable clarity in the LF - it has to be heard to be believed. It has virtually no limitations in regards to pickup of LF at a distance.

These are things that a switchable pattern mic cannot do (exception - Schoeps CMC 6 mk5 - but that's a mechanically switching mic).

id say a rode nt-2. it gives you a pretty accurate response in all of its polar patterns which are cardiod, bi directional and omni directional. its only about $400