There's other options besides Neumann!

The Shure KSM line is pretty damn good, too. Quiet, inexpensive, great sounding.

Schoeps makes GREAT stuff. They make an entire line of capsules that'll work with their CMC preamp modules - kinda like Sennheiser's K6 system.

The Josephsons are awesome - they are a little bright, though.

The modern Schoeps has a small-dia tube mic as well- The 222 is the body and it can use any of the colette capsules. I don't have experience with the 222, but I love the rest of the line. The older 221 is a particular favorite of mine.

--Ben

Cool. Thanks, Benjamin. Thanks Dan.

The Schoeps seem really good. I've not heard anything negative about them, so I'll have to check them out.

The Shure isn't Tube (though admittedly some tube stuff is garbage, so that's not to say it isn't good). Unless I'm mistaken, only the middle Shure model is really small/mid-sized, so that rules out two of the models. :(

As for the Josephsens, I'm going to have to check them out, too. They seem like great mics for a good price.

Thanks again for the help.

Jean-Pierre

Josephsons aren't tube either. The cool thing about those is their small size. SD condensers seem, to me, to sound more "real" in some cases than LD's.

Why the need for a tube mic? 99% of the time the mic will sound the same as a solid state mic. The tube only shows up when you start to push it, and even then, YMMV.

Really good mics - tube or solid state - are so sought after because they're very carefully designed and built from good components. There are really good solid state mics, and we've mentioned some of them.

Dan

Dan,

Thanks for the reply. I realize that tubes aren't always the be-all-end-all (see my previous post). As for why tube necessarily? Variety. That's really all. Just want to see something different. No other reason. :)

Jean-Pierre

I understand - just be careful to use your ears, not your eyes, when selecting mics.

Dan

Why the need for a tube mic? 99% of the time the mic will sound the same as a solid state mic. The tube only shows up when you start to push it, and even then, YMMV.

I tend to disagree with this statement. A lot of tube gear sounds substantially different because the circuit is pushing the tube regardless of the level going through it. Listen to a KM 64 versus 84. They are very similar mics (same capsule, etc...) but massively different sound. SM 69 tube versus FET- same thing.

Yes, tubes don't have to sound different. They don't distort with that even harmonic distortion that people love until they are pushed hard. Until that happens, they can be incredibly linear (the Vac Rac Preamps are a perfect example of this).

Tubes are totally necessary. I use some tube gear regularly and a lot of solid state gear. They are a different sound, however, and that allows us to have a broader "canvas" of colors to work with in our recordings.

--Ben

Let me be more clear. It's not just the fact that a circuit has a tube that makes it a "good" design. There's a topology factor, as well. Class A circuits sound different than A/B, etc. Whether one is better for your application than the other, only you can tell. The TYPE of circuit as well as the PARTS in the circuit and a myriad of other factors will ultimately have an effect on the SOUND of the circuit. If it were just the "tube makes it good" thing, we'd all be using ART ProMP's or something equally yucky.

Found this thread on a search.

FWIW - GC is BLOWING OUT the GT44's (Class A Pentode .75" dia capsule cardiod) for $199 each w/ PS and shock mount! I just picked up a pair of GT44's, and a single GT55/Brick combo! Woo-hoo!!! The sale likely ends soon, so don't procrastinate.

:cool: