I've been mic'ing violin and viola quite a bit lately, and the results were not quite what I expected. I've had my best luck using a pair of Studio Project C-4's, or a B.L.U.E. Kiwi. The C-4's give you the smoother sound you normally expect to hear, and the Kiwi produces a more natural, but rougher, in-your-face sound, bow and all. My violinist, Audrey White, is a Professor at the New England Conservatory, with golden ears. She fell in love with the Kiwi on the first pass, after being rather disappointed with C414B-ULS.-Richie

Interesting stuff. I've heard the 414 EB series
is a better mic than the recent one. I used to
work with the 414 EB and found it an all around
excellent mic but never had the chance to use
it on strings.
Any opinion on Neuman KM 84 for strings?

To be truthful, I think I was just caving in to Audrey's great ears. The C414B-ULS is a go-to mic here, especially for acoustic guitar and mandolin. Being a fairly flat mic, it takes well to EQ, and I don't doubt I could make it sound great on strings. However, we're tracking bone dry here. Mixing is being outsourced to Littledog and I'm comitted to no EQ, compression, or 'verbs going in. So what the hell? I tend to apply EQ by changing mics. In this case I put up the Kiwi, and the crowd went wild. When I put up the C-4s, she said, "that's what my colleagues would expect to hear." When I put up the Kiwi, it was "I'm in love." God, what ears she has. You know how some cats can tell the difference between an $80 coat and an $85 coat? (they sleep on the more expensive model) I swear Audrey can hear the difference between a $300 mic and a $350 mic. Oh well, she can also hear the difference between 440hz and 441hz! I hate her. I love her.-Richie

For what it is worth.

At the Sydney Opera House when recording strings we always use the AKG 414 mics hung about 10ft above the string section, the results have always been excellent.

When micing strings close up (say in a variety concert orchestra) we generally use the older version AKG CK1-S mics, although we have also been known to use the 414 mics.

In both cases the mics used are the original 1970/80 versions.

Hope this helps a bit.