Sork:

So, you asked for an opinion without many qualifiers. I'll give my opinion, but please remember, opinions are like A$$-holes, everyone has 'em and they all stink!

AKG C3000 - Piece of Shit.

AKG C3000B - Repackaged Piece of Shit.

Ultimately, if you are looking for a good voice mic, SPs would be better in almost every application. AT 4050's and 4047s are far better in most applications. If you are looking for a good "all around" mic - this just ain't it. If you like the AKG line, try just a small step up and go with their Solid Tube. It's better, but still not anywhere near the upper echelon of what AKG's good mics used to be.

Personally I would consider all of the stuff from Rode, Audix, AT, and SP before I would look at the 3000.

But hey, that's just my opinion. :D

J...

i'm with cucco!
for that price you can get much better mics! the c1000's and c2000 and c3000's series are really overrated!

I use the 3000 once in awhile, mostly acoustic guitar, occasionally on piano if I want a very bright sound, but not for vocals. Too brittle.

hey,

im pretty sure the difference is one has a large daiphragm, other one doesnt (B is the large).
So you should here a difference between the two.

cheers,

Sammyg

Nope, the 3000 and the 3000B are both large diaphragm - the 3000 supposedly has a newly designed diaphragm and the pad is actually directly in line with the capsule. The small diaphragm side address microphone that AKG makes is the C2000B and it is also a piece of shit.

No offense to AKG, but they certainly are not aiming for the same crowd they used to with these (C1000,C2000,C3000,C4000) mics. Again, in this range, the AT's kill the AKGs in almost every application. Of course, this is all my opinion.

J...

There you go! You learn everyday!

Ok, a piece of shit then. My studio is only a demostudio, no high end stuff. I've currently been using a Shure beta 58a for vocals. will the akg be a step up for me anyway?

What, I wasn't being too persistent on that whole piece of shit thing, was I? :)

Truly, the Beta 58 is probably (at least in my opinion) every bit as good or better than the 3000. Seriously though, if you are looking at spending that kind of dough on a mic you do have several options. Probably the best mic in the world for about the same amount of money would be an AT 4047. I think it runs a little more, but with the help of Ebay, you should be able to find one for around the same price. The 4047 is a gem that you will find in any pro's closet and works on so much stuff it's hard to imagine.

I'd be willing to provide other suggestions, but I don't want to ramble on about it if you don't want other suggestions. Let us know, and I'm sure you'll get so many ideas, your inbox will overflow.

Thanks,

J...

Sork, Check out the AT3035 for vox, about $180. It's not right on every voice, but I recently used it instead of my AT4050 because it had more character on this particular vocalist. Also a good mic for electric guitar amp (using -10db pad).

i have an original C3000..
while it's ok on certain things - on most it's like an icepick in the forehead.. yuk
"-)