Number nine is a 609, number ten is the original (409).

I dont like them On guitars but they sound great on Toms , I have 3

The old 409's are great on brass.

When I was working a studio with 409's, we used them on everything.

A 409 and a D12 on kick was great....a 409 and an SM57 on a guitar amp was great.....a 409 on spoken word is unbelievable...two 409's on an SVT cab was........well, you've heard THAT sound a million times. You just dont realize it.

I find myself unable to go with the 609 as I'm sure it is only a faint reproduction of the 409.

FWIW, I've only heard samples of the 609 and didn't really like it much. However, I did purchase and do use a 906, and on a guitar cab I like it a lot.

very decent microphone with a wide range. try using with vocals and effect.

The 609 is more of a specialty mic if you ask me: great for hardcore, and a lot of people like it on the toms. I own a e906 (which is the same thing as the e609 with two selectable filters, which I don't use... should have gone with a e609 :P ), and I think it is excellent for hardcore guitars. This mic is the secret weapon to many underground metal and punk guitar rigs. For vox... I tried it, sounded mushy and muddy. I think the main virtue of this mic is that it handles extreme distortion wonderfully.

DD wrote:

I find myself unable to go with the 609 as I'm sure it is only a faint reproduction of the 409.

I'm in the same boat - I've heard some good stuff through the Evolution line, but nothing IMHO beats the original.

Were I in the market for mics I'd jump at a few 409's; the 609 or 906's - not so much...

...maybe it's that retro feel I like, I dunno...

I just started recording some guitar work with both a sm57 and the 609. I think the 57 is always a goto mic for guitars. I did a few tracks with two diffrent amps and it just ended up that the 609 sounded awsome on one of them and not on the other. In my opinon the source is always going to be the biggest factor, try a few diffrent setups on the gear your working with and go with the best one. It always helps me to run through my options first so I know im getting the best sound before I print.

I got one recently and find it great on percussion, better than the md421 and 57 but haven't tried one on kit yet. Cheap, cheerful, and versatile I reckon.

i've got one, i use it every now and again on guitar, but thats it, it can be a bit too trebley and harsh even running through my 512c, i've been a big fan of my 421 and beta57 (would be my sm57 but some young twerp broke my sm57 during a session and i haven't bought another one yet) running through my 512c and brick, i run two mics so i can have different flavors to either combine or just choose between the two in the end. i think i tried the e609 on a drumset a couple of times with no good tones out of it, i think i used it as filler when some dude brought his 12 piece drumset in and i knew i just needed to through something on the toms so i could at least sound replace what he does actually use.

honestly, these days, just stick with basics, sm57 and 421 (and possibly the sm7b, don't know for sure but i want one but too cheap to buy one) is still prob the best bang for your buck, considering 90% of studios these days are "basement/house" personal studios. think about it, one of the most successful recording studios these days was operated from a 2 car garage, using a line 6 for guitars, and programing the drums, programming bass guitar, probably the only mic used during the whole session was a vocal mic and maybe some junkie mics to record what the drums were supposed to sound like but since they weren't being used in the final mix, i'm sure they aren't super sweet mics hooked into super sweet preamps. think about, its 2008, people want the best quality for the price, and the price that people want to spend on recording is for the price of "free" haha, a bit of an exaggeration, but bands want to spend the least amount on their recording as possible. and if you don't own a 30 thousand dollar mic/mic preamp selection and you're amazing at music theory and mixing then boom, you don't have to have good gear at all, just gear that makes band's sound better than they are....

sorry if i'm ranting or not answering your question. thats just my 2 cents on the e609