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I was at one of my local dealers today having a bit of a shop around for some Mics that would not break the bank. I wanted to find a few different Mics for different situations but I realy am on a tight budget. I have to be so tight infact, that when I fart only Dogs will be able to hear it ! This is what we came up with. Prices are un-negotiated at this point.

Drums:
Overheads: RODE NT5 pair $150
Kick: AKG D112 $250
Snare: Shure Beta57 $215
Toms: Shure SM57 $150 X 3
Hats: RODE NT3 $150

Instruments:
Bass: AKG D550 $135 or use the D112
General acoustic: Cad M37 $300
General: AKG C451 $450
General: Cad GXL1200 $165

Vocals (Super cheap)
RODE NTK: $425
CAD M179 multipattern condenser $450
Vocals (Budget)
RODE classic II $1000
CAD M9 Tube condenser $1100

I will only be able to get one vocal mic to begin with. ( maybe two if I kiss enough woman butt.)

Do you Guys think this roundup will work well enough for me to start making a dollar? I want to be as versatile as I can afford to be. Any sugestions as to how I might do a better job for same sort of dollars would be mighty helpfull.

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Comments

Davedog Wed, 04/23/2003 - 15:54

The d112 will sound better on the bass cab. than the kick....this is only MHO...the ATM25 (not the pro25) is superior on kick drums...I dont know the CAD stuff..you dont have any high end dynamics in there...I would think a couple of sennheisers ala MD412 MD441 would be of great service to ya...and the prices...i can only assume we're talking aussy dollar? cause $150 for a 57 is unheard of...you could use a couple of DI's...avalon U5 is the best for bass...do they have the Studio Projects mics down under? if so please hear them first...you'll be amazed...

KurtFoster Wed, 04/23/2003 - 18:32

Divo,
I agree with my Buddy Davedogg Clemster. Those prices seem very high. Must be OZbuck$. A real good rule of thumb is to deduct 30% minimum from the list price when purchasing new gear. It is very rare that a dealer won't do this for you, especially if you are purchasing that many mics all at once. I also suggest that you forgo the Beta 57 for a plain 57. That way you will have some pairs. Also I would nix the CAD mic and look at something else like perhaps a Rode.

I am going to have to beg borrow or steal a Pro 25 to check out . I am sick of hearing Dave slam D112s in favor of this mic. I need to see what the hub bub is all about :D . Kurt

Davedog Thu, 04/24/2003 - 13:56

Kurtmeister...I'll loan you mine when I trip down yer way soon...really you'll like it....my sources also tell me that the new Audix D-6 is a monster...I like my D-4 in on the head and the ATM25 for ''da-beef''....and you know I'm only kiddin....however the D112 does sound like a deflated basketball dropped from a heighth!!!...I loved my old D12 however...and i got real spoiled with the MD409 as a kick mic....talk to ya soon !

anonymous Thu, 04/24/2003 - 15:52

Divo,

Your prices raise some serious questions...........are they s/hand or "off the back of a truck".

Kurt and Dave (FYI),

The following list is Aust. recommended Retail Price (RRP) or what you guys refer to as List. Dealers will discount off this to get "street" pricing, but it is exceptional for them to go more than 25%......margins from importers just don't give them that latitude. BTW, to get a rough conversion to $US.......$1.00Aust = $0.62US.

Rode;
NT3..........$399
NT5(pair)....$699
NTK..........$1199
Classic II...$2495

Shure;
SM57.........$399

AKG;
D112.........$499
451..........$895

CAD;
GLX1200......$379
M9...........$2295

The best price I have seen for an SM57 is an online dealer selling at $179.

:cool:

KurtFoster Thu, 04/24/2003 - 18:52

Even at .62 cents on the dollar, those prices are nuts! I can get an SM57 new, with case, clip and cable here for $100 all day long. What are the restrictions on importing, mailing items to OZ? Is there tax to send a new item in? Perhaps I could make some purchases here and have them drop shipped to you there? Let me know.

Divo Thu, 04/24/2003 - 19:50

Thanks a lot for the offer Kurt, I may just have to take you up on it buddy...

All the prices are retail with no deals or anything so I can probably do a lot better on the Ausie stuff in particular. I just halved them for a US conversion to give you guys an idea of what I was looking at. It's really hard to actually have a listen to a lot of this stuff because dealers here don't like to carry a lot of stock, so 90% of the time I rely on reviews and other peoples opinions to help select a lot of my gear. I have not read to many nice things about Rode mics on international sites but the local shops try to push them a lot. They get a much greater margin on this stuff I guess. I have also noticed that any US and European gear tends to be really expensive here. Could this be the reason why Australian commercial recordings sound totally different to US ones? They just don't use the same gear? Or are our Guys just Crappy engineers in comparison......

I want my recordings to sound like American recordings ( Better ). So if I have to import the gear myself I bloody well will....I have also noticed that a lot of the studios over here rely on the gear and tend to skimp on the actual studio construction and acoustics. Maybe this has a big part to play in it too.

Anyway, I will rethink my selections and post here again to see what you think. Thanks for the tips Guys.

Oh; by the way, how do I change my username? I think it's time to loose the handle here......

anonymous Thu, 04/24/2003 - 20:14

Divo,

And this is with humblest apologies to RO, Kurt and others..........trot across to Homerecording.com........the mic forum there is pretty active. There has been quite some activity re the prices here in Aust., mainly aimed at the SP mics, as Alan Hyatt has been trying to get some pricing parity for all his markets. It is just taking time.

On the whole, RODE are usually cheaper in the US, however they seem to have recently given dealers better margins to play with........possibly in response to the threat from SP, ADK, MXL as well as the Euro manufacturers. However, it is still wise to look at the import options on mics. Some of the US dealers are quite happy to send o/seas. As a guide, I recently had a mic posted through USPS, Global Express Mail.......cost was approx $30US BUT it was here in 5 days, and I'm trying to arrange a couple of others at the moment. These were all private sales BTW.

Re studios.............there are some excellent well designed studios, but it is far outweighed by the type you alluded to. And hand in hand with that goes the "engineers".

:cool:

anonymous Fri, 04/25/2003 - 00:13

It's an interesting thought, but I think that difference you are hearing has more to do with a slightly different cultural development here, an obvious difference in both the sound and pronunciation of the English language here and possibly a (sub)concious attempt NOT to sound too similar to what is coming out of the US.

Obviously the young newish musos are always going to try and emulate their particular "rock" icons or whoever is the current flavour of the month, which BTW, is usually coming out of the US, but once you move away from that "age bracket", you will find a lot of the more mature musos doing their own thing at level of quality, both in songwriting and performance skill that has a unique local feel and flavour, not by design but by it's very nature.

So I guess in short, my answer is no, there isn't a particular sound that needs to be addressed. What there is, is a huge number of wannabe musicians, engineers, producers, etc., who are trying to be something they haven't got the inherent ability and talent to be.

A person could write pages on this issue, but really here is not the place............well not this thread anyways. :)

Davedog Fri, 04/25/2003 - 08:04

JEEEZZ....thats highway robbery...I have in front of me a fairly new guitar center(banjo mart) catalog and the 57's are $80 brand new...online at ebay, they sell anywhere from $45 to $85 and the upper prices are with a cable...I can buy a 'matched' consecutive numbered pair of AKG 451's for less than you can get one....I feel for ya blokes...G'day

anonymous Fri, 04/25/2003 - 10:47

I have to add that the CAD M9 is a rediculous mic that i use on so many different sources without hesitation. Guitar amps, acoustic guitar, in front of a drum set are my favorite uses. It also sounds good on a vocalists if you are going for a very "airy" sound. One of the best mics i own and it was only about $450! I put it right up there with the Soundelux mics i spent way more money on.

I can not recommend this mic enough. I bought it because Fletcher said he had great success with it on the prosoundweb ****** . I honestly should get another one in the near future.

As far as Rode mics go, I think there are much better mics out there for the money. Audio Technica 3035, AT 4040, MXL 603s (small diaphram condenser) come to mind.

And don't forget SM57's can be awesome vocal mics on many people. Always give them a try and they might suprise you.

anonymous Fri, 04/25/2003 - 17:17

Some good prices can be had on e-bay if you're careful in only buying new mics. Even with shipping to Aus. it might be worth checking out. I also have a couple of recommendations for other places that I've found good prices including riksmusic.com, or soundpure.com Pretty darn competitive places as far as prices go. Hope it's o.k. to list them here - I don't have any connection to them, just a happy customer.

Rob

Divo Fri, 04/25/2003 - 23:12

O.K. How about this lot to start off with?

1X Rode NTK ( vocals and room )
4X Shure SM57's ( toms snare & instruments )
1X Pair Rode NT5's ( overheads and instruments )
1X ATM 25 ( kick and Bass )
1X D112 ( Kick and Bass )
1X AKG C451 ( Instrument & general )

I may be able to squeeze this out of $3000 Ozbucks which is about all I will have to play with.

I am going to have to work for a while before I can really spend a lot of money on better quality gear. I would like to get the following in a few months if I can make enough.
2X Sennheiser MD 421 ( workhorse )
3X AKG C451B ( workhorse )
1X Neumann U89 ( Vocals )

Or would I be better off just getting a couple of better mics and working up from there?