Microphones for studio

[Frusciantefan]

Hello all!

Eager to start my first recording studio - I've spent couple of years recording with my band in several studios, but have never done any engineering myself so far, even though I have some basic knowledge about the process, equipment and acoustics in general. Now I have decided to build my own studio, I've already chosen some equipment (drums, guitar amps and speakers, etc.) now I'm deciding upon microphones.

Please share your advice concerning microphones for studio environment (vocal mics, drum mics, guitar recording mics, room mics) - the budget is approximately 1500 dollars

Thank you!

[Jazz Noise]

The more I use Beyerdynamic M201's, the more I start to feel they'd make an awful lot of other mics redundant. They're certainly impressive on cabs and have this general ability to just translate your source cleanly. Snare, guitar, voice, toms. Whatever! I even used them as OH's once!

I think the chinese ribbons, as much stick as anyone wielding a Royer will give them, are great bang for buck and I'm a big fan of the T.Bone RM-700's for Kinks-y acoustic guitar sounds, amps and as a really trashy OH. The HF response isn't great, so it's not a "modern" sounding mic. If you want super splashy hi's on your cymbals, NT5's are the way to go. Yet to try it on Brass or Voice but I'm very eager!

The RE320 is the budget version of the RE20, I haven't used it myself but the zenproaudio clipilator will let you compare for yourself. Great on bass cab, guitar, voice and kicks!

After that you'll want some condensors, I've not really splashed out in that field yet so I'll stand aside. But 2 RM700's, an RE320 and a pair of M201's is about 900 Euro and a very nice starting point - about 1100 dollars. If you felt 400 for a pair of SDC's and/or a large SDC was too little, I'd probably drop the 320!

[Frusciantefan]

Thanks a lot!

[nedorama]

Sennheiser e906 (not the cheaper 609). Great on guitar cabs as well as toms. I haven't looked back from using a '57 on my amps.

LDC - what about a Rode K2? Good tube LDC for the budget without breaking the bank.

[kafka]

Originally Posted by Jazz Noise

The more I use Beyerdynamic M201's, the more I start to feel they'd make an awful lot of other mics redundant. They're certainly impressive on cabs and have this general ability to just translate your source cleanly. Snare, guitar, voice, toms. Whatever! I even used them as OH's once!

Originally Posted by nedorama

Sennheiser e906 (not the cheaper 609). Great on guitar cabs as well as toms. I haven't looked back from using a '57 on my amps.

The M201 and the e906 are my main mics for guitar cabs. The M201 is the more versatile of the two, but the e906 is equally good on guitar cabs. There's a bass rolloff and slight presence peak on the e906 that make it somewhat more aggressive than the M201 on guitars. However, the e906 is a lot flatter than the 609. I haven't used my 609 or SM57 in a long time, particularly after going to the M201 and the e906.

Lately I've been recommending that everyone's first mic should be an M201. It's versatile, dependable, neutral across it's pickup pattern, has great off-axis rejection, has good output, and isn't very expensive. If I had started off with M201's, I would probably have owned a lot fewer mics over the years, would have saved a lot of time and money, and probably would have learned a lot more about how sound really works.

[verve92]

SM57 the industry standard for mic'ing guitar amps especially. Less than $100.
No need to go crazy with expensive mics unless you have a full professional studio.
It's like putting a tire made for a Ferrari on a Toyota.
JM2C