Dirt Cheap Mics That Sound Great.

[gouge]

out of interest here is the not so cheap version for comparison with the royer r121 into vp28 both with and without the rodenberg panned left and right as per above.

i generally use 2 mics on each take to get a fuller sound, so thiese are the same takes as the ksm137 above just it's the royer. not sure if that makes sense.

i did add in some high passing at around 90hz to clean it up. the vp28 has filters built in and i set the high pass on 40hz on the premap but it wasn't enough. could probably go a little higher again really.

[gouge]

some more samples from yesterday with a sennheiser e609 silver and the sytek preamp.

first clip is custom egc out of phase into tiny terror with orange 2x12 cab. mic set about 10" out.

second clip is custom egc out of phase into vintage green soviet bigmuff into tiny terror setup.

third clip is both guitars panned left and right.

[kdoria]

long time listener... first time caller...

electro voice n/d 468...

got my first one for 40 bucks...

immediately got a second one for 70...

works great on guitar cabs for me...

[gouge]

thought i'd kick this thread up again and add some more samples.

files 1-3 are raw files straight to daw.

file 1 - $200 rm7 in front of kit
file 2 - $150 d202 beater side of kick
file 3 - $150 m201 underside snare

file 4 is files 1-3 combined itb with more free plugins used than i probably should have used.

[junior]

Not sure if it was mentioned, but the EV 635A is good and cheap. Probably the best $30 I've ever spent... MXL 603s can be had for about the same price used...

[ears2thesky]

not sure if it was mentioned, but the ev 635a is good and cheap. Probably the best $30 i've ever spent...

Ummm... If you would have read ANY of the thread you might have noticed it mentioned a few times.

really need to get my hands on one or two 635a's.

i also have to agree with everyone here about the ev635a

635a with the ma-5

it can also work out nice on a bass cab in conjunction with a di:
Get your crunchy midrange from the 635a, and blend it in.

the 635a sounds great close miked on guitar cabs. No proximity effect.

this thread, and a few others i've read over the years, convinced me to finally pickup a pair of 635a's.

i eventually get tired of everything i've tried there and will give the 635a's a chance one day.

the ev635 comes back to mind.

i quickly whipped up a wall of ev635a for you.

+1 ev 635a

+1 EV 635a Tons of vocal examples on 60's/70's TV shows like Johnny Cash, Glen Campbell, John Denver, Soul Train, Shindig, Hullabaloo, Hee Haw, etc.

...but near the top of any list of good cheap mics should be the lowly ev 635a:

Please read threads you post replies to.

[junior]

Originally Posted by ears2thesky

Ummm... If you would have read ANY of the thread you might have noticed it mentioned a few times.

Please read threads you post replies to.

How long did it take you to quote all of those posts? Hahaha...

Anyway, I didn't realize that it was a requirement to read every post in every thread before you're allowed to post(?). It's not like folks have lives or jobs or anything like that... Thanks for straightening me out, Kojak.

[ears2thesky]

[erok_skys]

ADK SC-1

For under $100 each the 2 I have work very well on overheads and acoustic. I mainly use in my home studio.

[gouge]

would be good to get some more samples coming through.

has anyone got any cheap oddball mics sounds they liked?

[2manyrocks]

Radio Shack 33-1070 on drums. Not yet posted in this thread based on the search tool.

[chessparov]

How about about the EV 635a? It's awesome. Oops had a "senior moment"- AFTER using the search function.

Actually just happy somebody picked one up for only $30-great score!

IMHO the thing about the 635a is they're generally good for BGV's "as-is" with mild compression. But for lead vocals in pop music, prefer to really slam them with harder compression/limiting to bring the vocal more forward. YMMV of course.

Chris

[sania44]

Rta mic called dbx rta-m, also comes with some dbx driveracks. New around 99 bucks, sounds very nice on vocals and some instruments.

[vizcities]

Mostly reiteration, but, yeah, the GLS ES-57, Behringer C-2 and XM1800S and XM8500S, EV635a, CAD M179, and AT Pro37 are all versatile steals under $150; the C-2s, in particular, have been surprisingly useful when I've run out of bright, detailed mics in various sessions, as they sound WAY better than their $30 price tag should allow. For a little more, KEL's HM-2D is fantastic; if I didn't prefer my SM7B to a D112 on kick, the KEL's clear superiority on my vox would be more than reason enough to resell it. (That said, a used D112 is also a great, cheap investment - it's a great starter kick mic that actually works just as well, if not better, on bass cabs in tandem with a DI/room mic.) I also hear great things about CAD e70s (which are multicapsule, natch) and Little Blondies. Oh, and my Studio Projects VTB1 pre, while not a mojo box by any stretch, was well worth the modest investment - for a "learning the ropes" pre with pro-ish options (DI, polarity switch, quality meters, tube blend), it's been a nice, clean, instructive recording "sandbox." I feel like its given me an inexpensive appreciation of what pres can and should accomplish... once again, a pretty amazing feat at its price point.

[gouge]

not sure if it's been mentioned but the ev635a is a great value for money mic.

must try micing a kit with 2 635a's some time......

here's a sample of the 635a as mono overhead. i just chucked it up and left it and didn't bother with finding the best spot.

added in some kick from a mic placed between the snare and kick beater.
some wood room from a free reverb plugin and about 2db of compression from the free molot compressor. all preamps are from a soundcraft ghost.
mixed on headphones....



ok, i'm bored here.........

[RoadToNever]

That captured the drum kit pretty nicely.

[gouge]

cheers RTN,

always good to get some positive feedback.

i was pretty happy with it also. it was a first time trying those 2 mics out on a kit.

will definitely be putting them in those positions again.

loved the ev on mono overhead. was really surprised at how well it balanced the kit. i didn't even muck with it. just put it there and moved on.

the kick mic in that smaple combined with the m380 on front of kick is thunderous! i've been searching for a while now for a kick combination and managed to get it for that session. so really happy with that.

[pevan]

Originally Posted by sania44

Rta mic called dbx rta-m, also comes with some dbx driveracks. New around 99 bucks, sounds very nice on vocals and some instruments.

I have this omni when I used to do tons of live work. I was using it in the studio with great reaults , it just stopped working and I just can't seem to be able to figure out why :( I would love to use it as a mono drum room mic

[eastsidetone]

The Heil PR-20 can be bought in a "utility package" that cuts down the price by only sending you a bag with a clip and one grill.

For $129.00 I really think that makes this mic a STEAL! Especially when you consider that it has the same element as the PR-22 which retails for $169.00

The track below was recorded with a Heil PR-20 "utility." going straight into the built in pres of the Presonus FireStudio Project.

The singer was a Cuban MC who free styled her vocal while the band was playing live. The example below has no compression or limiting on it and is completely dry.

[2manyrocks]

Well, I think the two 635a's on the drumkit gouge recorded sound pretty dang good. I had recorded a kit with the rat shack 33-1070's, but I think I'll have to give the 635a's a shot.

I'm curious what the PR20 recording would sound like after some FX.

[eastsidetone]

Originally Posted by 2manyrocks

Well, I think the two 635a's on the drumkit gouge recorded sound pretty dang good. I had recorded a kit with the rat shack 33-1070's, but I think I'll have to give the 635a's a shot.

I'm curious what the PR20 recording would sound like after some FX.

After adding in the usual suspects(think HP filter, eq, compression,delay etc) it sounds quite good to my ears.

I have a whole mess of mics that go past the $150 limit that this thread started out with but sometimes this mic winds up being picked over those. That's not to say that it will outperform all of those others but reinforces the theory that some folks just sound better with a dynamic.

Anyways feel free to download the .wav and see for yourself, but please don't use it on any remixes.

Also it is worth noting that the recording you heard was captured while an entire band was playing live in the studio's live room. In other words she was not in the iso room and no gobos were used; this mic has some crazy good rejection

[2manyrocks]

Originally Posted by eastsidetone

The Heil PR-20 can be bought in a "utility package" that cuts down the price by only sending you a bag with a clip and one grill.

For $129.00 I really think that makes this mic a STEAL! Especially when you consider that it has the same element as the PR-22 which retails for $169.00

The track below was recorded with a Heil PR-20 "utility." going straight into the built in pres of the Presonus FireStudio Project.

The singer was a Cuban MC who free styled her vocal while the band was playing live. The example below has no compression or limiting on it and is completely dry.

I listened to this .wav, and it made me curious whether there is a processed version somewhere to hear the before/after....

Now I was tempted to loop gouge's drumkit with the 635a's.....

[manzini]

An old audio-technica atm31r ('r' is important) phantom version.

I do not know if the new low-ends Audio-Technica's mics work as well, but every time I see one of these grandpas, usually for a few bucks, I get other.

[rojaros]

SE Electronics X1R...

See here for more details:

Cascade X-15 vers. SE X1R pair through different preamps shootout

There is also a link to a comparison video between se x1r and cascade x-15

[eastsidetone]

Originally Posted by 2manyrocks

I listened to this .wav, and it made me curious whether there is a processed version somewhere to hear the before/after....

Now I was tempted to loop gouge's drumkit with the 635a's.....

Okay okay you got it out of me.

Here is the processed track, I won't be able to show you the full song for quite some time but trust me it sits well in the mix :D

[gouge]

Originally Posted by 2manyrocks

Now I was tempted to loop gouge's drumkit with the 635a's.....

hey, glad you thought it came out ok, i've been working so hard at improving the results i'm getting.

i would prefer the samples i put up get used more for hearing a mic, rather than for loops.

besides i am sure there are much better drums samples out there than what i have contributed.

[eastsidetone]

Originally Posted by gouge

hey, glad you thought it came out ok, i've been working so hard at improving the results i'm getting.

i would prefer the samples i put up get used more for hearing a mic, rather than for loops.

besides i am sure there are much better drums samples out there than what i have contributed.

DITTO!

[gouge]

that mic achieves an amazing level of rejection eastsidetone!

[gravyface]

Originally Posted by gouge

that mic achieves an amazing level of rejection eastsidetone!

It's called the Buchanan Hammer for a reason; meant to be used for beat reporters on location, in harsh weather, etc.

I use my 635s primarily for tom mics and guitar cabinets now, but I've pulled off some Daptone-esque heavy funk tones on the kit by using it under crash stand, pointed up between snare and kick (towards drummer's knee). Gets a nice picture of the kick; squash and EQ to taste.

[phillyn]

Another vote for Audix i5. Beats sm57 in my book


sent from my Galaxy Nexus