The Mics You have Dumped, and Why...

[sonare]

AKG 451 (the original version) way too bright and metallic. Ideal for recording breaking glass, however.

KM184- See above

KM140- See above

M222- not enough difference between these and CMC6-- and I turned them into 4 Sennheiser 80XX

MK2H capsules-- liked the MK2S better

And finally the stupidest move EVER made:

KM84-- needed the cash for a house down payment. Not the entire payment, of course.

After reading this thread it appears to offer new material for a flamewar on Earthworks products......

Rich

[LX3]

Originally Posted by Omicron_9

Josephson C-42. It was the mayor of Hiss City. Tracks sounded like they were recorded next to a steam radiator. IIRC, self-noise in the mid-20 dB range. Unusable.

-0.9

Wow, really? They were on my "to check out" (which usually means "buy) list. The Mercenary KM84 clone thing may have jumped up the list a few places.

[Omicron_9]

Originally Posted by LX3

Wow, really? They were on my "to check out" (which usually means "buy) list. The Mercenary KM84 clone thing may have jumped up the list a few places.

Really and truly. Check the Josephson website for exact specs, but I think I recall EIN = 24 dB. SSSSSSSSSS. I couldn't get rid of it quickly enough.

Low EIN regards,
-0.9

[Annex2]

Dumped my AKG D112 cause i have a half dozen other mics that work better on the kick for me. No regrets.

[peeder]

BTW, I was running through a bunch of mics at another room today, and I forgot just how awful the entire Shure Beta series was.

I can't believe Shure didn't yank this line within a year. It is a rolling disaster for the brand. These are very pretty looking mics, but that's the only thing remotely pretty about them.

[andy_simpson]

In a cupboard somewhere in the workshop storage area I have a 'dumped' ribbon mic design, which was shelved after being fundamentally superceded by newer design concepts.

This one has 20kg of dangerous, huge neodymium magnet structure (enough to lift a car) and is very tricky to handle, so is 'safely' hidden (dumped) away where nothing sharp & metallic might fly across the room towards it (though nearby CRTs can develop a purple tint).

Andy

[Corran]

Woah, that's kinda cool. I can see it now...you have that thing set up, recording an orchestra, and the chime set starts moving mysteriously towards the front of the stage...and then half the percussion flies up and over the orchestra! That would be awesome.

So what were you thinking, that a super-extra-strong magnet would of course induce a larger output for the ribbon mic? But 20kg?! You certainly couldn't put that on a mic stand.

[andy_simpson]

Originally Posted by Corran

Woah, that's kinda cool. I can see it now...you have that thing set up, recording an orchestra, and the chime set starts moving mysteriously towards the front of the stage...and then half the percussion flies up and over the orchestra! That would be awesome.

So what were you thinking, that a super-extra-strong magnet would of course induce a larger output for the ribbon mic? But 20kg?! You certainly couldn't put that on a mic stand.

Actually, the extra strong magnets were not to raise output level - since the gap flux would simply saturate - but increase acoustic bandwidth, which was the result.

Yes, during testing we were very careful with our mobile phones, watches, keys (we had some minor injuries from car keys in the pocket), computers & sharp implements - we had to gaffer tape the stanley knife to the bench for safety!

We actually used two mic stands to hold the microphone in the air (& prohibited anybody from passing underneath for fear of a fatal accident), which were braced with a suspension-bridge style tension arrangement. On the few times we used the microphone as a drum overhead it was quite nerve-wracking.

Andy

[Chris Wilson]

Originally Posted by peeder

BTW, I was running through a bunch of mics at another room today, and I forgot just how awful the entire Shure Beta series was.

This is interesting because though not fit for recording, I've never had too many problems with Beta 87's on a live stage.

When a singer shows up with a shinny new Neumann KK 104, however, I know it's going to be a struggle.

[TornadoTed]

AKG C3000 Pair - Just horrible, harsh, not at all detailed and really 2D. Out of all the mics I've owned these were the ones I hated the most!

Josephson C42 - It was ok but I never really got along with it.

I've thinned the SM57's out to just 3 now because I prefer the wonderful Beyer M201.

I've thinned the MD421's out to just 3 now because I prefer CAD M179's on toms and the wonderful Beyer M88 on kick and bass cabs.

[Peacock]

AKG D112
Sennheiser 421's
Sure sm57,s (still have 2 left)
Telefunken M-16
Soundelux U195
Rodes NT5
New AKG 414 (kept my old one)
Neumann TLM 103

[Mick@itc]

Whatttt...I didn't know we were allowed to sell old mics and gear an stuff.....

I thought the rule was get more drawers...