AKG C34

[Radioking]

I was wondering what all you gearslutz thought of this mic as I haven't seen it talked about too much on this or any forum. I was lucky enough to pick one up at an auction yesterday at a good price & it looks like an interesting bit of gear.

[jnorman]

it is a favorite of ben maas, fifth circle, in LA, as a main mic for live small ensemble micing. he also likes it as a spot on pianos. it is a very nice mic - hope you enjoy it.

[drew]

I used to own one. I didn't use it much so I sold it years ago. Who knows you might have bought mine!!! It's like having 4 C451s clustered together. I couldn't find enough uses for it to keep it around.

[fifthcircle]

Yup- love it.

It is one of those "works well on just about everything mics."

I use it as Jnorman said on small ensembles (great on string quartets), but I've used it as a piano mic, drum mic (not as "big" sounding as my 426, but still a great drum sound), acoustic guitars...

The sound is similar to a 451, but I find it to be a bit smoother on the top end- still has a nice extended top, just not as much edge. Having a pattern control with 9 positions for each mic means you have a heck of a lot of control over how it picks up... X-Y, M-S, Blumlein and every half-way permutation is possible.

--Ben

[Radioking]

Thanks for the replies, I bought it so that I could improve my stereo recordings as the only pair of mikes that I have are 2 414's & they are not that well matched (one is a little older than the other).
I am looking to use the C34 mostly as Drum O/h's, but also on the other sources mentioned, through an Amek 9098 DMA (with the M-S matrix) & will let you know how I get on
cheers

[nemosteve]

I use my C34 for location recordings of a vocal octet and solo performances of local area pipe organs. It is a workhorse for most applications. Remote pattern selection is a bonus. The C34 coupled to the Tascam HD-P2 is a great field kit.

[mparsons99]

Hi,

I've just acquired one of these mics but it needs repair. Somewhat 'scratchy' and intermittent. does anyone know where I can get this looked at?

[Teddy Ray]

Originally Posted by mparsons99

Hi,

I've just acquired one of these mics but it needs repair. Somewhat 'scratchy' and intermittent. does anyone know where I can get this looked at?

yes.

info@pdrefahl.de

info@drefahlaudio.com

drefahlaudio microphone service repair reskinning mikrofonreparaturen

the best.

OR land audio services

Land Audio Services
Authorized AKG-USA Repair Center
471 Walton Ferry Rd
Hendersonville, TN 37075
Office: 615-338-4443
Fax: 615-338-4478

[chorton]

New to this forum, and looking for any updated info on the AKG C34 microphone...apparently, the live sound company I work for has one that is never used, maybe once a year, and I feel like it's a shame to be wasting away.

First off, anyone have any idea of a fair market value for this mic? It has been tested and it appears to be in very good working order with the s42. Definitely used, so I wouldn't claim it to be in mint or like new condition. The shock mount is missing one of the elastics, so that may need to be replaced. Couldn't find any of these on ebay to get a sense for what they're selling...

While I'm at it, been going through a whole bunch of old AKG C451 (E and EB) parts (CK1, CK2, CK5, C22 heads), 10 db and 20db inline pads, a 3 ft long black thing, looks like a boom mount that screws into...anybody have any info on these and if they might have value to a studio out there? Unfortunately my searches have come up empty mostly so far.

Cheers all...feel free to reply or PM if you have any advice or info.