Workhouse mic for vocals, acoustic guitar and drum room mic

[dave_w]

I'm looking to spend around $1200.
What would be your choice?

[mdjice]

C 414 uls

[tINY]

You could get 3 good mics for $1200....



-tINY

[toledo3]

An AEA R84, and whatever that 60ish dollar crown PZM is.

[mikethedrummer]

Originally Posted by mdjice

C 414 uls

youd have to get it used, i veto =p
akg c414b xlii
get it brand new so it has a warranty

incredible mic, crystal clear vocals and guitar, very accurate representation of a drum kit in a room.

if you can swing for a matched pair, they are amazing as overheads, for toms, stereo recordings of guitars, pianos, strings brass etc
not to mention they have these fancy LEDs that light up w the 48v
clients are suckers for pretty lights, especially when the hear the result thumbsup

[EleKtriKaz]

If you don't already have an SM7, that is a fantastic all-around mic. Awesome on vocals, especially rock vocals. Perfect for a crushed mono room mic. Excellent on electric guitar. It's definitely not a go-to mic for acoustic guitar, but with the money you save you could probably pick up a used pair of Audio Technica 4051a's or if you stretch your budget by about another $100 you could probably swing a used SM7 and a Mojave MA-200 tube condenser, which would be an excellent compliment to the SM7 in all the applications you mentioned just in a different flavor.

Good luck.

[mdjice]

Originally Posted by mikethedrummer

youd have to get it used, i veto =p
akg c414b xlii
get it brand new so it has a warranty

incredible mic, crystal clear vocals and guitar, very accurate representation of a drum kit in a room.

if you can swing for a matched pair, they are amazing as overheads, for toms, stereo recordings of guitars, pianos, strings brass etc
not to mention they have these fancy LEDs that light up w the 48v
clients are suckers for pretty lights, especially when the hear the result thumbsup

the ULS is a total different beats then the new ones. I wouldn't recommend the newer ones to anybody

[warhead]

Originally Posted by tINY

You could get 3 good mics for $1200....



-tINY

Tis true.

dave_w, what do you have now and where are you trying to go with your sound?

I love the R84 suggestion, but if he doesn't have one great large condenser it might not make sense just yet. For a ribbon suggestion though...took the words right outta my mouth.

War

[steelyfan]

Originally Posted by dave_w

I'm looking to spend around $1200.
What would be your choice?

That's a terrible way to start a thread. "Here's the money. what to get?"
Don't do that. You'll be sold something that people who don't know what kind of music you make will turn you onto.
What if Portisheads latest albulm "Third" was what you were into.
You wouldn't need a $1200 mic to get that sound,
Only a $15,000 compressor! LOL!
Really, though.
What type of music?
Guitar,vocals,drums?

Beta58.acoustic
Beta58 vocals
Beta58 kick

I wish I had someone tell me this when I was buying mics.
I could make albulms for the rest of my life using only this mic.
You really don't need to capture any other frequencies that this mic can't hear.
You spend all your time trying to "hide" all the "highendness" fancy mics
can provide.Especially if you use mastering pluggins.
Really!
Have you ever created a song that sounded great, but wanted to give it that "pro" zing? So you slap one of those killer master plugs on, and WHAMMO! Sounds killer now, alot more hi-fi, sounds professional for sure, except now you need to tame just a few high freqencies that are poping out,they sound a bit too sizzly or harsh. Now go back and look at the mics you used to capture these offending sounds, and which mics sound great
in the mix afterwards. The average mics now sound great.
This is only an example for those using mastering pluggins, and just something I've noticed. I think badass expensive mics were necesarry
back in the day, but not anymore.
I mean, look what technology has done for pluggin compressors.

CUE THE TOMATOES!!!.
Steelyfan out......(in a hurry)..he.he.

[AntillesSound]

Either an SM7 or a TLM49. Always my go tos. Also, check out the Audix SCX25. That thing is a steal for the price and sounds killer on just about everything. Only about $700 too.

[dave_w]

Thanks for the advice everyone. I ended up spending more like $2700 CDN on a matched pair of AKG C414's. Whoops.

[mdjice]

Originally Posted by dave_w

Thanks for the advice everyone. I ended up spending more like $2700 CDN on a matched pair of AKG C414's. Whoops.

thumbsup

[Santiago]

Originally Posted by steelyfan

That's a terrible way to start a thread. "Here's the money. what to get?"
Don't do that. You'll be sold something that people who don't know what kind of music you make will turn you onto.
What if Portisheads latest albulm "Third" was what you were into.
You wouldn't need a $1200 mic to get that sound,
Only a $15,000 compressor! LOL!
Really, though.
What type of music?
Guitar,vocals,drums?

Beta58.acoustic
Beta58 vocals
Beta58 kick

I wish I had someone tell me this when I was buying mics.
I could make albulms for the rest of my life using only this mic.
You really don't need to capture any other frequencies that this mic can't hear.
You spend all your time trying to "hide" all the "highendness" fancy mics
can provide.Especially if you use mastering pluggins.
Really!
Have you ever created a song that sounded great, but wanted to give it that "pro" zing? So you slap one of those killer master plugs on, and WHAMMO! Sounds killer now, alot more hi-fi, sounds professional for sure, except now you need to tame just a few high freqencies that are poping out,they sound a bit too sizzly or harsh. Now go back and look at the mics you used to capture these offending sounds, and which mics sound great
in the mix afterwards. The average mics now sound great.
This is only an example for those using mastering pluggins, and just something I've noticed. I think badass expensive mics were necesarry
back in the day, but not anymore.
I mean, look what technology has done for pluggin compressors.

CUE THE TOMATOES!!!.
Steelyfan out......(in a hurry)..he.he.

Actually, I have not tried the 58 beta on kick, but I can vouch that it sounds alright on acoustic guitar, at the 12th fret (of course on vocals too). It's not a hi-fi sound, but actually very usable, great for blues slide guitar amongst other things

[fallforward]

Originally Posted by dave_w

Thanks for the advice everyone. I ended up spending more like $2700 CDN on a matched pair of AKG C414's. Whoops.

those will last forever, and you can pass them down to your children. Plus with all of the polar patterns you have all of the stereo miking options that those mics lend. With those two mics you can record anything, any way you want. You won't regret it.

Have fun, and go make some music!
Robby

[Teddy Ray]

the newish 414s are junque, like most modern akgs.

get a pair of audio technica 4050s..also multi pattern, LD, but much more flexible and better sounding... I would never want to be without mine.

best worker bee LDC ever.

[dave_w]

Originally Posted by fallforward

those will last forever, and you can pass them down to your children. Plus with all of the polar patterns you have all of the stereo miking options that those mics lend. With those two mics you can record anything, any way you want. You won't regret it.

Have fun, and go make some music!
Robby

I used them last night as drum overheads on a live jam with some friends. We were all in awe over how much on an improvement they were. I'm on cloud nine.

[dave gross]

Aea r84

[Tommy-boy]

Originally Posted by Teddy Ray

the newish 414s are junque, like most modern akgs.

Who else believes this is true (and why)?

[fallforward]

Originally Posted by dave_w

I used them last night as drum overheads on a live jam with some friends. We were all in awe over how much on an improvement they were. I'm on cloud nine.

That's awesome man! Make sure you schedule some time to experiment with all the different stereo micing techniques you can do with those mics. Just to hear what the difference is between: XY, AB, ORTF, M/S, and Blumlein, is an education in and of itself.

Have fun!
Robby