Raymond wrote:

greg wrote
Am looking into buying microphones to record the following:

-- solo guitar (mostly nylon string)

-- guitar and recorder

-- guitar, winds, tuba and voice

-- 2-guitars, recorder and voice

and possiblly other ensemble mixes.

A SDC (small diaphragm condenser) mic can yield good recordings for acoustic
instraments if... you have a nice live room to record them in. When you get
down to it, it all depends (after you get talented players and quality
instruments) on the design of the room you use. If you have no room built for
the task you can try a long hallway (wood floor) in your house. Many large
churches have good sounding halls/santuarey's to.

I've been told to get Oktava 012's by several people (small diaphragm,
with interchangeable capsule for different situations), but have also
been told that CAD 300s (or equivalent) would better suit my needs for
good sound.

I don't know about those mic's, I've been using a pair of AT 3032's (omni) and
a AT 4047sv (LDC omni) for some steel string guitar and African drum
recording's in the front hall of my house. I used an SM 57 as well with great
results.
The SM57 worked best for the Negombe (large African drum), the condenser mic's
didn't do the very low frequencies it produced to much justice. The smaller
Dejombe drum's where fine with the AT 3032, if I'd been using a larger room
maybe things would have been different.

If so, what would people's recommendations? I would be willing to spend
up to $500 for a pair of decent mics.

You can find some good mic's for $500 bucks, The 3032's where about $200 each
and the 4047sv was around $500. (do some shopping and compare sound and price)

Thanks, these both look quite promising.

gms--