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#1
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Question about microphone quality/price.
Greetings,
I'm fleshing out an eventual home studio, and one thing I'm not so sure of is what kind of microphone I would like to get for my application. For now, assume that I will only need it for the occasional vocal but will much more than anything use it for my own sax work. (I'm not planning on miking my Vetta II amp to get it into my recording hardware, but rather, am going to use one of its outputs instead for my guitar.) About five years ago or so, I diddled around with a guy doing his own little home demos and we used a CAD 100 mic. I remember the thing being very sweet and capturing the sound of my intermediate-level alto sax very very nicely. He said it was relatively inexpensive, and, all things being equal, if someone (i.e. me) said, "You can't spend any more money on a mic than what you would spend on that now", I don't think I'd be going wrong to get one. However, it pays to research, and there's TONS of mics out there. So what I'm looking for some guidance on from the group is: (a) I'm not an audiophile per se, and as long as the sound I can get from a nice mic is impressive to me, then I'll be happy with it (b) Money's no object in the sense that up to a couple hundred is fine to pay, but even that still sticker-shocks me a bit (c) I am not going to be buying any Blue Bottle $3k mics (d) Where would I go to be able to test a mic like I would test headphones? (e) What style/type of mic do I want -- ribbon, cardiod, condenser, diagphragm, etc.? Any advice and direction is greatly appreciated! Thanks, Mike |
#2
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On 17 Jun 2005 13:52:37 -0700, "Zerex71" wrote:
Greetings, I'm fleshing out an eventual home studio, and one thing I'm not so sure of is what kind of microphone I would like to get for my application. For now, assume that I will only need it for the occasional vocal but will much more than anything use it for my own sax work. (I'm not planning on miking my Vetta II amp to get it into my recording hardware, but rather, am going to use one of its outputs instead for my guitar.) About five years ago or so, I diddled around with a guy doing his own little home demos and we used a CAD 100 mic. I remember the thing being very sweet and capturing the sound of my intermediate-level alto sax very very nicely. He said it was relatively inexpensive, and, all things being equal, if someone (i.e. me) said, "You can't spend any more money on a mic than what you would spend on that now", I don't think I'd be going wrong to get one. However, it pays to research, and there's TONS of mics out there. So what I'm looking for some guidance on from the group is: (a) I'm not an audiophile per se, and as long as the sound I can get from a nice mic is impressive to me, then I'll be happy with it (b) Money's no object in the sense that up to a couple hundred is fine to pay, but even that still sticker-shocks me a bit (c) I am not going to be buying any Blue Bottle $3k mics (d) Where would I go to be able to test a mic like I would test headphones? (e) What style/type of mic do I want -- ribbon, cardiod, condenser, diagphragm, etc.? Any advice and direction is greatly appreciated! Thanks, Mike The CAD's are great inexpensive mics and so are several others. Marshall, Octava, Rhodes. Pacific Pro Audio sells the Marshall 1 inch condenser as their own brand (called the PPA-1) for only $100. For under $200, the AKG 535EB is one of my favorites. If you are getting only one mic, I'd recommend a condenser. Most places won't let you test before you buy like headphones. You'll have to ask around. I don't think you want only one of any mic at any price range for any application I can easily think of however. Julian |
#3
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Julian wrote: On 17 Jun 2005 13:52:37 -0700, "Zerex71" wrote: Greetings, I'm fleshing out an eventual home studio, and one thing I'm not so sure of is what kind of microphone I would like to get for my application. For now, assume that I will only need it for the occasional vocal but will much more than anything use it for my own sax work. (I'm not planning on miking my Vetta II amp to get it into my recording hardware, but rather, am going to use one of its outputs instead for my guitar.) About five years ago or so, I diddled around with a guy doing his own little home demos and we used a CAD 100 mic. I remember the thing being very sweet and capturing the sound of my intermediate-level alto sax very very nicely. He said it was relatively inexpensive, and, all things being equal, if someone (i.e. me) said, "You can't spend any more money on a mic than what you would spend on that now", I don't think I'd be going wrong to get one. However, it pays to research, and there's TONS of mics out there. So what I'm looking for some guidance on from the group is: (a) I'm not an audiophile per se, and as long as the sound I can get from a nice mic is impressive to me, then I'll be happy with it (b) Money's no object in the sense that up to a couple hundred is fine to pay, but even that still sticker-shocks me a bit (c) I am not going to be buying any Blue Bottle $3k mics (d) Where would I go to be able to test a mic like I would test headphones? (e) What style/type of mic do I want -- ribbon, cardiod, condenser, diagphragm, etc.? Any advice and direction is greatly appreciated! Thanks, Mike The CAD's are great inexpensive mics and so are several others. Marshall, Octava, Rhodes. Pacific Pro Audio sells the Marshall 1 inch condenser as their own brand (called the PPA-1) for only $100. For under $200, the AKG 535EB is one of my favorites. If you are getting only one mic, I'd recommend a condenser. Most places won't let you test before you buy like headphones. You'll have to ask around. I don't think you want only one of any mic at any price range for any application I can easily think of however. Julian No, no, no..!! If your only buying one microphone get a Sure SM 57! They can be used for almost anything, plus they'll last for ever and you can get them for under $100.00 (US) bucks! |
#4
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On 18 Jun 2005 15:53:08 -0700, "
wrote: No, no, no..!! If your only buying one microphone get a Sure SM 57! They can be used for almost anything, plus they'll last for ever and you can get them for under $100.00 (US) bucks! Naw! For recording there are lots of condenser choices that'll sound way cleaner and flatter. The frequency response of a 57 is not exactly flat, dude. Now if you were asking what mic to get if you could only buy one for PA or maybe even PA / recording and I'd agree and also say a 57 or better still a SM58 because the pop filter is really useful. Julian |
#5
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Zerex71 wrote: Greetings, I'm fleshing out an eventual home studio, and one thing I'm not so sure of is what kind of microphone I would like to get for my application. For now, assume that I will only need it for the occasional vocal but will much more than anything use it for my own sax work. (I'm not planning on miking my Vetta II amp to get it into my recording hardware, but rather, am going to use one of its outputs instead for my guitar.) I strongly suggest having a mic (SM57 or 635A) available for micing the amp. Been there, done that ... '57's are cheap enough and plentiful used. About five years ago or so, I diddled around with a guy doing his own little home demos and we used a CAD 100 mic. I remember the thing being very sweet and capturing the sound of my intermediate-level alto sax very very nicely. He said it was relatively inexpensive, and, all things being equal, if someone (i.e. me) said, "You can't spend any more money on a mic than what you would spend on that now", I don't think I'd be going wrong to get one. However, it pays to research, and there's TONS of mics out there. So what I'm looking for some guidance on from the group is: (a) I'm not an audiophile per se, and as long as the sound I can get from a nice mic is impressive to me, then I'll be happy with it (b) Money's no object in the sense that up to a couple hundred is fine to pay, but even that still sticker-shocks me a bit A couple hundred bucks is still a cheap mic, but nowadays you can get real decent quality in this range (I have a lot of cheap mics!) (c) I am not going to be buying any Blue Bottle $3k mics (d) Where would I go to be able to test a mic like I would test headphones? Where are you ? Are you shopping used or new-only ? Try the local studios, or Sam Ash, Guitar Center, and so forth. I'm not saying you should buy from these guys but you can get to hear what they have in stock. (e) What style/type of mic do I want -- ribbon, cardiod, condenser, diagphragm, etc.? One of each! ;- Really - trust you own judgement. The CAD mics are good quality and you could do a whole lot worse. The CM400 model is a nice older model - I think the newer version is the M177 or M179. CAD also markets the GXL imports and I'm not familiar with these and I would say stay in the main product line. The RE20 works great on the bigger saxes but that's getting out of your range. good luck rd |
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