Microphones, anything and everything

[Spyderg0d]

I've recently got into the magic of recording and quality live sound. I just received my ksm313 yesterday and it was like a door opened from my monitor! Granted it's not in everyone's wheel house of price tags, but I found it overwhelmingly better sounding than a sm series or senhiezer e series.
Or atleast it reproduced the sound coming from my speaker cab better, by alot. So this lead me to wonder, why aren't there any microphone reviews on here to compare cons or pros, negating price tags? I'd like to know what you have, why you like it, how you use it. And then what you DONT like about it, because that's JUST as important as all the overly positive reviews everything has from sales teams and paid yuutoobers.

Hopefully this can build into a helpful guide of honesty for anyone who is looking for particulars or specific situations, or maybe even spice up what they currently do!

 

[BluesForDan]

microphones are a tad subjective IMHO. A lot of people don't seem to understand how to use them properly, or they are unable to accept what they hear on playback sounds like crap because the source was crap. Mics don't lie. Then there's the whole environment where the sound is being produced, what polar pattern is being employed, placement, gain structure of the signal chain, preamp quality or lack thereof, EQ, compression, effects, post production mixing and mastering.

 

[Spyderg0d]

Eh. Think your making it subjective. It's less the mic and more sound abilities at that point. I think 1 of the major reasons for liking any mic is making all that simpler, needing less mastering to get where you want to be.

 

[BRMarshall]

I think some microphones seem to work better with different voices. I used an SM58 Beta for several years as a live vocal mic and was happy with it. A few years ago I bought a few to compare. The Sennheiser 835 didn’t work well with my voice but the Audix OM2 worked just a little better than the Shure. However, the Telefunken M80 ended my search. To me, it just sounds clearer than the others I’ve used and I’ve not had any feedback issues. If you’re looking for a good live vocal mic, the M80 might be worth a try. It’s not cheap, but not crazy either. The right mic means you only buy one.

 

[JohnH]

Its a great idea to have a mic thread now and again. There seems to be almost as much to know and like about them as amps and guitars.

Down here in Oz, we pay heaps for overseas gear. But with mics, we have Rode built here and they are top pro quality and very affordable.

Rode M1 is a very good live vocal dynamic mic, super tough high quality build with a smooth and airy high end, more like a 58 beta. Its a bit less output than an SM58, but well within range of any modern mixer or pre. I picked it as my band vocal mic but its currently being used by my son for voice acting and its ideal in his non-studio set up due to its excellent noise and handling rejection, and its nice range

I also have a pair of Rode M5 small-diaphragm condensers, matched pair, very nice low noise and full range. They are fantastic for acoustic instruments, can mic a studio amp and I currently have one as my online voice mic.

 

[BluesForDan]

I have a couple of Rode mics. Used to have a pair of the NT5 but sold them before I ever got a chance to use them, along with a ton of other stuff in The Great Carload Sale of '05

 

[Spyderg0d]

I used to run in stereo with a senhiezer e609 and sm57. The senhiezer lacked any bass, which was good if you were stuck in a thumpy club or had a more boomy metal tone. The sm57 seemed "dry" sounding as it misses alot of mid range detail and had too much higher frequency detail.
I had an akg 120 phantom, which was super clear but also had alot of top end focus, deffinatly a vocal mic along with the sm57 Moreno than instrument imo.

 

[BluesForDan]

was that for live sound reinforcement? I don't have much experience with that. I've done a fair bit of home recording with assorted dynamic and condenser mics. Problem I ran into was the better the mic, the more outside noise it picked up. There's a reason why studios are sound-proofed. Even with my own home, the cost of getting a studio grade sound proofing solution is way out of my budget. The best solution is to move far away to the country side, and hopefully don't have a neighbor with a fleet of off-road vehicles running unrestricted exhausts. Don't ask me how I know about that.

 

[Spyderg0d]

was that for live sound reinforcement? I don't have much experience with that. I've done a fair bit of home recording with assorted dynamic and condenser mics. Problem I ran into was the better the mic, the more outside noise it picked up. There's a reason why studios are sound-proofed. Even with my own home, the cost of getting a studio grade sound proofing solution is way out of my budget. The best solution is to move far away to the country side, and hopefully don't have a neighbor with a fleet of off-road vehicles running unrestricted exhausts. Don't ask me how I know about that.

Both. Stereo is an awsome set of variables. It's a pita to spend the time and get all the mics in just the right spots to get the best of both working together. But either merging them, panning them hard or even both can add depths or highlights without having to create a billion other tracks with effects and eq that can over complicate the mix.
For live it thickens the stage up drastically depending how different the mics are. Which the placement comes into play again as any setup has very little time to get specific positioning. Ya always can get close, and let the sound guy do what he's paid to do.

 

[BRMarshall]

Telefunken M80 - great dynamic mic. I would really recommend giving one a try. Many places have a return policy, check to make sure it includes mics, and see how it works in a given situation. I’m a true believer.

 

[Calebz]

These days I'm using an SM7b for almost everything I do at home except acoustic guitar. It's gotten so noisy over the years around where I live now, that it's nearly impossible to use condenser mics. In addition to great noise rejection, the 7b has a pretty reliable response in almost any situation.

 

[TonalEuphoria]

Finding the right mics for what you're looking to do when you're buying them one by one, is the same as buying guitar gear. You just don't know till you've got it in part.

 

[Trelwheen]

Even being mostly a solo woodshed hermit recording type of creature I've still ended up with a couple of dozen different mics for different uses.

Condensers:
--------
Telefunken U47
Neumann/InnerTube U87
Neumann U89
Neumann U47FET
2 x Blue Kiwi
Cathedral Pipes Notre Dame
Cathedral Pipes Reg Dom

Ribbons
--------
2 x AEA R44C
2 x Beyerdynamic M160
Beyerdynamic M500
2 x Royer R121

Dynamics
--------
Sennheiser MD441
2 x Sennheiser MD421
3 X Unidyne SM57
UNIDYNE SM77

My all time favorite mics are my R44C pair. Pros: they sound spectabulatious on everything. Cons: they're 4 grand apiece and you have to have a super heavy duty mic stand to hold them up, as they weigh as much as your granddaddy's shotgun

 

[TonalEuphoria]

Even being mostly a solo woodshed hermit recording type of creature I've still ended up with a couple of dozen different mics for different uses.

Condensers:
--------
Telefunken U47
Neumann/InnerTube U87
Neumann U89
Neumann U47FET
2 x Blue Kiwi
Cathedral Pipes Notre Dame
Cathedral Pipes Reg Dom

Ribbons
--------
2 x AEA R44C
2 x Beyerdynamic M160
Beyerdynamic M500
2 x Royer R121

Dynamics
--------
Sennheiser MD441
2 x Sennheiser MD421
3 X Unidyne SM57
UNIDYNE SM77

My all time favorite mics are my R44C pair. Pros: they sound spectabulatious on everything. Cons: they're 4 grand apiece and you have to have a super heavy duty mic stand to hold them up, as they weigh as much as your granddaddy's shotgun

A lot of nice mikes. You've got a good spread of mike capability to me to do quite a lot. Are you recording drums too?

 

[Trelwheen]

A lot of nice mikes. You've got a good spread of mike capability to me to do quite a lot. Are you recording drums too?

Thanks!

Yes, I do record drums and other percussion stuff

U47FET on the kick, R121s on crash and ride, MD421s and SM57s on toms, SM77 on snare. M500 on hi hat. Depending on whether I want bright or dark, either Kiwis on overheads for bright, or M160s for dark.

Always R44s as room mics.

 

[JohnH]

My son is using my Rode M1 all the time for voice recording. And he's in the UK and I'm in Australia.

I'm really happy he's using it but I was kinda missing it. But, for anyone down here, Belfield Music have currently dropped the price to $129 AUD, plus there's a further coupon discount available. I just received one shipped in Sydney for $115 AUD. (that's $77 USD), for a great SM58-beating dynamic mic!

 

[TonalEuphoria]

Thanks!

Yes, I do record drums and other percussion stuff

U47FET on the kick, R121s on crash and ride, MD421s and SM57s on toms, SM77 on snare. M500 on hi hat. Depending on whether I want bright or dark, either Kiwis on overheads for bright, or M160s for dark.

Always R44s as room mics.

Been too long coming back to this thread. But that's awesome. Recording drums is that step up from just a project studio to me. And you've got the mics for it. I can't say I never will with mine, but my studio is just for my personal use as a songwriter, guitarist and vocalists and I need to collect quite a few more mics.

 

[Dogs of Doom]

I've been seeing an ad for this mic:

BL8 - sE Electronics

The BL8: Bullet-proof, built like a tank and ready for the road, your secret weapon for a variety of applications such as kick drums.

seelectronics.com

BL-8 large (for a boundary) diaphragm boundary mic.



you can change the condenser element in it...

w/ stock BL-8 element, it gets 20-20Khz w/ a freq response of:



amazingly flat, in the 40-2Khz range, w/ 2 mid-scoop & low freq roll-off features. (switchable)

if using on kick drum, it would pair well w/ one of these pads:

Kicker Kick Drum Muffler

Throw away that stinky pillow, those duct-taped mildewed towels, that broken sandbag. Modern drummers deserve a high-tech solution. Kicker 4.0 is the answer!

www.sonitususa.com

as they have removable pieces, so you can put it in, like this:

But, boundary mic's like this, work great for mic'ing a bass guitar, cello (especially, on a wood floor) & even piano. Use a couple of more traditional boundaries in a closed top & one of these on the floor, or, you can use w/ a traditional X-Y above & one of these below for a good base (bass)...