Mic recommendations

B

B2D

SDUGF Riffologist Supremö
Hey guys. I'd like to buy a few microphones for recording, and I need some suggestions on what to get.

Need 1: Guitar cab mic. I want it to be able to capture high gain/high spl sounds very well. The old SM57 is the fallback of course but can anyone recommend something thats slightly more refined or well-regarded?

Need 2: Vocals, acoustic guitars, some room micing. Condenser would be preferable.

I'm looking for something around $125-$150 used.
 
Re: Mic recommendations

Audix i5 and Sennheiser e609 are well regarded and not too pricey. They have less midrange than the SM57 to me... if your budget allows it and your setup allows you to simultaneously record two signals try purchasing one of those and an SM57, they compliment each other well.
 
Re: Mic recommendations

GaryCancer said:
Audix i5 and Sennheiser e609 are well regarded and not too pricey. They have less midrange than the SM57 to me... if your budget allows it and your setup allows you to simultaneously record two signals try purchasing one of those and an SM57, they compliment each other well.
Click to expand...

Those were two of the ones I was thinking of. I remember Virtual Kevorkian posting some i5 demos a while back and it seemed smoother than a 57. I've had a LOT of soundmen use e609's on my rig in clubs, but never had a detailed look at the sound.

btw I think I had that exact image as an avatar about 4 years ago haha.
 
Re: Mic recommendations

Royer 121 is pretty well regarded for micing guitar cabs. You'd have to pimp yourself out to 130 fat chicks for about 10 dollars a pop in order to get one though...or 13 REALLY fat chicks for 100 dollars a pop.

The i5 and the e609 silver are very nice mics. I've got both...I'm sticking with the 57 for my current demo, but it leaves a lot to be desired. For consistency, though...my Palmer PDI-09 takes the cake :D. Not a mic though.

I've been considering getting a Nady RSM4 and doing these mods to it, cause it'd be cool to have a ribbon mic on hand. It gets good reviews, with the caveat being that it's good for the money, and only if you get one with a properly tensioned ribbon. Still, its only an 80 dollar mic, not too large of an investment.

The Sterling Audio ST55 is very nice for recording vocals, those go for about 200 new...dunno what they go for used. My bassist has one, and it compares very well next to my ST66 tube condenser.
 
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Re: Mic recommendations

The best cab mic I've ever heard is the Heil PR 30. http://www.heilsound.com/pro/products/pr30/

It's a large diaphragm dynamic, but it sounds like a ribbon. Great live too.

For vocals, acoustic etc, you might find a Rode NT-2A second hand for around that price.



Cheers................................... wahwah
 
Re: Mic recommendations

Yeah I've heard some great stuff about the PR30 as well.

I've worked with an NT1 and NT1A before... pretty good mics for vox and very good for acoustic guitars but I wasn't able to get a whole lot of rooms tones I liked out of it. I'll have to investigate to see how the NT2A compares.
 
Re: Mic recommendations

krankguitarist said:
...my Palmer PDI-09 takes the cake :D. Not a mic though.
Click to expand...

I've heard you mention this thing in a few other threads... pretty simple device. Do you have any examples of guitar tones you recorded with it?
 
Re: Mic recommendations

I've had one of these for a couple years:

MXL-990

369288.jpg


I've used it primarily for vocals and acoustic, but it works great as an all-around mic. Pretty neutral response...no annoying peaks that I've run into. And it's friggin $59...almost worth buying just to have a 'beater' condenser mic.
 
Re: Mic recommendations

krankguitarist said:
Royer 121 is pretty well regarded for micing guitar cabs. You'd have to pimp yourself out to 130 fat chicks for about 10 dollars a pop in order to get one though...or 13 REALLY fat chicks for 100 dollars a pop.
Click to expand...

those royer mics are ridiculous. they also make a stereo ribbon mic (SF-24) that is equally as great for acoustics, ect.
 
Re: Mic recommendations

I just picked up a Heil PR30 new for 230 bucks. I love it for mic'ing the cab. Didn't know what I was missing...
 
Re: Mic recommendations

StillLearnin' said:
I just picked up a Heil PR30 new for 230 bucks. I love it for mic'ing the cab. Didn't know what I was missing...
Click to expand...

There ya go....another 57 gets relegated to snare duty. And another 609 gets....sold to somebody who hasn't heard a PR 30 yet!



Cheers................................ wahwah
 
Re: Mic recommendations

wahwah said:
There ya go....another 57 gets relegated to snare duty. And another 609 gets....sold to somebody who hasn't heard a PR 30 yet!



Cheers................................ wahwah
Click to expand...

Yeah - Thanks man. I bought this based on your recommendation :approve: Awesome mic.
 
Re: Mic recommendations

B2D said:
Need 1: Guitar cab mic. I want it to be able to capture high gain/high spl sounds very well. The old SM57 is the fallback of course but can anyone recommend something thats slightly more refined or well-regarded?

Need 2: Vocals, acoustic guitars, some room micing. Condenser would be preferable.

I'm looking for something around $125-$150 used.
Click to expand...

Save about double that amount and get a Sennheiser 421.

Great mic... use that on anything.
 
Re: Mic recommendations

StillLearnin' said:
Yeah - Thanks man. I bought this based on your recommendation :approve: Awesome mic.
Click to expand...

You're welcome, we can both thank our Kiwi forum brother Hot_Grits, he brought this mic to my attention last year when he was using it for an album session. I've since taken it with me to a studio full of great mics. The engineer had never heard one, so we set it up along with a few of his favorites. I left it up to him to do his gig. As we were listening to playback, I asked him what combination we were listening to. He said "that's just the Heil...that's all we need." I couldn't agree more. Fantastic through a good PA too, it just sounds like a very large version of your amp.



Cheers.................................... wahwah
 
Re: Mic recommendations

B2D said:
I've heard you mention this thing in a few other threads... pretty simple device. Do you have any examples of guitar tones you recorded with it?
Click to expand...

Just check out my soundclick...everything except for the non-full band versons of "the nescient" and "autumndreams", as well as "echoes".

I've had varying degrees of success with it. The latest one I did, called "circle", was pretty muddy. But I didn't spend much time fiddling with that one.

The full band tracks are all palmer. I think "anthem" is my favorite so far though, as far as the tone goes.

In the long run, you'll have better results with a properly miced up cab in a good room. But for direct, silent recording I haven't found ANYTHING better than the Palmer. I'm mixing it with an SM57 for my band's current demo...though we're taking a preamp out as well, and will likely apply impulses to that to help fill out the sound a bit more. It's a great tool, but not a be-all-end-all.
 
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Re: Mic recommendations

J Moose said:
Save about double that amount and get a Sennheiser 421.

Great mic... use that on anything.
Click to expand...

I've heard nothing but good things about those... they're really that versatile, huh?
 
Re: Mic recommendations

B2D said:
I've heard nothing but good things about those... they're really that versatile, huh?
Click to expand...

They are a large diaphragm dynamic that are known for a full bassy sound. Acceptable for vocals, according to some (most vocalists will only record with a capacitor microphone, no dynamic mics, so it's saying something)

They have a switch with a few different high pass curves, so you can dial some of the bass out if you like.

It's also important to note that they have a very weird proprietary clip that almost always breaks.

I prefer them to SM57s, but I don't own one.
 
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