Help me buy my first good mic!

[manhattanresearchinc]

Regarding the Ableton thing, I use a lot of soft synths and direct sounds so I sometimes need to brighten up the tracks with some re-amping, live sounds and room sounds. I'm just curious as to whether dynamics would give me the same top-end that a good LDC or SDC would.

I'm pretty torn here. The Avenson SDC pair seem like a good investment...any opinion on those? Can I record drums and still get a lot of LF punch?

Thanks for your responses, by the way.

[vivalastblues]

wait, what instrument(s) are you recording?

[SafeandSoundMastering]

The AT 4033 is solid microphone on a variety of sources, no hyped top and bottom but whats there is natural and good. You can definitely get one on your budget but 2 would be a stretch. Great mics are always a good investment in your sound.

cheers

SafeandSound Mastering
online mastering studio

[metrocenter]

[GooberNumber9]

The first serious mic I used was an AT4033. It's a good-sounding and flexible mic that is affordable.

The first serious mic I bought for myself was a KSM44. Even better sounding (IMHO), more flexible, and still fairly affordable.

In terms of recording in stereo, if you have a usable cardioid mic lying around, and you get only one multi-pattern LDC (like the KSM44), you can always record mid-side with the LDC in figure eight mode.

I guess that's a long-winded +1 on the KSM44 or a half-hearted +1/2 on the AT4033.

[cgarges]

I'd get a 4050. They sound great on everything and you'd be able to use it for a lot of stuff, even as your collection grows. I'm up to owning three of them now (out of a collection that includes well over a hundred mics) and I still find myself using the 4050s for stuff all the time. As your collection grows, you'll be glad that you've got a mic that can do figure-eight and omni. AT is also a great company to deal with if you ever have issues and their repair department in Ohio is really terrific.

Chris Garges
Charlotte, NC
_________________
www.chrisgarges.com
www.oldhousestudio.com
Bunky Moon, The Public Good
Playing drums with Mitch Easter

[cgarges]

I'd get a 4050. They sound great on everything and you'd be able to use it for a lot of stuff, even as your collection grows. I'm up to owning three of them now (out of a collection that includes well over a hundred mics) and I still find myself using the 4050s for stuff all the time. As your collection grows, you'll be glad that you've got a mic that can do figure-eight and omni. AT is also a great company to deal with if you ever have issues and their repair department in Ohio is really terrific.

Chris Garges
Charlotte, NC
_________________
www.chrisgarges.com
www.oldhousestudio.com
Bunky Moon, The Public Good
Playing drums with Mitch Easter

[mjau]

[mjau]

[blungo2]

[No Wave Casio Kitsch]

You could not possibly go wrong with an AT-4033, 4047, or 4050. They are all good mics that would still prove useful even if you eventually ended up with a locker full of amazing mics. I'm not sure if you could snag a 4060 on the used market within your stated budget.

The Mojave stuff is also excellent. I do most of my work out of a room where I have access to a U-67, U-47, old 87's, Royers and I still use the 4033, 4050, and Mojave MA-201 on pretty much every session.

[Nick Sevilla]

[vvv]

+1 on the AT4047's which I like on vocals but love on drum OH's.
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vlayman; THD; blog; TFP

[rhythm ranch]

http://messageboard.tapeop.com/viewtopic.php?t=80966
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Every calculation based on experience elsewhere fails in New Mexico. - General Lew Wallace, author of Ben Hur and Territorial Governor of NM 1878-81

[vxboogie]