What's the cheapest mic that really wowed you?

[casey campbell]

i wish i still had my shure 16a's. great mic for very little money. i let a "friend" borrow them, and i never saw them again.

AT pro37r. killer microphone.

AT3035 - good on everything.

[jgimbel]

AT3035 - good on everything.

I like my 3035 a lot. It sounds great on kick, which I found out when trying it out as a room mic and noticing it picked up much more of the kick than anything else. Not what I look for in a room mic, but really nice for kick. Not bad on guitar cab either, good on acoustic guitar. I just used it for a song on floor tom and it sounds fantastic - has bumps in all the right places. I got mine used for $70 from Guitar Center of all places, with a $50 gift card someone got me.

[accordion squeezist]

let me see if I've learned anything -
1. Really Good Condensers sound like dynamics.
2. Really Good Dynamics sound like condensers.
3. Cheap mics rule.
I didn't think my life would end this way...

[casey campbell]

let me see if I've learned anything -
1. Really Good Condensers sound like dynamics.
2. Really Good Dynamics sound like condensers.
3. Cheap mics rule.
I didn't think my life would end this way...

um, i think number 3 could be off. all mics have their purposes...but i don't know if i'd say they "ruled." perhaps they rule for some things, or they rule for 34.678% of most things...etc etc etc

i think #1 and #2 should be more like: think outside of the box. are condensers only for this or that instrument? etc.

[Jitters]

I got lucky and nabbed an m88 for $250. That was quite a revelation. Such a flattering mic on a lot of stuff.

I was hoping to see Kel mics get a nod or two up here, as I'm eyeballing a pair.

I bought a matched pair of Kel Hm2d's and I love them. They sound like a large dynamic, but with the sensetivity of a condenser mic. I will say there is a little ring when used with high spl sources, but not terrible. Great mics though, a definate wow for the price.

You said you liked them in a Glyn Johns setup, right?

[Brett Siler]

Oktava MC012, Oktava 319, Audio Technica ATM450

[ott0bot]

I got lucky and nabbed an m88 for $250. That was quite a revelation. Such a flattering mic on a lot of stuff.

I was hoping to see Kel mics get a nod or two up here, as I'm eyeballing a pair.

I bought a matched pair of Kel Hm2d's and I love them. They sound like a large dynamic, but with the sensetivity of a condenser mic. I will say there is a little ring when used with high spl sources, but not terrible. Great mics though, a definate wow for the price.

You said you liked them in a Glyn Johns setup, right?

Yeah....they sound great as ths direct over-snare and right side mics. They picked up the crack of the snare and the cymbals with out either being overpowering. I also added an re20 for the kick on this set up. Also used it to mic guitar amps, vocals, and an acoustic bass. Pretty versitile little guys.

[Producer/Engineer]

Oktava MC012, Oktava 319, Audio Technica ATM450

I really like the ATM 450's as overheads on drums in the ORTF positions. I also like them on pianos. Don't like them on acoustic guitar.
What are you favorite applications for them?

[thunderboy]

Many come to mind (and have been mentioned here already), but the cheapest mics I ever bought turned out to be the most interesting - a pair of MXL Cubes. Goofy-looking, bizarre polar pattern, fairly sensitive, yet I've gotten a LOT of mileage out of them. Mostly on guitar and overhead in a live setting. Also, the MXL 2001 - a surprisingly nice-sounding mic that I love as a generously-compressed mono overhead.

Then there's the C414B-ULS and C451E I bought on the street for a total of $250...

jt

[kuene]

second or 3rd on the audix i5.

amazon.com had this deal where you got an i5 and a really nice quality (and I mean it - not the dirt cheap ones that break in 2 months) mic.boom stand AND a cable (not a great cable) for $89!

[Snarl 12/8]

I know this will drop my respectability quotient into the negative numbers, but mine's the MXL 2001.

I got mine for $15, new, at some guitar center weirdness. It felt funny to buy it's pair-mate for $59 used, but I use them glyn johns on my drums instead of xy or ortf Pro37's and am really happy. Plus, when I got it, it was my second condenser after my Rode NT1a. After I got the MXL, I hadn't used my NT1a for years, but use the 2001 every chance I get. I've recently resurrected my Rode and am liking it as a distant room mic (it's pretty sensitive and quiet) with hyped treble that just seems to work for me.

Your question was cheapest mic that wowed me, and it's gotta be the MXL 2001 that I got for $15. In the bang for the buck equipment category, I haven't beaten it yet.

[Producer/Engineer]

I know this will drop my respectability quotient into the negative numbers, but mine's the MXL 2001.

I got mine for $15, new, at some guitar center weirdness. It felt funny to buy it's pair-mate for $59 used, but I use them glyn johns on my drums instead of xy or ortf Pro37's and am really happy. Plus, when I got it, it was my second condenser after my Rode NT1a. After I got the MXL, I hadn't used my NT1a for years, but use the 2001 every chance I get. I've recently resurrected my Rode and am liking it as a distant room mic (it's pretty sensitive and quiet) with hyped treble that just seems to work for me.

Your question was cheapest mic that wowed me, and it's gotta be the MXL 2001 that I got for $15. In the bang for the buck equipment category, I haven't beaten it yet.

I can't believe how good the 2001 is! A friend of mine uses it all the time on vocals and acoustic guitar and I am impressed with the captures that he gets with that mic.

I recently had my NT1a modded by Michael Joly and it really floors me now. It was shelved for over a year but now it really delivers. Nice mid range detail and punch. Sibilant top end is much smoother now and the mic sounds more "open" as well.

[Jim Williams]

MCA SP-1. $49 from:
www.pssl.com
But two and save.

Me and Joly mod these. I use rf transistors, Dale resistors, MIT MultiCaps, rebuilt oscillator.

Every time I play back a vocal I did with these it just knocks me out. I hear such intimacy, I hear the mouth open before the first note.

These are reported to beat U-47's and other high enders from users with a nice mic collection. I have 12.

[mprewett]

Jim, I'm really curious about the MCAs. Why buy them over the MXL 990 or the other mics with the same capsule? If you're modding the electronics, should it really matter that much which electronics "base" you start with?

[Brett Siler]

Oktava MC012, Oktava 319, Audio Technica ATM450

I really like the ATM 450's as overheads on drums in the ORTF positions. I also like them on pianos. Don't like them on acoustic guitar.
What are you favorite applications for them?

They sound really good on vibes too. I tried them on acoustic guitar and I had a hell of a time trying to get them to fit in the mix so I probably won't do that again. Besides that though it they work really well.