Affordable Condenser Mics?

[JeffPatterson]

Hey all, I'm brand new to the forum and, to say the least, a novice in the recording world. I'm in the process of setting up a very, very small home studio and am trying to do it all on somewhat of a budget. I have no aspirations of "making it", whatever that may mean, in the music world, just looking to have some fun at the house with my music. Anyway, I'm looking to purchase a condenser mic or two but want to keep it reasonable. My looking through some of the topics it's obvious there are many people here that are quite crafty and understand this stuff a great deal better then I currently do. Any thoughts/suggestions on affordable condenser mics?

Thanks for your time, I appreciate it.

Best, JP

[Jeremy Garber]

Anything by MXL, but I own the 2001. Read some reviews about their mics and you'll see they are a favorite condensor mic for the price. I love mine.

[mjau]

If you can, buy used as it'll help you save. I think the mxl v67 is a great budget mic.

[Dave Nutz]

another vote for MXL here.

i think ive got 5 of them. All good for something different.

[8th_note]

I agree with the MXL recs. A couple other alternatives are by Audio-Technica. The Pro37R goes for about a hundred bucks and it's even been recommended by Steve Albini. The MB4K (or MB4000 old model) is a great inexpensive condenser and these can be had on ebay for under a hundred dollars.

[Professor]

In general I prefer less expensive microphones from companies that make more expensive microphones than what you might be considering. Think of it like getting the bottom of the line Porsche vs. the top of the line Hyundai - which would likely be a better value & build quality?
Some big name, top-shelf companies like Neumann, Schoeps, Microtech-Gefell, etc. don't make a lower line product at all. Some well known, but inexpensive companies like Apex, MXL, Behringer, etc. don't make any higher-line products. And then some folks such as AKG, Audio-Technica and Sennheiser bridge the gap and live in both worlds.
Audio Technica for example keeps down their manufacturing costs by still selling products that don't quite meet the specs of their top products. So a microphone capsule not suitable for an AT-4041 will end up in a Pro-37R, with slightly looser specs, but still a quality product.
Now if the "top shelf" gear from a company is crap, you can expect the "cost-competitive" stuff to be worse, but in general a company that builds $150 mics AND $1500 mics AND $3000 mics, is probably going to build a better cheap mic than somebody else where the $150 model is the height of their engineering skills.

And out of all the mic manufacters out there, I think Audio Technica, AKG & Sennheiser fit that description best, with Shure following up to a somewhat lesser extent (I don't think they build anything over $1k except wireless).

-Jeremy

[I'm Painting Again]

The audio technica x0x0 series and shure ksm series are great..built well and sound nice..and are versatile enough to use on anything..

[restless-young-romantic]

Dont forget a pr of Avenson's.

[TheStevens]

I second the Prof's recommendation. Out of the cheap (also the only) condensers I own, my new favorite is the Audio-Technica AT2020. It comes packaged with an AT2021 for $150, and both totally kick the SHIT out of an MXL604(I think - its the one with the interchangable omni and cardioid capsules) which I also recently picked up. The MXL sounds hyped, kinda harsh, and thin compared to the AT's (at least the cardioid one does- i've yet to try the omni).
That said, I've also really loved my Oktava MC-012s for a few years. Really natural sounding, doesn't seem to have as much top as the AT mics. I vote for either MC012s if you can find them, and/or the $150 AT pack.

-steve

[Rolsen]

Somebody's gotta give props to the Studio Projects B and C series condensors, right? I haven't used a MXL, but I imagine my SP C-1 sounds just like one.

[Professor]

Somebody's gotta give props to the Studio Projects B and C series condensors, right? I haven't used a MXL, but I imagine my SP C-1 sounds just like one.

SP is making the effort in terms of upper and lower line mics in they're line-up but in the grand scheme it seems like kind of mid-level and low-level. Don't get me wrong, I've got what I think is their most expensive mic, the LSD-2 stereo mic, and I use it often. But I wouldn't expect their 'B-series' to be equivalent to the AT '30-series' as the reduced-cost model of their top-shelf products. Kinda tricky there - are they doing significant R&D work on their 'upper-line' that is trickling down to their lower lines?

-Jeremy

[eeldip]

i think the professors rule of thumb is pretty solid, but i can think of some exceptions... like cheapy AKG stuff... its no better or worse than MXL, and its a bit more expensive.

like i bounced around the "$200 LDC" for a while, settled on the CAD e300 which i thought was WAY better than what AKG had to offer. spent some months with the c2000. it was OK i guess.

i think a lot of the "fancy mic company's bottom line mics" are a tad overpriced cause of their country of manufacture... and that a top of the line chinese mic can often beat them... better made, better parts, just cheaper labor.

not ALWAYs the case.. and again, in general i agree, but keep in mind, its not a bulletproof theory.

[Professor]

Absolutely - there are always exceptions, but it's a pretty good place to start.
And I guess I was thinking that stuff like the AKG Blue-line was a better offering than say a C-1000.
And not to get overly political, but I think one less dollar going to China is a very tiny step in a good direction.

-J

[sonic dogg]

Actually, professor, the SP line came the other direction. The high-end line was born of humble beginnings and are not reverse-engineered as some are. That being said, there is some difference in lower end condensers. Some are blurred in particular frequencies and I expect that this is not a phenomena particular to lower end mics but also translates to lower-end anything product wise. There has to be compromises made and those will be resultant in the sound of some, though not all.

I find the B and C SP mics to have a bit of character to their sound, particularly in the B series. I've tried them all and the multi-pattern B3 is quite usable, is clearer than many mics in its price point and has a particular 'something' many lack. Its the only one I reccommend.

The MXL mics seem to be hit or miss thought the 67 model seems to be a favorite. I still say they sound a touch smeared.

No one has mentioned the ADK line of mics . So I will. These are mics that have clarity and depth even in the cheaper ones. And they seem to be very receptive to preamp selection. The upper end mics are as good as anyones of equal price. Like everything else in audio, YMMV.

The Audio Technica mics are excellent. The 40 series is especially good. All of em. And every mic in the line is so consistent from mic to mic as well as each model having a somewhat different sonic footprint to work with.

[r0ck1r0ck2]

i'm slowly working the cad m179 into the line-up...

multi pattern for $150...