Bottom of the Mic Locker - use it or sell it?

[A.David.MacKinnon]

I've got a few days off and have been cleaning up around the studio, fixing things, re-organising and the like. I started going through my mic drawer and realized I have a bunch of mics that I was quite excited about when I bought but for one reason or other rarely use. So, i've put away my go-to mics and put all the under used mics out in their place. The idea is to find out which are undiscovered gems and which are just clutter. Most of them are slightly oddball garage sale, craigslist type finds.
Maybe some of you have some of the same mics. If so please let me know what your favourite applications are for them or if they just take up space.

The mics in question are -

Beyerdynamic M700N(C) - looks like it was a short lived high end stage mic. I've used it on guitars a few times but forgot about it and went back to reaching for my M88s.

Beyerdynamic M640N - the french fry mic. This is a small dynamic that you often see next to the cash at fast food joints or as the talkback mic on Studer consoles. It doesn't have much low end. I've used it a few times in conjunction with a beefier mic to get more snap out of snare drums. Also had it strapped to the right side grill of my accordion for live gigs. Never loved it in either situation.

Sony C-76 Shotgun mic - I found this one at an electronics surplus shop for $20 but haven't found much use for it. I see one on e-bay right now for $500. Maybe I should just unload it for something I'll use more often, like cash.

Shure 525 Omni Dynamic - I've tried this as a room mic but not liked it much (it's too bright). It's not bad on acoustic guitar but I have other dynamics I like more for that application.

EV PL95 - This one came with the Shure 525 in a Craigslist deal. Used it on snare bottom a few times but not much else.

RFT DM2412N - east german large diaphragm dynamic in a cheap plastic body. This one's not bad, it just slipped to the bottom of the drawer and was forgotten. Vaguely 421 or M88ish. I've used it on guitar and bass amps and every now and then on kick. It's pretty good on toms but one stick hit would pretty much kill it. It's never been a go-to mic but it's something I reach for when I've run out of 421s and m88s.

Br?el & Kj?r 4191 mini omni condenser - The most high end of the under used mics. This one's a semi permanent loan from a long time client. Used it behind an upright piano and on baritone ukulele with really good results. Nice (maybe too nice) as a room mic too. It has it's own pre-amp/power supply and a tiny weird mic clip, both of which make it a bit too much of a hassle to pull out so it rarely gets used. That's probably too stupid an excuse for a mic that's this good.

Behringer ECM8000 Omni test mics - bought 2 of these years ago when they were getting lots of love on the forums. Tried them as overheads, room mics, ac gtr, strings etc. Never liked them much for anything and they're not worth anything in re-sale.

[kslight]

I'm a firm believer in unloading stuff you don't have a use for, especially if you could use the cash right now. I am not directly experienced with any of those mics, but I'd venture to say that it sounds like they aren't earning their keep. If you want I guess you could try to modify them...I'd probably sell them if it was me.

[Snarl 12/8]

Someone a while back posted that they have a shotgun up in the rafters pointing at the drum kit as a permanent room mic for drums and they love it. I dunno, might want to try something like that. All those mics sound like "character" mics, maybe find a spot in the room to put them all, with a switcher, and have a little cluster of easy to activate room mics for adding weirdness/ambiance to tracks.

Or sell em. One rule I've been trying to live by very lately is "would you buy it today?" If not, get rid of it. Throw it out even, if you can't sell it. Clutter kills.

Two more questions to ask yourself: Have you used it in the last 6 months? Do you love it? If both of those are "no", get it out of your life.

[jgimbel]

I'm in line with kslight here. I also don't have any experience with the aforementioned mics so I definitely can't comment specifically about any of their usefulness. But for me it's always been a case of both space and money - if something isn't being used (even if it's not half bad) and I might be able to get a few bucks toward something else, then it has to go. I've even gotten rid of things that I liked, if they weren't things I LOVED, or if they were things that I could get again at some point if I missed it but wasn't using it. As my space has grown I've been upgrading my equipment a lot, and right now I've still got a lot of the lower end stuff, but I've basically got it for the cases where I get larger full bands who want to record live here - if I don't have enough mics, I'm screwing myself, and generally the pieces that I may not use as a first choice on a source will at least work pretty well even if it's the only option (assuming I've done my research before buying each piece). But honestly where I see myself going - and I'm in a future planning kind of stage right now so this is definitely applicable to me - is that I want to have enough pieces to have no issues if I'm recording a larger full band, but to have all of the pieces that are "those extras" still be great quality pieces. For example, right now I only have one SM57. I use it on snare generally - not the only thing I'll ever use but it works many times, but I rarely ever use it on guitar since I got my SM7 and EV 635a. And I've got a pair of MD421s I use on rack toms, and I really want to get a third for floor tom. I also happen to love it on kick the few times I've used it. So I'd like to end up with 4 or 5 421s, and maybe 3 SM57s, which would absolutely be overkill when I'm doing all overdubbed/separate tracking like is the case most of the time here, but if I've got great, solid, yet affordable mics to have laying around for when I need them, to me that sets my space and sound possibilities apart. If even your backup is strong, then you're really set. But when I'm set with these, I don't really plan to hold on to the lower end of my mic locker. I think it's a really great idea to have some weird character mics around (and a lot of your mics sound like great options), but I'd rather have really versatile mics around for backups if I had to choose. Maybe have a character mic day and try all your interesting mics on a bunch of sources, and consider how things normally go in mixing for you, maybe you'll be able to make it slightly more objective for yourself and think "this mic has that huge boost at 400Hz, which is interesting, but not really usable compared to ______ that has a similar feel but also does ____ and _____ a lot better". I wouldn't get rid of all of them though, they sound like really interesting mics. I could definitely use some more interesting little mics like that!

[A.David.MacKinnon]

Thanks guys. I am in a clean out the closets kind of mood but I want to make sure I'm not overlooking a hidden gem before unloading it.
I did a but of a shoot-out on guitar and bass amp using all the dynamics against a 57 and 421 for reference. It defiantly helped give some perspective and changed my mind about which ones should go and which ones should stay. It's amazing how close that RFT sounds to the 421. It might even be a little nicer in the high end.

Anyway, much appreciated, keep the opinions coming.

[vvv]

I regret every guitar I ever sold and that's only, like, mebbe less than 10.

Recently, I've been buying up mid-level-type mic's because, well, I just have; I wonder if I'll regret getting rid of some? (Ex., recently got a 421 and I've been using it for main vox replacing my AT4040; just bought a RE320, can I bear to keep only 1? Or even only 2? And, damn, but that 635a sounds cool, as does the CAD M179 on vox ...)

I gotta say, tho', with the exception of only a few, I regret giving up every ex-girlfriend, also.

[Gregg Juke]

I'd keep it all, but I have a collector mentality...

GJ

[T-rex]

I am getting ready to do the same, not with mics but with a bunch of rack stuff. I really don't want to sell it, but I NEVER use it. If you just don't use them, no reason to keep them lying around.

Now with something that is not worth anything, like the berhingers, maybe get creative and use them for underwater mics or something like that. Worse case scenario you break a mic you don't like and never use. Best case scenario you find a cool new sound. Maybe blow one up on purpose just to see what it sounds like!

[jgimbel]

I am getting ready to do the same, not with mics but with a bunch of rack stuff. I really don't want to sell it, but I NEVER use it. If you just don't use them, no reason to keep them lying around.

Yes, release unused pieces to the rest of the audio world! No use in clipping your gears' wings.

Now with something that is not worth anything, like the berhingers, maybe get creative and use them for underwater mics or something like that. Worse case scenario you break a mic you don't like and never use. Best case scenario you find a cool new sound. Maybe blow one up on purpose just to see what it sounds like!

Yes and yes! Hell my MXL 990 pretty much never gets used, but my SM57 was being used on a cab at one point and I thought it'd be a good time to try out a condenser on snare. You know what? I actually love how it sounds, maybe better than the SM57. No SPL issues whatsoever even close, and amazingly you'd be surprised how similar the 990 sounds to the SM57 in this application. I expected crazy trashy high end or fake crispness, but I ended up just finding it had a bit more high end and maybe a bit less of those boxy low mids. In the track I used it on I ended up not EQing the 990 on snare at all. The OP's mics might be valuable (in general or just to some people), but for stuff that won't really be worth selling, now's your chance to fuck them up and see what happens!

[Brian]

I'm calling hoarders, they'll be over in a minute with a dumpster.
That 640 is the deal of the day at Madoma.
Maybe they can help you before he dumpster gets there.

[goose42]

My two cents: several times, a piece of gear I hadn't used in forever has saved my butt by being the only tool I have that will do the job. But then again, I'm not far out of the starting gate, and they may just be cases I hadn't dealt with yet, and for which seasoned pros will have the best tool as opposed to a reasonably suitable tool.

If the C76 were mine, I'd test it out for noise and frequency response; if it's solid, then it might be nice to have around in case a sound-for-picture project comes up. If it's a character mic that some people really like, and you're not one of those people, sell it.

There's a deeper philosophical conversation here somewhere about "character" gear. Although it's not directly applicable, because on a lot of these pieces, you haven't found a use for their character. For the stuff you can't sell, maybe you know someone who just needs A microphone.

[top_ape]

The PL95 I believe is the gray version of the DS35... I'd try that out a bit before passing it on, especially because I don't think you'll get much for it. I've found the 3 DS35s I have to be pretty decent mics (though I've never had all 3 up a the same time)...

GREAT rejection and tonally sorta neutral to blah, but it never sounds horrible. Kind of a muddier sounding RE15/RE16 type of mic.

I've found it to help out a thin amp where the added low mids are complementary. Seems like it would be a good tom mic too but I always have so much trouble with positioning I always use something smaller. I know I have used it on snare but there's always something better. Could be a good kick mic in the right situation, though I have yet to try it...

It's a good mic though. For what I could get for them I'd never sell mine.

[A.David.MacKinnon]

Top Ape - thanks for that. I've heard other people talk about liking the PL95 on toms too. I've done a few quick test with it against my go to tom mics and it seems to hold it's own. I'll be giving it a real test on my next tracking session.

Goose42 - I agree about the character gear bit. I've personally always liked having a handful of great but standard, all around good pieces and a wide variety of character options be they mics, pres or outboard effects. The problem with the mics in question is the I either don't much like their character (or don't think they have much) or I have something else that covers the same bases but does a better job of it.

In the end it's looking like I'll be unloading the C76, Beyer M640N, and Shure 525. The RFT and B&K aren't going anywhere and the Beyer M700 and PL95 will be put into regular rotation until I have a better feel for them.

Thanks everybody.

[Brian]

I have a few tiny EV lapel mics. I have been thinking of putting a tranny like a 57's in there, they are transformerless stock but sound like an open 57. Low output. They do have a nice character to them and i think a decent tranny would set them off well.

[Artifex]

I have two of those Br?el & Kj?r 4191 from my Grandpa but no power supplies. I'm jealous, I've always wanted to use those but could never find the power supplies.