Clean and cheap multipattern-AKG 414 vs AT 4050 vs ADK TL ?

general questions, comments and ideas about recording, audio, music, etc.
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Clean and cheap multipattern-AKG 414 vs AT 4050 vs ADK TL ?

Post by dynomike » Tue Feb 15, 2005 3:20 pm

I'm looking to get a pair of decent transformerless multi-pattern condensers soon, and its getting really hard to tell the difference between them. Has anyone had a chance to use all, or even two of these mics, comparatively? There's a lot of info out there on the 414 (TLII,XLII) and 4050.. not so much on the ADK TL, besides their use in the listening sessions jazzoo project, that is.

So basically, all of these are relatively inexpensive, transformerless, multi-pattern mics, which could all be employed for similar functions - drum overheads, acoustic piano, acoustic guitar, vocals, etc.

What exactly separates one from the others?

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Re: Clean and cheap multipattern-AKG 414 vs AT 4050 vs ADK T

Post by i am monster face » Tue Feb 15, 2005 3:35 pm

I have a comparison chart sent to us by AKG. It was produced by AKG, so I don't know how accurate and unbiased the results are, but I do know it has the stats of the c414 compared to many microphones.

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Re: Clean and cheap multipattern-AKG 414 vs AT 4050 vs ADK T

Post by buddy holly » Tue Feb 15, 2005 6:17 pm

man, i've been going back and forth on these three for a long time myself. i wish there was more info available about the ADK. i'm stil skeptical. What is your recording format?
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Re: Clean and cheap multipattern-AKG 414 vs AT 4050 vs ADK T

Post by dynomike » Tue Feb 15, 2005 8:23 pm

I'm doin digital... I've got decent converters in my Ramsa DA7, but stuff with a really bright top end does not necessarily appeal to me, read: rode mics.
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Re: Clean and cheap multipattern-AKG 414 vs AT 4050 vs ADK T

Post by fremitus » Tue Feb 15, 2005 8:25 pm

while i love a 4050, i find that the 414 is still one of the most versatile mic's in the box. it is just glaringly clean. no hiding behind that thing. it's pretty true. the omni is a little lifeless compared the depth of omni in the 4050, and the supercardiod just sounds wrong, but the figure 8 is sweet and the cardioid is your primary go to anyways. sadly i've not used the ADK at all, the 4050 i think of as being a bit smoother in the mids and thus a little better at capturing guitars and male vocals, but for piano and saxes and such. i like the 414.

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Re: Clean and cheap multipattern-AKG 414 vs AT 4050 vs ADK T

Post by NeglectedFred » Tue Feb 15, 2005 8:42 pm

I'm going to be buying a C414 in about a month or so. I wound like to use it mainly on vocals, so I think I'll go with the BXLII. The dilema is that I would like a great all-round mic, which I understand the BXLS is.. Supposedly the BXLII's cap is tuned more in favor of vocals..?

Can anyone speak from experience here? Would a pair of BXLII's as overheads not be as ideal as a pair of BXLS's?

Or would the BXLII still be as good on other applications, but excel on Vox?
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Re: Clean and cheap multipattern-AKG 414 vs AT 4050 vs ADK T

Post by bigtoe » Wed Feb 16, 2005 6:45 am

"Can anyone speak from experience here? Would a pair of BXLII's as overheads not be as ideal as a pair of BXLS's? "

I can speak from experience that this is marketing stuff ...

just pick one and go...i'd try the old B/ULS cuz they're suuuper cheap right now...they sound kinda crappy on somethings but if you invest 50 bucks in a dbx 263 you can take the weird edge off em for a lot of things and make it a really nice mic...

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Re: Clean and cheap multipattern-AKG 414 vs AT 4050 vs ADK T

Post by jspartz » Wed Feb 16, 2005 6:57 am

You have a 4050 fan here.

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Re: Clean and cheap multipattern-AKG 414 vs AT 4050 vs ADK T

Post by UXB » Wed Feb 16, 2005 10:27 am

I can try to describe my impression of these mics. It's been a while since we sat down and tested them side by side. I have the older ADK 51tl's, and I heard they improved the capsule int he past year, so bear that in mind. All this may change depending the pre.

Again, these are MY impressions as a comparison.

ADK 51TL are very useful, pleasant hype on the high end, not too tubby on the bottom. They sound a touch grainy to me on the top top.

414 more hype on top, different curve. IF memory serves (and it usually doesn't these days!), It may be less friendly on sibilant sources. Just a different flavor of hype.

4050-It's been a while. I think it had less hype. A bit more natural sounding (flat?) which didn't always project enough in the mix at times.

I think we compared them using xformerless pre's, and on separate occasions, 1073's and maybe v72a's

I know it's near impossible to articulate-almost like cutting your own jigsaw puzzle without a picture. I hope you find this an accurate relationship, and that it helps you with your choice.
Yours,
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