400 dollar microphones

endertak · Post by **endertak** » Wed Sep 02, 2009 4:37 pm

Hi there,

I am about to buy a mic with 400 dollars in my hand, and I was looking to get suggestions of which microphone might be the best for me to purchase?

I saw the mic thread on the sticky section of the site, but I am looking for a more narrow price-range so I figure that people might have more specific suggestions in this case.

Thanks so much for any help,
e

Scodiddly · Post by **Scodiddly** » Wed Sep 02, 2009 4:45 pm

What are you doing, and what microphone(s) do you already have?

oldguitars · Post by **oldguitars** » Wed Sep 02, 2009 5:01 pm

used AT4050 or a used 441 or a used SM7...

Jeff White · Post by **Jeff White** » Wed Sep 02, 2009 9:12 pm

oldguitars wrote:used AT4050 or a used 441 or a used SM7...

+1

I will add a used AT4047, or the pair of OktavaMod MK-012s that are for sale in the B/S/T section.

Jeff

DJ_LBP · Post by **DJ_LBP** » Thu Sep 03, 2009 6:12 am

another vote for an SM7. It needs a decent amount of gain, but it sounds righteous on anything you get close to it. EQ to taste. Voice of gods. I use it on guitar amps, kick drum on the front head, snare sometimes, acoustic guitar, and pretty much without too much fuss, it sounds great.

Or an Electro-Voice RE20. Although I like my SM7 a little better, the lower proximity effect on the RE20 is nice. Sometimes I want to jam a mic in close to the speaker and I don't want too much bass. Sure, you can EQ and all that, but the 20 does pretty good on guitar amps, bass amps, kick drum, I like it on snare, but it's hard to get it in position on a tighter kit. Floor tom, Leslie bottom rotor, whatever.

I think with either of these two mics you would be happy. I find the SM7 easier to mount and position than the RE20.

kayagum · Post by **kayagum** » Thu Sep 03, 2009 8:07 am

Other large(r) diaphragm dynamics to consider: MD421, e906, PR30.

Also consider something from http://oktavamod.com

Tons of ribbon mic options too.

Sean Sullivan · Post by **Sean Sullivan** » Thu Sep 03, 2009 8:45 am

I like AT4050 as a general purpose microphone, KSM32s are great and you can get them used for $250.

Jeff White · Post by **Jeff White** » Thu Sep 03, 2009 8:58 am

Regarding the RE20 vs. SM7, last night we reamped DI'd bass for four songs and recorded it with both an RE20 and SM7b, to see which sounded best. We took the time to make sure both mics were in phase, and after a trial decided that the sound that we liked best was both of them combined. The SM7 had a bit more low-end, but the attack of the RE20 in combination was the sound.

Jeff

endertak · Post by **endertak** » Thu Sep 03, 2009 12:34 pm

@Scodiddly:

I am looking for an all-around mic that doesn't have as much of a specialty, but my quest is for a friend of mine.

Personally, I am into field recordings and close-miking in the studio, so ideally something that I could take out with me w/out too much worry, but knowing that I could get clarity and less noise in a quiet environment would be great. It would be nice to have either a super-cardioid or cardioid for this purpose. I don't need acute directionality at this point.

Thanks everyone so far for the responses.

e

jgimbel · Post by **jgimbel** » Thu Sep 03, 2009 1:45 pm

endertak wrote:@Scodiddly:

I am looking for an all-around mic that doesn't have as much of a specialty

sounds to me like an SM7, though it seems to me more like it has a few specialties, rather than not having one specifically (not that it's perfect on everything, but there are a lot of sources that folks seem to use the SM7 as a go-to for) which I think is the best kind of all-around mic one can get.

wren · Post by **wren** » Thu Sep 03, 2009 1:56 pm

Don't forget about the M88.

AstroDan · Post by **AstroDan** » Thu Sep 03, 2009 2:08 pm

AT4050 is real hard to beat as an all around mic.

drumsound · Post by **drumsound** » Thu Sep 03, 2009 10:29 pm

wren wrote:Don't forget about the M88.

Exactly what I thought when I saw the thread title.

endertak · Post by **endertak** » Sun Sep 06, 2009 12:25 am

I think the AT4050 or AT4070 are the best bet for me so far; I didn't state it originally (out of curiosity), but I am sorta looking out for a condenser that would be fairly safe to take out in the field and also be crisp in the studio.

The SM7b is an amazing looking mic as well, and I'm happy to see that you can get them used for so cheap.

I also saw the KSM141 by shure (400 retail). Does anyone have any experience with this mic? Being that it's a condenser, I would assume there might be a possibility it would pick up more accurately at close-range...

Thanks,
e

calaverasgrandes · Post by **calaverasgrandes** » Sun Sep 06, 2009 4:46 pm

Oktava all the way. Either get a single mco12 with an omni and cardioid heads or maybe one of the 319's. Either choice is $400 ish.
I love my Oktava mics. I dont have a lot of vintage mics in my locker, but these (and my older Sennheisers) give me some of that old world charm.
New you can get an RE20 or SM7b for that price as well. Or used a 421 which is probably more ubiquitous than the SM57.
But for filed recording I think the MC012 will do you well, its small, light, good attack, a tiny bit mid forward, but in a good way.
I think I will bring mine on my next field recording trip!

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400 dollar microphones

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