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Gear / Technical Help => Microphones & Setup => Topic started by: jaym1818 on August 19, 2019, 08:12:04 PM
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Hey everyone, need a new cheap but good sounding mic setup asap, had orig oktava mc012's years back that I wish I never sold and keeping an eye out for a good set at a good price, but really need something sooner rather than later for some upcoming shows, suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Looking at the at2022, I have two small tascam recorders dr05 & an 07 but will snag a dr40 for the phantom power if need be. Absolutely had it with my core sound binurals bass distortion so will be getting rid of those asap. Thanks in advance for any suggestions, j
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Everyone has different definitions of cheap, so you're going to need to provide a budget.
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$300.
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What situations do you find yourself recording in most? Open or low profile? Close up or near the soundboard?
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Audio Technica AT3031's. The show up eBay frequently for at lest $150-200/pair. No longer made, but best bang-for-buck mics imo.
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What situations do you find yourself recording in most? Open or low profile? Close up or near the soundboard?
Typically smaller venues like the ocean mist (ri), infinity hall (ct) bars/breweries, one in a while bigger venues, mostly open taping situations. Music on the louder side like reggae & jambands
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Audio Technica AT3031's. The show up eBay frequently for at lest $150-200/pair. No longer made, but best bang-for-buck mics imo.
I'll second this.
If you are looking for something brighter, find a set of Berliner CM33 that go roughly the same price for a stereo set.
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If you have a budget of $300, then you would be very hard-pressed to do better than a pair of Line Audio mics, which are €233 a pair shipped from No Hype Audio in Belgium (https://www.nohypeaudio.com/lineaudioproducts.htm). The exchange rate is quite favorable now, putting a set of these at under $260 US. When I purchased my CM3s several years ago, they ran me about $360 and I would consider them an outstanding value at that price.
If you are not familiar with these, hit the Team Line Audio link in my signature.
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Voltronic has a good recommendation there. I don't own the Line Audio mics, but have heard some really nice recordings from them! Another one to look at in your price range might be the Studio Projects C4 mics. A matched pair new is ~$350 and comes with card, hyper, and omni caps. I know some of the budget minded tapers here use them. No personal experience from me though (I'm a Neumann guy).
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Thanks for all the suggestions so far, I'll be checking these out, appreciate the input
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I don't know about the quality of their microphones, but I will say one thing for Line Audio: Their frequency response graphs do something that I wish all manufacturers would do. That is, the on-axis response is clearly shown at both a 1-meter and a 30-cm equivalent measuring distance. An example is attached.
For directional microphones, even the 1-meter measurement is somewhat optimistic compared to the actual response for distant or semi-distant pickup--especially for supercardioids and figure-8s. But 1 meter is an unofficial convention that most manufacturers follow, so comparisons with other well-known makes and models are at least theoretically possible (with the glaring exception of DPA).
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Just wanted to thank everyone again for the mic tips, I now have 3 recordings under my belt using the Live Audio CM4's, very happy with them! Heres a few shows i've done...
https://archive.org/details/rs2019-09-27.aud
https://archive.org/details/rs2019-09-14.aud
https://archive.org/details/ftz2019-08-31.aud
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Just wanted to thank everyone again for the mic tips, I now have 3 recordings under my belt using the Live Audio CM4's, very happy with them! Heres a few shows i've done...
https://archive.org/details/rs2019-09-27.aud
https://archive.org/details/rs2019-09-14.aud
https://archive.org/details/ftz2019-08-31.aud
Thanks for linking these shows. I am just getting back in to taping after a long, long break. I am running a Tascam HD-P2 with Sennheiser ME80s and nothing in between (i.e. no pre-amps or ADCs or anything). As it's been quite a while since I've taped it looks like things have changed a bit. I am kinda-sorta starting to check out new mics, and I have been blown away by the sound on certain shows of the Schoeps MK21s - and the price, too! Seeing as I don't have $3k to blow on new mics, I have seen a few posts about the Line Audio CM4s.
Looking at the specs for both mics, they are similar, though not exact. But the cost difference is staggering. I just did a little trip through LMA listening to shows recorded with the CM4s and CM3s and it seems like sound quality is all over the place (but I've heard similar results for the Schoeps).
Are the Line Audios really as good as I want to believe?
Would a pre-amp or an ADC help even more with my HD-P2?
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Would like to know what capsules are in these mics.Some may say this is "secret information".Others may wonder if it is made by Transsound (China) or Primo (Singapore) or someone else.
By the way I would not discount Sennheiser ME80, those mics have a very nice electret capsule in them. Not high end but not low end either.
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Looking at the specs for both mics, they are similar, though not exact. But the cost difference is staggering. I just did a little trip through LMA listening to shows recorded with the CM4s and CM3s and it seems like sound quality is all over the place (but I've heard similar results for the Schoeps).
I think that because they're so flat in frequency response, the Line Audios are particularly unforgiving of mediocre live mixes, bad rooms, etc. Obviously that's true of all mics to an extent, but I've really noticed it with the Line Audios.
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By the way I would not discount Sennheiser ME80, those mics have a very nice electret capsule in them. Not high end but not low end either.
I love my ME80s, but they came to me second (or third, or fourth) hand, and they have to be at least 25 to 30 years old by now. They are great for recording from the lawn, and I've made some great tapes with them.
Here is a JGB show that I just recorded last week: https://archive.org/details/jgb2019-10-24.aud.flac24 (https://archive.org/details/jgb2019-10-24.aud.flac24)
That was the first time I taped in 11 years and only my second time with that deck. It was a tiny room (standing room for 120 or so people) and I wasn't sure how the shotguns would work, but it sounds "ok". I might should have used my ME40s, but I was worried about crowd noise, which is bad enough with the shotguns.