i have owned pairs of DPA 4011s, schoeps cmc64s, gefell m300s, akg c481s and 461s, km184s, at4041s and at4051s, beyer mc930s, rode nt5s, akg c391s, and a variety of other SDCs over the years. i do chamber music recording, which belies every fault in mic response, but my opinions on mics may not be exactly fair to those who do concert recording who may desire different mic characteristics than those which suit my type of work, so take that into consideration.
of the mics i have owned, the DPA 4011s were the most accurate and transparent of the bunch, but through thorough testing, i found the AKG C481 to be an almost exact sonic match to the 4011, and i was able to use them interchangeably during studio sessions doing overdubs - virtually indistinguishable. so, while i loved the 4011s, the price differential, in the end, made me sell the dpa's and keep the 481s.
the schoeps CMC64s made a fairly nice ORTF pair at medium distance, but were a tad boomy to me as spot mics on acoustic instruments - they were pretty flat which worked well for some instruments which benefit from a flattish high-end, such as winds and strings - but they were rather underwhelming on grand piano, acoustic guitar, and pedal harp. i sold these mics to purchase the dpa 4011s mentioned above.
gefell m300s (i got my pair used for $600 - ha!) were very close to km184s in many ways, but exhibited a bit more mid-low response - again, somewhat beneficial to some instruments but tending toward the boomy on others - overall pretty good mics, but way overpriced in the current market, IMO.
my experiences with km184s has been up and down - i have owend 4 pairs of 184s over the past 10 years. the first 3 pairs, i bought brand new, and each time, i wound up selling them off in favor of other mics due to a certain edginess in the 184s top end response. last year, though, i picked an older used pair of 184s, perhaps 10 years old, and they have become my mics of choice for my main ORTF pair - they are wonderfully musical and for some reason, this pair just sounds perfect on almost anything - i cant really explain why this pair has excited me in a way the previous 3 pairs did not.
the other pair of main mics i use is the AT4051s - a huge open sound that is flattering on almost any instrument. i did a commercial CD for a local pianist on her 7'4" bosendorfer grand piano, where i shot out pairs of DPA 4011s, DPA 4006s, and the AT4051s. i had originally thought the 4006s would easliy win, or at least a blend of 2 pairs of the mics, but inthe end, both the pianist and i agreed that the pair of AT4051s were the best choice and those were the mics used on the CD. the mastering engineer told me it was one of the best piano recordings he had heard in years.
i owned some mc930s for just a short period for testing. i did a shootout between the 930s, km184s, and at4051s on a flute and piano duo. the 930s came in 3rd from a variety of professional listeners - not bad mics at all, but not quite as pleasant as the other two choices in that testing. (clips are posted over in GS forums, if you want to hear them - do a search for "comparative samples").
so, there ya go - IMHO, the best mics in the price range you mention are the KM184s and the AT4051s.
Topic: What pair of mics should I look at in the $1000 to $1200 range? (Read 15274 times)