I've recently got back in to taping, and Christmas is coming up. Right now I'm rolling a Tascam HD-P2 and Sennheiser ME80/40 mics. I do have *one* ME20 at my disposal as well.
I was thinking that I wanted some new mics since mine came to me 2nd or 3rd hand and are 30 or 40 years old at this point. So I've been doing some research. While I'd love to have some Schoeps or Neumanns, that ain't in my budget. Hell, even new AKGs aren't even in my budget, my budget being maybe up to $500.
So I've been listening to a lot of shows on the LMA to check out different "budget" mics, and I am not hearing any differences there that really make me want to change mics.
I was thinking that maybe I'd give the Line Audio CM4s a try, but there aren't a lot of examples of them out on the Archive. There a some of the CM3s, but it seems like they excel with acoustic acts and well behaved crowds. I've been digging in the stacks here, and there was a lot of talk about the Busman BSC1s, but it seems like the Busman guy has disappeared. I checked out several Rodes, but again, I didn't feel like I'd really be gaining anything.
I really like the flexibility of interchangeable capsules.
Listening to the shows, I'm also thinking that maybe I prefer the sound of my supercardioids over omnis or standard cardioids. Or maybe I'm just used to them.
Here are a couple of examples of shows that I've recorded...
Melvin Seals & JGB (Sennheiser ME80):
https://archive.org/details/jgb2019-10-24.aud.flac24Larry Keel Experience (Sennheiser ME40):
https://archive.org/details/lke2019-11-16.aud.2448And here is Ratdog from 20 years ago with those same ME80s:
https://archive.org/details/rd1999-11-09.AUD.148334.flac16I used to tape in large theatres and outdoor shows from the lawn, with the occasional small club. Now I think that I'll probably be doing more small venue stuff (capacity 120-600), with the occasional outdoor festival (Lockn'). There aren't many large theatres where I live now.
Should I continue my mic search, or maybe look at a new recorder (which I also want) that would allow me to record 4 or 6 tracks a time? Are there any shows on the Archive that you feel really show how well some of the budget mikes can shine?