Sorry to arrive late to this party. The sad fact is that when someone refers to an AKG "414" without specifying which of the approximately 15 (I'm serious) different models of AKG C 414 they are referring to, you simply don't know what mike they used. You don't even know what kind of microphone they used, apart from the raw basics ("large diaphragm, electrically switchable pattern, side addressed"--which could describe any of hundreds of different microphones) plus a certain distinctive visual design.
Within this line of models, AKG has used three different-sounding capsule types; only two of those capsule types are available any more. Knowing which capsule type is in a given model of 414 begins to give you a clue as to what kind of sound the microphone will give you.
The original C 414 was the successor of the C 412 (the solid-state, locally pattern-switched version of the C 12). The C 12 was sold as a general-purpose recording and broadcast microphone, and was widely used as such. But even after other condenser microphones supplanted it in that role, its particular high-frequency elevation made it a persistent favorite for close-miking vocalists in studios and on stage. The CK 12 capsule used in the C 12, C 12A, C 412, the original C 414 and some other models (including the C 24 stereo microphone and the Ela M 250 and M 251 made for Telefunken) is the one that's unavailable today. Microphones that still have one in good condition fetch very high prices on the "vintage" market.
AKG has since introduced a kind of copy derived from the design of this capsule, one is easier and cheaper for them to mass-produce. (The original required extensive hand-tuning of each individual capsule.) The derived version lacks some of the sonic characteristics of the original; I know of no engineers outside of AKG's marketing department who consider this derived capsule to be the equivalent of a real CK 12. Unfortunately, AKG clouds the picture considerably by also calling their knockoff capsule the "CK 12." It is in all the subsequent C 414 models that have a "II" in their name, as well as in their several attempts to market a C 12 "reissue" which again, no one I know of has ever considered to sound very much like the real thing.
The third type of capsule has essentially flat frequency response and is used in the "ULS" microphones of the series. It's very good for general recording, but has never been a favorite for close-miked studio vocals. When studio engineers mention a "414" for any kind of spot miking they almost certainly do NOT mean any model in the ULS line. However, for the type of semi-distant (moderate pickup distance) recording that people in this forum generally use, for a main pair of microphones doing the overall pickup of a musical performance and the room in which it's taking place, that is the type of 414 I would recommend. The other kind is useful only if you are picking up mainly direct sound and only if you want to brighten it considerably--and in the kind of recording that people here do, the first of those conditions is almost never met.
--best regards, and sorry for the hasty writing since there are pancakes being served downstairs and I'm not dressed yet.
Topic: AKG 414's (which ones should I get???) (Read 8706 times)