Topic: Sub $300 Pair of omni Microphones?

[Rick]

Anyone have any suggestions?

[jlykos]

Stealth or open?

I have a pair of CSBs and while a lot of people rag on them, I have made some quality recordings.  You just have to know how to use them properly.

[Rick]

Open - 48 phatom power ones

[TNJazz]

You can get a brand new pair of Avenson STO-2 for $500.  Nothing else in the price range will touch them.

Used they run around $375 or so, but they're extremely hard to find.

Well worth the investment though.

[ambo]

AT 3032. One of their chief benefits is very low noise. Over in the Yahoo Nature recordist group these mics have been highly touted. Self noise measured at 8db, although the published specs are higher. They are also very good for humid environments and sound nice and open. All plusses for field and nature recording. I think they sound pretty good for acoustic music as well. About $150 each.

[thegreatgumbino]

Studio Projects C4's.  You'll get the cards as a bonus     Also includes the shockmounts & windscreens (not great for outdoors though).  Can be had new for $300 shipped.  Great mics for the price.

[TNJazz]

This should have been the first question:  what sort of quality are you hoping to achieve?  For the most part, in the sub $500 category you get what you pay for.  If you're expecting DPA quality, it's not coming from the AT's or the Studio Projects...(or the Avensons, for that matter).

[thegreatgumbino]

This should have been the first question:  what sort of quality are you hoping to achieve?  For the most part, in the sub $500 category you get what you pay for.  If you're expecting DPA quality, it's not coming from the AT's or the Studio Projects...(or the Avensons, for that matter).

I think Rick's seasoned enough to realize that, but it's a good point Dirk. 

My guess is he's using them as a second pair of mics for running 4 mic matrix > R4.  That being said, I think the AT853's or the C4's will do you pretty well for the money. 

[Sanjay]

If you get lucky try and piece together a pair of AKG 392's, might be a bit over $300.

My other vote would be for the AT853-O

[Rick]

This should have been the first question:  what sort of quality are you hoping to achieve?  For the most part, in the sub $500 category you get what you pay for.  If you're expecting DPA quality, it's not coming from the AT's or the Studio Projects...(or the Avensons, for that matter).

I think Rick's seasoned enough to realize that, but it's a good point Dirk. 

My guess is he's using them as a second pair of mics for running 4 mic matrix > R4.  That being said, I think the AT853's or the C4's will do you pretty well for the money. 

Yeah I realize they aren't going to be great. I'm just looking for something for the occasional 4 mic mix. If I could afford them I would get the DPAs, but my budget is going to be very limited.

[Rick]

Studio Projects C4's.  You'll get the cards as a bonus     Also includes the shockmounts & windscreens (not great for outdoors though).  Can be had new for $300 shipped.  Great mics for the price.

I wonder how the Samson CL2 stack up against the C4s

http://www.samsontech.com/products/productpage.cfm?prodID=1902&brandID=2

[Todd R]

I've been curious about this too, and have been looking around at the same price point and for the same reason -- 4-mic mixes. 

Thought about the At3032's since I used to have the AT4041's and was very impressed with them for the price.  At the moment, I've got the SP C4 card/omni package.  I've only been able to use them once so far in a 4-mic mix for Trey and liked it pretty well -- better than the 2-ch mix.  (I recorded DIN AKG ck61> jklabs ecms> V3digi-out > MT for 2ch, and then used the V3analog-out into a Marenius MM4210 mixer along with split C4 omnis.  Made it easy to compare the akg ck61 2ch version to the ck61/C4 omni 4-ch mix.)

I need to do more testing with the C4's to know how I feel about them in a 4-ch mix.  They seem like they fit the bill well, but I'm still looking around for other omni choices.

[Chuck]

I'll throw in a really cheap option... Naiant Studio MSH-1O's. $44 for a matched pair. I find them great to mess around with. Since they are entirely housed in a Neutrik XLR connector, you can plug them directly into a pre-amp. I have been using them to test a pre-amp design I'm working on. I plan to build a 2 -microphone/ 2 -line in mixer to do four channels mixes. It seems everybody is doing this lately...

[Todd R]

Oh yeah, I've got the MSH-1O's as well.  Haven't even tried to use those yet.  I plan on going to a show next week and Phil will be borrowing my C4 mics that day for another show, so maybe I'll try to use the 1O's in a 4-mic mix with his 140's (or my new Milabs if they show up by then).

[stirinthesauce]

You can get a brand new pair of Avenson STO-2 for $500.  Nothing else in the price range will touch them.

Used they run around $375 or so, but they're extremely hard to find.

Well worth the investment though.

granted they are a little more than the 300 limit but well worth it, check out the specs.   http://www.avensonaudio.com/sto2.html

If you want zero coloration/hype out of your omni, this is it in the sub 1k range.