Topic: AKG C 214 ST - LARGE DIAPHRAGM CARDIOID STEREO KIT - ANYONE FAMILIAR?

[waltmon]

 I've been doing research as I prepare to jump back in the fray and came across these.  Supposed to be the same cardioid capsule as the 414's and has bass roll off and attenuation switch.

  Just curious if anyone has tried these or read any write ups.  Seems like an affordable large diaphragm option - What's holding me back is I really dug the sound of my U89's in hyper mode best (unless I was on stage or pretty close)


Thanks peoples.

[datbrad]

Walt-These are good cards from hearing recordings, but I think you would miss the hyper option that the 414s have if you are set on going LD. You can always upgrade later though...

[waltmon]

I'm teetering between a large diaphragm option and a smaller mic / multiple capsule option.   The 140's with the 50  caps to me were my faveorite combo option....not sure I'm going to lay down that much jack again though.

              Good to hear from you Brad...hope all is well.

[SmokinJoe]

There is more difference between 214 and 414, not just a fixed card.  I'm not trying to sway anyone one way or the other.   There should be at least a few tapes on the archive, listen and decide for yourself.

Fundamentally the 214 is an electret capsule (fixed charge), where the 414 is an externally polarized condenser.  I'm not going to dis electrets in general... Earthworks, DPA4021's, and CK1X's are electrets, so electret capsules are used in some very good mics.  I'm just saying AKG didn't take a 414 and remove 1 side of the double capsule, which is what I think marketing wants you to think.  214's have a bit of a presence peak, more like the 414 XLII than the XLS... a little bit of AKG sizzle.   AKG says the 214 is designed and built in Austria.  I think it's a whole new design from scratch, using modern ideas, not necessarily tied to the 414 heritage.

I can see some advantages to the 214's.  Some people consider 414's a bit "delicate" for general taping use, and I think the 214 is built to be more "roadworthy".  Also, they can run on low voltage phantom (12-52v) as opposed to 48 +/- 4, so if you have a pre (like a littlebox) with a "lower power" setting you can get better battery life.

[F.O.Bean]

If you liked the u89 hyper setting, save a few thousand and just get the AKG XLS? It has 5 patterns[omni/subcard/card/hyper/fig8], that way youre covered in any situation If I didnt have a Busman Audio BSCS-L LD Stereo Mic, Id be all over some XLS's, but I like dealing with just ONCE big mic

[acidjack]

For comparison's sake, a decent used set of XLS' will run you about $1200+ on eBay or maybe $1000-1200 in the YS.  The very minty YS set of 214s you're looking at is about half that.

FWIW, I can't really speak to the U89's hyper setting, but I am not a huge fan of the 414's, at least not on its own (a buddy of mine used to matrix his with DPA 4021s a lot, which I thought sounded great).  I guess it's "fine" but I like it a lot less than my MK41s. Conversely, I think that in the right setting, the card, omni and wide card settings can even be preferred to the Schoeps for the right style of music.

Of course, if as Joe says, the 214 to 414 is not an apples-to-apples comparison, then it's really irrelevant whether you should consider 414s.  You should see if you like the 214s enough to pull the trigger at a great price.