Topic: Suggestions on a beginner mic set?

[elwoodblues]

I've been taping for a year or so but it's all been stealth.  I have put my church rig to great use and i intend to continue doing so. I have to admit though that i've been bitten by the bug and i'm looking to get into open taping now.  My question is, what can you guys suggest for a beginner set of mics that wont set me back to much.  I have an ISO out in the yard sale for a pair of studio projects c4's and i might just have a guy from here on the board that has offered me a pair but the deal isn't done yet and I haven't heard from him in a couple days.  I'm not a brand whore and my knowledge on this type of gear is limited so any and all sugegstions are appreciated.   I don't care whose name is silkscreened on them, i just want a decent starter set.

I'm using and r-09 and a 9100 pre amp from chris but i have built an interface to go from xlr to 1/8" for the r-09 so i can use most mics out there now.


Thanks in advance, i know you guys will come through for the rookie.

[Brian Skalinder]

A budget would help.

i have built an interface to go from xlr to 1/8" for the r-09 so i can use most mics out there now.

Keep in mind most full-size mics require phantom power, so you'll at least need a way to provide phantom power between the mics and the R-09.  Additionally, there's a good chance you'll need a preamp (which typically also provides phantom power) for gain.  Perhaps someone else can confirm whether a preamp would actually be required with the R-09, or not.

[elwoodblues]

A budget would help.

i have built an interface to go from xlr to 1/8" for the r-09 so i can use most mics out there now.

Keep in mind most full-size mics require phantom power, so you'll at least need a way to provide phantom power between the mics and the R-09.  Additionally, there's a good chance you'll need a preamp (which typically also provides phantom power) for gain.  Perhaps someone else can confirm whether a preamp would actually be required with the R-09, or not.

I have an art Phantom II box i picked up for $20.00 at a local music store closign a few months back, would that work well enough?  As far as budget- $200-300 preferably

[jkbyram]

avantone ck1's for around 3 then save up for cables, stand t bar and such

[Krispy D]

that art box will work fin.  I used one for a long time.  You basically have two options in my opinion. 

option one:
go search out all sorts of similar rigs to yours on archive and get a feel for the different flavors of mics and develop an opinion of your own.  This will help you determine what you like.  Then buy as much mic as you can possibly justify and as soon as you think I can't spend any more money than this, spend more!  now you have mics you like that sound good with your rig that you won't want to upgrade a year down the road.

or

option two:
get an inexpesive set of decent mics that anybody around here will tell you are worth while. play with them, learn the ropes, have fun, make good tapes, maybe upgrade later on down the line.  Decent mic options for option two would be SP C-4, Oktava MK-012, AKG C1000.

[landshark]

Darn, had a whole writeup to post, but Krispy's advice is even better!

For what it's worth, I ended up getting a set of used AKG 391's as my first set of "open" mics, paid $350 used.  I chose them because the sound quality is considered decent, the self noise specs are pretty good, the interchangeable capsules let you change the pickup pattern of the mics if you want, and it accepts a range of phantom power voltages (I think 9-52v?).

Of course, after a while I succumbed to the gear slut disease and got some AKG 460's, which I'll be sending to JW at some point fo rthe mod (should sound good with my MixPre / Shure FP24)....

Good luck!

Mike

[run_run_run]

avantone ck1's for around 3 then save up for cables, stand t bar and such

Busman is going to have a mod for em, so save up for that if you go the avantone route.

[theSeekerr]

I'll testify for the C1000's....not perfect as tapers mics, but they've got a fairly crisp sound, and they're very good for close work with all manner of stringed instruments. Can be powered off a 9V battery if you accidentally leave the phantom box at home.

[elwoodblues]

Well, I've settled on a set of c4's.  Charlie (chazwarz) gave me a good deal on a set so for now this will be my first step out of from hiding in the shadows.  Thanks for all of your advice guys, I appreciate it. Should have the mics first of the week next week so needless to say im pretty stoked about it.

[Gizby]

I hadn't seen a C1000 until the other day at Guitar Center. Good lordy, that's a hefty mic.