Topic: I hope you weren't lyin' when you said newbie friendly!

[kmanshi]

Okay.... I have ambitions of becoming a laptop filed recordist.  I've been screwin' around for a year or so with a MD, and some cheap ass mic built by Sony.  It has lasted me this long, but now I'm ready to upgrade.  Gotta feed the monkey, right?

Anywho.... I'm stuck in this rut on what mics to get.  I mean Schoeps, Neumann, AKG, Shure, Nagami-what-the, it's overwhelming to say the least.  Then you have people talking about bass distortion and subway cars running under ground at 10hz.  WHEW!!  I'm frazzled.  I'm not afraid to read, it's the searching and finding the reading material that is killin' me.  I should probably get to my question now.

How do you pick out a microphone (or microphones) to field record?  Let's say I have $1,000 (USD) and I want to buy 2 mics.  I want versitility, as well.  I would like to go from small ass bar to outdoor patio, to rock-and-roll sized amphitheatres.  I'm not too concerned with stealth at this point.  One thing at a time.  I would like to be able to record a band like Phish, or WSP, or Stockholm Syndrome, or Medeski Martin, and Wood.  Am I asking too much?  Does such a microphone (or pair of) exist?  One person has recommended Neumann's, but finding the right Neumann has proven challenging.

Ultimately, I'll get a stand, and shock mounts, and wind dampners, cables, etc.  I'll wrap it all up nice and plug it into an Apogee mini-me (btw - can someone tell me how the gain is on one of these things??), then usb that sum beeyotch to my laptizznop running WaveLab5 (will I be able to run 96/24 using wavelab, in light of the wav file size restrictions).  Sound like a plan?

At first, I couldn't believe how much money you people spent on your rigs.  After doing more research, I really had NO IDEA! 

Love, and Trinity!

[kmanshi]

Leaving my wallet at the door?  Does that have something to do with the ticketing system that is built up on this forum, or is it a money reference?  I saw a forum on the ticketing thing, but haven't hit it yet.  Just curious.

Thanks for info.

[Tim]

money reference, this hobby is expensive!

$1000 or under and versatile...

I'd suggest either the AKG 480 series with your choice of capsule (I'd start with the ck63 hyper-cardioid, pairs of new caps are $360/pair or so)

or the ADK TL's... more bang for your buck in that you get 4 patterns built into the microphone but they are Large Diaphragm mics (LD) and are larger (duh!) and bulkier than regular mics.

both are fantastic mics that can be had for a great price.

I'm not sure what you mean by the minime gain question?

[Craig T]

I second the ADK A51TL's, and will add the Studio Projects LSD2.  Both are large diaphragm mics, very large and obtrusive, but if stealth isn't required it shouldn't be a problem.  The TL's give you 4 patterns: omni, card, hypercard, and fig-8 - so they are about as versitile as you can get.  The LSD2 is a stereo mic, but as a newbie, that may be a good thing since you are stuck running it in x/y (capsules are aligned on top of one another, but you can rotate to adjust the angle).  Both mics sound very good for not too much $$ (TL's are around $800, the LSD2 around $700).  I think both of these mics would sound excellent with the apogee.

[kmanshi]

I'm not sure what you mean by the minime gain question?

I had read that the mini-me is a pre-amp, gain, and a/d converter, but some folks don't like to have one device doing it all.  I've read some pretty good reviews on the mini-me.... no one really seems to have anything bad to say about it.  Just curious as to how it performs as a pre-amp, gain boost, and converter.  I'm guessing it does juuuust fine.

[Sean Gallemore]

I'm not sure what you mean by the minime gain question?

I had read that the mini-me is a pre-amp, gain, and a/d converter, but some folks don't like to have one device doing it all.  I've read some pretty good reviews on the mini-me.... no one really seems to have anything bad to say about it.  Just curious as to how it performs as a pre-amp, gain boost, and converter.  I'm guessing it does juuuust fine.

I can find ya some people that have a problem with it.  The Grace V3 is the more fluffed all-in-one box.

[Craig T]

I'm not sure what you mean by the minime gain question?

I had read that the mini-me is a pre-amp, gain, and a/d converter, but some folks don't like to have one device doing it all.  I've read some pretty good reviews on the mini-me.... no one really seems to have anything bad to say about it.  Just curious as to how it performs as a pre-amp, gain boost, and converter.  I'm guessing it does juuuust fine.

I'd start with just a "one box" solution for preamp + a/d.  You should look at the Grace Lunatec V3, Apogee MiniMe, Edirol UA5 (Oade preamp mods highly recommended!) - these are pretty widely used and have proven themselves to be solid performers.  If you go with the V3, you'll need a digital i/o for the laptop - something like the VxPocket pcmcia card.  If you go with the MiniMe, don't run a preamp in front of it at first, you may like the sound of it as-is and save yourself some ca$h.

[creekfreak]

For the budget conscience, also look at the m-audio 410. All ine one box with firewire interface to a lappie. Oade does mods on them also, and Caymanreview speaks highly of it.

I have run the mini-me and V3. Like the V3 better, but that is more personal preference....

Mics can be a bear to pick out, so many to choose from.

The TL's are kick ass if you can deal with the large size and weight.

I love my schoeps mk41's and actives also, but those are almost too expensive now.

[Cooker]

looks like, if your budget is $1000, your best bet will be a UA-5 for the all-in-one box. you can get a digital-mod one for $295 and a warm-mod one for $500something.  24 bit out via USB is doable.

my recommendation would be either the used AKG 480's with CK61 caps in the Yard Sale, or a new pair of ADK TLs.

[the magoo]

looks like, if your budget is $1000, your best bet will be a UA-5 for the all-in-one box. you can get a digital-mod one for $295 and a warm-mod one for $500something.  24 bit out via USB is doable.

my recommendation would be either the used AKG 480's with CK61 caps in the Yard Sale, or a new pair of ADK TLs.

def heard a good bit of tasty tapes from a 481>ua-5(warm and p-mod).......my .02


Goo

[Kindguy]

Pair of AKG 481's for 600 bucks in the yard sale now.