Microphone choice help


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RBentley
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Dear ASSR
I need two condenser large capsule mics which will mainly be used for vocals and acoustic guitar but also for voice over and ADR on some of my short films. I want to buy one low end and one "mid end" microphone, so I've narrowed the choice to AKG Perception 220 vs Audio Technica AT2035 for low end, and AKG C 216 vs Audio Technica AT4040 for the more high quality mic. C 214 or AT4040 would be permanently placed in my small studio where I would record music with it along with my SM57, and I'd like either AKG P220 or AT2035 for home use (voice-over, ADR or to record quickly when I get an idea), but I also want to be able to use it in my "studio" when I need two mics, so I want it to be good and not much worse than my main mike. Which two of these would you suggest? I am also open for other suggestions, but I am on a restricted budget so anything in this range would be OK. Thank you in advance.

P.S. I am also planning to set up my own internet radio station so I'll be using the mics for that as well.

SMAC-Studios
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I cant say much about most of

I cant say much about most of the Mics you've named, but I do know that an SM57 is an industry standard.
Ive also heard a few things about the AKG-220, and... not necessarily good things.
Ive got a friend who does some home recording, mainly himself, guitar, acoustic, vocals, and he hates it, says it has a muddy, boomy bass sound.
I was looking at getting a AKG-P-420, but after hearing about the 220, I started looking at some other choices before making a decision.

Its kinda sad that you cant necessarily "TEST" a mic before you buy it. Some stores will let you plug-er-in and talk into it, but that isnt much of a test.

Id say your best guess is to read reviews, see what people say about those mics, generally if someone else (at least someone who knows a few things and can give some good/bad point on the product) has used it, and enjoys its result, it may not be half bad.

"Who says you need a guitar" - Jack White

gball
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Experience with AKG 220 - and FYI on MXL

I've got an AKG 220, and some others but not the AT 2035 to compare with. When I line them up side by side, to me the 220 has a (possibly more accurate) sort of colorless neutral sound. I don't know if you consider that right or wrong for what you are doing, but I sort of accidently aquired one of the cheaper MXL's as part of a package, and side by side I actually prefer the MXL - for male or low alto vocals especially. To me the MXL has a "warmer" sound with trade offs that it clips faster and has a sort of (to me) funky hypercardiod polar pattern. Maybe all that I'm saying is that I'm beginning to discover that my personal taste will lean towards the ribbons for vocals. Anyway, I use the AKG 220 for higher sound pressure levels - it just seems more rugged to me, if such a thing can be said about a large condenser. FYI SMAC Studios, the 220 fits halfway into the under $400 range that you were asking about in another thread, and if you do buy a blue bottle I'd be very interested in what you think of it.

gball
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Interesting - my experience with the 220 different

Bass and boomy is pretty much the opposite of what I get from the 220. Huh, wonder what the rest of the signal chain differences are from your friend? I've got a hybrid analog/digital setup; I run through a hardware limiter/compressor first, but only minimally. I try to be totally dry if I can. The signal goes from there to a Mackie board, where I put whatever effects the vocalist wants in the aux sends that go to their headphones, but then I record dry (except for the previously mentioned limiter) coming out of the Mackie into the DAW (Pro-tools). Not a stellar setup I know, but I'm slowly building things a piece at a time.

gswan
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Consider the room

The room or recording space will have a more dramatic effect on the sound than the microphone choice. It may be that the room modes are converging at a point near the microphone which may cause excessive boominess.

Kenneth Janeway
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Shure SM-57 Great Mic for the money...

You can't beat the Shure SM-57 for a good all-around recording mic on just about anything you want to record. It does add a little "proximity effect" if you get right on it, but this can be EQ'd out or you can place the mic farther away from the sound source. I especially like this mic for recording drums and guitar cabinets but I also use them often for vocals as well. For a $100 mic it can't be beat. Neumann makes a new TLM-102 which has a perfect frequency response up to 5500 Hz. It is probably the smallest condenser mic made now for it's capsule size and retails for $700. This mic requires a Phantom Power Supply as well, whereas the SM-57 doesn't. In addition, Blue mics have gotten good comments and reviews from people I have known who have used and owned them. Room acoustics must be taken into consideration when miking all instruments. Good luck. My American website is now www.Reverbnation.com/KennethJaneway and I have many Myspace music pages as well. I come from the Bentley banking family of Ohio (they landed in Rhode Island in 1679 from Scotland). Best, Ken

Kenneth Janeway (Songwriter)