It started with something I was gonna crosspoast from Gearslutz:

http://www.gearslutz.com/board/low-end-theory/603096-hidden-gems-microphone-market.html

And I can verify the truth of some of these having run into a few myself.

I decree this is a thread to recommend microphones. Tell us what you thought rocked, and how much you (or whomever you got it from) scored it for. Alternately, if it brought teh suck, dis it here as well.

I am very interested in this thread.

I pretty much only use mics that cost less than $100 a piece, actually few of mine cost more than $50. At that pricepoint, it is a bit of beggars can't be choosers, but at the same time, while there are certainly better choices for capturing sounds, i can get okay results with what i have, and i can't complain. I have less money in all of my mics combined than most people spend on a single condenser overhead or a kick mic.

1. First a cautionary tale. The worst mics i ever owned, that everyone should always avoid at all costs: Nady SP-4. They only cost about ten bucks a piece, but they aren't even worth that. Do not use this mic. The sound is dull, but somehow also lacking low end. The wiring or mechanicals of the thing are sketchy and after a few weeks of use, the mics tend to go intermittent. I had two that came with some stands and cables. They are both shitty.

2. Surprisingly good omni pattern condenser if you can find them: Radioshack PZM. Got it for free because it is weird, not really "microphone" looking, and Radioshack-branded. Supposedly these respond very well to modification, but i still haven't done anything to this one. I am actually pretty happy with it as is, aside from the fact that i have to keep a fresh AA battery in it. Eventually i will modify it for phantom powering though. I actually don't use this one enough, because i don't usually have enough channels free for a omni pattern microphone. It is nice as a room mic, a kick mic, or what became my favorite: lying on the floor directly underneath the snare. If you can find one for under $50, buy it. I would even say that up to $100 it is more than worth it, for its unique abilities and general radness. And that is even before modification.

3. Cheepo LDC that i like more than i expected on vocals: MXL2001. Another one that is supposed to respond well to mods, but i haven't done shit to. Thing kind of sucks for room/overhead use, it gets both crunchy and dull somehow at the same time. This made it useful to me as a snare bottom mic for a while, back when i had a channel to spare for that spot. It worked fine for that, but really, a lot of other shit does too. What i find it most useful for, as a thin-voiced dood, is vocal shit. It just sounds nice. Kind of an emphasis on the lower mids, and with a decent low end to give a bit more depth to voices. Maybe lacks a little high end detail used this way, but for certain recording situations it is great. And one of the things that its EQ provides, is a slight attenuation of sibilance in vocalists who like their "s" and "sh" words. I have also used it on recordings i did with a female fronted garage rock band, and found it swell. The main selling point again, this one cost me about $35 used IIRC. That is about the going rate, from there to about $50. Less than fifty bucks for a workable solution to a difficult vocal problem, is a-ok, IMO.

4. Lastly, if you can find them in the sub-$50 range, buy them: MXL990. They are flexible, solid, and decent. Work well on acoustic, vocals, drum overheads. They maybe lack a little high end clarity, but i intend to experiment with some simple cap mods to see how much of that can be fixed. (Some report huge improvement, others are considerably more conservative in their assessment of the gain.)

I find that they do not have the odd low-mid emphasis that the MXL2001 provides and that i like for thickening a voice, but they are still serviceable for vocals, and give a fairly clearer sonic picture than the 2001. Certainly, sometimes more clarity is more better. Mainly though, they do a lot of things decently, and generally better than other options in the price range. Generally, i find them more useful than the common Shure dynamics, for more things. One could not hammer nails with them perhaps, and they certainly don't have the mid attack that a 57 would have on a 4x12, or a snare top, but for just about everything else, i would rather have a pair of these on hand.

I also still have Tor's, am still using them all the time, and probably really need to give them back to him. Without a pair of replacements though, i am not looking forward to going back to a pair of cheap dynamics in their stead. So i will just wait until he demands their return.

Aren't these just re-branded Crown PZMs if I'm recalling correctly (or so the rumor goes)? They are neat. A PZM on the floor a fair ways out from a loud guitar amp or taped to the wall in front of a drum kit is nifty. They're flat! So they can go anywhere you please. Stick them on the floor, the wall, the ceiling, your dog, etc. Those are a spiffy under-the-radar mic.

Crown made IIRC the capsules(still a fairly cheepo electret sort of jibjab) and licensed the technology and PZM name to ratshack. The rest of the thing was a Radioshack product though.

One of the biggest differences is that the Radioshack version ran off of batteries as an unbalanced mic, while the proper Crown ones ran a balanced and phantom-powered arrangement. Oddly, the balanced operation mod is VERY simple on them. Literally all that needs to be done, is that a three conductor mic cable be attached in place of the 1/4 TR two conductor cable that is soldered on the stock unit. The phantom powered mod is a bit more involved, requiring reworking of the amplifier bit of the thing.

The other downside to the Radioshack mic, is that the plate is at once too small, and too metal. It is known to ring, though, honestly it is not something that i have noticed under the recording conditions here. The plate is just screwed on though, and a few minutes with a drill and a hacksaw can produce a larger plexiglass plate that will not ring, and will also boost the low end reproduction.

Also, like all boundary/pressure zone mics, attaching the plate to a large flat surface, turns the whole surface effectively into the plate, which can drastically improve the quality and range of audio that the microphone can pick up.

Lastly, without fucking with the circuit at all, you can use two smaller lithium batteries in the spot that the single AA goes for more voltage supply and increased headroom.

Again though, i haven't done any of these things to my mic, and it is still great. I have just been putting it off, because 1. I am just going to do all of the mods at once. and 2. My current setup means that an unbalanced 1/4" plug is what i would have space for: i only have 4x balanced XLR inputs, and i need them for other biz.

I would like a second one of these though. A pair would be righteous for lots of things.

I am in "playing live" mode so keep a while.

I can add to this thread the Blue Encore 100 is a very solid live mic. It does the 58 thing very well, well at least as well as the 58, good gain level, very clear, and they are the same price point as the 58, except regularly they go on sale for about $20 less, so I got mine for $79 shipped. Comes with a nice cloth pouch and a rubbery clip. Oh also chromey shiny

E609. Totally awesome for mic'ing a cab a few feet back when you have an SM57 close mic'ing it.

I was going to come in here and ask what would be a nice mic to mix with an SM57, and was gonna ask about those. Kind of answers my question ...

609, 421 if you have some bux, condenser, ribbon... basically, something that covers spots the 57 doesn't. Also... another 57. On the same speaker, one off-axis, one on, fiddle with the positioning until it sounds right. Seriously.

The 57, to me, is all about the mids and how those mids make the guitars sit in a track.

I am thinking of adding a few mics to the cabinet after I get my new interface.

I have:
SM57 which I can use to mic ... anything.
OM2 which I can use for vocals and general (directional) micing.
990 which is nice for warming up guitar tracks, micing the acoustic and vocals.

I am thinking of snagging:
e609 (Or is it worth the coin to snag an e906 with its three fancy filters?) for guitars and drums.
Blue Spark Condenser to either replace the 990 or just work along side it.
Nady RSM-4 for mah ribbon flavuh
Maybe another condenser similar to my broken 991, for drums and acoustic micing

I had a 609 for a while, but I got sick of it eventually. It had a grating top end. But it did go great with the 57. Complimented it better than my i5, which is my current 'other dynamic for guitar'.

If you can go for the 906. Closer vibe to the 421, doesn't sound like grating ass, and moar opshuns onboard.

interesting... I have a RSM-4 and some things... I may have to rap battle Geoffrey after all for that interface......

I like the 609 on snare. I like the "brighter than a 57" (i5, 609) common dynamics on snare 'cause I pull the mic back pretty far generally, up to a foot at times.

The RSM-4 is a nice Ribbon-On-The-Cheep. Open up the grill and take out extraneous windscreen whatnot so you have a single layer and nothing else. Free mod. Opens up the sound a fair bit. If you really want to get hacking with the thing, there's a comparison somewhere with modded RSM-4, RSM-5 and a Coles 4038 which is a damn expensive ribbon.

Interesting indeed ...

Also: ribbons kick ass on bass cab, specifically a few feet back. I put a windscreen in front just to keep it safe; it's not the SPL that'll damage a modern ribbon, but they are fragile and try to avoid hitting 'em with a big blast of air (like, from the port on a kick drum front head...) Just has major ass end.

I would love to hear a real dirtied up ribbon mic on a really rootsy/stripped down rock song for the kick drum..
Something that's gotta fuckload of kick in the mix with a four on the floor feel.
I love that kinda shit.

This being the kinda thing I'm talking about;

Whole lot of mic comparisons.

Wish there were more than that even. I also wish that he hit the snare in each one, so i could compare how they reject what is not right in front of them.

I also wish he mentioned how he had the MD441 set(it has seven tone positions on it via two switches). That is a mic that interests me greatly. And it seems to reject the hi-hat pretty well there.

Between that and the floortom video, that AKG D-550 sounds pretty good actually. That isn't, i believe, a massively pricy microphone.

We put the 441 on the bottom of the snare in the Garda sessions for that purpose. It does the trick, and you get a really bright hateful sound that's all snare wires and not much else. My only other experience with one was on a guitar cab, and that thing did not give the Shiva much love. I found it screechyscreechy. But it seems like just the thing to stick under a snare drum.

Albini puts it on vocals a bit too. Actually i have seen that from a few other engineers too.

Also, i have seen more than a few engineers pop them on kick drums, usually in conjunction with something else.

That is why it is interesting to me, kind of an odd spread as far as what i have seen/read about folks using them on.