Oi, there it is again:



I think the off axis rejection might have a fair bit to do with it.

hrm. lessee.. my fave cheap mics.

mxl v67g- cheap. dark. great overhead LDC, and GREAT for taking the nasty top end out of most things. a transformer coupled LDC for $120?! yeup. i've used it as a guitar cab mic out about 4-5 feet, overheads, vocals.. not a loser yet. it ain't the most detailed mic ever-- but then again.. who needs MORE detail than a condenser mic?

CAD m179s- this thing is a long time coming. a multipattern LDC for $150. with an infinitely adjustable pattern. its not my favorite vocal mic-- but it's pretty good at anything i've tried it on. it did a really respectable job of picking the low end of toms in GJ last i used it WITHOUT satanizing the cymbals. similar in some regards to a v67-- but a lot more flexible.

CAD e200. BIG freakin' can multipattern LDC. i got mine used for $75. it's my go-to vocal mic-- top end is magic and SO not shrill, bottom end is huge. mids... very laid back and easy. for lack of a better word- it's pretty realistic sounding.

Heil PR40- supposedly direct lineage from an RE20. possibly the badassest bass cab mic ever, unless you can find a beyer 380. which i can't. sounds pretty awful on guitars, i hate it on vocals. i wanna try it on kick.. but i can't steal it away from bass cab..

cascade fatheads- i don't care what all the royer guys who cry about paying all that money-- i like these just as much, and a pair costs $300 with a case, shockmounts, and they sound fantastic. i bought 'em for overheads-- but i love them on guitars. i do gang vox with them, 'cause they capture space really well. they love banjos and shrill things. AMAZING tenor sax sounds. i haven't had a project where i'd use 'em for vocals, but they're in the cue.

nady rsm5's- a bright ribbon. dig it. got mine supa cheap. i don't use it every day-- but it's basically the 609 to the fathead's 57.

beyerdynamic m300- for whatever reason-- i love this thing on guitar. it's basically a 58-- it just sounds better. great vocal mic where you don't want a shitty honky 58 sound... it has some air in it.

i'm all down with the rat shack pzms too-- great sleeper! i have an AT PZM which i use when i know i have shitty capacity for placement like old time jams where i just want to collect sounds.

i used rode nt1s for many years.. since 1997 to be exact. and y'know. i just don't like them. when they were the only LDCs in the hood-- i was glad to have them. but fuck their 5-7k hump of ear death. that'd be okay with tape.. but sheezy.. what a nasty, brassy place to leave a nasty bump for digital.

i'm sure there's plenty more-- but i don't own 'em

Yes indeed, I've had my eye on the CAD 179 lately.want a LDC with variable pickup patterns. I think a good one would complete my collection (for now). Particularly for use as a room mic.

i can heartily recommend it, for sure! it's not a super 'character filled' mic at all-- but its definitely a poor man's 414. vocally, you'd have to be right up on the thing to get enough proximity effect to make it sound BEEFY-- but at the same time-- just having a cheapie that'll give you the goods of what you're putting into it is REALLY helpful-- especially if you're using it on all kinds of sources. out of the 4 mics i tried on a gal i recorded last-- it came in second out of the e200, the m179m, a rode nt1, and the heil pr40. the e200 just filled out her voice a bit better-- but by and large-- it was a pretty close race- and this gal SANG-- not screamed or otherwise.

the infinitely adjustable pattern is super cool too-- you can dial in the amount of space you want- which is GREAT for room mics- and i'm curious to see what'll happen when i throw it on a kick drum in super-c out about a foot. that's my next mission-- i'm already planning on getting another one just for that.

another one i've been SUPER interested in of late is the advanced audio CM 47fet. Less than 3 bills for what amounts to a modded mic with better caps and a peluso 47 capsule (!!). THAT is what i'm thinking might be my kick mic of choice into the future.. as well as a bang up vocal mic

No shit? The Peluso capsule alone is worth a few bucks.

And I second the v67gs. A friend got a pair on Dan's recommendation and has been using 'em on OH duty set up Glyn Johns style ever since.

I have to add the Shure SM7B to the list. I've been playing around with the tracks we used it on in the studio, and that is a bitchin' mic. The internet hype on the thing is real. Great rock vocal sound, loves EQ. Haters gonna hate, but it is not an overgrown 57, IMO.

Dan, have you tried the SM7 on kick drum perchance? Or the PR40?

Heil has a kick mic with a PR30 capsule now that interests me. I need something for live as we've started to bring more and more of our own stuff- DI boxes, Beta 58s, things we know actually work that we like the sound of. D112 I've always liked- again, haters gonna hate, but it sounds like a kick drum. Nice on bass cab too, not too 'spensive.

yeah man-- the AA 47fet really has me thinking.. it's affordable AND it's supposed to be great. they make a tube version too... i don't have 800 bux..

i have NOT tried the sm7 on kick. i haven't really found a use for that thing yet short o' guitar. that's a mic that really just doesn't do anything for me. i don't own one, but i haven't ever thought it sounded good- just no space in it. i guess it's my idiom.. but dynamics aren't my bag.. they always sound dead.. and i only use 'em where you'd use a mic that has no space-- i.e. cabs and kick. vocals just seem too close.. i don't even like to use them live but live condensors hurt my ears

the pr40 i would LOVE to put on kick! i just can't take it off bass cabs 'cause i only have one... and it loves that spot... my precious...

i like d112's too.. no apologies. i think 52's are too round most times.

i'm glad somebody's lovin the 67s! great cheap mic.. i swear.. they do a solid job on shrieky vox too-- they take off a lot of the top fizz - they're kinda halfway between a dynamic and a condensor.

This is a good thread. Just sayin'.

I want some decent SDCs or dynamics for recording toms and guitars. Any names to look out for?

SDCs? Rode NT5s, Oktava 012s. Used should be under $200 a piece and that's where I'm sticking re: recommendations for now.

Dan's suggestion of CAD M179s is not a bad one; these have a bit of a following for toms specifically. They're LDCs, yeah, but- see above. They punch above their weight class. Shure KSM anything, same deal. The older CAD e200s, if you can find them. (If you find an e350, buy it immediately whilst Dan and I look on in jealousy as it is a classyclassy mic. That would be pricier though)

Dynamics, the usual 57/e609/i5 suspects. I am a fan of Shure Beta 58As in the "improved 57/58" category. (A friend has a Beta 57; same sort of deal.) If those AKGs from a while back turned up, they seemed interesting. I had some Sennheiser e604s before, the clip-on ones, and those were alright. Never used them on anything but drums.

Really depends on what your per-mic budget is. Most of these are floating around the forum so comparison clips are possible; even if the end users are different, a 57 can be used as reference. (And Geoff, Dan and I have the same preamps.)

I have been looking out for the e200s since originally reading this thread as they caught my attention when Dan said it's his go-to vocal mic yet it's a cheapie. I see NT-5s quite frequently on CL (though not at steal prices) as well as some cool looking MXL cheap used tube stuff that is juuuust beyond what I can justify buying ATM. It is really sad, lately I have realized how many awesome mics I could have if I didn't spend money on weed. I could comfortably buy actually nice things and have a stupid setup I don't deserve, and those things last practically forever. Not burn upon acquisition. I really hope my brain starts figuring that out completely soon.

The amount of money that I spend on ganja is really quite terrifying when looked at on a month's spending summation dealie.

Buy mics, then sit around in your well-appointed studio rocking all the ganj your heart desires. See how this works?

...and of course now that I'm not slamming down a liter of booze every day I don't have any money to begin with.

The Gearslutz classifieds aren't a bad place to look; 's where I acquired my NTK from. Most of what's on there tends toward the very pricey, but there's plenty of mortally-available things popping up as well simply because the forum's so huge. (You need to be registered and logged in to see them, though.)

http://www.ebay.com/itm/CAD-Equitek-E-2 ... 503wt_1396


!!!

A-ha! I would buy that right this instant, buy my debit card is currently MIA, which is why you don't let your more forgetful family members borrow your stuff.

DOH. there's more of 'em out there! hell.. if i hadna just went and got some new monitors, i might buy that one myself.. i'd love to have a set for overheads...

Ya know, I'm kinda miffed that I didn't get those the first go around, they would have been neat even if they weren't mindblowing sleepers for what I paid.

Yeah, I have seen other CAD stuff pop up on CL quite frequently, so if I'm lucky one of these or something similarly noice will pop up soon. The area is not too terrible for that sort of thing, with Seattle a 15 or 20 minute drive away.

Dooders, bass mics you dig?

AKG D112, LDCs, ribbons, EV RE20. Not impressed by: Sennheiser e602, Audix D6. Never tried: Shure SM7, Sennheiser 421. Want to try: large diaphragm Heil dynamic.

I generally like to mic the bass from a much greater distance then guitar cabs. Distances that seem quite roomy on guitar don't seem so much at all on bass. 6 feet ain't so far on bass, IMO. Especially not with a DI or closer mic in play. I don't bother putting a mic up on the grille or within a few inches, generally. Waste of time.

Always with a pop filter on a ribbon though. Those generally go far back. See, Cam, the Con Ed demo. That's a fairly distant ribbon on a bass rig. Carvin 5 string fretless, and that bass has gigantic toan.

I haven't liked any bass mics i have had around so far. Part of the reason really, that i basically go direct 100% of the time these days. If i had a good one though, i would probably go with a kick mic, also with a split off to the DI(or off a bassmap DI out, though i actually kind of prefer the DI straight from the bass, no preamp involved).

I always take a DI, pre-amp/pedal on bass. Just in case. I don't always use it- I frequently dump it- but it's nice to know it's there. I'm not so concerned with guitars, but it's a nice fallback for bass, which is a little bit more of a pain to mix and really get sounding awesome. (IMO, distorted electric guitar is about the easiest thing to record decently that isn't a synth.)

Kick mics- see my above post- are hit or miss depending on how they're voiced. I haven't tried a Shure Beta 52 myself either, but I remember it sounding okay-ish hearing it? D112 I know is pretty good, and the non-kick-flavoured big dynamics have a good rep (and were there for a lot of old-school records) though I can only vouch for the RE20 from personal use. (That, incidentally, is the bass mic on the Garda record. Into a Divided By 13 bass head and bass 4x12(!). There's a Sansamp in there, and some remapping shizzle too on the DI.) The big condensers I go to for flat-ish/good top end from a mic (I do like a DI for top, and also to distort to fuck because of said top) and the ribbons I like 'cause they're beefy, fat and full.

Cam, seeing as you'll have a D112, KSM27, and apparently now a Heil PR40, CAD M179 and Cascade ribbon, you should be able to get quality bass tones from those. And if you're not cool with what they're doing, change your mic placement, try a different bass (or re-string) or maybe you're just one of those guys who only digs DI bass tones, really? The latter of which I doubt given your taste for dirtier, organic rocksounds. If you are digging what is happening in the room, and you are not nailing it with those... Move them around. The condensers at least should give you a pretty good representation of what's actually going down- neither of them are particularly colorful- and something in the other three should give you bottom end.

what KINDA bass sound?

I like pr40's for bass on a whole lotta biz, but a d112 plays a close second. I used an m179 for a recording i did, and also loved it, almost enough to run it pretty much by itself.

i'll tell ya, i don't much like the beta fitty two for much of anything.