Mic advice

GTE

Hello, just looking to throw some ideas off the peeps here about something.

I work at a student radio station. We need new mics which will be used for vocal work and some instrument work.

Exactly they would be extra mics in the main studio when needed. (we have 2x Rode NT1's and 2x Rode M3's already).
In the other room we have 1 Rode NT1 and these mics would be the ones for nspoken word interviews and pre recorded shows to acoustic guitar sets with some percussion.

My original idea was to get some Beta 57's but they are a bit expensive compared to the SM57 and I am not sure if the extra output the Beta provides is really worth it. Added to that they are not going to break any time soon.

Then I moved onto similarly priced condensers. Small or large diaphragm?

We already have some Rode M3 but they seem to have a low output compared to the NT1's we have.

Also in a similar price range.
Small Diaphragm
AKG Perception 170's, Samson SO2's, AKG C1000S(pushing it price wise),

Large Diaphragm
Behringer B1 (bundle with pop shield and cable), SE Electronics SE2000 with pop shield which Thomann have been trying to flog for ages, Audio Technica AT2020.
The SE is the only one that comes with a shock mount which is a plus.

Condensers would be preferable.

http://www.karmamics.com/shop/K-Micro-Silver-Bullet-Drum-Pack.html
A set of those would be interesting to have anyway.

What do you guys think?
Durability over sensitivity. Sensitivity wins but are the cheaper condensers a better bet then the high end dynamics? Should I go for a mix of condensers? Does 1 model stand out in particular? Should I go for some SM57's and the Karma's?

It has been years since I have been in the microphone market and radio stuff is not what I would have been buying for anyway so what advice would you have on these?

Thanks for the help,
Appreciate it!

madtheory

Are you looking to replace or augment the Rodes? Because those are fit for purpose. You could perhaps be a bit clearer about what exactly you need the mics for- how many and what sort of instruments you expect to be working with for example. And how many VOs/ broadcasts you would be doing simultaneously.

Best thing for voice work is the EV RE20- it enhances the weight of any voice and rejects the room ambience extremely well. The AKG 414 would be outside your budget I imagine? For general purpose instrument mics a pair of Beyerdynamic M201 are excellent (also great for radio voice), and a pair of any of their small diaphragm condensers also.

The lower output of the M3 should not be a concern- just turn up the gain.

Stay away from Behringer, they will not last.

GTE

madtheory wrote: »

Are you looking to replace or augment the Rodes? Because those are fit for purpose. You could perhaps be a bit clearer about what exactly you need the mics for- how many and what sort of instruments you expect to be working with for example. And how many VOs/ broadcasts you would be doing simultaneously.

Best thing for voice work is the EV RE20- it enhances the weight of any voice and rejects the room ambience extremely well. The AKG 414 would be outside your budget I imagine? For general purpose instrument mics a pair of Beyerdynamic M201 are excellent (also great for radio voice), and a pair of any of their small diaphragm condensers also.

The lower output of the M3 should not be a concern- just turn up the gain.

Stay away from Behringer, they will not last.

Thanks for the reply, Ill run through it again for clarity cause I didnt explain myself well enough on this forum.

These mics are to augment in the studio when our current 4 are not enough and they are mainly for building a recording set of mics for the pre recording studio as we have one NT1 in there and got a multitrack recording interface last month.

Amount of mics is dependent on the grant we get, which frankly we have not been told. We are aiming for 4 to 6 mics plus cables, shields, stands. If the grant goes well and we can save money where we can we may try and get 8.

The use for these mics are to allow for multitrack acoustic set recording and also full show pre-records. Music wise there will be vocal, acoustic guitars and some percussion but I am sure the odd instrument will pop in also. There will be no drum kits.
Generally the max people we would have on either pre-recording or live output would be 6. Extra mics for vocal and instruments.

125 euro per mic is the absolute max price.

I had first planned to go for durability and get dynamic mics (Shure Beta). I then decided to go down to the SM range and quickly following that going for similarly priced condensers. Go for sensitivity over durability.

Thomann are still flogging the old SE 2000 mics with a pop shield and that includes a shock mount so I am tempted for that at a price of 88 euro a piece.

Other mics in the price range but are not necessary right for the job as I am ignorant about it are:

http://www.thomann.de/gb/akg_c1000s.htm Pop shield
http://www.thomann.de/gb/akg_perception_170.htm No shield and shock mount
http://www.thomann.de/gb/samson_c02_kleinmembranmikrofon_stereoset.htm Shock mounts
http://www.thomann.de/gb/audio_technica_at2020.htm No shield or shock mount
http://www.thomann.de/gb/studio_projects_b1.htm Pop shield and shock mount
http://www.thomann.de/gb/se_electronics_x1_pop_screen_set.htm Pop shield, No shock mount
http://www.thomann.de/gb/studio_projects_b3.htm Pop shield and shock mount

Sadly the SE2200a is out of the price range.

Also, as they have good reviews and are as cheap as chips (almost) the 7 set karma bullet mics would be fun to have in the mic store too to have options.

Since I have been out of the microphone market so much and as radio is not something I am used to so a bitta advice on which mics of the ones in the price range should be gotten.

I am tempted to get a mix of the shock mounted LDCs. 4 in total. That is 5 LDCs in the pre record studio, then maybe a SM57/Rode M3 or two depending on the grant.

Thanks

Squidgy Black

I'd say possibly 2 SE2000's, and choose two other LDC's for variety. SDC's aren't that nice on vocals, but if you're looking for a cheap set look at the t-bone em700 stereo set, I have a set and they're quite good for the price.

madtheory

Tough one. If you're recording vocal and acoustic guitar together, your best bet is one LDC at a distance, balance vocal and acoustic by adjusting the position. You would do well with an SM57 or two for percussion. So:
1 LDC- Audio Technica AT2050 incredibly good, variable pattern, superb value. Budget might stretch to a pair.
1 or 2 SM57- old reliable.
2x SDC SE1A, Beyerdynamic MCE530 are both excellent budget models. You could use these as an XY pair for miking a group.

Or here's one from leftfield- tried an AB pair of Behringer ECM 8000 on a kit in a small dry room today. Excellent sound. THose might be even better for miking a group, especially at the price. Be aware that they're omni.

You will only need 3 pop shields for close up vocals I think?

mkegvn

Those AT2020s are amazing value. I have two of them, and I actually end up using them over my Bluebird for most things. Great on male vocals and acoustic instruments, Good on female vocals. Can't go wrong with them.

The Beyerdynamic MCE530 is a class little mic too...

GTE

With regards to the pop shields this leads me onto an aspect which I perhaps haven't stressed enough. The room is going to be used for full show pre-records so that would be all voice work. We can have 6 with sometime as many as 8 people there. Mic sharing would probably happen in the tough moments.

This is the reason I am tempted to go for 4 LDCs (5 in total if we buy them), a couple of SM57's and I was tempted to get the 7 piece Karma K-micro's to have a wide array of mics to choose from. We also found a SM58 and a Sennheiser dynamic mic very randomly yesterday which I need to check.


Ill check out those mic recommendations out!
Thankies

madtheory

It would be a mistake to have a mic on each person in that situation anyway, you will get phasing between them. It will sound better with shared mics.