Microphone Choice/Advice

[NY Chief]

Christ! Chinese sourced Oktava MK-319's????

Nowadays you gotta know EVERY detail of a products manufacture. They might not be outright counterfeits in this case, but still....

http://homerecording.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=180053" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[demonufo]

Christ! Chinese sourced Oktava MK-319's????

Nowadays you gotta know EVERY detail of a products manufacture. They might not be outright counterfeits in this case, but still....

http://homerecording.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=180053" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Depends where you read your info though on opinions of these.
Some people claim they're not all that bad.

Even with the Russian models there are four different Mk's.
Mk I are not good, Mk II are okay, Mk III are superior (when it comes to modifying) and the common as muck Mk IV is what pretty much everybody owns (myself included).

I'm finding these mics sound a little boxy with preliminary vocal tests, but have not tried them with guitar cabs as yet (doing a big session this week though)
I also have one that is modded, and one that is modded physically, but doesn't have any circuit mods as yet.

I'm hoping to get my no 2 sorted out with a decent -10dB pad soon (currently the signal is dropped via a capacitor, which seems a little odd to me. There is a method using a simple voltage divider, but I've yet to find out exactly what it is. I think I'll send no 2 to JJ audio to get the mods done and then copy it across to my no 1 if I like the results.

BTW Neil if you're still watching, you are more than welcome to borrow one of my 57's and both my Oktava's for a couple of months or so after I'm finished (in the next couple of weeks) if you can't decide on what to go for, and fancy a 'try before you buy' session.

[jcmjmp]

So what do you guys think of the Senn e609? I like it but it seems to be on the dark side vs an SM57.

[johniss0001]

i'm gonna go and say shure 545 mic i have some vintage ones and i'll take them over any sm57 they are not the bassiest of mics more mid range character and you can buy them for around £60 from ebay stateside although the prices are now starting to increase I would also have another mic some sort of ribbon like a cascade fathead 2 or sommat for more bass resposnse

[motorhead_6]

I can't tell you what you should use. But personally I would never use anything for recording except for an AKG-414 (unless price was of no concern). They are more expensive than a Shure SM-57 (which I use for live playing) but they are the most reasonably priced high quality studio mic and a lot of other guys besides me swear by them. If you shop around and are patient you can probably pick one up for about 400 bucks. If you want one right this second probably 600 or 700 but they sound GOOD. They sound better than any cardiod mic.

[JTyson]

Kind of surprised no one's mentioned the Sennheiser 421. That and the SM57 (not the beta) are classic guitar cab mics. If you want a stereo setup, you could pick up either of those and a Cascade ribbon mic.

THIS ^^ I totally agree- a 57 and 421 combo through a pair of UA LA-610's is my favorite combo of all time
It works everytime

[fatihelloween]

I am using single SM57 which looks directly to the cap edge of loudspeaker. I want to use a second mic just to get low end and mix with my SM57. Should I get another SM57 and use it as off axis position, or should I buy a condenser mic?

Thanks for your advices,