Not everybody can afford a $2700 Manley or a U-87 etc. There seem to be a large number of more reasonably priced mics of this style out there. At least some of them have to truly be "great deal/sound for the money", don't they? "Shoot outs" only help if you have some sort of personal experience reference point, and you are probably listening from YouTube audio, etc. Or maybe you modified one with the "cheap Chinese capsule" syndrome and made it much better. Let's try to stay under about $700 US or less for discussion. My personal experience is: a Rode NT2A really is slightly more "mid-rangey" (the syndrome) like the reviews tend to say. Mine tends to go to my 18" floor tom. However, my Blue Reactor really does sound cool on my voice, with the right impedance setting. It really does fit the "good deal" category, at least for my voice, from my experience. I have found a mic mod company that seems to know more about this stuff than anything else I have seen. http://microphone-parts.com/collections/microphone-kits The mod for the Rode is just a different capsule. Anybody built a mic with some of these replica kits? Hell, I just like talking about microphones. Loves me a transducer or two....

 

The priciest mic I've owned, which falls into this price range, is the Audiotechnica AT4050CM5: multipattern, low-pass switch, -10dB pad. I really loved it. It is hard to describe sound adequately, but vocals recorded with it sounded "pricey." Of course, it's all subjective. I speak in the past because its capsule died off a few months ago. It still works but it spits pops and clicks everytime I use it. I need a replacement, but in my country you won't get it for less than 900 dollars, and for that money I'm eyeing a Neumann TLM 102. Fixed pattern, no pad, but neumann sound? I'm still pondering the idea as I save up.

Now that we are into mid-price mics, and without wanting to hijack the topic (I believe it's related), are there any 4050 and TLM102 owners who can recommend on this purchase? Should I pay through the nose for a fairly overpriced 4050 or aim at the Neumann?

 

I love the sound of AT mics. They were actually one the 1st companies to come out with a good LDC for under $1000, back when they were still sort of expensive holy grail things. I think the high frequencies on the 4050, and most AT products, are sweet, never harsh. My friend has one, I borrow it on occasion. My only experience with the TLM102 is in the local studio. They used a matched pair for drum overheads. Of course they were great for that, but that's not a very good for the comparisons here. I think a lot of the price you pay for Neumann is---- I think they are still built by humans instead of machines. And they seem to be the universal comparison.

 

Last edited: Feb 15, 2016

Yup, I know these capsules. Friend of mine had some Rodes pimped with their 67-capsules and that actually hit the spot. I have an old MXL and plan to upgrade it with a preamp/capsule-kit from microphone-parts.com.

Here's me in action on one of them pimped Rodes in my friends studio:

oh yeah ... see the little grey thing? That's where I would put my money on: Schoeps (Schöps) ... forever in love with those mics.

EDIT - forgot to mention: after the pimping the Rode now can do 8, cardioid, and omni ... quite nice for M/S-now

 

Last edited: Feb 15, 2016

Never heard anything bad about any Schoeps. Everyone I know with experience with those can't say enough about them.

 

Very true! My friend who runs the above studio once explained the Schoeps mystery to me (and he's got quite the ears): what makes Schoeps so special is the way how the mics treat the sound that hits the capsule from the sides. With most other mics you get sort of a loss in spectrum the farther the sound is off the perpendicular center of the capsule. Not so the Schoeps: sound from the sides is not as loud but the "body" stays somewhat the same. I always thought my friend was one of those uppity-audio-gearsluts when he was telling me that there is nothing but a Schoeps ... but hey, I stood corrected, and still do

PS: personal and unrelated question on a sidenote ... is that the guy from Bachmann Turner Overdrive bashing the cowbell in your avatar?

 

Will Ferrell in a skit from Saturday Night Live about the cowbell player during the session for "Don't Fear the Reaper".

----SM57 is my go to cowbell mic. lol

 

Last edited: Feb 17, 2016

haha ... SNL, too cool! thanks!

 

Lewitt LCT 940 Reference Class Tube/FET Microphone

Price: ​

$1,699.00 ​

 

What do you guys think of Se microphones?

 

I've got a Z5600a which I found on eBay for a good price. It was a bargain!

 

Little past "medium" pricing. Do you have one? Most mics that try to do everything (that seems to be this one's niche) tend to come up short.

 

Last edited: Feb 16, 2016

I have no personal experience with those, but if Rupert Neve helped design it, it's got to be worth checking out. Which model are you thinking about? I would jump on this deal, because a good pre-amp will make any mic sound better. Holy crap: It's only $100 more than my discussion range, and you get a great package. http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/sE2200a2C511 Sweetwater is my kind of folk......

 

Last edited: Feb 16, 2016

Se gemini II secondhand?
it has a a kind of color I like.

 

sE mics have a hard black rubberish type of coating that is tougher than paint, I guess.

 

Last edited: Feb 17, 2016

When discussing 3K microphones, medium price should be half, as in the $1K to $1.6K range. Below 1K would be low priced microphones IMHO.
Your question might have asked:

1. Best med priced cardioid mic.
2. Best med priced multi-pattern mic.

1. Telefunken Copperhead, bang for the buck cardioid vocal mic, will get you pretty damn close to C800G for $1.2K.
2. Lauten Audio Atlantis, bang for the buck multi pattern mic with 3 voicings, classic sound, workhorse mic for $1.6K.

Both of these mics are serious bang for the buck mics, expensive sounding and medium priced.

 

Sweet find, I own the 2200a II, chose it because I couldn't find the Tube version of it (discontinued). I haven't had the chance to properly test it out, but used it on a film set recently (yet to hear the final cut),

What are your experiences with yours on vocals? From the vocals i recorded, mine has a slightly boxy sound in the low-mids but once EQ'd out, the highs really stand out.

@rhythmatist Overall it's the 'cheapest' microphone I could find that I could do the most with (Can't wait to record 2 vocalists at once )

PS: that deal looks AMAZING, I should have done more research, as i'm using a M Audio interface pre-amp

 

Message reserved for future use when I manage to find my brain. Great topic! Let's make it worthwhile.

 

I believe I will spring for a U-47 replica kit and build my own this year. I'm getting too old to say "one of these days- someday" anymore, and I have no stringy haired woman or snotty nosed kids to feed and shelter, so fuck it. -----More toys....I mean tools...food and shelter are over rated anyway.

 

A lot depends on the room, so far I haven't tested it in ideal circumstances. I have a Space Reflexion Filter at the back of the mic, but I am still seeking an arrangement for the front (behind the vocalist). Maybe a heavy duvet or sound blanket?

I imagine an untreated room with no shielding would cause some problems if you pick up the sound of the room.

 

Last edited: Feb 17, 2016