LDC mics

[MrJoshua]

I recently had the opportunity to try out a few, and thought I'd share my thoughts and get some opinions from the rest of y'all. A friend brought over his Audio-Technica AT4040. I have a Rode NT1-A and an AKG C-414 B-XLS. We set up one mic at a time, all into the same FMR RNP -> Apogee Rosetta 200 -> S/PDIF into Digi002 Rack with ProTools LE 7.1 setup.

 

Since we were just trying things out, we just set up the mic and he played my midrange Fender acoustic guitar and sang. In a session I'd normally track those separately, but it actually turned out better than I expected.

 

First, I was pleased to find that a usable sound came from all three microphones. They all had different sounds, and we could both tell a real difference from all three microphones. Of course, this wasn't exactly a "blind" test - we knew exactly which microphone we were listening to, so I'm sure that had a little to do with it, but there can be no doubt that differences were present. But they were all sounds that would be useful in different circumstances.

 

The AKG C-414 had the fullest sound of any of the three (which of course you'd expect based on the pricetags). The guitar had more presence, with a more rounded tone. It definitely had a smoother top end, and the low end of the spectrum seemed to be far more present. It sounded exactly how you'd expect from a 414, in other words. The singer's voice sounded smooth and well-defined.

 

The AT4040 sounded much better than I expected. The high end was more pronounced, and maybe slightly harsh compared to the 414, but still very usable. The lows and low-mids weren't as present, leaving the guitar sounding slightly scooped. To my ears, the guitar did not sound as good with this mic as with the 414, but that's of course personal preference. The singer has a high voice, and this mic accentuated the highs slightly and I thought left his voice sounding a bit harsh, but still very articulate.

 

The Rode had much more hyped highs than the other two mics. The guitar didn't sound nearly as good, with quite a bit of the lows and low-mids lacking, leaving the guitar sounding fairly harsh with a bit of "plastic" to it. The vocals were harsher, with a lot of the smoother mids missing. Again, though, it was a sound that I felt could be useful in the right situation. But overall I was disappointed in how the Rode matched up to the competition for this particular setup. I still like how it sounds on electric guitars and such, though.

 

And, that's about all I have. Does anyone else have experience with these (or other) mics they'd like to share?