Recording mics

Do any of you have experience with professional recording mics? I mean really nice condenser mics like Neumanns, etc. I'm interested in the difference between mics in the, say, $1200 and up range and similar mics in the $400-800 range.

Now, I know that many of you record with the Shure SM58 and are very happy with it---and you may find yourself tempted to tell us how wonderful it is for your (hard rock) sound. Great, but that's not what I'm asking about here. I personally don't like to use dynamic mics for live performance, let alone recording. I'm simply curious about how much one gains from upgrading to professional studio mics from one of the many excellent mid-range condensers currently available.

As a secondary question: Anyone have experience recording vocals with ribbon mics? Under what circumstances would you use a ribbon mic?

no i don't. But i'm recording today with a $20 no-name dynamic mic. I'm thinking of upgrading to a $150 small diagphram condenser. You know, the type that looks like a dynamic and can be hand held. They also can be driven from a battery which is important for me.

i'm thinking it might be useful to have a good sounding transparent mic that can be used for both recording and gigs. have you tried these?

I use a Rode NTK which cost $750 CDN (less in the USA). It's a pretty nice clean solid sound. If you need samples check out my link - all songs sung through that mic. I'll probably never own a Neumann...due to cost....

I actually use the Rode NTK myself--it's a fine mic, but I'm not sure that it suits my voice. Like most others, I'm not in a position to go out an buy a Neumann, but I wanted to know from someone who has actually recorded through one of these professional mics how much they really differ from "prosumer" mics like the NTK.

The high-end rule usually goes something like this: Going from a $200 mic to a $500-800 mic makes a big difference; going from a $500-800 mic to a $1200-2000 mic makes a much smaller difference. This law of diminishing returns usually reigns over the gear world.

So, IS it really worth the extra money to leap from the 800$ to 1200+? Because I'd gladly spend that much on a mic if it gets that much more of a "pro" sound. At this point, my rock band mic has done me really well, but I'm sure it doesn't sound very clean and it certainly isn't fixed up to be a proper recording. I know nothing of that.. (Gotta hit the books hard this year..)

I see no point whatsoever in a mic above the 1K$ price tag unless you have a signal chain 100 times more expensive than that. There are {censored}loads of mic's in the under 1K$ range that will do the job nicely. If you've got the good fortune of having a signal chain in that neighborhood, then you should be able to find people and places to audition the high end mic's relatively easily. Which is the only way your going to be able to do those kind of mic's justice anyway...and make relevant comparisons to that which you already have...

The bigger question, in my experience, is, "do you know how to get the most out of any mic?" because there are too many people I know who buy expensive mics and wonder why their recordings still sound lame.

I'm not criticizing your ability or saying your recordings sound lame, Jack (because they don't) - just trying to make sure you've asked yourself if you are truly limited by the equipment more than knowledge or technique. I don't want you to shell out a pile of cash for a mic just to go, "meh, this isn't much better..." because some other thing (component, mixing technique, etc.) was what was really holding back the sound.

I've heard recordings done on cheap-ass {censored} that sound really professional, and I think overall it has a lot more to do with how well you know how to record and mix stuff.

I'm not saying good equipment isn't better to have, just saying your "diminishing returns" theory is pretty solid. It's that way with pretty much all musical gear.

Brian V.

Personally if I were you?

Take a good hard look at:

-Octava mods by Michael Joly

-JJ audio mics

-Gauge

http://www.gauge-usa.com/

http://jjaudiomic.com/

http://www.oktavamod.com/

They rival the Neumann sound and cannot be beat for the price...

However your mic preamps/gain stage plays an important role in

your overall sound.

What audio interface do you use?

What Mic preamp(s) do you use?

If you intend to run ribbon mics?

You will need at least 60db of gain, 75db is optimal.