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Affordable condenser mic to record overhead/room

#5
I've used several MXL mics, and I dislike them all. They lack definition / clarity / depth. The AT2020 is probably the best budget LDC out there. I've also had great results with the Rode NT-1 as a drum overhead.

I haven't used the LyxPro SDPC-2 but it's gotten some good reviews. $100 for a matched pair, and it comes with interchangable mic capsules to change the polar response. Really an unseen feature at this price point.

Using the same mic for drum overhead and electric guitar cab is not usually a good way to go (as mentioned, dynamic mics are way more common for guitar cabs). But for acoustic guitar, definitely.
 
#7
DirkP said:
He wants to spend 100,-.
Don't buy a condenser mic for 100,- unless you find something used for a very good price.
Go dynamic and buy a SM57 used.
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He wants a mic for live band in a room, drum overheads and guitar (unclear if acoustic or electric). The SM57 would be a fairly poor choice for full band room mic, drum overheads and acoustic guitar, but a great choice for guitar amp. Really need to consider the right mic for the job(s)... The SM57 is a great mic but not a good choice for most of the purposes the OP stated. AT2020 and LyxPro SDPC-2 are good choices for everything except a guitar amp and are in the price range...
 
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#11
Ripper75 said:
Looking for a condenser mic that would be good for recording a live band playing in a room, maybe to be used as an overhead mic for drums and/or guitar. Looking for something around $100
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The AT2020 is not bad but not fantastic by any means. I have a couple of them. Stay far away from the cheap mic brands like MXR, Lyxpro, CAD, etc. The problem with those is not the design but quality control & materials is usually worse than cheap instruments. They have to cut corners somewhere. I have a box of various cheap mics given by people. Funny how often the same brand & model can sound vastly different from each other. Even one set that was purchased as a "Matched pair." You might get a good one but can just as easily get a bad sounding one. Can you tell the difference or does it matter? I was asked to mix a band's album and used cheap condensers on their drum overheads. They thought it sounded good but the cymbals were awful which is why they thought my magic mixing would help. You can't fix what isn't there.
Many of them also do not hold up to heavy use. Condenser mics are sensitive enough to begin with. When you throw in cheaper materials, it makes it worse.
 
#13
WebJunk said:
The AT2020 is not bad but not fantastic by any means. I have a couple of them. Stay far away from the cheap mic brands like MXR, Lyxpro, CAD, etc. The problem with those is not the design but quality control & materials is usually worse than cheap instruments. They have to cut corners somewhere. I have a box of various cheap mics given by people. Funny how often the same brand & model can sound vastly different from each other. Even one set that was purchased as a "Matched pair." You might get a good one but can just as easily get a bad sounding one. Can you tell the difference or does it matter? I was asked to mix a band's album and used cheap condensers on their drum overheads. They thought it sounded good but the cymbals were awful which is why they thought my magic mixing would help. You can't fix what isn't there.
Many of them also do not hold up to heavy use. Condenser mics are sensitive enough to begin with. When you throw in cheaper materials, it makes it worse.
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Good point. I use higher quality mics and mic preamps myself, but I charge people for the service of recording and mixing. the OP stated his budget and his purpose. Cheap mics seem okay for that purpose (not trying to make recordings to sell them).
 
#14
IK Multimedia MEMS mic at $70 is actually a great omni mic.
It's a measurement mic, and works for good clear room pickup.

If you want to do stereo room pick up look into M+S mic placement. A lot of people make the mistake of separating the room mics, where they should be kept together. And M+S recording allows you to adjust the stereo field after it's recorded.
 
#16
You might consider a stereo mic. You can find a decent one used in your price range. An Audio-Technica AT822 might be a good choice. Note they require a battery, which might be an advantage if you don't have a way to supply phantom power.
 
#17
seamonkey said:
IK Multimedia MEMS mic at $70 is actually a great omni mic.
It's a measurement mic, and works for good clear room pickup.
Click to expand...

Measurement mics are usually has a very flat freq response (which is often good) but tend to have a high noise floor (which is always bad). As far as I can tell, this is very true of the IK Multimedia MEMS as well (see e.g. IK Multimedia ARC 2.5).
 
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#18
Ulf_Hansson said:
Measurement mics are usually has a very flat freq response (which is often good) but tend to have a high noise floor (which is always bad). As far as I can tell, this is very true of the IK Multimedia MEMS as well (see e.g. IK Multimedia ARC 2.5).
Click to expand...

I have both. IMHO the IK MEMS works great. I agree it's sort of a gimmick at this point in time, but there are plenty of traditional omni measurement mics available still. Some for very decent prices, some very high priced.
 
#19
SE Electronics X1, sorry if I sound like a Sweetwater plug today, but I got a good lead on this mic from one of their sales reps. I think it's going to work well for my needs. By itself it sounds great - I have a CAD GXL 2200 that I was setting up as a room mic and running into the board to get band practice recordings (taking the mix off of Aux 2). With the CAD set up in the middle of the room it just wasn't getting a full room sound, we're a 6 piece with drums and percussion. So I was thinking about adding a second mic and spacing them out. I ran my idea by the Sweetwater rep and was looking at a few of the mics listed above. He recommended going with the SE and it was a better price, caught a good deal on their labor day sale. Just thought I would mention it. The CAD has worked well for me, but I bought mine when they were going new for $69.00. If I were to do it over with current pricing I'd probably go with something else.

FYI: Both of these mics need 48v phantom power. Good luck on your search.

CAD GXL2200 Studio Condenser Mic | Melody Music Shop, LLC
The video below is for the package, I bought the mic by itself..
 
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#20
I don't quite get why salespeople recommend cardioid mics so much for simple recording use. A good multipattern mic would suite most users better.

Get the full room sound and pick up the whole band with an Omnidirectional mic.
Keep in mind louder sounds mask quieter ones. Players closest to the mic will be louder in the mic.
Space out accordingly.

Or do a MS with the multipattern in Figure 8 and cardioid in the middle.
This will give you a chance to adjust the balance during mixdown and mastering.

Yes, a omni mic will pick up "other" sounds i.e. "the soundfloor", but as long as you're louder than the background noise the masking effects kicks in.
 

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