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Bart’s Mic Locker - 

Here’s a mini-review of most of the mic’s I use on a regular basis. If you’re shopping for microphones in the mid price range, you might find these helpful.

AKG-414B/ULS - generally not among the A-list of top name engineers, but I’ve had superb results on a lot of vocalists, especially female, and excellent results on choir and orchestra when used in conjunction with the Oktava 012. The sound is thick and rich on most sources. Although it can sometimes be a little too heavy in the 350 Hz - 500 Hz range, it responds well to EQ and will almost always sound solid and clean. Coupled with a Presonus ADL-600 tube preamp, it takes on a really nice high end sheen that’s reminiscent of the famous AKG C-12. There’s enough detail to sound clear and present but not so much as to emphasize sounds that don’t contribute to the music.

Oktava 012 - This is simply the best mic for choir and orchestra that I’ve found at any price. High frequencies are slightly emphasized, but never harsh or scratchy. If I could find a mic I like better for this application, I’d buy it today. I also like this mic a lot for acoustic guitar, violin/fiddle, and octave mandolin, using the omni-directional capsule. The omni has a bit less high end than the cardiod capsule, but there’s still plenty of sparkle, and it tends to slightly de-emphasize mid range honk and bottom end boom. The omni capsule also tends to soften the scratch on fiddle/violin.

The Oktava 012 will work well in any situation that might call for the venerable vintage AKG 451E, but the Oktava has a smoother top end. I’ve had eight of these mics over the last ten years. Four of them were purchased at The Sound Room (www.oktava.com), and seem a little cleaner and quieter than lower priced versions from the major chain stores.

Charter Oak M-900 - This mic was a real surprise when I first bought it. It a Chinese mic that’s been upgraded in the U.S. by Charter Oak. It’s what I’d call a very bright mic, but the top end is a sweet as can be -- never harsh or scratchy. I bought it in hopes of replacing one of the Oktava’s for choir and orchestra, but for that application it was just too bright. In the studio, however, using the omni capsule, the off-axis response is superlative. I use this mic in a rather unorthodox manner as an overhead for acoustic guitar. Placed somewhat near and slightly forward of the player’s right ear, it makes for a gorgeous capture of guitar, mandolin, banjo and others, when coupled with the Oktava 012 near the sound hole of the instrument. It also excels as an electric guitar mic when the guitar sound is clean, not overdriven or distorted.

CAD E-100 - Here’s a favorite that could possibly put my credibility in doubt, but I’ll stick with the recommendation. I consistently get great results on hand drums of all types with this mic (djembe, bohdran, congas, bongos, etc.). It sounds similar to the AKG 451, but more full and less brittle. For vocals that are a little too thick and rich for the AKG 414B/ULS, the E-100 fills in nicely when used through a tube mic preamp. This mic comes with a nasty catch, however. Conneat Audio Devices no longer sells or supplies repair/replacement parts of any kind. Strip a thread or drop the mic and you’re done. No parts. The complete lack of replacement parts seem unfathomable, but I got this from three people at the CAD factory when I needed shock mount parts for a CAD VSM1.

Electro Voice RE-20 - This is the mic I go to for bright hand percussion (tamborine, jingles, bells, shakere, etc.). I’ve also had good results on distorted electric guitar, kick drum, harmonica and vocals. The catch is that it has very low electrical output, so it only works well on loud sources. Whisper quiet vocals and delicate instruments like acoustic guitar will require a lot of gain from the mic preamp which can sometimes lead to noise problems from electronic hiss. But on overly bright sources, the RE-20 works well to tame the highs nicely.

CAD VSM-1 - This mic was introduced in 1998, got great press reviews, but quickly flopped on the market. More recently it seems to be enjoying a bit of a cult revival among tube mic aficionados. When I first bought this mic, I didn’t like it. After a few months of use it went in the closet and sat there for years. For the purpose of comparing some different brands of 12AX7 tubes, I pulled the VSM-1 out of storage and made test recordings to compare the different tubes. With a Groove Tubes 12AX7M in the VSM-1, using the Presonus ADL-600 tube mic pre, the old VSM-1 sprang to life. I’ve been using it as a main vocal tracking mic ever since, with excellent results.

The VSM-1, with the right 12AX7 tube installed and the right mic pre has a silky smooth high end, robust midrange, and very full low mids and bottom. For bassy or muddy sounding voices it’s a little too rich, but as a general vocal workhorse it’s really shining these days in the studio for main vocal tracking. I might also describe the sound as being elegant, and classy, evoking the formal atmosphere of black tie events.

I’d buy a couple more of these mic’s except for one annoying bugaboo: The mic stand swivel on this mic is awful. The mic is fairly hefty and it takes a good bit of friction on the stand swivel to keep it in place, so CAD used a star washer. This inhibits fine adjustment and requires more muscle to loosen and tighten than I’d like. Experiments with different kinds of friction washers have not proved successful. In the bargain, the original shock mount suspension used O-rings, which would slip in their moorings. I did however, find a suitable fix by replacing the O-rings with cloth covered elastic like what’s found on most other shock mounts.

Audio Technica AT-4047 - I find it amusing to note how many microphone manufacturers profess to having a model that imitates the original Neumann U-47, or U-47 FET. Among the imitators, most sound worse than the Neumann, and some sound better but few, if any, sound like the original Neumann. (For improved versions, check out Lawson L47MP and Peluso 22-47.) While the AT-4047 is a fine mic for many uses, to my ear it sounds nothing like the Neumann U-47. It can sound really good at times for floor tom, kick, and occasionally clean or distorted electric guitar. On vocals it’s not been a clear winner here. Top end seems a little too bright and the mids are pretty cold and clinical. I’ve heard tracks recorded in other studios where it sounded good on acoustic guitar, but I’ve had mixed results for that application in my own studio.

Shure SM-57 - This microphone is a bit of an enigma as far as being the $120 mic that hangs out in the same studios with the $4000 microphones. Every studio should have one or two. Why? It will often outshine the big guns for clean or distorted electric guitar. It’s quite useful for most any part of the drum kit, and can be the only credible solution for problematic vocals. It works as well in bad acoustic environments as it does in good ones ones. You might say it has the capability to pick up the source while ignoring the environment. It’s nearly indestructible, so you can put one up in circumstances where you’d never want to risk an expensive mic. There’s an old saying about this mic: Never stellar, but never stinks. Put another way, it’s very easy to use and won’t demand a lot of experience from the engineer or the artist.

Sennheiser E-606 - This is Sennheiser’s specialty mic made for guitar cabinets. Occasionally, I get a sound I like from this mic on overdriven electric guitar. It has a prominent spike in the frequency curve around 3KHz, which can help stave off buzz-iness in the high end and fatten lead solos. But most of the time, I find the peak to be too prominent and the sound ends up bugging me in the mix. Once in a great while, I’ll run into a sound source that’s extremely lacking in mid range punch. The E-606 has worked nicely in this situation, but it’s not a common occurrence.

AKG 451E - In the days of analog tape, this was one of my favorite “go-to” mics for almost any instrument application. It has just the right amount of extra boost in the highs to compensate for the mild high frequency erasure that occurred when the tape was rewound and played back repeatedly during tracking. For digital recording, I’ve generally found it to be just a little too bright in most applications, and most often use the Oktava 012 in all the places I used to put up the 451.