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mooseherman « Reasonably priced Large Diaphragm Condenser »
Published on 11/29/10 at 17:33This is a large diaphragm condenser microphone. It thus requires a pre-amp with phantom power to operate correctly. It's a large diaphragm condenser, so I haven't had much use for it outside of the studio. I don't know if there really is a practical application for it outside of the studio, except perhaps to mic a piano at a concert hall.
It has a cardioid pickup pattern, which makes it somewhat less functional than some of the other mics of this nature that have multiple pickup patterns. However, it is much cheaper than many large diaphragm condensers.
OVERALL OPINION
I like using this mic for a lot of different things. I'll use it on vocals at home, and some other uses in the studio. I particularly like using it on pianos, voice (especially spoken word), acoustic guitars (especially ones that aren't too bright), as a room mic (mono, usually) for drums or even guitar cabinets, and even on string sections as a stereo pair with another mic. I find that it has a lot of uses in general.
When I compare it to a U87, which I often use as the standard in judging small diaphragm condensers, I have to say it doesn't hold up that well, but that mic is way more expensive, so that's to be expected. It also has two more patterns than the AKG C 3000 B, so that's another thing it has against it. The cardioid pattern of this mic is actually not drastically worse than the cardioid pattern on that mic when I'm using it at home. It takes a really nice pre-amp to "amplify" the difference, if you will. So I'd say this is a great bet for the home studio owner, given the price and quality of it!
It has a cardioid pickup pattern, which makes it somewhat less functional than some of the other mics of this nature that have multiple pickup patterns. However, it is much cheaper than many large diaphragm condensers.
OVERALL OPINION
I like using this mic for a lot of different things. I'll use it on vocals at home, and some other uses in the studio. I particularly like using it on pianos, voice (especially spoken word), acoustic guitars (especially ones that aren't too bright), as a room mic (mono, usually) for drums or even guitar cabinets, and even on string sections as a stereo pair with another mic. I find that it has a lot of uses in general.
When I compare it to a U87, which I often use as the standard in judging small diaphragm condensers, I have to say it doesn't hold up that well, but that mic is way more expensive, so that's to be expected. It also has two more patterns than the AKG C 3000 B, so that's another thing it has against it. The cardioid pattern of this mic is actually not drastically worse than the cardioid pattern on that mic when I'm using it at home. It takes a really nice pre-amp to "amplify" the difference, if you will. So I'd say this is a great bet for the home studio owner, given the price and quality of it!