Which Mic Should I Use

[Speakafreaka]

It recently struck me that seeing as i am a cellist and all, and hate using sampled strings or string machines, that the best thing i could do would be to invest in a decent mic!

Problem is, I know pretty much sod all about mics.

Hyper-cardoid, cardoid, condenser??? WTF???

All I want to know, is which mic is going to record my cello, without colouring the sound to much, and not break the bank in the process??

Any ideas?

 

[your mum]

A large diaphragm condencer (capacitor) mic like the Rode NT2 will do just fine. If you want something nicer (around £500) the Neumann TLM 103 is one of the best mics in that price range.

Go for a condencer mic as they are more detailed and can caprture the top end better than dynamic mics that have diaphragms that are too heavy for that range.

Peace out.

 

[Faction]

Rode NT2 - £299
Oktava MK-012a - £89.99
Behringer B1 - £82.99
<span style='font-size:8pt;line-height:100%'>Prices from Digital Village</span>

Not having used the B1 I can't comment on it but the Rode and the Oktava are both very nice mics; the Oktava in particular is just silly value for money. Rather than spend £300 on a Rode I'd recommend buying the MK or the B1 and spending the extra on a channel strip like the Focusrite Platinum Trakmaster. This will give you a high-quality signal-path into your recorder, miles better than a soundcard.

 

[Speakafreaka]

Thanks for the advice guys.

I am currently investigating my options, due to the above prompting, and thinking, that perhaps what i want is two channel strip from focusrite, as then i could do stereo recordings, etc. etc.

This looks like a good option for me, as it wil allow me to get the source a good long way away from me howling, growling hand built PC!

Again thanks for the info.