Acoustic and Vocal mic for recording around the £100 mark?

Jetfire · May 2020

As per title, any suggestions or advice? Been offered a AKG 3000B by a friend so want look at everything

MichaelWatts · May 2020

What are you recording into? Do you already have an interface of some sort?

Jetfire · May 2020

Yeah, I have a Line 6 UX2 which is going into Reaper.

artiebear · May 2020

The AKG3000B is a great mic for both vocals and guitar. It has a smooth high end response with plenty of clarity across it's range. You could certainly find mics that would be either better for vocals or guitar specifically, but that AKG would give you a great all rounder without spending a lot more. I have one around the studio that I regularly use add in to the mix when recording acoustic guitars, taking everything else out, it usually sounds great on its own, especially around 30cm out from just neck side of the sound hole.

Jetfire · May 2020

I've seen a few reviews and online things saying the 3000 isn't so good but it's all relative I guess!

artiebear · May 2020

Jetfire said:

I've seen a few reviews and online things saying the 3000 isn't so good but it's all relative I guess!

I have loads of mics, some stupidly expensive, but I still use that one as described. It works very well overall for what was a reasonably priced condenser. There are mics with much more mid transparency and high end sparkle, but even some of the higher end ones, while sounding lively can be more difficult to reign in without very good eq and compression. Overall it is a good solid mic with a very usable range. At the price it would beat most new stuff in that price range where.what might be initially perceived as high end sparkle to can start to sound harsh. It's actually a decent guitar amp mic as well due to its smoother response.
I have a few of that particular AKG range that I have used for touring jobs as well, they are very solidly built and reliable.
It's a tough area to make a decision in, as there are so many options out there. I hope you get something that works for you.

TimmyO · May 2020

I've not used one but hear great things about these (a bit above budget) - it has a setting for acoustic guitar - review here https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/aston-stealth ;

Musicwolf · May 2020

TimmyO said:

I've not used one but hear great things about these (a bit above budget) - it has a setting for acoustic guitar - review here https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/aston-stealth ;

I think that your link was broken

https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/aston-stealth

Jetfire · May 2020

Abit above @TimmyO ? nearly double lol

Musicwolf · May 2020

Jetfire said:

I've seen a few reviews and online things saying the 3000 isn't so good but it's all relative I guess!

You can probably find both good and crap reviews for just about anything these days. I haven't owned a C3000 but I friend had one and it was perfectly ok for the price (it didn't improve his singing, but that's another story).

I think that they're about £125 - £130 new?

Whitecat · May 2020

Shure SM57. Buy new from an authorised dealer though, there are tonnes of counterfeits out there.

maltingsaudio · May 2020

Grab this befor it goes! Not my mic I would add but great mics and virtually unheard of
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ADK-Project-G-GX-1-condenser-microphone-solid-state-audio-XLR-live-or-studio/254598734083?hash=item3b47446103:g:4fkAAOSwAe1ewCSr

artiebear · May 2020

Musicwolf said:

Jetfire said:

I've seen a few reviews and online things saying the 3000 isn't so good but it's all relative I guess!

You can probably find both good and crap reviews for just about anything these days. I haven't owned a C3000 but I friend had one and it was perfectly ok for the price (it didn't improve his singing, but that's another story).

I think that they're about £125 - £130 new?

It's worth noting that the current AKG 3000 at that price is not the same mic in build or quality. The original 3000B was about double that price 15 years ago.

The fact that there are two different mics being referred to as "3000" might also explain some of the negative reviews. The 3000b has a larger diaphragm than the 3000 which does contribute to smoothing out the high end.

Musicwolf · May 2020

artiebear said:

Musicwolf said:

Jetfire said:

I've seen a few reviews and online things saying the 3000 isn't so good but it's all relative I guess!

You can probably find both good and crap reviews for just about anything these days. I haven't owned a C3000 but I friend had one and it was perfectly ok for the price (it didn't improve his singing, but that's another story).

I think that they're about £125 - £130 new?

It's worth noting that the current AKG 3000 at that price is not the same mic in build or quality. The original 3000B was about double that price 15 years ago.

The fact that there are two different mics being referred to as "3000" might also explain some of the negative reviews. The 3000b has a larger diaphragm than the 3000 which does contribute to smoothing out the high end.

I didn't know that, thanks. It certainly explains the low price, back in 'my day' the C3000 was in the same league as the Rode NT1.

artiebear · May 2020

Musicwolf said:

artiebear said:

Musicwolf said:

Jetfire said:

I've seen a few reviews and online things saying the 3000 isn't so good but it's all relative I guess!

You can probably find both good and crap reviews for just about anything these days. I haven't owned a C3000 but I friend had one and it was perfectly ok for the price (it didn't improve his singing, but that's another story).

I think that they're about £125 - £130 new?

It's worth noting that the current AKG 3000 at that price is not the same mic in build or quality. The original 3000B was about double that price 15 years ago.

The fact that there are two different mics being referred to as "3000" might also explain some of the negative reviews. The 3000b has a larger diaphragm than the 3000 which does contribute to smoothing out the high end.

I didn't know that, thanks. It certainly explains the low price, back in 'my day' the C3000 was in the same league as the Rode NT1.

Without wanting to hijack the thread, I still have a couple of the first NT1's somewhere. I haven't used them for years, but a good mic for the money. Not the smoothest response but plenty of upper end clarity if I remember rightly. I believe that like the AKG3000B Rode messed about with the spec while retaining various iterations of the NT1 name, just to cause yet more confusion, especially in the preowned market.

jaymenon · May 2020

I much prefer an X-Y cardioid condenser, especially if the acoustic is going to be prominent in the mix.

The Zoom H2N can function as a microphone and does it very nicely - and much cheaper that something like the Rode NT4.

Here's a little recording:

Jetfire · May 2020

So, today, my friends AKG 3000B arrived on loan so let the threads about acoustic recording commence!

artiebear · May 2020

Jetfire said:

So, today, my friends AKG 3000B arrived on loan so let the threads about acoustic recording commence!

Hope it goes well, will be interested to see how you get on

shufflebeat · May 2020

https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/neat-king-bee-worker-bee

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Acoustic and Vocal mic for recording around the £100 mark?

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