Mr Steve Posted November 13, 2004 Share Posted November 13, 2004 Hi guys, Well, I have a microscopic budget of £200 for stage stuff at the school+6th form where I work, until April '05. We currently have 2 AT Midnight Blues 2000s (yes that's right, 2 mics for the entire school of 1500 kids), one of which is smashed to pieces, and the other where the grille is held on with lx tape. So, I'm looking to get a few new mics. If I could, I'd get SM58s as they can take a battering but I don't have the money. What mics would you recommend? I'd quite like something switchless, or with a lock on the switch, that can take some bashing, that doesn't cost the earth but isn't a £9.99 karaoke job. They will be used for speech, vocals, some instrument pick-up. What about Sennheiser's bottom end Evolution mics? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gareth Posted November 13, 2004 Share Posted November 13, 2004 Take a look at Thomann's own-brand range of mics, specifically the SM58 equivalent. (I seem to recall that they also do genuine SM58s and Beta 58s at knock-down prices, too.) Bear in mind that I'm not a noise boy, but ..... I did a show a couple of years back that was set in a radio studio, for which some 'prop' mics were required. We bought four of these, purely for cosmetic purposes - they didn't need to be practical. However, during a lull in the tech, just for the hell of it we set one up through the desk next to one of the theatre's AKG condenser mics (don't remember the model, but it was something pretty decent which would have cost several times the price of the Thomann one). Listening on the studio monitors in the control room, there really wasn't much to choose between the two - the Thomann one was perhaps a tiny bit warmer-sounding, but apart from that it was pretty impossible to tell them apart. Someone with a better ear than me could probably detect more of a difference, but at that kind of budget who cares?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulears Posted November 13, 2004 Share Posted November 13, 2004 evo 835 & 845's are good, tough, not bad sounding. Maybe consider something almost 'consumable'? Have a look at www.thomann.de in the hot deals section - they have quite decent sm58 clones, for silly money, and they are quite suitable for school/college activities. My experience is that whatever you buy will, like the ones you already have, accidentally get squashed, bent, wet, used as a hammer................... (or as in one case, put in a sandwich bag and dropped into a water tank to record underwater sound for some media students, who forgot the small holes designed to stop suffication!!!)paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Posted November 13, 2004 Share Posted November 13, 2004 I've recomended these mics to a couple of bands I've worked with who wanted something cheep for rehersals. Both bands were very impressed with them and now sometimes use them for small gigs where they do their own PA. I think for £22 inc for 3 mics they are phenomenaly good value. It comes to the point where you spend more on the mic stand than the mic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy_s Posted November 13, 2004 Share Posted November 13, 2004 I've recomended these mics to a couple of bands I've worked with who wanted something cheep for rehersals. Both bands were very impressed with them and now sometimes use them for small gigs where they do their own PA. I think for £22 inc for 3 mics they are phenomenaly good value. It comes to the point where you spend more on the mic stand than the mic.<{POST_SNAPBACK}> Studiospares do micstands for about a tenner - they're about the cheapest I've seen, so yes you're right - more on holding the mics up than on the mics themselves........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Steve Posted November 13, 2004 Author Share Posted November 13, 2004 Cheers - I've had a look on the thomann site and I think I'll go down that route. I really want to get top notch stuff, but the money just isn't there, and let's face it, it will be trashed in a secondary school! It is good value for money, probably better than ex-hire stuff from places like AC Lighting or Stage Electrics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris_R Posted November 13, 2004 Share Posted November 13, 2004 you could try Red 5 here . We use the RV10's (studio condenser) for recording in college and for the money (£149) their great.Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peternewman Posted November 13, 2004 Share Posted November 13, 2004 It comes to the point where you spend more on the mic stand than the mic.Studiospares do micstands for about a tenner - they're about the cheapest I've seen, so yes you're right - more on holding the mics up than on the mics themselves........There is in fact a topic on this very subject here. The cheapest I found was £6.73 from Thomann, here, so slightly cheaper than the mics. HTH PN Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Posted November 13, 2004 Share Posted November 13, 2004 Looking at both items from Thomann, 3 MS-2005 Stands (@£6.37 ea) £19.113 XM1800S Mics £19.73 You could probably get a dozen of those for your budget, with money left over for some cables.... (And tape to tape over the switches) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alec Posted November 15, 2004 Share Posted November 15, 2004 You could probably get a dozen of those for your budget, with money left over for some cables.... (And tape to tape over the switches)<{POST_SNAPBACK}> What about the tape needed to fix the budget mic stand that falls to bits on the first use? Having made the mistake of buying crappy budget mic stands before, what should I buy that won't fall to bits, and doesn't have really fiddly knobs? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Posted November 15, 2004 Share Posted November 15, 2004 I use K&M stands, (Canford, Thomann, Studiospares) or Studiospares budget stands. For regular use I haven't had any problems with Stuudiospares budget stands but I have had problems with Thomann's budget mic stands. For any mic stand it's worth looking after them and getting hold of a stock of spare knobs, bolts, bits and bobs. James Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Showcomms Posted November 19, 2004 Share Posted November 19, 2004 www.clockaudio.co.uk Are a good half way house between well known German brands and cheap mics. But probably just out of your budget range but worth a look for another time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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