Ok, I´m going to slowly start buying up some mics for me.

Most of my work is press conferences, conferences, live speaches/events, live tv events and some small band stuff
The band stuff is usually nothign scientific, where a local "traditional group" want a little helping hand, rather than a proper mixdown...

I´ve grown up with 747's and liked them but cant decide whether I want 2 of these or 2 akg gn30s with ck31 capsules (we have this at work and to be honest they working well). I know there are a lot of people against and a lot for the 747s.
I like the idea of 2 747's as we DONT have them at work, and so I have more chance of hiring them back to "myself" when we are short.

I´ll obviously get a collection of sm58s and maybe a pair of something along the lines of the sm57 or c1000s´s for their diversity (as in use not mic..)

comments thoughts ?

again I´m not looking for whats PERFECT because I have no "standard" job so what might be great one day sucks the other.... hence looking for an average collection of average mics but of good quality..

C

Will suck both days!

true, had a mild brain fart.......... ment c3000

I've always had good results with the 747 and quite like them. However, several people lately have posted that they've had big problems with RF interference using these (cell phones, blue tooth, etc.) and I'd want to look carefully at this before spending my own money.

Since you are looking for some flexibility, how about an alternative suggestion: I quite like the AKG C391 "Blueline" mics and find them useful for lots of things. How about a pair of these, along with two VR91 extension tubes for when you use them on a lectern and want a small visual impact. Without the extension tubes they're a decent sounding cardioid that can handle a lot of different things from voice to instruments.

Bob

can I throw the old "SE electronics" bone in here? I've worked with the SE1A and SE3 before, and come in handy for lots of things. cant say I've tried them on vocals, but I can imagine them being used for female vocals in particular.

Yep, me. They are great mics, and I still use them (especially if the speaker is likely to back away from the lectern), but I do stick a BIG notice on the lectern explaining that they must turn their mobile OFF, and not just silence it. So far so good...

As an alternative to the 747, try the Sennheiser ME36 miniature shotgun with one of the gooseneck powering modules such as the MZH3015. We use these and they are as discreet as the 747's but we think they sound much nicer.

Steve

If you aren't worried about the fashionable ones, then there are all sorts of good, cheap and rather good ones about. The SE mics are very good, and other similar Chinese brands are worth a look - especially from people like Thomann, who give everything a 3 year guarantee and you can buy a few and send them back if you want.

These
are rather nice and dirt cheap

other Thomann mics I've had personal experience of have been great - there are some large format ones too, but I suspect you're after pencil types. If you have more money - I'm a great believer in Beyer M201s - used them quite a few times for radio OBs and they sound rather nice and have a tight hypercardioid pattern.

Hmmm

I have 4 of the above mics Paul links to and talks about. They're great. Can't fault them. The EM800's are better still, slightly larger though, and don't come with the suspension mount like the em700 pairs do.

Success!!!

Talked my father into selling me 2 of his 8 c747's for €400...
with around 10-15 gigs usage.. worth the deal...

will prob get some T.Bones on the side for cheapy instrument micing.. as like I said its generally just for giving a helping hand in my line of work (at the moment)....

Just to add a vote for the EM700's, I was very pleasantly surprised by the quality. Can't imagine much better at that price, and the pad / LF roll off switches are seperate unlike the Behringer C2's. They're also slightly cheaper and come with shockmounts - the only possible downside I can see being they come in a cardboard box rather than a hard plastic case.
Someone recommended (can't remember where) giving EM800's a try as cheap but nice drum overheads so I'm planning on getting a couple of those soon. Haven't used them myself but have heard good things!

So yeh - I'd definitely recommend getting some for general instrument micing.