Advice on buying microphones

[OllieDuff]

I'm currently speccing up a live gig in a university venue, and am debating whether it's cost-effective to just buy the kit (we hire in quite often), but I'm not experienced with a wide enough range of kit to make a judgement. If I were to buy them, the spec would be:

 

- 3x dynamic vocal microphones

- 1 drum mic set: doesn't have to be all-singing all-dancing, just needs mics for bass, snare and hi-hat (the venue is quite small and drummers are enthusiastic little buggers!)

- Total cost less than £500

 

The main use cases are live bands and musical theatre, both in a venue which is acoustically tuned for speech. The room's acoustic is not brilliant for music, so they don't need to be super high quality but they do need to be reliable and survive being handled by student musos and sound techs.

 

Ideally I'd go for Shure across the board (I've had good experiences with PGDMK6 drum mics, including reusing the small PG56s for miking guitar amps, and the SM58 is industry standard), but that would cost almost six hundred pounds from our preferred supplier so I'm looking at cheaper brands. T-bone seem to do some equivalent drum mic sets for less than £200 (the PGD Shure set is £366), but are these actually good value or built down to a price?

 

What's a decent alternative to an SM58, ideally for less than £80 per unit?

[Wilflet]

AKG D5? Google sugests most places are selling them at 60-70 at the moment (they were more like 50 when I bought mine a few years ago).

this place seem to have them on offer for 45 at the moment.

 

Not as "industry standard" as the 58, but still a reputable brand if you ever need to meet riders.

As for the quality I prefer them to 58s, get better gain before feedback (flatter frequency response). I personally have 4 now and use them as the house vocal mics for a small venue I supply and generally take them with me when im touring in with a band. Also very nice on sax.

[RumbleO]

I preferred the AKG D85 to the SM58, but found they were not as robust.

After a year of normal use they started dying and needing replacement capsules. Anyone know if the AKG D5 is better?

 

I would suggest the EV N/D767 as a good robust and to my ears more natural-sounding alternative to the SM58.

 

(Although I notice they are now GBP 96, so perhaps a little over-budget.)

 

I find the Red5 Drum mic set at GBP 160 adequate for a very low budget setup. Not just for drums, (and I think as you describe you may have the problem of drummers being loud enough without the help of the p.a.,) but I've used the RVD9 on guitar cabs and the RV4 condensers on piano with adequate results. They're boring little workhorses and I find myself looking for something that's just not there with them, but I can't fault them for the price.

[kerry davies]

I have a pair each of D5 and D3700 which I quite like and have no complaints about the Rhythm Pack drum set which allows me to use the overheads on acoustic and wind instruments. Three D5 and a Rhythm Pack comes to about £550 I believe but the cheaper Groovepack could be an alternative.

 

I tend to be fussy about transporting mics so robustness hasn't been an issue, "you break it you buy it" seems to work for me. I prefer the 57 to the 58 and it is all about personal preference really, there are good arguments for any proprietary brand of mic. "Listen with your ears not your eyes."

[Wilflet]

 

After a year of normal use they started dying and needing replacement capsules. Anyone know if the AKG D5 is better?

 

 

Iv had 2 since january 2009 (new) and added 2 more in summer 2010 (second hand) so probably all coming up to 2 years use- all go out for one show a week for about 9months of the year (with a few extra shows here and there) and have some heavier use over festival season. No audible difference to my ear since I got them. The only related problem involved a C5, a grindcore bands front man and a mojo pit barrier - but that cant be considered normal use (I have never seen a band member get off stage and far far away quicker than he did when he saw me heading towards stage for change over)

[Pete Alcock]

Ollie,

 

I would suggest 3 x SM58, an Audix D6 (for bass drum), a pair of small Behringer condensers for drum overheads, and an SM57 for snare.

 

This would give you:

Reliable, clear, feedback-resistant vocals (peole rarely turn their nose up at a genuine SM58)

An almost guaranteed decent kick drum sound (provided your system's subs can handle it)

Sparkly sound for the rest of the kit

Depending how you place the '57, a wide variety of good snare tones.

 

Having a 57 in the mic box means you can mic up brass, sax, guitars or just about anything else that comes along. Buying a D6 is fairly expensive but will mean you'll never have to worry about replacing it for something better.

 

You can choose more esoteric mics and these sometimes dreadful "all in one box" drum mic kits, but I'd go with fewer, of better quality.

 

Just my 2p worth.

 

PA.

[jamesperrett]

If you want a few handy extra tom/instrument mics then take a look at the Pulse D606's from CPC. They're currently only 13 quid each and I've been impressed when I've used them.

 

James.

[MarkPAman]

If you want a few handy extra tom/instrument mics then take a look at the Pulse D606's from CPC. They're currently only 13 quid each and I've been impressed when I've used them.

 

James.

 

+1 for those, and also for only slightly more, PULSE - PLS00221

[Alec]

If you want a few handy extra tom/instrument mics then take a look at the Pulse D606's from CPC. They're currently only 13 quid each and I've been impressed when I've used them.

 

+1 for those, and also for only slightly more, PULSE - PLS00221

 

I like the D606 mics a lot too.

 

You should plan on throwing away the clips that come with them and replacing them with these AT8665 clips - bringing the total price to around £20 per unit inc VAT.

[chrisw92]

I find the Audix i5's amazing alternatives to something along the lines of a SM57. They sound amazing on snares and guitar cabs. I use them in the studio all the time. I think you can get them for around £50 if you look around. although looking at them around my usual "go-to" site they seem to have went up in price.

 

about the PGD Shure set, the tom and kick mics are good in the pack but I have never liked the PG81's that come with it.

 

AKG Perception 150's are really good cheap overheads for live use but they are discontinued so unless your willing to go second-hand (they are solid microphones so there usually in good shape even after a years of being dropped) you may want to look for something else.

 

If your wondering here is what the Sure set sounds like with 150's instead of the PG81 and a SM57 on the snare [dry recording/no mixing]: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1005317/funky%20love%20drums.aif

[from my dropbox folder so it will probably be gone in a month time]

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also it may be a bit out of your price range but the Sennheiser E 604's are great mics for drum toms and a Sure BETA 91A for the kick.

[TimmyP1955]

If I wanted to "keep it simple" I'd go all Sennheiser (935 for vocal, 906 instruments, 904/901/? drums), or all Audix (OM3 or OM7 for vocal, D4 for instruments, D4/D6/? drums). If I wanted to mix it up a bit, I'd add AT Pro37 for SDC (hat, overhead, acoustic instruments, choral groups).

[OllieDuff]

Predictably for an educational institution, this has dragged on for four months with no resolution...upshot is that the budget is increased so I'm pretty much going Shure for everything which will a) satiate tech riders and b) hopefully survive being handled by klutzes. There's a reasonable triple pack deal for SM58s on Thomann.de at the moment, and notwithstanding chrisw92's concerns about the PG81s I've found the PGDMK6 set for so cheap that it's worth it (compared to Audix D6 + SM57s + pair o' condensers). I'm getting a few SM57s as well to cover woodwind and brass.

 

Thanks to all for advice and suggestions.

 

Ollie

[ProtecAV]

AKG have a promotion at the moment. Buy 3 D40's get 1 free

[Jivemaster]

Do NOT buy cheap mics! A cheap SM58 isn't made by Shure (etc other mics and their makers) Buy from a Shure appointed dealer and pay the Shure price (likewise other makers). You will get a microphone but if it doesn't sound or survive like a SM58 then it wasn't cheap ir was a copy.

[StevieR]

There's a reasonable triple pack deal for SM58s on Thomann.de at the moment...

 

And thanks for supporting British business....oh, sorry - you didn't! :D