AKG C414B XLII or Shure SM81's for Acoust Guitar

[Barry Johns]

I am in the process of upgrading all of my recording gear from lower to mid level, to upper mid to high end. I just purchased a new AKG C414B XLII mic. It retails for 999.00 and I got it for 750.00 (Scratch and Dent, although only the case was dented, the mic is in perfect condition). I can get another one for the same price. I've got 2 Chinese Knock-off Oktava ML012's. I use the AKG for my vocals; it’s the new version, which us much better for vocals than previous versions. I've recorded my acoustic with it as well and like what I hear, but want to be able to use two mics on my Acoustic. I have used my Oktava's with good results, but they are knock-off's so I don't know what two decent mics will sound like.

Here's the deal. I want to be able to get great Acoustic Recordings. Would I be better of buying the second C414XLII to go with my existing one for 750.00 or buy two Shure SM81's for about the same price? I'd like to keep it based on new vice eBay for sake of discussion.

Please look at my gear below. I'd probably need to buy another UA Solo 610 for the new C414 as well.

If not the SM81's, any other recommendations.

[Lee Blaske]

There are lots of nice mics on the market, and it's always going to be YMMV.

That being said, the C414 in its various incarnations is a true industry standard. I've had a pair of them that I bought back in the eighties, and I've sure gotten a lot of use out of them.

A pair of C414's is really useful in a lot of situations. They're great on acoustic guitar, absolutely killer on piano (especially if you use Lynn Fuston's positioning techniques), great on a lot of voices, etc.

If I were you, I think I'd get a second C414 first, and then add something different later on (maybe even a nice ribbon for a totally different flavor). You'll most likely be using the C414's until you croak.

Shure SM81's are certainly very useful, but personally, I'd get a lot more excited about a second C414.

Lee Blaske

[Tony Shepperd]

For acoustic guitar I would put my (less than $100), Marshall 603 up a 414.
Just because a 414 cost upwards of a grand doesn't make it a better mic for guitar.

There are some killer mics out there for very little.
If you want to make great acoustic recordings, try changing the pre and compressor.
What's in the chain, is just as important as the microphone.

[c-post]

I have both of these mics. Actually I'd choose a small diaphragm mic for acoustic guitar, not the larger diaphragm 414. A small like the AKG 452 is outstanding for acoustic. The high end is more pure.

my 3 cents.

regards

c-post

[jeff markham]

for clarification, are you planning to record steel or nylon string acoustic? this may
(and probably should) affect your mic decision.

jeff

[Media Man]

Here's the deal. I want to be able to get great Acoustic Recordings. Would I be better of buying the second C414XLII to go with my existing one for 750.00 or buy two Shure SM81's for about the same price? I'd like to keep it based on new vice eBay for sake of discussion.

It's great to have pairs of matched mics if your recording needs expand, i.e, drum overheads, pianos, etc.

Mark

[Michael James]

It can be pretty cool to have a matched pair of any mics, even for a solo acoustic instrument.

Re: acoustic guitar, I like both 414 and SM81. In fact, I used SM81 on New Radicals close-mic'd acoustic guitar, drum overheads and grand piano (just a single one hung right behind the keys) and really dug the power and focus of it. These days I'm using KM184 for no particular reason other than to do something differently, but the Neumann is cool, too.

Recently, I was really happy blending a Royer 121 with the KM184 on a steel string Taylor 714CE for an intro that was intimate guitar and vocal, with some harmonically sophisticated open-string parts--the combo was both warm and articulate. Perhaps you might consider getting a ribbon mic to compliment your 414 for "great" acoustic recordings? Be warned that generally ribbons do not have the same hyped HF bite as other mics, but they can sound "real" and they respond well to EQ.

[GuyPicks]

I'll tell you what.
I took a chance on buying an AEA R84 Ribbon Mic for acoustic work. I read a lot reviews before I bought.
Oh my goodness it's just awesome on acoustic instruments. I've used and have the 414 and the U87, (use the U87 mostly) and the SM81. These are all good mics but the AEA R84... you've got to try one out. You won't regret it.

[Oroz]

We have a Royer R-122 and I really like it on acoustic guitar (recently recorded a 12 string and sounded awesome) but the other day on another acoustic guitar(6 string, steel)the Royer wasn't cutting it so I tried an SM81 and sounded great. On that particular guitar I liked the SM81 better and we recorded it that way. I think there's a mic for every situation. I haven't tried the XLII's but I would recommend a SM81 as a good acoustic guitar mic.

Saw your post in Gearslutz also jeje, am I mistaken?