CHEAP SDC recommendations?

[Metaltastic]

OK dudes, with the XMAS season coming up, I'm gonna have ample opportunities to get some dinero, both from money from relatives and from being able to work while home from school. So I'm looking into a pair of relatively inexpensive SDC's to use as OH's and then later as hi-hat/ride mics when I get my dream OH mics, a pair of AT4033/CL's. But I'm also gonna be recording my Dad's wind band (as in, brass, woodwinds, percussion, etc.), so clarity and lack of coloration is a must as well.

I've narrowed it down to six choices (courtesy of MF.com "sort by price low-to-high"): Audio Technica AT3031's, Sennheiser e614's, AKG C1000's, M-Audio Pulsar II's, Shure KSM109's, or Sterling Audio ST33's (don't know anything about these). $400 for a pair is my absolute limit, so please, no mention of MK012's. Any thoughts on the above?

 

[Glenn Fricker]

stay the fuck away from the Apex 185's.


That being said, I've been using MC012's for the last six years & they've been fabulous.

-0z-

 

[JeffTD]

RØDE NT-5's!

 

[Metaltastic]

$430 for the NT5's is still too rich for my blood, but thanks

And Oz, for the life of me, I can't find MC012's (or a consistent price) anywhere online, where would you suggest I look?

 

[Sloan]

MXL 603s! I got a pair for $75 on ebay once. I really like them and use them as overheads and for acoustic guitar all the time.

 

[colonel kurtz]

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-RODE-NT5-NT...ryZ41466QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

NT5 pair for $335

not to say they'll still be available when you have the $$...but i've seem them around for similar prices

 

[Metaltastic]

Holy god, there's gotta be a catch to that...

 

[JeffTD]

Nope... most mic's dont have incredible resale value.

 

[Metaltastic]

Yes, but those are brand new, and at a 25% markdown, christ...why would a seller take that kind of a hit to potential profits unless he/she didn't think they were worth more?

 

[JeffTD]

Honestly, I've never thought that far into it. I just know they're great mics for a good price, and I know people who've gotten em on eBay or Amazon.com Market Place for way cheap.

 

[Metaltastic]

Haha, well you have a point, but I can't help but think that far into it when it concerns such a not-insignificant chunk o' change. When the time comes, I'll email one of the sellers (I saw another on ebay selling 'em "new" for the same price) asking for the lowdown, but for now, does anyone have any thoughts on the others I mentioned?

 

[yarrick19]

I second the NT5s...

 

[Metaltastic]

I'll give this a bump in case there are any contradictory opinions, but the NT-5's are looking pretty tempting; thanks guys!

 

[Glenn Fricker]

They're now called MK012's.

You can get them at:
http://www.sound-room.com/

 

[Keiffer]

my understanding is the mk012 is the original Russian mic and the mc012 is Chinese.

also, be careful for fakes. there's a WEB site that goes into detail on the different mic and talks about the fakes, but I can't locate it right now. I'd stay with the mk012 if you can.

i have a mk012 pair and these get used often.

 

[Jarkko Mattheiszen]

Don't mean to be a dick, I just couldn't help quoting the OP's first message: "please, no mention of MK012's"

 

[Keiffer]

geeze, how much are mk012's now. I paid $200 for the pair about 5 years ago.

 

[Jarkko Mattheiszen]

geeze, how much are mk012's now. I paid $200 for the pair about 5 years ago.

Don't know about US prices, but here in Europe they're about 230eur ($340) a piece :/ Quite a nice deal you got

 

[R-Stuur]

geeze, how much are mk012's now. I paid $200 for the pair about 5 years ago.

Not trying to rain on your parade but if I recall correctly thats from an period in which Oktava got their wrenched in pumping out more products for lower prices by large chain stores. They've recovered well now but I heard their products were inferior for a while.

My recommendations are www.lineaudio.se the small SDC and www.naiant.com msh-1 for overheads. These won't cost you much but give you good performance The MSH-1 rules on overhead . Otherwise MXL 603 is a good option too http://www.mojopie.com/603.html

 

[Keiffer]

Not trying to rain on your parade but if I recall correctly thats from an period in which Oktava got their wrenched in pumping out more products for lower prices by large chain stores. They've recovered well now but I heard their products were inferior for a while.

I didn't purchase them from a store and I'm not recommending one way or another. just pointing out some issues with these. I don't use them as overheads but more often as tom mics.