Condenser mic - Marantz?
 

I’ve started thinking about a home studio and have been browsing this forum for a while, searching for ideas. Today I noticed Woot has a Marantz MPM-2000 large diaphragm condenser mic for ~ $90. Any AGFers have experience with it? Any thoughts about Marantz equipment in general?

i don't know where they are made but for that price, possibly chinese. that certainly doesn't mean they are bad. for that price, it would probably serve you well for an overall mic. seems they are in the a/v end of electronics now and have been bought and sold a few times.

it looks like the mics are sold by quite a few vendors so may be worth it to go to your big box store and try a couple out.

https://www.google.com/search?q=mara...hrome&ie=UTF-8

play music!

Thanks, I was thinking that was a nice price, unless it’s a piece o’ junk. I tried to research it but didn’t find much except for a couple of YouTube reviews.

I’m not familiar with the mic you are looking at. You said you are starting a home studio, and I was wondering if you’ve considered usb mics versus a setup using an audio interface in combination with a mic(s). If you tell us your overall expectations and usage you might get more opinions.

Fair enough. I would like to set up a computer based, singer-songwriter type home recording system. The recordings would be for sharing with friends and family, I have no desire to be on YouTube ... so quality matters but only up to a certain point. My preference for the chain would be condenser mic(s) -> audio interface -> PC Daw, tracking to external HD. I have a smallish budget, <$1,000, so I’m looking for the best cost-benefit ratios I can find.

As an aside, I will say that so far, the most helpful sites for my research have been AGF and Sweetwater.

Having said all this, my query was whether anyone on the forum has any experience with this specific mic, and whether they could give a thumbnail review. I suspect the specificity of my request has more to do with the number of replies than a lack of background information. But I appreciate your taking the time to comment. Thanks.

You say you're "thinking about a home studio." What do you envision that home studio will look like and include? In most home studios (as I would define them), USB mics are going to have very limited usefulness.

I'm also curious as to why you're interested in that Marantz mic. You said you've been "browsing this forum for a while" and I don't think that mic has any reputation at all in this forum while there are other similar mics that have come up and about which there is much more information.

But to answer your questions, I have no experience with this microphone. Also, I've never seen any real love expressed for a Marantz microphone in this or any other forum. Since I read quite a bit here and in other forums, that implies that either this mic is a good mic that has flown under the radar or there are much better options out there for buyers of USB condensers. If I had to put money on which of those things were true, I'd bet on the latter and pass on this mic. I'm sure if you ask the question here, you'll get responses that will give you better options.

Thanks for the suggestion.

Well, since your preference is to use a mic(s) into an audio interface I wouldn't even consider the usb Marantz mic you asked about.

I've been impressed with the value of the Focusrite Scarlett audio interfaces; I used to use a 6i6 and my son uses a 2i4. If you go that route get a 2nd generation model.

Do you know how many channels you will be recording at once? Will you record vocal and guitar at same time? Will you be doing mono or stereo recording of your guitar? I can't make recommendations on vocal mics, but for a value based sdc for guitar you might consider the Line Audio CM3. I picked up a pair and they are very nice for $150 each. They are a wide cardioid pattern which may or may not be best for your use.

For a DAW I use Reaper. Really nice for $60.

Marantz makes two versions of the MCM2000, a USB and the other kind. But frankly, now that I have read up on Line Audio and its consistently good product reviews, I think that option has a lot more appeal. And thanks, too, for the Scarlett 2i4 comments, it looks like the right answer for what I want to do.

Man, AGF is amazing.

I know I've said this many times before here, but I was very impressed by the MXL MCA SP-1.

For $59 you can't go wrong and it sounds like a $500.00 mic.

https://bhpho.to/2yzv2Ii

Regards,

Ty Ford

I remember reading some great reviews on this mic...

monoprice 600800

Thank you both, I will check ‘em out.

+1 for the Line Audio. It is pretty flat which is good for acoustic guitar.

And listen to anything that Ty Ford says on microphones. He's been a knowledgeable source for mics and other recording equipment for decades.

I would expect the Marantz is a Chinese mic that they put their badge on. Very common and we are awash in decent (not great) mics these days. I think the MXL mics are worth looking at as I believe they are trying differentiate by better quality control.

Another suggestion is iSK. They are a Chinese manufacturer who are trying to differentiate from the crowd like MXL. Still super affordable. I have the Starlight (LDC) and the Pearl (SDC) and they are go-to mics for me for quick recording. The Pearl is ridiculously cheap at $29 but that has no relation to the quality:
https://www.iskproaudio.com

The thing about super cheap mics is that you may be happy at first, but as your ear becomes better you start noticing issues. For example, with cheap condensors, it is common to hear a grittiness, fogginess or tizziness in the upper mids/trebles, which disappears when you switch to a "step-up" mic. I have at least half a dozen cheap mics that I no longer use because of this.

I have one and it's pretty good. I paid $80 for mine and it's good for the price.

Thanks to all
 

I appreciate everyone who chimed in here. Your ideas and suggestions were very helpful in my research and decision-making. As it turns out, I found an AKG P170 small diaphragm condenser mic bundled with a Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 audio interface for $200. So my quest is complete. For now.