Aloha Moon,
That IS a decent site that I occasionally go to when checking out stuff. More samples than most. Too bad that Zen choose to close mic - I mean CLOSE MIC! - the strumming samples. Some mic's simply work much better farther away than others. Too much proximity guitar body resonance is heard in these samples. But you can hear the basic differences among the mic's in the fingerstyle part of the clips.
RE: MY top five mic's for acoustic guitar recording?
For many years, my hobby has been renting pairs of mic's from all over the world & auditioning them at home. Hundreds & hundreds of them. 99.5% are returned quickly. I've owned some great acoustic mic's over the decades. Some are among the Zen samples.
When I started getting into learning about DAW recording (still an infant really), I upped my interest level again in guitar recording mic's. There are SO many that work well with SO many preamp combo's. Other variables are the instruments, recording space, styles, & knowledge of using them.
[
U]Mic's I've kept of late:[/U]
[B]
S/D Condensers pairs:[/B
- Schoeps CMC641 hypers (my current favorites for stereo recording - fingerstyle. So smooth! Detailed & accurate.)
- Jim Williams-modded AKG 460's (Much better that stock models, these are about as good as the Schoeps, but not as smooth)
- Peluso P-28 S/D tubes (I like these better than Neumann KM-84's I used for many years for cross-picking)
M/D Condenser pairs:
- ADK A6's (great budget mic w/ pro quality sound - very natural, light, airy, accessible sound)
L/D Condenser pairs:
- Mojave MA-200's- cardioid (great for strumming tracks! My favorite Vocal mic too)
- Neumann U-87's - variable (Vintage reconditioned 1972's - great for anything - vocal or guitar)
Ribbon (figure 8's):
- AEA R-84 (use with an S/D for Mid-Side recording or vocals - a winner)
Dynamic: - Heil PR35 (best live vocal dynamic I've ever heard. Also sounds great on acoustic guitar too)
Other:
- Several different capsules for the Schoeps (the MK8 ribbon cap is great for M-S recording)
Mic's I'd like to own:
Brauner VM-1
AKG C-12
Lawson L47
Neumann U-47
Original Telefunken 251
Moon, admit it, you like that Royer 122 (much better than the 121 in the Zen samples, IMO) because Dream Guitars switched out to those from the ADK A6's. Ha! The thing is? I prefer the A6 samples. That mic is simply amazing for the cost ($249 new). I hope more players will check it out.
Like this ADK A6 sample by Al Petteway of a fine Petros guitar. That mic just shines on that guitar, even in mp3. format:
http://www.dreamguitars.com/detail/2...reek_fs_32127/
Fun thread, Moon. Hope more chime in. They can't all be recording with 57's, can they? Not a bad live mic though. Ha!
BTW Moon, what preamps do you - or would you - like to run your top five mic's through? Me, I just sold my Great River MP-2NV (wasn't using it much) & now use either a Pendulum MDP-1a tube pre, an A-Designs Pacifica (players should check that one out!) or my trusty SPS-1 live pre, which also works great on recordings.
I can't wait to see what Bob will share here.
A Hui Hou!
alohachris