Quote:
Originally Posted by Pizzanetor
these are the kind of answers I actually need, because I read that the optimal approach would be "1 large diaphragm + 1 small diaphragm", but I just don't know if those two mics are fine.
About Neumann which large diaphragm mic would you suggest?
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I'm not sure there's such a thing as an "optimal" approach. Probably most people would tell you that two mics of the same kind would be ideal, if there is such a thing. For standard mic placements like XY or ORTF, having the mics be similar is easier to work with. For spaced pairs, which is what you're showing, anything is fair game. There's nothing wrong with your mic choices - the 184 is as close to a "standard" for acoustic guitar as you can get, and many people like the TLM103 as well. If you get them, I think you'll find the differences between them are much smaller than you expect. Some people do find that they like different-sounding mics on each side of a guitar in a spaced pair arrangement, but i's a matter of taste, the guitar, your room, and the specific mics. But a TLM103 vs a KM184 may not sound different enough in this application to even matter.
Eric is suggesting that if you want an LD mic, you might get one with multiple polar patterns, which provides more flexibility in mic placement techniques. It won't be that they automatically sound better, just that you can use different micing techniques. You may or may not appreciate those techniques until you get more experience - or may never need them. Using a pair of cardioid mics as spaced pairs or in XY is probably how 95% of the recordings you hear have been done.
Do you already have some mics? I'd get some practice recording before committing to 2 moderately expensive mics, unless it's not an issue for you if you end up not liking them. They're solid mics and it'd be easy to just say "get them, they're totally professional-quality lifetime mics", but you won't know if they're what you want until you try them and get a lot more experience recording guitar. For most people, mics are not the obstacle, and in fact, gear in general is not the obstacle to recording acoustic guitar - it's room acoustics. I'd watch the videos Jim pointed you to, try some recording with whatever you have, or can borrow - then start figuring out how you can try some of the mics you're interested in.
Also, I'm curious what you plan to record - I'm guessing from your description that you're not recording solo guitar, but instead multi-instrument tracks. In that case, it's common to just record acoustic guitar in mono, so you can choose your own sound stage in a mix. If the acoustic is the featured instrument, stereo is probably a better choice.