Quote:
Originally Posted by moon
What would be your picks? Would you really just take home any five at random because they all sound the same anyway..?
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As much as sound character matters, what I would use as the basis for picking most gear is functionality and basic quality - by which I mean build construction, and things that are indisputable, like noise and features. Especially for solo acoustic guitar, low noise is pretty critical. You also need to choose based on the rest of your gear, like you can't use a condenser unless you have phantom power or some other way to power it. Flexibility is nice, so mics with swappable capsules to get different polar patterns is both useful, and a cost saver. Or a mic that has switchable patterns. On the other hand, if you have no interest in that, and know you just want cardiod, or just omni, that simplifies things.
There certainly is a difference in mics, but as Fran demonstrates, it's subtle, usually even more subtle than the effect of moving the mic a few inches.
So I'd think about your basic needs and budget, pick a few that others have used successfully (which is just about everything), and just pick one. I'd also tend to favor classics, things that have been around a while, over the latest cool thing (speaking from personal experience at getting burned a few times). If you discover some cool magic mic that no one else is using, it might be a great secret weapon, but more likely there's a reason no one else is using it. And stay with tried and true types of mics - like don't get all excited about ribbons until you have some condensers and know why you might want a ribbon. You are unlike to go wrong with most of the brands and models you've been hearing about, Neumann, Schoeps, Gefell, Shure, Oktava, Peluso, Audio-Technica, Royer, ADK, AKG, etc.