Recording Setup

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Contents

Goals and Assumptions

I wanted a 3 track recording setup, with the option to add a fourth with decent mobility. I wanted enough quality such that the quality would be evident.

After a little research, I came to the conclusion that the cheapest one could find good quality, broadly well reviewed condenser mikes was about $100. At $140 or so, one can start to find mikes that everyone loves. Specifically, one finds phrases like, As good as my much more expensive something or other, so I figured this was the sweet spot.

Between the mics and the mic interface, this was going to be an somewhat costly endeavor. I figured I spend $2K on laptops every 4-5 years, so $800-900 on equipment that would last a decade or more was reasonable.

Item List

For about $840 with shipping (on the Q-Mic). You'll also need 2 or 3 XLR male to female (that's the common type) cables. (The QM-50 comes with an integrated XLR.)

If you want to save some money and don't need quite as high quality, a Chinese company, Behringer, makes some bottom dollar condenser mics that get more than decent reviews: Behringer C1 and C3. The main difference seems to be that the C3 has a selectable pattern. The C1 is also available in a with USB input. I have not had the chance to try these yet myself, but given the price, they very well may be worth a shot.

All items purchased from Amazon.com. I looked around, but Amazon not only had all the items in one place, they were generally the cheapest. Do not purchase equipment from a music store. You'll pay a huge premium; buying the same items from Guitar Center would have cost over $200 more.

The Setup

The heart of the system is the microphone interface/mixer. At the time of writing, the M-Audio Fast Track Ultra was really the only option. Luckily, it's a good option and a good value. It's pricey to get 4 XLR inputs (at least compared to the small, single and dual interfaces), but this is a nice piece of kit.

The vast majority of my research time was spent on the microphones. I started at Guitar center and just pulled up the details on all the Mics under $120 and started my research there. A number of MLX mics came up that didn't get the best reviews. The first one that did was the AT2020. Reading the reviews uncovered the AKG Perception 200 and mentions of the 3035s, which were both out of my range at Guitar Center, but very reasonable from Amazon (especially considering that the Perception 200 and 3035 came with shock mounts, is a very nice bonus).

I'm very happy with the QM-50 mic arm. There's better arms out there, but for the price this thing can't be beat. The quality is good, it holds the mic in place with no sagging, and it even builds in a long XLR cable so that the cable itself is internal to the arm. The XLR itself would cost $20 or more new, so the price of the arm is *very* reasonable.

I'm not so impressed with my boom stands. They're fine, except for the rubber feat on the bottom are uneven, and one's come off. Still, for $20 each, they're not to bad. If I planned to set up a studio, I'd probably get three QM-50 arms, but I want to go mobile, and these are quicker to set up. I think I'll replace all he feat and secure them a little better and then I'll be happy with them. (And despite my complaining, there's nothing better, especially for the price.)

Finally, the pop filters. This was the one item that cost me more to get through Amazon than others, but I figured the convenience of a single order was worth it. You can spend more on pop filters, but for this kind of thing, you'd be crazy to. I'm not even so much concerned with popping as I am with spit getting on the mic.

Details

Microphones

Had originally planned on getting the AT2020 rather than 3035s. These go for about $40 less on amazon, but don't come with a shock mount. For home recording, on a stable surface that won't be bumped, the 2020s seem like an excellent deal and save a little money, especially if you want a stereo pair. If you want shock mounts, though the price difference is only $10 after adding shock mounts to the 2020's so you'd be silly not to step up (The Audiotechnica mounts for the 2020s are $70... which makes the bundle more than the 3035s which come with a mount. However, folks on the Internet say that the Samson SP01 shock mount fits the 2020s perfectly.)

Also considered the Samson C03 which had generally great reviews at Harmony Central, but wasn't as well covered otherwise and seemed not to be carried at as many outlets. Popularity is not the best indicator of quality, but what ultimately decided it was my preference for cardioid pattern for my application. The C03 is switchable between omni, figure 8, and hyper-cardioid.

At first, I had trouble narrowing down my search because sophisticated criteria filters just weren't to be had. I did find, though, that once I had some models in mind, search like at2020 vs perception 200 generally yield a few pages (!) of good results. That search in particular is what led me to the AT3035s mentioned as an alternative.

When I first bought everything, the AKG Perception 200 was a good $30 more than the AT 3035s. Since then, the AKG 200 has been replaced by the 2020 and the seller I got my 3035's from has gone away, so the price difference is much closer. I'll do a side by side comparison later on, but I can tell you right now that the AKG mic has a larger pickup, which can be good or bad.

I wanted to be able to compare a couple mics, but wanted a matched set in order to do stereo recording if I wanted. Since the 3035s were a bit cheaper at the time, I matched them.

Desk Stands

Had originally settled on the ProLine desk stand, which had excellent reviews and was a top seller at Guitar Center. Then found an Amazon review that claimed that the ProLine brand is owned by Guitar Center and that getting support on the warranty was impossible. This called into question the Guitar Center ratings. There are some nice stands in the $70+ range, but couldn't tell any difference in the low end, so went with the cheapest (which was neither the lightest nor flimsiest looking so I figure it's the best value).

All in all, for $20, these stands are a great value and I'm really glad I didn't spend more.

See Also

Research References

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