Re: [Harp-L] Neumann TLM 103 vs Rode K2 mics for recording

[Richard Hunter <turtlehill@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Winslow,

I recommend that you take your money in hand, and go to your nearest well-stocked musical instrument store.  Have the store personnel set you up with both mics running into different channels on a digital recording machine (any machine will do), set the channels up the way you like them, and then play the same piece into both mics (preferably one at a time) and listen to the results.

You'll know pretty quickly which mic you like the most.  Buy that one.

While you're at the store you can also include a couple of other mics, maybe something in a lower price range, to see whether anything besides the relatively pricey Neumann will do the job.

I really like my Audio-Technica AT4050 CM5 large-diaphragm condenser, which I bought for about $500 used from the store where I ran a test like the one described above.  In particular, the AT4050 picks up a lot of detail in the midrange, which brings out a lot of character in chorded parts. But lately I've been using a handheld Audix Fireball with V element for recording acoustic harp.  That's the way I did the harp tracks on Ed Abbiatti's record (lowlandsband.com). Maybe it's that the Audix sounds amazing, or maybe it's that hand-holding the mic makes the sound of my awful room a non-issue.  Either way, if you don't own a Fireball V, I recommend that you add it to your test rack.  I think it's a pretty amazing harp mic for $100.

Final comment: if it's the sound of tubes you like--and who doesn't?--you can always add a decent tube preamp to your rig for a few hundred dollars.  I've even had good results using the ART MP-1 tube pre, which now retails for about $30, with the AT4050, even though lots of engineers think it's a harsh preamp.

Regards, Richard Hunter