AKG C414s (1 Viewer)

[ogy]

A friend and me were planning on buying a pair of c414s between us so that we both always have access to one and can borrow the other for stereo recording.

The matched pairs are $100-200 more expensive and but in this review, http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/nov04/articles/akgmics.htm, it says the new mics are so closely matched theres no need to buy a stereo pair

anyone have any idea if this is good advice or not?

also is it worth paying the few extra quid for the xlII over the xls, these are our first decent mics so they will be used for most things, vocals, overheads, guitar cabs, field recordings. i get the impression the xlII are more aimed towards vocals?

 

[RED(tape)MENACE]

Yeah, 414s are cool mics.
You could get away without getting a matched pair.

Don't forget though, there's LOADS of cool mics out there for 414 money.
Do plenty of research in case there's something else out there that you might prefer.
If possible, try to figure out some way to try out some mics first.
For example, sensible music do reasonable daily hire rates.. check out the pdf at http://www.sensiblemusic.ie/pdffiles/Sensible Euro Hire List V20.pdf

Might be worth some stuff to check out.

Also, do give funky-junk.co.uk a shout before you buy. They tend to have very fine prices on mics and are damned solid to deal with.

 

[lemonbravo]

excellent mics.
The XLII has a boost in high end that changes depending on which polar pattern you select.
It would suit vocals better and would be a better all rounder in that regard.
Probably my favorite mic for mic'ing valve amps.

Studio Solutions used to let you try before you buy, you could ask them if they have both in...
http://www.studiosolutions.ie/
I don't know if they still do that, but it'd be worth the effort, they're not cheap!

 

[lemonbravo]

....I've used them as drum overheads, not matched pairs though. I've never used matched pairs, can't say I felt they'd have been better being matched.

Unless you're planning on doing a lot of stereo recording of say, classical music or field recordings, I wouldn't bother paying extra for matched pairs.
There's going to be differences in the sound coming from each mic anyway as they're in a different position and those subtleties would be greater than between the mics themselves.
The only reason I'd go for matched pairs are if its a mic that doesn't have a consistent manufacturing quality, like cheap mics for instance.

 

[RED(tape)MENACE]

I got a matched pair of royers.. it does help the resale value.
It's also handy to have matched output on those dudes.

 

[RED(tape)MENACE]

Guying selling a pair in the states :

http://www.gearslutz.com/board/gearslutz-secondhand-gear-classifieds/130212-all-must-go.html

 

[ogy]

thanks for advice lads. stevo reckons unmatched is ok too so thats good enough for me
http://electrical.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=27573&sid=ed95e3fb0ef3a0a5347c3fa8954a8a69