Best microphone for violinist?

[Maria Florencia]

Hi! I'm a violinist and I was planning to begin a YoutubeChannel where I play violin covers. A decent microphone is important I think, so I have been searching on the web these days. I have a budget of 200 - 500 euro in my mind and I found these: AKG C214 or the Avantone Audio CV-12.

The sound I like is: warm, smooth, fluent, emotional, ...

Now, my question is: to record a violin, what is the best microphone?
Are the ones I found, good? And which one of them is the best to record a violin?

 

[Foxum]

Well microphones are very complex especially when trying to record such a dynamic instrument like a violin so as this is more like a youtube forum and I figure most people here don't have 200-500 euro microphones as that is like professional cost I would recommend going to a music forum where they have professional sound folks who know what they're doing with instruments I know some good sites for audio stuff is like gearslutz.com (Yes its a legit site and useful) and Sweetwater.com but there is tons more too I am sure you can find they already have some post with people asking about violin mics lot seem to suggest ribbon microphones. But check them out and see where it gets you.

 

[Tarmack]

I can't speak to violin specifically, but the best instrument mic I've used is the Shure Beta27 ($400USD).

I have to be honest though, and I don't mean this in a disrespectful way but the way you phrased your questions seems to indicate that you don't really have any idea what you're doing. There are more factors to recording than buying an expensive mic. I think I would be more apt to suggest starting cheaper and identifying upgrades in future as you get better with recording. Start with a Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 and a Shure SM57. That's a reasonable enough recording rig that will give you good quality. Then later, you can decide whether it's not good enough.

 

[Maria Florencia]

Well microphones are very complex especially when trying to record such a dynamic instrument like a violin so as this is more like a youtube forum and I figure most people here don't have 200-500 euro microphones as that is like professional cost I would recommend going to a music forum where they have professional sound folks who know what they're doing with instruments I know some good sites for audio stuff is like gearslutz.com (Yes its a legit site and useful) and Sweetwater.com but there is tons more too I am sure you can find they already have some post with people asking about violin mics lot seem to suggest ribbon microphones. But check them out and see where it gets you.

Ok, thank you! I will get a look at it ^^

 

[Maria Florencia]

I can't speak to violin specifically, but the best instrument mic I've used is the Shure Beta27 ($400USD).

I have to be honest though, and I don't mean this in a disrespectful way but the way you phrased your questions seems to indicate that you don't really have any idea what you're doing. There are more factors to recording than buying an expensive mic. I think I would be more apt to suggest starting cheaper and identifying upgrades in future as you get better with recording. Start with a Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 and a Shure SM57. That's a reasonable enough recording rig that will give you good quality. Then later, you can decide whether it's not good enough.

Hehe, you are right. I don't know much about microphones.. I just thought, maybe if I buy a good one, it will normally give me automaticly better sound But after reading yours, I think I will first watch a lot tutorials about recording and microphones and then I will record a microphone.

hehe, probably I will start with a cheap set and get bigger stuf, once I get better in it. Hehe, the recording set is not only for youtube.. I am going to study violin, so I'll be giving a lot concert: worth recording, too ^^

 

[AseAndBaconGaming]

Well I can vouch for the Snowball mics. For the price, they're actually extremely well made and have 3 different settings and has a pop filter. I've used it for gaming as well as skype, music recording, etc, and it works very well. It was only about.... $99.00 in USD but I got it on sale on Amazon for $69.00 and couldn't ask for anything better.

 

[Tarmack]

Well I can vouch for the Snowball mics. For the price, they're actually extremely well made and have 3 different settings and has a pop filter. I've used it for gaming as well as skype, music recording, etc, and it works very well. It was only about.... $99.00 in USD but I got it on sale on Amazon for $69.00 and couldn't ask for anything better.

@SomeGuyDude your measured approach worked with the other one. Care to explain to this one why using the Snowball for professional instrument recording is about as good as using a cheese grater to cut your nails?

 

[SomeGuyDude]

Well I can vouch for the Snowball mics. For the price, they're actually extremely well made and have 3 different settings and has a pop filter. I've used it for gaming as well as skype, music recording, etc, and it works very well. It was only about.... $99.00 in USD but I got it on sale on Amazon for $69.00 and couldn't ask for anything better.

@SomeGuyDude your measured approach worked with the other one. Care to explain to this one why using the Snowball for professional instrument recording is about as good as using a cheese grater to cut your nails?

LMAO well it ain't that dire but here we go.

A Snowball is something you do when the quality of the audio isn't terribly important as long as it's passable, speech is coherent and instruments at least sound like themselves. It's an improvement over a webcam microphone but that's it. You use it when your channel is just casual vlogs and it's okay that it doesn't sound terribly professional. It's something you'd record an instrument with if the video is just a little "Hey I did a cover of this song check it out" and the sound quality isn't too important.

That's what the Snowball is. A casual microphone. It's cheap, you can get it easily, you don't need a USB interface. It "gets the job done". Look at what the OP was asking about: the AKG C214 and Avatone CV-12. These are PROFESSIONAL microphones for professional applications in the $400+ range, not a $60 desktop mic. The OP clearly knows microphones and was asking about some mid/high quality hardware. You don't suggest a Snowball in this situation whatsoever.

Like I said in the other thread, people tend to suggest the Snowball because it's probably the only microphone they've ever had that wasn't attached to a webcam or a gaming headset, it's an improvement over that, so they go and suggest it to others without having any experience beyond that or even understanding what other people are looking for in a microphone. Someone asking about the C214 and getting suggested the Snowball is like someone for a good gaming PC and you suggest a Chromebook. Sure, technically it can do what you're asking but it's not gonna do a very good job of it.

Now, to the OP, when you talk about warm and emotional microphones, my FIRST thought is the Blue Baby Bottle. The AKG C214 had a "sharp" sound I wasn't a huge fan of on my voice and I'm thinking with a stringed instrument that'll only be more pronounced, the Blue gives it a nice lush, almost tube-oriented sound. AFAIK Bob Dylan used the Baby Bottle for all of his recordings. I have no experience with the Avatone so I can't say much there. I currently have a Neat King Bee which, to my ears anyway, is like the Blue except with some extra clarity. I've actually seen reviews of their Worker Bee ($200!) that suggest it's even BETTER for certain applications.

Good comparison: http://blog.zzounds.com/2015/04/30/mic-shootout-neat-king-bee-worker-bee-blue-spark-baby-bottle/

I admit I can't speak a TON about instrument recordings, but going by my impressions of the various mics I've used for vocals I can at least give some nudging. Hopefully that helped![DOUBLEPOST=1440181184,1440180863][/DOUBLEPOST]

Hehe, you are right. I don't know much about microphones.. I just thought, maybe if I buy a good one, it will normally give me automaticly better sound But after reading yours, I think I will first watch a lot tutorials about recording and microphones and then I will record a microphone.

hehe, probably I will start with a cheap set and get bigger stuf, once I get better in it. Hehe, the recording set is not only for youtube.. I am going to study violin, so I'll be giving a lot concert: worth recording, too ^^

The question is this: how serious are you about recording? Like @Tarmack said, a cheaper Shure with a Scarlett 2i2 could do you just fine. In that case, I really would say to give to Worker Bee a try. That'll be a total outlay of about $300 (not sure what that is in Euros haha) and would probably have you set for life.

 

[AseAndBaconGaming]

LMAO well it ain't that dire but here we go.

A Snowball is something you do when the quality of the audio isn't terribly important as long as it's passable, speech is coherent and instruments at least sound like themselves. It's an improvement over a webcam microphone but that's it. You use it when your channel is just casual vlogs and it's okay that it doesn't sound terribly professional. It's something you'd record an instrument with if the video is just a little "Hey I did a cover of this song check it out" and the sound quality isn't too important.

That's what the Snowball is. A casual microphone. It's cheap, you can get it easily, you don't need a USB interface. It "gets the job done". Look at what the OP was asking about: the AKG C214 and Avatone CV-12. These are PROFESSIONAL microphones for professional applications in the $400+ range, not a $60 desktop mic. The OP clearly knows microphones and was asking about some mid/high quality hardware. You don't suggest a Snowball in this situation whatsoever.

Like I said in the other thread, people tend to suggest the Snowball because it's probably the only microphone they've ever had that wasn't attached to a webcam or a gaming headset, it's an improvement over that, so they go and suggest it to others without having any experience beyond that or even understanding what other people are looking for in a microphone. Someone asking about the C214 and getting suggested the Snowball is like someone for a good gaming PC and you suggest a Chromebook. Sure, technically it can do what you're asking but it's not gonna do a very good job of it.

Now, to the OP, when you talk about warm and emotional microphones, my FIRST thought is the Blue Baby Bottle. The AKG C214 had a "sharp" sound I wasn't a huge fan of on my voice and I'm thinking with a stringed instrument that'll only be more pronounced, the Blue gives it a nice lush, almost tube-oriented sound. AFAIK Bob Dylan used the Baby Bottle for all of his recordings. I have no experience with the Avatone so I can't say much there. I currently have a Neat King Bee which, to my ears anyway, is like the Blue except with some extra clarity. I've actually seen reviews of their Worker Bee ($200!) that suggest it's even BETTER for certain applications.

Good comparison:

I admit I can't speak a TON about instrument recordings, but going by my impressions of the various mics I've used for vocals I can at least give some nudging. Hopefully that helped![DOUBLEPOST=1440181184,1440180863][/DOUBLEPOST]

The question is this: how serious are you about recording? Like @Tarmack said, a cheaper Shure with a Scarlett 2i2 could do you just fine. In that case, I really would say to give to Worker Bee a try. That'll be a total outlay of about $300 (not sure what that is in Euros haha) and would probably have you set for life.

@SomeGuyDude your measured approach worked with the other one. Care to explain to this one why using the Snowball for professional instrument recording is about as good as using a cheese grater to cut your nails?

Arrogance and condescension unnecessary, and that's to both of you. You do not need to speak to others as if they are lower than you or about them as if they are children, particularly when they are trying to help someone. I am not a "this one," Tarmack, I am a person and prefer to be treated as such. And, SomeGuyDude, would also not like to be talked down to. Rudeness and arrogance aside, thank you for explaining to me.

 

[SomeGuyDude]

Arrogance and condescension unnecessary, and that's to both of you. You do not need to speak to others as if they are lower than you or about them as if they are children, particularly when they are trying to help someone. I am not a "this one," Tarmack, I am a person and prefer to be treated as such. And, SomeGuyDude, would also not like to be talked down to. Rudeness and arrogance aside, thank you for explaining to me.

I wasn't talking down to anyone.

We all start somewhere, I'm still a rank amateur overall, I just know a few things. I said right off the top it wasn't that big a deal and went into what the situation was. No judgment on anyone, no looking down on anyone. I'm legit sorry if it came across that way, I know tone and inflection don't work via message board, but none of what I said was meant with any sort of snootiness.

Hell, the reason I'm well familiar with the Snowball and its limitation is because I went through the same thing. Needed a mic, everyone said get a snowball, bought one, thought it was the bee's knees and used it for a while (long before I had a gaming channel). Got slapped around a bit over it and learned. Heck I get schooled on the regular, don't take it personally.