Guitar Gear Forum

Looking at the Sennheiser MD421 but wondering if I should be checking anything else out too. I have a 57 and 609. I like them both.

This isn't going to help, but I reaaallly want 2 or 3 of those.

You have any LDCs or ribbons to double mic?

I've been enjoying the Cascade Fathead I bought a couple of months ago. Nice and warm sounding.

Cheap too.

TurboPablo wrote:I've been enjoying the Cascade Fathead I bought a couple of months ago. Nice and warm sounding.

Cheap too.

Got one of those last week...haven't used it much yet though.

Depends on what you're looking for? Single mic'd or used 50/50 with the 57 for example? The MD421/57 sounds great, really aggressive. A second 57 would give you that ability to do that "Fredman" technique (which is actually a lot older technique) which has its own sound. Audix i5 sounds pretty close to the 57, but with a less congested midrange.

Beyer M201 is my favorite mic for pretty much everything that needs a dynamic. Natural, open, just very nice sound.

If you can snag a MD441 for cheap grab it, those are awesome mics too. Sometimes you can find a deal on ebay.de (They're $900 new, $250 once in a while used in Germany, usually $400 though)

Beyerdynamic i50D mixed 50/50 with a 57 is what all of my Mesa/Kemper clips have been. On its own it sounds pretty bad, no low end, really bright, but mixed with a 57 it sounds great, bright and crunchy high mids.

Although I'm a huge fan of trying to single mic first often my favorite tones are done with multiple mics.

A bunch of stuff that I have posted in the more aggressive vein is done with a 57/MD421 combo like 'zen mentions above.

Current favorite combo is a 57 with a Shure KSM313/NE. It's not as in your face as the other 57/421 but depending on the mix of the two you can get a more balanced and warmer sound.

The ribbons (like the KSM313) are good options if you wanted to change things up a bit more toward the warmer side. Ribbons also sound great for all kinds of other uses (cleans, room mics, etc, etc)

Yeah I definitely want to be able to double mic when making profiles for the Kemper as well as if I just track my amp. I have a Bluebird from Blue mic's but not sure how that will work with rock/metal tones.

I always liked impulses with the 421 when I was using them for direct recording. Between the Beyer 201 and 421 do you all have a preference?

The cool thing about the mics in this thread = they all sound good, assuming you position it correctly, and your amp sounds good.

Ones I own and love:
Shure SM7B
Audix i5
Sennheiser E906
Nady RSM-5

Ones I've used and love:
Sennheiser MD421

Stuff I've used/owned, I didn't love:
Beta 57 - blends well with stuff, but a little sharp
Sennheiser 609 - others love them, but they sound harsh to me
SM-57 - not sharp like the Beta 57, but I still think one of them is boring. blends with others very well though.

the e906 is awesome.

Dickarms wrote:the e906 is awesome.

It's definitely next on my list.

I'd love to try a 906. Need to see if anyone in town I know owns one. Definitely going to grab a 421.

Edit:
Just made some offers on Reverb

Post to read and steal ideas after work.

Great info in this thread - thanks!!! :-)

BTW, this is hearsay, and I don't want to insult people who have 609's, but....

The E906's capsule is fancy/nice, and it looks just like the Pink Floyd Pompeii 409 Sennheiser capsule.

The 609's capsule looks chintzy, plastic-ey, and has coloured wires like walky talkies that come out of China.

You don't have to believe me, but Gearslutz post a lot of info comparing these mics. I also have personal experience with both. The E906 is a solid choice that sounds more expensive. You'll hear the extra $50 or so.

The 609 sounds like a sonic maximizer to me.

Here's the comparison thread from gs for those Senns:
https://www.gearslutz.com/board/so-much-gear-so-little-time/69350-sennheiser-409-609-906-audio-clips.html

nakedzen wrote:Here's the comparison thread from gs for thosse Senns:
https://www.gearslutz.com/board/so-much-gear-so-little-time/69350-sennheiser-409-609-906-audio-clips.html

Very cool. The 409 wouldn't play but the 906 certainly wins in these clips.

Found this vid on the 421. I am grabbing one of these guys for sure.

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SnBC-oeZGs[/video]

This one was ok too

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRORGHYf_Oc[/video]

If you don't have a ribbon yet, it's time to try one. Doesn't have to be an expensive one for electric guitar, a Fathead or a Beyer can put all kinds of dynamics into retirement.

JerEvil wrote:Between the Beyer 201 and 421 do you all have a preference?

Depends on what you're going for. 421 is sort of scooped, 201 is more flat, even condenser'ish. Generally what I'd use them for:

421: floor tom, kick, bass, guitars
201: snare, vocals, acoustic gtr, guitars

Obviously both work fine for everything, just how I'd utilise them.

trimix wrote:If you don't have a ribbon yet, it's time to try one. Doesn't have to be an expensive one for electric guitar, a Fathead or a Beyer can put all kinds of dynamics into retirement.

No ribbon mics as of yet

nakedzen wrote:

JerEvil wrote:Between the Beyer 201 and 421 do you all have a preference?

Depends on what you're going for. 421 is sort of scooped, 201 is more flat, even condenser'ish. Generally what I'd use them for:

421: floor tom, kick, bass, guitars
201: snare, vocals, acoustic gtr, guitars

Obviously both work fine for everything, just how I'd utilise them.

Strictly for making Kemper profiles and SOME mic'ing of live tracked guitars. All my drums and bass are Slate and bass is direct.

Ribbon mics are too much fun/useful. I too have a Naked Eye (Crowley Tripp version) and love it. I always wanted a Fathead and certain it's great value. I have an AT4047 which is great for a lot of things; F Fillpipetti used on almost everything for a couple of the better sounding Korn productions (IMO)

But, yeah, you could definitely get super guitar recordings with just a 57 no problem.

crankyrayhanky wrote:Ribbon mics are too much fun/useful. I too have a Naked Eye (Crowley Tripp version) and love it. I always wanted a Fathead and certain it's great value. I have an AT4047 which is great for a lot of things; F Fillpipetti used on almost everything for a couple of the better sounding Korn productions (IMO)

But, yeah, you could definitely get super guitar recordings with just a 57 no problem.

Right on. We used a 57 and AT4040 on the Splawn Quick Rod profiles I uploaded yesterday. Never tried the 4040 before but it sounded really good.

I think the MD421 sounds pretty grainy and bad by itself for high gain guitars (and those 2 videos definitely are guilty of that IMO), but sounds pretty good mixed with an SM57. I'd try to find a reasonably priced Royer 121 clone (SM57 + R121 is pretty much the recipe for perfect medium to high gain miked tones), or some other ribbon mic. But once you're working with 2 mics simultaneously, it opens up a lot more options. Even another SM57 can work really well using the "Fredman" technique (one mic on-axis, the other at a 45 degree angle towards the dustcap with the capsule right next to the first mic's capsule).

funny you say that mark, when we were at at AI, we had sm57, e906, royer 121 and a u87 in the room for ambience. most of the tones ended up as 57+121

I see a lot of good prices on the Cascade Fatheads. People seem to gush one them for the price point.

I should caveat, I am looking at $350 or less.

I'm with Broslinger, 609's sound like trash to me.

they fact that they have a 609 and a much better 906 confused me for a while.