I am looking to buy a condenser mic that is quiet (no hums) and reliable. I can pay a couple hundred bucs. I was thinking the M-Audio Luna or Solaris (if it's really THAT much better than the Luna) or something around that price range. Any thoughts or suggestions?
Many thanks.

Both are good budget mikes. The solaris is quite a bit "hotter" than the luna, but the luna gives decent output.

Thanks for the reply. What do you mean by "hotter"?

I mean very much more sensitive, hotter output..

The major problem with budget mikes, is it is easy to (not sure what the word is here) 'clip' the diaphragm. Meaning that the input into the mike is too much to handle.

This is true with the cheap mAudio microphones, their max DB in is like 125 db, and that is quite easy to reach, especially with drum and screaming vocals.

Although, my first 2 microphones were both the luna and the solaris, and you can still get some decent quality sound out of them. The singer / insrumentalist just needs to 'play' the mike more to prevent the clipping.

Hi Guys... Rhone is spot on the money with his points there... I can also throw SE Microphones into this mix.

If you're looking for a budget mic that is quiet, even transparent, durable and can handle some decent dB levels, these mics are certainly worth a look. I use their 2200A and it has been great for me, very versatile. I use it mainly for vocals and acoustic but I've also used it as a drum overhead and it came up a treat.

Anyway, I hope this has been helpful!

Yes, that is also true about the 2200.

I would suggest spending about $50 more than the Solaris, look for a Rode NT1. I think they retail around the $300 range, and it is a good mike.

I have both the NTK and the NT1, and I bought the pair for under a grand. I would say (I may get some coughs from Neumann nuts here) that they are as good as the Neumann mikes that cost 3 times as much.

GRTKRT, I am not a RODE rep, and I am not spamming here. I have actually tested this equipment and found to be true.

One thing I really like, is Rodes are built like tanks!

Neumann definitely have some thinking to do! I'm with you the Rodes are realy nice mics too.

I agree. I have an NT-1A that sounds as good as any Neumann I've ever heard.

OK, being a newbiew myself, I'm interetsted to see if I made a good choice. Seems that the $200 mark is a popular price point.

My goal is spoken word recordings at home. I can't afford the setup I use at work, but I did get an AKG Perception 200. I don't have much experience to compare this mic to but I am feeling real good about it.

It beats the hell out of the borrowed karaoke system mic I first tried and is a LOT cheaper than the one we have where I work. Just for grins, I plugged my mic into the studio we have at work and it sounds a little warmer than the Electrovoice mic that is part of our system, but sounded equally sensitive.

Any comments or suggestions?

If u have a few hundred dollars to spend i say buy and audio technica ae 3000

4trackman99 wrote:

If u have a few hundred dollars to spend i say buy and audio technica ae 3000

Nice looking specs and quite similar to the Perception 200 but with better rejection from the back. I'd like a chance to do a side by side comparison through the same equipment chain. Sometimes that's the only way to find a difference.

AceRoth wrote:

Hi Guys... Rhone is spot on the money with his points there... I can also throw SE Microphones into this mix. If you're looking for a budget mic that is quiet, even transparent, durable and can handle some decent dB levels, these mics are certainly worth a look. I use their 2200A and it has been great for me, very versatile. I use it mainly for vocals and acoustic but I've also used it as a drum overhead and it came up a treat. Anyway, I hope this has been helpful!

I agree that a R0de NTK is a great mic for value (cost vs. performance) and I know this because I use one all the time at my studio! But I do use a Neumann and although they do share some interesting characteristics, they cannot be confused. First of all the Neumann is FAR more expensive which makes people that buy them a bit snobbish, admittedly, but they do clear up especially in high SPLs an Db ranges than the R0de. But, at the end of the day, when your have a budget, get a pretty good preamp (no solid state, go tube) and buy a nice R0de and you will be pretty damn happy. The NT-1 is probably a fantastic deal.