Just buy the U87 and be done forever and youll always have a reference to probably the most standard mic in the business. (Maybe sell that pile of 1176 Hairballs that didnt get built would pay for a used one…aha.)
The old U87 or the U87ai has a noticeable sensitivity difference.
For a home recording thing or for a “Brandon-skeptical test” might not show the U87 does nothing a $160 chineese copy design thief mic might not do… but J your in the business!!
I dont get it?
You have bought the building, the board, the high end converters, the Dr Z amps, the expensive monitors…spending on hiend…why in the f? would you put a Hello Kitty mic in the mix? Its crazy hahaa…dang man… just finish it up with the U87’s and hiEnd!!!
some things are good to own and hold value well…SM7, RE20, U87, SM58, SM57 …good investment probably better than the converters and monitors as far as resale worth.
Hi I have an AKG C 414B XL2 I could send you to get thru your session. I only use it once in awhile for acoustic. I didn’t like it for vocals for some reason. I have used it maybe two hours so far. I do know it is very sensitive. I can rub my thumb and index finger together and see the meter go up. ha ha If I didn’t have it for a month, I could live with that. Yes, I trust everyone.
I wonder about used mics more than about anything. Buying a U87 brand new or used is a big risk.
That dude on GS sent a expensive mic out for a mod and they stuck in some chineese capsule supposedly and sent it back to him.
Then he sent it to a known pro who said this isnt even a Neumann capsule…whoa
being fragile condensers too…hard damn decision to buy New or Used w risk.
in Jonathans scenario probably used would be ok because its all about the brand name on the mic housing and processing can make it sound good.
(or even double mic them to have a backup BLUE track too)
Save $1500 on a used U87.
maybe get a used one with a return policy.
geeez I thought buying a fake- SM57 was bad, just thinking about buying a U87 and getting burned is wild.
I’ve been thinking about this pretty heavy since you mentioned it yesterday. I put in a call to the director of the state film commission, and asked him about his experience with tech riders. He assured me this was not coming from the voice talent. He said the voice talent gets an idea of what they prefer, communicates that to the sound supervisor, and then they are supposed to communicate with the studio. But if they show up and engineer thinks a Manley or Bock are a better fit, the voice artists needs to at least attempt to work the engineer. So he said it was standard practice to start with an U87, then change if needed. I’m in the process of becoming the only state endorsed post production facility through the film commission (which is an extension of the South Carolina department of tourism). I think it would be a good idea to try and work with what the director (who is a highly experienced industry vet) thinks would best accommodate clients. The South Carolina government recorded $180m in direct spending on film production last year to local businesses within the state. $18m was grant incentivized.
As to your question of how many times I’ve done this…its sort of new territory for me. Remember that I’ve built a lot of my company on broadcast post, classical, and church music. Not film post. Studio broadcasters almost always use Re-20’s and Schopes stuff. For live broadcast, usually wireless lapel and podium mics. And I only started learning how to code games a few months ago.
He did understand that buying even two of these things, is not something anyone takes lightly. But he did suspect that it had to do with quality control. A lot of real small operations would push cheaper mics. Some of them great mics, some of them not good for VO. He wondered if having a U87 on board was sort of a like having a pro tools certification, where it shows you meet a minimum standard for something, but at the end of the day doesn’t mean a damn thing. He said they were probably balked at Blue Bottle mics because they’re not very common. I asked him about the TLM 103 and Peluso P87. He said I’ll want a pair of U87 if there’s any way I could afford it. WTF??? A PAIR??? He said yes…its common for two VO artists who are interacting in a scene to be in the same room together. Don’t hand one artist a U87, and another artist a TLM 103. The problem is that the second mic will not get used very often. As a second artist is more often tracked over a remote studio feed from another state.
[quote=“CCbro, post:21, topic:1731”]
Just buy the U87 and be done forever and youll always have a reference to probably the most standard mic in the business. [/quote]
Hey buddy! lol…thanks for dropping in, and good to see ya online again
…I was considering that.
I don’t know about a $160 Chineese copy. But I’m thoroughly convinced it’s not better than a AKG C414, and many other mics in the $1k range. I’m not sure how much better is than a TLM 103 either.
Ha! Go big and go home. Right? Part of it is that I got a killer deal on that board. I think the converters were worth every penny. I have how overpriced those U87’s are for what they do
I don’t know if I should take any chances with a vintage 87. The 87ai is the only available production model as far as I know.
I got the monitors used but I’m hesitant to buy a used mic. The first Blue Bottle was in fabulous condition. The second Blue Bottle had to be sent back to be re-conditioned. You’d think high end mics would normally be well cared for, but I’ve heard some pretty scary stories about that stuff!
@feaker Paul, Wow…thanks so much for offering! Amazingly generous of you. I have a pair of 414’s. The problem isn’t having a good VO mic, its weighing out the business expenditure of $6400 on a pair of mics that film guys want you to have for no good reason.
I was totally comfortable with $6000 on the converters because I use them every day. Same with the Focal monitors. I’m highly dependent on both. Ugh…its just not the same with these mics. They’re going to do some time just sitting in the locker while my film and gaming portfolio gets built. Jeez. (sorry man…just thinking out loud).
But thank you, thank you, thank you, for offering to lend me that 414!!
As the kids would say “no problem” ha ha I was told at one point the my LA 610 and that 414 was the pair to have, so I bought them. Salesmen are hard on me sometimes. Good luck.
