Product: AKG 451E
Price Paid: US $200 used
Submitted
06/28/2004
at
05:09am
by
Lemke
Email: eugene<at>iface dot ru
Reviewer Background
:
Making music from 1986. Started recording about 1995. Now using the DAW with Luicid fromt end and Quested monitors.
Overall Rating
:
10
C451E with CK1 capsule is small diafragm condenser. It has cardioid pattern. It's definitely instrumental mic with many applications: ac/guitar, saxophone, accordion, percussion, drum overheads. It has that sweet sounding highs that make it so popular. For me it beats Neumann KM84 in any kind of usage. Also it's somewhat bassy unlike KM84. I can recommend 451 simply to everyone.
Product: AKG 451E
Price Paid: US $200ea used
Submitted
02/10/2004
at
01:10pm
by
M
Email: none
Reviewer Background
:
I'm going to just use my own format here...
What a great mic. I sure wish they still sold 'em like this now. I've got 3 of these original 451 mics that have a screw on capsule, where you can change the pattern of the mic, by putting on another capsule. This is similar to the Oktava 012's that are available everywhere. But, AKG offered tons of different versions...cardiod, omni, boom mics and even podium type of capsules. These sound really good to me when used as overheads. But, you'll find they work on just about anything from acoustic stringed instruments to snare tops or bottoms. Some say that they're a bit brittle on the high end. I disagree...they're obviously from a time when you needed to have an exaggerated high to make it through all the passes on analog tape. If you didn't boost them a bit when tracking...you'd sound dull and lifeless when it came time to mixdown. Anyway, these are studio staples. Do yourself a favor and grab a pair. Also, be on the lookout for the other CK capsules that go along with them. One more interesting note, the company BLUE, that makes all the really nice, high end mics offers any of their capsules in a lollipop that screws onto the preamp body of these. How cool is that?
Overall Rating
:
10
As I alluded to above, they're condenser mics and normally ship with the CK1 or cardiod capsule. You might also find them with just about any other pattern though. The CK2 or omni's are great too. I'd definitely rate these up there with any of the Neumann small diaphram cardiod's and any of the other top names...it's just you won't be shelling out $1000+ for a pair of these. Also, AKG in Nashville does a great job of repairing them if you have a bad capsule or whatever. There's really no reason not to grab a pair of them. You'll use them on every session...I promise.
