AKG C 3000 B

been in and around the music industry for 30 years as a semi-professional sound man and performer. Rock, Blues, Bluegrass

Most of my experience with microphones has been with shure 58 and shure 57 - but I prefer the shure beta 58 and the shure beta 87.

For live performance they set the standard as far as I am concerned - quality sound and durable.

I have less experience with large diaphram microphones.

I really like this microphone for live performance - bluegrass. It is great for both vocals and acoustic instruments if you want to capture the whole stage sound. I don't find it harsh as others do (it can be bright if you EQ it that way)and at the same time it doesn't boom.

The mics can be set pretty hot before feedback and that it really important for live performances.

The 4 person bluegrass group I play with (we play out for parties and commuity events almost every weekend)uses two of these microphones. I am planning to buy a 3rd as we have added two more members to the group.

I have used this mic for a few years, starting with a Korg d1600 into a home stereo, and now with an Alesis HD24xr, Soundtracs Topaz, outboard mic preamps, and Event ASP8 monitors. I have compared this mic to AT4047, AT4033, Microtech Gefell UMT70s, and ADK TL.

I play guitar, write songs, and play other instruments as needed for recording puproses. I have been doing this for 15 years.

This microphone sounds like an electric knife on top of a pile of dirty dishes. No other microphone I have heard makes such an inherently surreal alteration to the sound it picks up, except for the Copperphone, which has the stated purpose of altering the sound.

This can be a real benefit when you want something to sound different from the rest of the tracks or you just want it to sound weird. The thing is, this microphone for some reason is a lot of people's first condenser mic, as it was mine. Multiple tracks recorded with this mic can pile up into an incredibly strange sound. An Audio Technica 4040 or 4033 would be much more useful.

It's not that the mic is just a piece of junk. Inside, it is beautifully crafted with surface mount parts and an interesting capsule mount which plugs in to the electronics rather than being soldered. It has a bass rolloff and 10 db pad. So why does it sound like a shaken lemon-tree? I don't know.

When I bought this mic I had just started home recording.

My first large diaphragm condenser, bought thinking all AKG was fine and because of a good review in Sound on Sound Magazine.

I was deeply disappointed. Like someone else wrote, it is trebly and harsh. Took me some time to find out, then I sold it with a loss.

Project Studio for 10 years. Working in pro studios last 2 years or so.

Recording to Cubase via TLA 5051 Ivory v2 and Echo Mia MIDI.

Monitoring on Genelec 8030s.

This is a large diaphragm condenser. I bought this for vocals, especially female, but I never liked it. I found it thin, undetailed and far too bright for my taste. It is not a rubbish mic, of course, but I've since bought an ADK SL Pro (seems to be based on the AT 4040) and that gives me brightness without harshness, much better detail and fuller body.

The AKG required lots of EQ tweaking and that's never as good as having the right sound from the start. Whatever people say about room treatment, mic placement and pre-amps is fine, but when I replaced the AKG with the ADK the difference was clear.

8 years recording,
5 years live sound

Using a soundcraft ghost console.

This mic is great. In fact i like the older model better which had the semi 8 pattern which i use to get my guitar sounds. People have put the original C3000 down quite a bit but it has some great uses. It makes a killer vocal mike for loud rock singers.

It sounds unprofessional but the secret with this mic is to know where to cut. If you automatically reach for the EQ knob and turn clockwise you will be unhappy. The bottom end on this mic is quite full and i really enjoy using it as a drum overhead because i find that when i roll out the bass on the strip this mic still leaves a lot of the heavy low end in tact without making the overhead brittle.

It's a nice warm mic and it can get you into a lot of trouble. You can get the old one pretty cheap too.

I've been making music for 25 years, playing guitar and bass in active bands for 15 years, and have been building a home recording studio/semi pro engineering for the last 5 years.
Currently I'm recording to a Digi001 with an RNP preamp and Apogee Rosetta AD in the s/pdif input and Digimax LT in the lightpipe input. Mics I have besides the C3K are 414B-ULS, Oktava MC012's, Rode NT3, SM57'2, Beta 52.

LDC, cardiod pattern only. This was my first LDC and bought it from magazine recommendations and AKG's reputation. First off, I don't like this mic very much. I'm sorry I bought it and wouldn't really recommend it. Not a terrible mic but it has a thin, boring, not especially detailed sound. I've tried it on vocals, electric and acoustic guitars, drum OH's, and bass cab. The only thing it sounded decent on was the bass cab.
About a year ago I bought a 414B-ULS and the difference was night and day. The 414 is a FANTASTIC mic on pretty much everything, very detailed and flattering. Moral of the story is save your pennies and get something you will be happy with the rest of your life.
If someone were looking for a budget LDC I would strongly recommend they try out several different brands of mics before buying.

Playing guitar for 16 years, live engineer for 12, studio work for about 2. Using Roland VS-2400CD, AKG mics of different flavors. I have used Shure 57s, 58s, EV RE 20s, AKG D112s, and numerous others live. Monitoring/mastering system is simply a very clean powering Kenwood receiver, an Alesis stereo 30 band in the tape loop, and some Cerwin Vega 12" 3 ways. (sounds silly, compared to pro studios but I have always hated the sound of "Studio Monitors" - nobody plays this stuff on studio monitors, it's cars stereos, home stereos, computers, etc.)

Large diaphragm cardiod condenser. I have been using the mic for close mic'ing guitar, bass and voice. I have used a lot of AKGs live and they have resonable prices and are well built. The sound quality is good, placement is still the key to any mic, and this is no exception. I have been very happy with the results of using this mic, very versatile and it accomodates everything I have tried it on (I would like to try a kick drum yet). Just wanted to write a review because I saw that there was only one and this mic it pretty good for the price. As a note, Roland COSM modeling (VS workstation models) was designed to work with this model, i.e C3000B to U47, it really works quite well - I was a bit surprised. I didn't realize this mic was used for the COSM modeling until after the fact that I purchased it. It's pretty slick, get a good placement with the phones, add the model as an insert effect on the input, and then run through the different mic models for fun (granted, its a combination of comp/exp, EQs, etc but they did a good job).

Making music 30 years
Recording: 2 years
Recording with: M-Audio OMNISTUDIO Interface,Souncraft and Mackie mixers,Dedicated Athlon based music computer running Windows 98SE, Cubase 5.1 and Soundforge 6.

Listening with: Videologic Scirroco powered speakers & Sub, hi-fi speakers & amp, Sennheiser HD580 headphones

True large diaphragm condenser microphone. Fixed cardioid pattern. Bass roll-off and attenuation switches. Good shockmount but no case supplied as standard.

Vocals and acoustic instrument recording(bluegrass primarily) using pop shield, place directly in front of singer/instrument.

Rode NT1 (NT1A was introduced later than AKG300B). The AKG3000B was sold to me on the basis that it was robust and could be therefore used also for 'single mic' bluegrass performances on stage(has internal and external shock mounts).

Seems very well built 'German Quality'. Seems better than RODE/chinese quality (I also own a Rode NT4 stereo mic).

I am posting this review because this condenser microphone is one of the many budget mics which home recording enthusiasts may consider along with others in the $150/#150 pound range (we pay more for everything in the UK!). The sound quality of the AKG3000B (and in particular the earlier 3000 model which is different and inferior)has come in for a lot of criticism on certain internet forums and in general has had mixed reviews. I recently did a direct comparison with the Rode NT1A and using my equipment have found the mics to be surprisingly similar in terms of performance with only subtle differences. Yes, the microphones sound different but only subtly so and this was not a question of better or worse, just different. I expected the Rode NT1A to be significantly better than the AKG. It was not IMHO.

The AK3000G has a thicker and slightly hazy midrange than the rode NT1A, which although not altogether pleasant, has the net effect of making vocals sound slightly warmer, punchier and perhaps more valve like. Almost like a radio presenter sound. The rode NT1A has a slightly cleaner, thinner sound overall with slightly more presence and air at the top end. Both mics are quiet. The output of the AKG3000B appears to be higher than the Rode NT1A. I preffered the warmth of the AKG over the Rode for my voice but a friend preferred the sound of the Rode. The differences were subtle but clearly audible. The NT1A is probably flatter.

When recording a bluegrass banjo and flatpicked acoustic guitar with the microphones placed directly in front of the instrument, both myself and my friend (who once ran a professional studio) thought that the AKG sounded better than the Rode, direct into the OMNISTUDIO preamps without EQ, due to the thicker midrange. Via EQ/microphone modelling I believe it would be possible to make the recordings from both microphones sound very similar.

Home recordists also please note:

I have experimented with various (non-esoteric) mixer preamps and have found that these have a subtle but significant effect on microphone performance and may be better than those in the OMNISTUDIO for a given microphone. I would be keen to try better preamps if possible and would encourage home recordists to experiment using different mixers preamps if you can to find which sounds best with a particular mic.

I am quickly finding that the acoustic qualities of the recording room are very significant and are perhaps the most important and overlooked factor in the home studio. I am recording in an empty spare bedroom with kingsize duvets hung on all 4 walls and ceiling using hooks. I am now keen to try proper acoustic treatment. If acoustic treatment is not used then you may be better off recording vocals uisng a small diaphragm condenser or dynamic microphone (SM57, SM58)rather than a large diaphragm as the the rooom sound becomes too significant and will probably sound terrible whatever mic you use. So beware before spending lots of money on a microphone!

I prefer the sound quality of my rode NT4 over both the rode NT1A and AKG C3000B for instrument recording.

I rate the microphone as a 7 compared with the NT4 and on basis that I have not tried other condensers yet (hope to try a friend's CAD M177 soon. Do not discount SM58/Beta 58 microphones for close mic'ed recording of vocals in the average room, if you o