Audix SCX25

I've got over 25 years experience as a live sound and recording engineer and as a musician. I mostly do home studio recording now. I record to a variety of sources including a Tascam PortaDat, a Roland BR-532, a Korg D1200 or direct to a G4 Mac. I still have a mint Tascam 1/2" 8 track which I plan on using more as of late.

This is a cardiod condenser in a "lollipop" configuration. I bought a matched pair for a small savings and they arrived in a nice wooden box with mic clips. These mics require the full professional +48 volts phantom power. They are great looking mics. Though they feel solid, I tend to handle them with care - I'm not sure they would hold up well at all to a drop. I often use a pair of battery powered phantom supplies for recording in the field. I wanted a pair of extremely quiet, sensitive mics that were transparent, flat, and accurate for recording acoustic guitar and a variety of percussion. I like to sample found objects and use a variety of unusual percussion instruments in my studio. This mic has so little self noise and is so sensitive that you will want to record in very quiet spaces, unless you want the ambience, which I often do in outdoor situations. Because the whir of hard drives are even picked up, I prefer to record acoustic instruments with my DAT or the SmartMedia enabled BR-532....I'm speaking from a one-man operated recording scenario, so obviously, in a studio setting this is not a problem. I like using Joe Meek preamps with their optical compression and EQ channel. These mics pickup my udu wonderfully, from the deep base to the high rap of the ceramic. Acoustic guitar is very deep, chimey and real. The highs are not overly hyped. In a complex mix, you may want more midrange for that typical jangle (or just add/use a dynamic mic-57/421/etc). For solo acoustic, you may not EQ at all. Really enhances reverbs that are clean enough to effect the upper harmonics. Super on piano, as well. And voice...though I prefer a tube mic to warm up vocals...Take in mind, this mic is not forgiving - it will pull in everything that is there, sibilance, smacking, stomach growls, etc. Doesn's handle high volumes well which could damage the mic. I highly recommend this mic. Get a pair. If your are into sampling, your search is over. If you want to recoud your thumb piano or udu, ...or want that pure "Michael Hedges" (cherish his memory) solo acoustic guitar sound, get this mic. Enuf. Make music....