Build a Microphone Cabinet on any Budget

Sep 1, 2000 12:00 PM, BRIAN KNAVE AND MYLES BOISEN

           
 

Bare Bones Budget ($400)

By Myles Boisen

(1) Shure SM 57 ($146)
(1) Crown CM 700 ($289)

You really can't go wrong with the Shure SM 57 dynamic microphone - the perennial workhorse of the recording industry. Many top engineers swear by it for electric guitars, snare drum, vocals, and lots of other uses. The frequency response of this mic, though far from flat, is musical and seems ideally suited to the recording process, offering a midrange-rich sonic profile with just the right amount of cutting highs and low-end punch.

Even though there will always be limitations at the lower end of the condenser-mic spectrum, the affordable Crown CM 700 small-diaphragm condenser has earned a permanent place in my mic cabinet by virtue of its warm and pleasing sound. The CM 700 is not as bright as most of the competing models, but it does convey every bit of tone in a source and features a 2-position low-cut filter that helps get the mud out.

Like the Shure SM 57 dynamic, the CM 700 is a microphone that you may never "outgrow." I keep finding new uses for it, including resonator guitar and marimba.