AKG - C214

Agree with most of this, but the original 214 came out in 2008 and was literally just a 414 without polar pattern selections, and a great lower-budget mic.

For example, I have an Akg 214 made in Austria but it's a completely different league

AKG C214 Or sometimes a dynamic T.Bone MB85 Beta Both do a great job for recording my Yamaha CG162c. Plenty of headroom for eq, great capture of detail and a fairly neutral starting point.

Yeah, I have two of those that I use as overheads and they're great

C214. Its literary the same capsule as one half of the CK12 but with a few microns of teflon heated onto the backplate. virtually there is a littlebit of additional capacitance because of that, which increases nonlinearity by a unperceptable amount. But thats nothing compared to the C414 where the two capsules are in parallel, so one acts as a capacitive pad for the other, which increases distortion by a lot. I am a strong believer that the C214 is actually a superior mic compared to the C414 XLS and XLII. And because the C114 and C104 circuits are vastly superior compared to the C214 in dynamic range (132dB in the case of the C114), the ultimate CK12 style microphone would be the C104 with a C214 capsule. Gras makes high-end measurement microphones and they only make electrets. And boy, their linearity is extremely good.

The C214 capsule and the whole microphone is made in the same room, on the same machines, by the same people as the C414. Those are both made in Hungary.

Who cares? Just another formerly great company gutted and forced to chase the bottom of the market by a bunch of useless MBAs. They've been dead to me since 2017 and everybody was already looking askance prior to that. The current production 414 is already a poor shadow of the OG ones because they keep cost-engineering it. Then they hack it up even more to make the 214. Then 314. Now we have 104 and 114. How fucking cheap can you make this? The C104 is literally an electret capsule in a ring to make it look like a large diaphragm capsule. What relationship does it have with the 414 AT ALL other than trying to use the respect for that model to sell cheap trash? Sorry, cheap trash with an AKG logo on it so you'll pay more than just buying it on Ali Express. Fuck off AKG.

+1 for the AKG c214! I’ve used 414s pretty extensively on a wide variety of sources in the past. Probably my favorite mic ever. The 214 is a very worthy budget friendly version

What you are asking is a unicorn. At that budget you'll mostly get mid range gear. You could find the mic that suits your voice but it'd be luck mostly. Almost no one goes "what's that microphone" on a recording. Just because -1 if it sounds good it sounds good. -2 there is not only the microphone. Preamps will weight in the sound too. The room wil allow some microphones, some placement etc... It's not that one incredible mic that will make the change if the rest of the signal chain is sub part in terms of quality. For me you're doing it the wrong way. Think long term, find the microphone you like and see what you can build slowly towards it. If you can not buy twice it's always better. On your budget/situation, the sm7b (re20 if in the us) is a sturdy no nonsense mic. You'll need a cloudlifter, as the focusrite will be a bit short in gain. This mic is something you'll keep on the long run, and is in your budget. (At the moment I usualy record voices with a U87 and a SM7b, together they give a range of sound that is very interesting) In neumann range, I'd stay away frop the 102/103. For a good large membrane condenser, you'll need a 1200/1500 budget for a starter (the TLM 49 could be nice for you in that range) Then look around for preamps, learn the difference between lamp, transistor...learn the known sounds you will prefer. Then invest in a good one. Trust me, a good preamp will make a basic microphone shine. A good mic will reveal how good or bad is the rest of your chain. Then what are your monitors? If you can't hear it, it'll be luck trying to make it sound without gear that allows you to hear all of it... This is a rabbit hole, and you can't simply get that wow sound with a entry level correct microphone. And all that plug in emulation, as much as it can do the trick, a real hardware gear really shows the difference. Uad unissons are good with the mix of hardware/plug in but if you compare to the hardware unit, the hardware has more range and depth. (I could get to the sound of the 610 plug in with the 610 hardware, but not the other way around). Well... all that the say :p Look at it from a perspective of slowly building up where you want to go in the long run A good dynamic mic (sm7b/re20) seems like what you are able to afford right now, it is never a bad investment. If you learn phase problems, you'll even be able to use your actual mic to add a bit of air and top end, but keeping that mid/low thickness of the dynamic as a base for your sound. Akg C214 is extremely bright, I'd take a nt1 instead most of the time. Comparing both the 414 is more in the range of the nt1. It is bright but remains a workhorse. Probably not the best for what you want to achieve. Good luck to you, the way is long ;)

I was gonna say a C214… I have a 414 and 214 and the 214 is really good for its price point. I remember them saying a lot of the parts are the same.

Go with the p220 but if you can afford the next tier get the AKG C214