AKG - C414 COMBO

Akg 414 id say is a great work horse condenser. But it is not a budget friendly solution like the sm57.

It depends by your chain and for what purpose you intend to use it. For a clean recording of the mic in the audio interface u87 is a good mic but nothing esoteric, for example, i prefer an akg c414 for a clean sound. But when you search a specific color and a signature sound u87 is the most versatile mic to use with most high end preamp that makes a miscellanous of colors and styles depending on the combination chosen. I think also, that most of audio engineers or artist use the u87 by 1% of his possibilities because they use only the cardioid polar pattern, but the figure 8 in a mid side for a piano recording, or the omni for a coloured room, they changes everything in terms of texture.

I would do the 414 over the 103 because a hypercardioid setting can be super useful in an untreated or partially treated room. You'll probably have to De-ess in post but recording with a bright condenser mic and de-essing in post has been standard practice in pro studios for like 50 years. But with that budget I'd also look into Sennhesier MD441. One of the nicest sounding dynamic mics ever made and incredibly tight pickup pattern/room rejection. Blows the SM7b out of the water IMO.

414 is a great mic, but it can be sibilant as all hell on the wrong voice

Yep. 100%. 87 or 414 are not my go-to’s on vox, because of this. A U47 clone or 251 clone will sound good on 90% of voices.

If you can afford a used AKG C414 I think that is one of the most versatile mics ever.

If all you are doing is voice over and you have a deep voice I’m gonna go with the 103 all day every day, IF your sound treatment can get the room quiet enough. The 103 likes a very quiet room or better yet isolation. Your 1k price point may be a problem though. Also what board are you going to be running it through? You’re going to hear a difference going through an Allen & Heath or an older Midas than compared to a Mackie or Behringer or any of the brands not known for having top notch pre-amps. This is going to apply to either mic as both of the ones you are considering need 48v phantom power. If you can give the 103 what it needs, it’s perfect for what you describe as your voice. The 414 on the other hand is 1st and foremost actually at the price point you mentioned. As to performance the 414 is a great do it all kind of mic. Whatever you need to mix in studio, it’s gonna do the job and do it well. It is much less forgiving about the room noise and can actually be used for recording more than one thing at a time, something the 103 struggles with. Is your deep voice going to sound as good on a 414 as on the 103 with proper room treatment? Not a chance. Is it going to be better than a 103 without proper treatment or running on a cheap board? Almost certainly.

Akg c414 was my knee jerk response

Yeah. I’ve done a lot of studio work and they are almost never used. 414s are way more popular. FET47 is the real go to for that kind of mic. When you have access to KM86s, 54s, U47s, etc. the 87 doesn’t leave the drawer very often.

I've said it before and i'll say it again: GT66 The Groove Tubes model, not the Sterling replica. Good luck finding one, every now and then a used one pops up on Reverb in the $400-$700 range, but the thing just sounds flat out awesome on vocals. My 3 go to's for vocals are a TF51 when I want bright, C414 when I want versatility, GT66 when I want warm

It's an absolute beast. For the specifics of this question regarding low end capture I think there are better options, but overall, I agree with you. It's borderline slept on at this point as a LDC.

the times i swapped out the u87 i preferred: c414, rode ntk or nt2 (i dont remember which) but they were both transparent and i was happier with what i got. For stuff that was clearly warmer i borrowed a warm audio ribbon (idk the model), and even preferred the cheap mxl ribbon mic (extreme on the other end of the spectrum, arguably different use case). i was over the u87, especially for the price. id probably even prefer a number of live mics, give me a 58beta or a senn e835 instead... disclaimer, i only tried it on vocals, mostly female, i didnt own it, i just got to use it for 5 sessions i think. but i wouldn't shell out that cash out of my pocket for one. i would rather get a bunch more mics or id lean into a nice ribbon for that price, not sure which.