Old AKG C3000 (released in 1993) with Dual Real Condenser Capsules..

[MicMan]

Weirdly we recorded our first 2 albums with one of these and they were our most popular. We used an Amek 9098i pre and eq, recorded to Adat and the records sold about 5 million. Everyone asked how we got such a cool vocal sound and they didn’t believe us when they saw our studio with a Mackie desk. After that we had the budget for 2 inch tape and a C800g but the records were never the same. Money messed us up. So did Pro Tools back then. But those cheap AKG mics weren’t bad on a great voice.

Yup. Too often other people say "you've gotta have this" and "you gotta have that.." but you have to do what sounds best for YOU, otherwise your own cuts may sound just like everybody else's.

 

[Migs 31]

We used an Amek 9098i pre and eq, recorded to Adat

Oh wow !!! I forgot that they even existed (ADAT) I had the Black face one (S-VHS Video Tape!!!)...
Paul, you had an Amek 9098i Pre, which sound really great, one of my favourite Pres ever.
And I even forgot the C100's, I have not seen those in ages. Glad you used them well.

The only thing I can say here, is that I've seen people using Mackies,with SM-57's, DAT & ADAT.
And get a great sound out of it and that's all to the merit of the people doing the recording.
On the other hand I have seen folks using expensive gear and Gold plated connectors & sound ****!

@MicMan : "beneath the top of the basket to allow fitting on top of the capsule the optional plastic 'hats', originally supplied with those mics, which alter the pickup pattern and freq response."

OH!!! I remember those, for Hypercardioïd , Cardioïd etc. My boss used to swear by those.
I can't remember hearing much difference honestly. I did use those C1000 for Choirs.

M

 

[k brown]

Oh wow !!! I forgot that they even existed (ADAT) I had the Black face one (S-VHS Video Tape!!!)...
Paul, you had an Amek 9098i Pre, which sound really great, one of my favourite Pres ever.
And I even forgot the C100's, I have not seen those in ages. Glad you used them well.

The only thing I can say here, is that I've seen people using Mackies,with SM-57's, DAT & ADAT.
And get a great sound out of it and that's all to the merit of the people doing the recording.
On the other hand I have seen folks using expensive gear and Gold plated connectors & sound ****!

@MicMan : "beneath the top of the basket to allow fitting on top of the capsule the optional plastic 'hats', originally supplied with those mics, which alter the pickup pattern and freq response."

OH!!! I remember those, for Hypercardioïd , Cardioïd etc. My boss used to swear by those.
I can't remember hearing much difference honestly. I did use those C1000 for Choirs.

M

Those mic rings affect the pattern and response only in the top octave.

 

[Paul W]

Does anyone actually know if the newer single-pattern versions sound significantly worse than the original multipattern version in cardioid?

I can imagine they're terrible due to AKG being gutted, but I can also imagine that they're fine anyhow, because the original one was mostly used in cardioid anyhow, and the big electrets may be easy enough to manufacture well enough.

I'm interested in collecting a couple of these, and have no idea whether I should avoid all but the first version, or just avoid the latest version, or buy the latest version on purpose just because the foam won't be as old!

I'm hoping the new ones are just fine.

 

[Paul W]

Those mic rings affect the pattern and response only in the top octave.

What do they do in the top octave? I guess they make an SDC more like an LDC in terms of the path length around the side to the back of the capsule, but I'm not sure what all that does.

If I'm not mistaken, some small Audio-Technica capsules have a ring with a bunch of holes in it, and I'm clueless why, because it would seem to mostly defeat the aforementioned path-lengthening function.

 

[k brown]

What do they do in the top octave? I guess they make an SDC more like an LDC in terms of the path length around the side to the back of the capsule, but I'm not sure what all that does.

If I'm not mistaken, some small Audio-Technica capsules have a ring with a bunch of holes in it, and I'm clueless why, because it would seem to mostly defeat the aforementioned path-lengthening function.

It's due to boundary effect; boundaries produce a 6dB shelf from a frequency determined by the physical dimensions of the boundary, on up. Those rings are so small, they only boost the top end (and make the mic more directional at the same frequencies).

For example, the now-discontinued Neumann GFM132 boundary mic, if mounted in free space (not on a floor or wall) is omni at low frequencies, and starts to become directional at about 350Hz, and has a 6dB boost from 350Hz on up. A boundary half that size would shelf an octave higher, and so on.

 

[MicMan]

Does anyone actually know if the newer single-pattern versions sound significantly worse than the original multipattern version in cardioid?

I can imagine they're terrible due to AKG being gutted, but I can also imagine that they're fine anyhow, because the original one was mostly used in cardioid anyhow, and the big electrets may be easy enough to manufacture well enough.

I'm interested in collecting a couple of these, and have no idea whether I should avoid all but the first version, or just avoid the latest version, or buy the latest version on purpose just because the foam won't be as old!

I'm hoping the new ones are just fine.

I guess you're talking about the original C3000 mics (though the few comments before this are about the completely different bronze, 'tubular', C1000 mics).

Yes the newer single-pattern versions DO sound significantly worse than the original multipattern version in cardioid. The original version had a more 'dense', what you might call 'solid', sound, with slightly more disregard of sounds coming from around and behind.

You say that you "..have no idea whether I should avoid all but the first version.." ..yes; avoid all but the 1st version (..surprisingly, the 1st version mics are probably cheaper on eBay!)

"..I'm hoping the new ones are just fine." No, they're not so good; they're just generic Chinese mics in a case with a variant of the AKG logo or lettering. (Of course, that's only my own opinion; others may say something completely different!)

The original version is easily distinguishable from all successors, because it has - it's on the LEFT in this pic - (when viewed from the side) a 'spade-shaped' head-basket; not cylindrical, but squeezed-in at the front and rear, and the original - here on the LEFT - also has three small red switches on its REAR, whereas the later versions - on the RIGHT - have a small switch on each SIDE, a long cylindrical (round) basket, and only a shallow slant between the cylindrical body of the mic and the head-basket.

 

[k brown]

With a very simple mod (discovered by our man @kingkorg), the C 3000 B sounds pretty fab:

https://groupdiy.com/threads/akg-c3000b-5-min-mod-awesome-mic.67911/

The C 3000 B was not a generic Chinese mic; made in Austria.

 

[micaddict]

I bought the original C3000, shortly after its release (earlier nineties). It was my first LDC mic. I hadn't auditioned it first. Once I started using it, I thought it sounded a bit dull or lifeless. In the later nineties I traded it for the then new Neuman TLM103. The latter had noticeably more bite. But over time this "pro" became a con to my ears. As my ears got more finetuned through the years, the mic started to sound annoyingly edgy to me. And this wasn't someting EQ could easily take care of. So in the end I sold that one, too. In hindsight I guess I should have kept the AKG.

Oh well, some other nice mics have crossed my path since then.

 

[MicMan]

With a very simple mod (discovered by our man @kingkorg), the C 3000 B sounds pretty fab:

https://groupdiy.com/threads/akg-c3000b-5-min-mod-awesome-mic.67911/

The C 3000 B was not a generic Chinese mic; made in Austria.

I was not writing about the Austrian-made - and bronze-coloured - C3000B (..which I haven't shown in the photo) which succeeded the original C3000, but which did NOT have the hyper-cardioid pickup pattern of the original C3000.

I was writing about, and showing, the BLACK-PAINT so-called 'Re-Issue' mics which are - intentionally confusingly - also called C 3000 (with a space) or C3000 (with no space). These look very similar to, but not EXACTLY identical to, the ORIGINAL AKG C3000 mic.

The 'Re-Issues' do not have the same original AKG logo (with three 'cardioid' shapes and the letters AKG) of the 'Made In Austria' versions, and the different-sounding-non-Austrian 'Re-Issues' have either just the letters AKG within a circle, or just the letters AKG as a logo and nothing else.

I don't know how to put this any clearer; I was NOT writing about the C3000B ..that mic does NOT LOOK LIKE (different colour) and cannot be confused, by any sensible person, with THE ORIGINAL BLACK C3000. (They are two different mics; different shapes, different colour, different number of switches, different positions of switches, and the B version does not have a hyper-cardioid facility.) ..Phew.

My name's MicMan (..not to be confused with MacMan, PacMan, MuckMan, BICMan, KickMan or QuickMan. Nor with the AKG C3000B.)

 

[k brown]

I was not writing about the Austrian-made - and bronze-coloured - C3000B (..which I haven't shown in the photo) which succeeded the original C3000, but which did NOT have the hyper-cardioid pickup pattern of the original C3000.

I was writing about, and showing, the BLACK-PAINT so-called 'Re-Issue' mics which are - intentionally confusingly - also called C 3000 (with a space) or C3000 (with no space). These look very similar to, but not EXACTLY identical to, the ORIGINAL AKG C3000 mic.

The 'Re-Issues' do not have the same original AKG logo (with three 'cardioid' shapes and the letters AKG) of the 'Made In Austria' versions, and the different-sounding-non-Austrian 'Re-Issues' have either just the letters AKG within a circle, or just the letters AKG as a logo and nothing else.

I don't know how to put this any clearer; I was NOT writing about the C3000B ..that mic does NOT LOOK LIKE (different colour) and cannot be confused, by any sensible person, with THE ORIGINAL BLACK C3000. (They are two different mics; different shapes, different colour, different number of switches, different positions of switches, and the B version does not have a hyper-cardioid facility.) ..Phew.

My name's MicMan (..not to be confused with MacMan, PacMan, MuckMan, BICMan, KickMan or QuickMan. Nor with the AKG C3000B.)

Some readers could have interpreted your remark -"the newer single-pattern versions" (plural), to include the C 3000 B - just wanted to clear that up. Casual observers lump the '90s C3000, the C 3000 B, and the current C3000 together and there's great confusion as to the differences.

The newer version black C3000 (the one currently made), which is said to have the same capsule as the C 3000 B (don't know if the electronics are the same), is made in China; so yes, certainly has nothing in common with the original Austrian-made C3000.