Which of these microphones should I get?

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steffeeh

steffeeh

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I'm currently considering what condenser microphone I should get.
The mic will be primarly used in voice recordings for video tutorial creation, but also for basic recording for sounds that I can sample and use in sounddesign (mouth modulators, experimental percussion etc). There may however be other usages as well as I'll probably stick with the chosen mic for some time.
There are some price differences between the various mics of a few dozens of dollars, and I will go with the one that seem to be the best, but if there is only little, if any difference between them, then I'll obviously just go with the cheapest one.
Some may say that I should invest that little extra in a mic, but I don't have a fortune to spend on it.

Let's say that the room treatment is not an issue, and that my decision is only about the microphone itself.
All choices comes with a basic kit, including mounting etc. My audio interface is a Focusrite Scarlett 2i4.

Alright, so the contestants are:
- SE Electronics SE X1
- Samson MTR201A
- Rode NT1A
 
I would eliminate the Samson. I can vouch for Rode products, but SE has a good rep. Anywhere near you where you can audition both before purchase?

GJ
 
Unfortunately not, though I'm not that used to working with microphones anyway so I don't think comparing them live would help that much for me.
 
At the moment I'm strongly thinking of going with the Rode NT1-A, as it seems to have the lowest self-noise, and from listening to comparisons online I like its sound/character the most (compared with SE Electronics X1 and the Rode NT1).


Unless there are any other suggestions within that price range, I'll probably go with that one when it's time to buy.
 
I've used the NT1a and didn't like it... High end just sounded wrong... Fizzy I guess.
The NT2 is much better.
I use the SE2200mkii (the multi pattern version) right now it's a little bit more than the X1 but I rate it. I'm going into a Scarlett as well.

I've had a Samson mic before - it was dire. Better off with an SM58 IMO.

The Oktava 219 is in the same bracket... Needs some EQ but takes it well... Quite dark sounding without.
 
I think the SE X1 is even more high end-y than the NT1A. I've had the NT1A for years and...it's ok. Yeah, the high end is a bit brittle at times but I don't think it's "horrible" or "unusable" like some people say. It's a cheapo mic after all...but if I were to buy a new all-around home-recording not-expensive LDC right now, I'd probably take the AT4040.
 
Well they all seem to have a bit brittle highend in this price range, and this is not the scenario where I can wait and save up 1-2 extra months and get a better one. I suppose an NT1A should do well for just regular tutorial speaking.
I've listened to a few examples where people sing into that mic, and it seems like it depends on the voice a lot on how brittle it gets. Now, I feel I have that kind of voice that could get a little brittle, but I'll only talk anyway (I don't sing). And more than this I'll only record samples for sounddesign, so in the end you probably won't hear the brittle anyway in this case (and if you still hear it after all it's fairly simple to remove it in sounddesigned elements).
And last but not least, I just don't think it's worth it to invest those extra $200 or so just to remove the brittle from some talking or recorded samples that will be heavily processed beyond recognition.
 
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