About RecordingHacks.com
What is this place?
RecordingHacks is an online magazine about recording gear and techniques and the world’s best microphone database and search engine.
About The Microphone Database
The microphone database came about primarily from my frustration in researching SDCs for drum overhead use a few years ago. There is a ton of good information about microphones online, but it’s diluted by 10x as much junky information, making the useful data hard to get to. I think our mic database solves that problem.
Every mic profile contains the mic’s specifications, links to all the best reviews and forum exchanges, a list of related microphones, a tag cloud describing the mic’s characteristics, and a long description that includes, as appropriate, the mic’s origin and history, construction and circuit details, common applications, insider information, and more. Modification and upgrade opportunities are provided, with a sidebar showing links to commercial modders who can help non-DIY types. And finally, for boutique mics, I interview the mic’s designer to get a fuller glimpse into the mic’s design intent and some of the technical magic embodied in the physical microphone.
Microphone frequency-response graphs are presented in a common size and scale, facilitating comparisons. Click any such graph to see our new (November, 2010) graph-overlay tool, which will stack up two frequency graphs for direct visual comparison.
The database provides four distinct navigation schemes for all this information: browse by vendor, browse by tag cloud, search by mic type or classification, browse by “related mics.”
Who runs this place?
My name is matt mcglynn. Read more about me here.
If you want to reach me, send an email to my first name (matt) at this domain, or leave a comment below. Also you can follow me on Twitter.
Thanks for reading, and welcome.
Who else is here?
I have been blessed with assistance from a number of industry insiders, notably David Royer of Mojave Audio and Royer Labs, David Bock of Soundelux and Bock Audio, Klaus Heyne of German Masterworks, Oliver Archut of AMI/Tab-Funkenwerk and Lucas Engineering, Tony Merrill of Stephen Paul Audio, Brent Casey of PMI/Studio Projects, and Bob Crowley of Crowley & Tripp.
See also the Credits page.
Links and Banners
We welcome your referrals! See a selection of mediocre banners (and feel free to submit better ones).
How can I help?
Submit a story, or story idea. Send us rumors about new gear. Take photos of microphones. Add mics to the mic database. Make awesome recordings. See the five ways to get in touch on the Contact page.
BIM
March 13th, 2008 at 10:42 pm
very nice, clean look, your web site i mean.
congrats for getting it up.
your web site.
keep on drumming !
dr don
March 16th, 2008 at 12:38 pm
great job and even better info!
cant wait to see the sequel to your setup.
Lonya Nenashev
December 30th, 2008 at 1:22 pm
I couldn’t find any mentioning about Nevaton microphones. It’s a very respected company and need to be added to your list.
Thank you and keep rocking!
Gus Johnson
February 2nd, 2009 at 2:50 am
This site is a GOLDMINE !!!!!!! I couldn’t bookmark it fast enough
Dave Lussier
May 14th, 2009 at 11:00 am
Nice site, very informative. As a person who has been reocrding at home for the past 20 years this site is a great resource. Thanks for putting it out there!
Dave Therien
May 16th, 2009 at 5:24 pm
Glad to find you and your reviews of the KickPort…much appreciated – and you write well too! cheerio ~ D
Trey
June 3rd, 2009 at 2:28 pm
Great concept and execution.
Mind you, I don’t begin to qualify as a recording hacker.
But you’ve provided an excellent source for comparing products.
(Especially for lazy gits like me who find needle-in-a-haystack googling tiresome, or at least too distracting to ever finish.)
Have you considered adding price range to your search criteria?
Thanks for the info. Please keep it up.
Bob Crowley
June 25th, 2009 at 4:39 am
Matt
This is a treasure-trove of useful information and very well presented. Let me know if you need any historical info – I have a large library.
Thanks
Bob Crowley
June 25, 2009
Ben
January 9th, 2010 at 1:38 pm
Hey Matt, very cool page…glad I found it. Amazing, mics and sourdough bread on one page…two great tastes that go great together. Cheers and happy 2010…!
Saber
April 11th, 2010 at 6:11 pm
Hi
Very nice site, i was looking for a couple of mics for our band, the site is very instructive. nice mic collection also.
I ve seen no review for behringer mics despite they have some popular models. is there any reason for that ? are these mics good deals ??
Ray de Jager
June 1st, 2010 at 4:58 am
Thanks Matt and all the contributors for this great site on our gearslutting and mike-fetishing
Bookmarked it right away, and hope it will keep growing! Best regards to all our fellow technicians and engineers!
Safiya Tang
June 28th, 2010 at 9:53 pm
we are the manufacturer of microphones, headphones and mic accessories. we offer the best price and highest quality products.
Best regards
Safiya
http://www.isk.cc
tel: 86-574-56289166
Sunny
July 9th, 2010 at 10:46 pm
Hi,
I am Sunny from Ningbo,i’d like send the best greetings to you.
We are a specialized manufacturer of professional microphones and microphone accessories in Ningbo,China.Our most competitive products include tube mics?ribbon mics?USB mics?large diaphragm mics?insturment mics?performance mics?shock mounts?capsules?phantom power supply?pop filter?mic stands and cables etc.
Welcome worldwide customers OEM and ODM with us,we will try our best to offer you highest quality of products and best service.
Best Regards,
Sunny
Ningbo Tongxin Electronic Factory
Tel:86-574-28836988
Fax:86-574-88326978
SKYPE: sunnynbmic
http://www.nbmic.com
Add:2F-NO.5 Jinjiacao Industrial Park,Songjiang Middle Road,Ningbo315192.China.
joe sixpak
November 22nd, 2010 at 10:34 am
it would be useful to see the original list price on mikes that were discontinued — as a guide to buying used mikes wrt what they might be worth
Brad
January 3rd, 2011 at 7:16 pm
Matt:
Thanks for setting up such an informative web site. I have a question that I hope you might be able to answer. I am specifically looking for a TSM Muneo microphone. These are very hard to come by mics and are discountinued from Sweden. I have tried eBay and searching Google without any sucess. Do you know of a web site that sells rare music equipment? Any help would be most appericated. Thanks!
Brad
Palmetto Florida
matthew mcglynn
January 3rd, 2011 at 10:41 pm
Brad, the TSM Muneo has been discontinued and will not be reintroduced. You could set up a “saved search” on Ebay in hopes that one is eventually listed — but I doubt very many were sold in the US.
You can find similar dual-tube microphones listed here — I’ve reviewed the sE Gemini II and found it to be an outstanding mic, and I’ve heard the Lauten Oceanus and came away extremely impressed. They both cost more than the Muneo, but both have higher-grade parts and a warranty.
Rob Roy M Campbell
January 18th, 2011 at 7:55 pm
Just stumbled upon this site and I’m flipping out about it! I love it! Thanks for creating this amazing resource!!
Ed
January 22nd, 2011 at 8:25 pm
very cool Matt…see you soon!
Leandro Mogni
February 15th, 2011 at 5:43 am
What can you say about the Behringer T47 tube microphone??
Thanks!
babagau
April 7th, 2011 at 2:54 am
great organised collection of mics, just what I was looking for! bookmarked!
Walt Freytag
April 17th, 2011 at 4:51 pm
Question – I’m curious as to which type of microphone is best for recording brass instruments – I play trombone – I play in a brass quintet – and it would be nice if I could set up my Mac, a stereo preamp with phantom power and a pair of quality moderately priced mics. I’ve used condenser mics for voices – 2″ diaphram type – the recording turned out super – I’d like to do this for a small group and a large group – concert band size. Most of the specs talk of drums, guitars, singers – ala the new wave of music – I’m still hooked to the old way – and I’d like to get and keep some memories of how we “used” to do it. Any suggestions? Walt
Core
June 22nd, 2011 at 8:22 am
Love this site do all my mic research on here
Jeremy Sicotte
July 13th, 2011 at 9:57 am
Greetings guys,
I was browsing your mic list and didn’t see any Manley microphones. I know a lot of big producers use the Manley Reference Cardioid and was really hoping you guys would be able to review one in the future. Thanks!
David K
July 24th, 2011 at 12:33 pm
This is “THE” Microphone database on the web and while I am not a pro I sure have learned a lot and (what
to avoid as well) Thank You
David
Abraham Samuel
October 27th, 2011 at 3:39 am
Really great nice work up here…was very useful…All given up so nicely..
Great Job! Matt
Morten Stove
November 23rd, 2011 at 7:31 am
Another great microphone manufacturer to feature would be DPA Microphones. The best miniature Microphones on the market. No. 1 on Broadway and one of the most respected in the recording studios. In all modesty
Mads
December 5th, 2011 at 5:44 am
It has also surprised me that DPA haven’t found it’s way here yet, on what is otherwise one of the best resources on the internet about the wonderful world of microphones…!
Keep up the good work Matt, the growing database very nice to have around. And the sound tests, often without revealing which microphone was recording what in a given situation, until one want to have that info. Do your own blind tests – It’s simple and very, very useful..!
Brad
January 13th, 2012 at 1:50 am
I’d love to hear more about the entire Pearlman line, but especially the TM-250 and the Church mic.
Ryan
January 13th, 2012 at 4:36 pm
Love the website! This is a great resource for the aspiring engineer. I feel like I’m here every day of the week. Surprised you don’t have the AKG C 414 B-ULS listed. I’d love to see that one on here, as I’m constantly comparing it with others. Thanks for the hard work in putting this website together!
Chris Charlesworth
January 24th, 2012 at 5:30 am
Hey Matt
Your site is invaluable. My 1st point of reference !!
Any chance of including the Beyerdynamic Opus 89.
This mic isn’t even included on Beyer’s website ??
Personal user reviews are raving about it…..
René Talbot
February 9th, 2012 at 5:15 am
Bonjour Matt, thank’s for the good work.
I’d like to suggest you that you put the original wav files of the shootouts on a drop box or something. A simple numbering as name to identify them with the web page would do fine. Many person would surely take the time to download for deeper listening in studio.
Merci
René
matthew mcglynn
February 9th, 2012 at 10:59 am
Rene, most of the original WAV audio files are already provided. We publish links to them from within each review.
emmanuel sound
March 5th, 2012 at 9:15 am
just two words: THANK YOU!
i’ll follow you blog with a lot of attention. I’m sound operator in Paris, and i think you’re work is very very informative. Thanks to you i know the Beyer dynamic mc930!!!
see you
ps: i’ve put your link in my personal blog, it will help my friends to choose good microphones!!!
Bryce
July 3rd, 2012 at 10:09 am
Love the site! I was hoping you might do a microphone stand shoot out AND a snare mic shoot out (I searched but didn’t see one for snares). Its hard to find a good stand without spending huge dollars (like latchlake).
Keep up the amazing site!
Brian
July 26th, 2012 at 3:50 am
Hey Matt,
How are you?
I just wanted to write that I find the Mod’s boxes a little disconcerting as they put me off the mic! I think, well it must be pretty crappy if they are advertising a mod for it straight up.
Still lovin’ you work though!
Brian
matthew mcglynn
July 26th, 2012 at 5:11 am
@brian, there is a mod listed for the U87, too. _Every_ mic can be modified (although it remains to be seen whether the change is actually an improvement!).
Philippe
November 6th, 2012 at 9:06 am
What an awesome bible about mics! Great job.
Hope to be in touch one of these days!
Mark Wilhelmsson
April 9th, 2013 at 6:27 pm
Feature suggestion for graph compare: Subtract one mics curve from another mic.
Taylor Darland
April 30th, 2013 at 7:45 am
You have got to turn the Mic Database into an App for smartphones (apple). i would pay for it in a seconded as would a lot of engineers.