recordinghacks


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 .

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.

60 Responses to “About RecordingHacks.com”

  1. Edmund Weber

    February 20th, 2015 at 10:32 am

    Good morning Matt,
    We spoke perhaps two or so years ago about ribbon mics and such. I’m in
    Petaluma, and am in need of plans for building shock mounts sturdy enough
    to safely fly some RCA KU-2’s Been waiting too long for some to show up
    on Ebay or the mic forums. Always enjoy reading your reviews & blog!
    Ed Weber

  2. Denis Mc.Dermott

    August 14th, 2015 at 5:34 pm

    Hi!

    Great ‘site 🙂

    Quick question:
    I know that a pair of cardioid capsules in one mic can be put in & out of phase, etc, to produce differing Polar Patterns but what are the results/pros&cons in using two OMNI capsules instead?

    Thanks you guys!

  3. Denis Mc.Dermott

    August 14th, 2015 at 5:54 pm

    I once bought an LDC in England that was kind of a ‘bottle’ mic in appearance except it had squared off, rectangular blue body with satin silver ‘ball’ mesh; stalk; XLR base and interegal yoke.

    It looked impressive & sounded pretty good! it was called a
    T-Bone Retro Jnr but once I had to sell it to fund a preamp I’ve never seen or heard of that model… before or since!

    I know Thommann.de sell a retro tube mic which is cylindrical & hardly too similar but has anyone else heard of this particular model?

  4. Jim Mooney

    March 1st, 2016 at 12:33 pm

    I know that I saw the Audio-Technica BP-40 broadcasting mic on this site, but now it is not listed in the A-T section….is it on its’ way out? I thought that this was a relatively new model from them.

  5. Russell Breeding

    November 23rd, 2016 at 7:44 am

    Facebook “Renaissance Sound & Recording”
    Really appreciate your site. Lots of good and great information. I do only live recording and have a decent stock of MXL mics. Main DAW is Protools 8 M-powered.

  6. Silvio

    July 18th, 2017 at 5:13 am

    Hello,
    good website !
    May I ask a question ? Ive got some “old” beyer M500NC . One of them is not working well . I dont dare to open it , because I dont know how .

    Is there a chance to remove or open the basket . maybe in the middle of it behind the black beyer-label-ribbon ?

    Thanx for info . Silvio , Germany

  7. Darlene Lambert

    April 15th, 2020 at 1:08 pm

    I have a CAD Equitek 350 mic. I haven’t used it in a while and had put it away out of the holder. Now I’d like to use it again and haven’t a clue how the string it up to hold the mic securely. Do you know how to string this up?

    Darlene

  8. bill

    February 12th, 2022 at 10:16 am

    Just a quick but huge thank you for this outstanding mic database. I wish it could be updated, but I know how life gets in the way.

  9. Ali

    February 28th, 2023 at 7:05 am

    Hello I read your article about Shure sm57 and as a result I bought Shure 57 with TAB-Funkenwerk transformer. I’m wondering if this mic would sound better with a 600 ohm preamp input impedance? Or does this only apply to the standard version of sm57? Best regards, Ali.

  10. Andrew

    March 2nd, 2023 at 2:52 pm

    When I read the u89i site there is a hiatus on the Neumann u89i . The release date is 1980 not 1990.

    Great site btw
    Andrew

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