Acoustic Guitar Mic Shootout - Neumann vs Aston vs Schoeps vs SM57 - Mono Mic

Here’s a quick mic test we ran whilst selecting which microphones to use to record acoustic guitar with session musician Neil Cowlan - www.neilcowlan.com.

There are lots of ways of doing this but due to time constraints and also to hear the same take we set up all the mics with capsules as close as we could for a single take. There will be slight sound differences because of positioning but actually the results are consistant with what I know about the sound of these mics.

We’ve spent time trying to get an equal level and it is amazing how close the mics are once volume differences are adjusted for.

I have to admit I can’t remember what we did with pre amps on this, I think there was a variety used but we set outputs to max and used the minimum gain required to get as little colour from the pre's as possible.

As for my thoughts on the mics: the Schoeps gives an incredibly true sound, the Aston punches well above its price in an 87-style sound, the 57 does surprisingly well if it’s a little thin, the 102 is always lovely and warm although sometimes needs some air added in EQ, the 87 is almost processed straight out of the box and whilst not the most natural sound always sits straight in a mix, the 47fet lacks some low end (prob why so good on kick and ac. bass) but definitely has some sparkle.. as ever it depends, on your budget, recording situation, how it’s going to be used (solo or in the mix).. which would I use for a mono mic on solo guitar if no one was going to see it in a video? Prob the Schoeps or the 102 depending on the guitar, and that would probably change if it was a singer/guitarist then the timbre of the singer’s voice would also have an impact, as one of my mentors always says: it depends..

I hope this video is helpful to anyone looking to get a mic for recording guitar who doesn’t have access to all these different mics. It also shows you don’t have to have the ‘best’/most expensive mics to get great results, the golden rules apply: player + instrument + room + vibe + song ... + mic... + pre etc...