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Library/Gear/Microphones

MICRO-PHONES

Five kinds of microphone

Small-diaphragm condenser

Accurate; acoustic guitars, cymbals, choirs, pairs for stereo.

Neumann KM 184 ↗

Ribbon

Smooth and dark; usually hears front and back equally.

Royer R-121 ↗

Tube

A condenser with a valve inside; often chosen for its colour.

AKG C12 VR ↗

Each model links to its maker’s page, checked 2026-10-07 · model cards with specs, cited users and news come as the catalogue grows

What are you recording?

Vocals

  • Neumann U 87 Ai“the standard microphone for speech and vocals” · Neumann ↗
  • Shure SM7BShure files it as a vocal microphone, a dynamic · Shure ↗

Rap

  • Shure SM7BA vocal mic in its maker’s words; rap is vocals · Shure ↗
  • Neumann U 87 Ai“the ultimate vocal microphone” · Neumann ↗

Acoustic guitar

  • Neumann KM 184Neumann lists acoustic guitar among its uses · Neumann ↗
  • Neumann U 87 Ai“anything from acoustic guitar to drums overheads” · Neumann ↗

Guitar amp

  • Shure SM57Shure names guitar and bass amps as its job · Shure ↗
  • Royer R-121Royer calls it the first-call ribbon for electric guitars · Royer ↗
  • Sennheiser MD 421 II“a natural for recording guitars and drums” · Sennheiser ↗

Drums

  • Sennheiser MD 421 II“a natural for recording guitars and drums” · Sennheiser ↗
  • Shure SM57Shure lists drum and percussion miking · Shure ↗

Overheads

  • Neumann U 87 Ai“anything from acoustic guitar to drums overheads” · Neumann ↗
  • Neumann KM 184Neumann lists drums and percussion among its uses · Neumann ↗

Piano

  • Neumann U 87 Ai, a pairNeumann: a stereo pair is many engineers’ choice for piano · Neumann ↗
  • Neumann KM 184“from classical piano to heavy metal drums” · Neumann ↗

Podcast

  • Shure SM7BShure names “professional podcasts” and broadcasting · Shure ↗
  • Neumann U 87 Ai“the prime choice for speech applications” · Neumann ↗

What each maker says its microphone is for, checked 2026-10-07 · a starting point, not a rule

Sources · checked 7 October 2026

  1. Shure, SM57: a rugged dynamic microphone for instruments; drum, percussion and instrument amplifier miking.
  2. Shure, SM7B: a dynamic vocal microphone for broadcasting, professional podcasts and studio recordings.
  3. Sennheiser, MD 421 II: a dynamic microphone, “a natural for recording guitars and drums”.
  4. Neumann, U 87 Ai: a large diaphragm condenser; vocals and speech, acoustic guitar to drum overheads, a pair for piano.
  5. AKG, C414 cut sheet and C414 XLII page: a one-inch large-diaphragm condenser family. AKG’s site refused our automated check; the type comes from AKG’s own documents as indexed by search.
  6. Neumann, KM 184: a small diaphragm condenser; piano, percussion, drums, acoustic guitar.
  7. Royer Labs, R-121: a ribbon microphone, figure-8 polar pattern; first-call for electric guitars.
  8. AKG, C12 VR: a multi-pattern tube condenser with a 6072A vacuum tube (AKG page as indexed by search; the site refused our automated check).