Microphones For Recording A String Quartet, Any ideas? Options

[hutch263]

I have only recorded classical chamber groups in the past, in warm acoustic rooms with a stereo pair of cheap condensor mics: I am wanting to get a set of mics that I will be able to use with a range of acoustic instruments (strings, wind & brass), but firstly to individually mic a string quartet.

Any suggestions at all? Ideally, I would like to keep my budget under £600 (eBay if necessary!!) for 4.

Cheers

John

[Gojinx]

4 good mics on such a small budget? I can recommend the Oktava MK-012 (export Nickel version). They are sort of like the swiss army knife of microphones. I picked up a pair (at $120 for 2-but that was an in store special price) a few years ago and have used them on strings, acoustic instruments, drum overheads even choir vocals in a pinch and they output a very natural sound. The only thing is, it would be recommended to purchase matched pairs of them-I tried 8 of them when I was buying and each had a slightly different sound, but was able to match up a pair of them. If I had known how usefull they were at that time, I would have bought another 2 pairs! They are sensitive to bursts of air-so I would use pop filters/screens in close micing situations.