I have to record electric guitar, acoustic guitar, saxophones and some percussion. I have a tascam dp01 (no phantom) and a focusrite Scarlett used with Reaper. Right now I have only a Shure sm57 - pure shite.I have to buy one mic and one mic only. A cheap one. What is best between a Golden Age R2 and a Audio Technica at2020?

I don't know what the Golden Age is but the AT2020 is a perfectly ok mic.

elisha wiesner wrote:I don't know what the Golden Age is but the AT2020 is a perfectly ok mic.Based on the "Scarlett" range interface that I have, I'm going to have to agree with Elisha. It's preamps don't have anywhere near enough gain to use them on a ribbon and get anything really useful. While it would be likely be fine for the other stuff, it would probably let you down on the acoustic guitar front.I'd guess you would get a lot more mileage out of the AT2020.

You'll be less likely to break a condenser. Ribbon mics are lovely but the diaphragm is very delicate and if you break it or sag it out - which you might - then you'll be back to no mics.

Agreed. I don't have a 2020, but the 3035 I have is my go-to mic for pretty much everything- easy, reliable, rugged. Not gonna blow your socks off or anything, but it has been the best $75 I spent on recording gear.

To use a condenser with the tascam dp01, i have to buy a preamp or just a +48 power supply ?

I think the ribbon would be too fragile to bother using at this point, though not in the sense of you'll drop it/+48v it. If you own two mics, they'll end up covering really varied tasks, maybe in some experimental positions (I'm thinking here of micing up a full drum kit). It would be too restricting to have one mic that you couldn't place near a drum or some horns or whatever. With a 57 and an LDC, there's nothing you'd have to be scared about recording.The one thing is that cheap ribbon mics often sound better than cheap condensers, to me. But Audio-Technica is maybe the one company who has the cheap condenser thing figured out. I've used AT2020s and they're completely good.

the focusrite has phantom.

deadfate wrote:To use a condenser with the tascam dp01, i have to buy a preamp or just a +48 power supply ?n.c. wrote:the focusrite has phantom.If I'm guessing correctly, I believe deadfate is tracking on the dp01 and using the Focusrite to mix.

Agreed with the others that the AT2020 is the better of the 2 options you've presented.