I don't every post about it here, I'll pm you.

Me too!

I have a couple first gen NT2's, but my favorite was is the NTK, with the tube but it has that stand alone PS and propritary cable though - that was kind of a bummer -

I also have a couple balanced Octava MK012's - meant for overheads - they felt too thin for guitar IMHO and I ended up enjoying the NT2's for acoustics more

RB

If you're not looking to break the bank and just want one mic for everything, the Shure SM57 is a great option.

Sweetwater has excellent customer service but yeah they can definitely get a little carried away with the follow-up. Mitch's post is on the money.

EDIT: And for some reason, I don't know why, it's mildly annoying to hear some salesperson address me as "man" or "dude" like we're frat buddies or something, when their only interest is what they can sell me. If it's some random at a party or even someone on a forum sure, or even some kid at the local fast food place... whatever, ok. But it seems kind of awkward when it's a total stranger on a sales call.

I use the following mics

Shure sm57 - amped instruments: guitar bass etc.
Shure sm58 - acoustic instruments: acoustic guitair piano etc general recordin if I only want to use one mic.
Rode NT1A - Vocals.

If you want a cheap versatile mic I really don't think you can go past a sm58 as you can get by with it on pretty much anything if you're just starting out. If you want to go condenser mic I was really happy with my Rode, never tried the NT2A as was happy with mine but from all reports it sounds as good.

"This microphone turns sound into electricity!
Can you hear me now!"

So, I bought one of these, as I figured for ~$100 I can just see if it does the trick and if not, I'll upgrade.

Well, it doesn't do the trick. I recorded some piano and it sounds exactly like I don't want it to sound which is to say it sounds like a piano in a room being recorded from a mic, if that makes sense. What I want is to get that direct sound, so it's as if the piano is plugged right into the recording device. Do people know what I mean?

How much would I have to spend for that? I'm thinking a low-end interface and xlr mic might not give me the sound I want either or would it? It doesn't need to be perfect, I just want that plugged in sound I described above. I'll take the poor man's version of that.

You'll never get the sound you want with a mic like that.

You should have a good/great interface anyway. Plenty on the market for cheap, and some with some OK mic-pres. Any halfway decent condenser will get you much much closer. Look into Octava and the MCA SP1 mic. That mic is probably the most bang for buck LDC you'll ever find.

One trick to try out, which I do with acoustic guitar a lot, is to wear headphones and have someone play while you find the sweetspots with the mic/s.

Man. You ARE recording a piano in a room. It's nothing to do with the mic, although different mics will perform with varying degrees of efficacy. But regardless what mic you use, you're going to record the sound of an acoustic piano in a room.

If you want a clean piano sound with no room you either have to completely deaden the room to anechoic level (unlikely/expensive/lots of work) or buy an electric piano and record it directly into your recorder.

No mic will change the laws of physics.

but then you need to consider how that sounds through speakers. Listening through headphones is different so, as I'm sure you are aware, the desired sound of the track needs to be considered too. Don't think that cos it sounds good through headphones that it will sound as sweet when playing it back on your hi fi or studio monitors or whatever.

Well, obviously. That's why I'm asking, because I can't see the better mic and interface changing things that much. I don't want to spend a bunch of money on slightly better equipment if it's still going to sound like a piano in a room. Which, it seems is what will happen, so I won't bother.

I have an electric piano, but prefer the sound of acoustic. How about this for an idea: record both and then put it together? Or, would that just be a mess of sound?

That's a good idea. Thanks.

And I keep seeing people asking about xlr mics.

The balanced line is simply to reduce noise interference. That's it. Nothing else. Its application allows longer cables to be used without the risk of electromagnetic interference from outside sources.

I'm not trying to be a dick here. Rather, I'd like to convey the point that sound is what you hear. I realise I'm stating the obvious but sometimes people have ideas in their head that somehow a U87 is going to change the sound in some way that just is not possible.

Just bear in mind that when you are recording, your surroundings are as relevant to the sound as the instrument itself.

It's always worth experimenting. I'd predict possible problems as being performance related differences in dynamics. But if you're trying to get a clean roomless piano sound, you won't, unless you play your acoustic in a dead room.

That said, experiment man. You never know what you might find. Every environment is different and even differ from day to day due to factors such as moisture content/ room temperature etc.

See what works for your desired sound.

You can, however, work towards deadening the room by putting rugs down, erecting thick curtains on the walls, removing reflective surfaces and such like stuff.