For a certain group of audio engineers, the quest for the perfect microphone is as consuming as a pedalhead's search for an overdrive. While stalwarts like the Shure SM57 or Sennheiser e609 can live happily in studio and stage lockers for decades, there's a certain "out with the old in with the new" itch that can find pros and hobbyists selling their old mics on Reverb in order to move onto the next bullet on their wishlist.
In an effort to shine a little light on the growing used mic market on Reverb, we thought we'd take a couple minutes today to highlight the actual 20 most popular microphones by total number of sales for pre-owned units on the site.
To provide some idea of how well these microphones hold their value, we've included the average used price as well as the normal street price from a brand new model. Note -- all prices in USD.
| Microphone | Average Used Price | Regular New Price | |
 |
Shure SM57 | $72.41 | $99.00 |
 |
Shure SM58 | $62.92 | $99.00 |
 |
Shure SM7B | $297.68 | $399.00 |
 |
Sennheiser MD 421 II | $271.24 | $379.95 |
 |
Sennheiser e609 | $79.30 | $99.00 |
 |
Shure BETA 58A | $95.78 | $159.00 |
 |
Shure BETA 52A | $115.47 | $189.00 |
 |
Electro-Voice RE20 | $324.83 | $449.00 |
 |
AKG C214 | $232.82 | $359.00 |
 |
Audix D6 | $125.59 | $199.00 |
 |
Neumann TLM 103 | $687.35 | $1099.95 |
 |
RODE NT1-A | $144.76 | $229.00 |
 |
Blue Bluebird | $153.38 | $299.99 |
 |
AKG C414 XLS | $589.48 | $974.00 |
 |
Audio-Technica AT2020 | $68.34 | $99.00 |
 |
Neumann TLM 102 | $505.18 | $699.95 |
 |
Shure SM81-LC | $226.22 | $349.00 |
 |
Neumann U 87 Ai | $2189.05 | $3199.95 |
 |
Sennheiser e906 | $139.25 | $189.95 |
 |
Audix i5 | $62.32 | $99.00 |
 |
Shure BETA 57A | $96.18 | $139.00 |
 |
AKG C414 XLII | $624.59 | $999.00 |
 |
Audio-Technica AT4040 | $189.07 | $299.00 |
 |
Sennheiser e835 | $57.15 | $99.95 |
 |
Avantone Audio CV-12 | $359.32 | $499.00 |
To give some sense of the broader microphone market on Reverb, here's a quick look at the most popular mic brands across all sales broken down by number of orders and by total dollars spent. As you can see, a high-end brand like Neumann may not earn as many orders as a brand like Shure, but still claims a major chunk of total dollars transacted for microphones.
Top Mic Brands by Dollars Spent
Top Mic Brands by Number of Orders
How many of our top mics have you tried? Let us know in the comments.
RELATED ARTICLE
Got a Mic You're Not Using?