Advice on a cheap microphone and mixer

J

jgalun

New member
I am a college student without a lot of money who is looking to get a cheap (>$300) mixer and microphone combo to do some recording with the computer. I want to record simple pop/rock songs, involving an electric guitar, an acoustic guitar, a bass guitar, singing, and occasionally an electric keyboard. These are very straightforward songs - three chord wonders with simple bass lines, not much complex guitar work, not very big range on the vocals, etc.

Basically, what I am looking for is something that will get the job done with decent quality. I am not trying to make professional quality demos, obviously.

Thanks in advance for your help!
 
If you will be recording the tracks separately and wont be micing a real drumkit, then you wont really need a mixer....most people use the mixer mainly for its preamps and you can get a single channel preamp (Art Tube MP) for $99....from there, a Shure sm57 will do good on vocals for $79, but if you want to step up in quality a Marshall MXLv67 or Studio Projects C1 are good condensers....if you are in a noisy environment these condensors will pick up EVERYTHING so go with the sm57.....
 
You are absolutely right, I meant <$300. I'm a bit tired today... :)

So I get preamp and a mic, and there is a line from the preamp into my computer's audio card, right? And electric guitars can be plugged directly into the preamp and from there be recorded into the computer, skipping the amp, correct?

Thanks for your help, as you can see I'm a complete novice at this!
 
Yep, youll go straight from the preamp's output to the line input on your soundcard.....you can plug mics and electric guitars and bass into the preamp.....if you do have an amp, you could always mic the amp or take a direct line out (if the amp has it) straight into the soundcard...the sm57 is one of the more frequently used guitar amp mics in the pro studios so thats no problem.....

These two items (the sm57 and the Art)will take you a long ways.....
 
While on the subject, do yourself a favor and drop by www.digidesign.com and download Protools Free. Best audio recording editing package I've seen, and it's free, (But it limits you to 8 tracks. Hmm...

Guitar
Bass
Vocals
nother guitar
Keyboard
addl. (Background) Vocals
and that still leaves you with two more tracks to play with.

(AFAIK, you can only record 2 at a time, but a full duplex sound card will allow you to play what's already recorded and add 2 more tracks)
 
i'd stay away from Pro Tools , in all its manifestations, especially the free version........download a demo of N-Tracks, or better, SONAR...........if you wanna record guitar direct, you need something with high impedance inputs.....if you're in the market for a small mixer, the studiomaster rotary club is pretty cool.

of course, if you are recording to PC your soundcard and its drivers will soon become your biggest concern.
 
ProToolsFree has a pretty stiff learning curve (hush from all you guys that are gonna reply how easy it is)....If its your first attempt with software recording youll want N Track at www.fasoft.com ....VERY inexpensive yet very powerful.....
 
Thank you all for your help. Last night I took a look at my amplifier, a Peavey Envoy 110, saw that it had preamp line out. Does it make sense to just use this (cheap) amp as my preamp for the mic (and electric guitar for direct recording)? Or would I be losing a lot of quality when compared to a dedicated preamp?

As for recording software, I actually used n-Track when last (and first) I recorded on the computer, using a friends' mic, and I am glad to hear that it is highly-recommended software. I will definitely take a look at Pro Tools and SONAR too, however. Thanks!
 
Perhaps I should also be asking - is it even kosher to use a microphone with a guitar amp's preamp for direct recording into a computer? And can I use the guitar amp's preamp with a bass guitar for the same purpose, or do I need a bass preamp?
 
Can you use the Peavey guitar preamp for bass and mic? I doubt you have an XLR input on that amp (almost all mics use XLR connections). Also, if you go the condenser mic route (not recommended for starters) you'd need phantom power. Prolly work for the bass, tho.

Go for the SM57 and the ART, that'll give you lots of options.

Queue
 
For awhile I recorded a sm57 thru my Johnson J-Station...was it the best sounding?...no....but it was usable until I got a preamp.....like Queue said, a condensor wont work, but a dynamic like the sm57 will....you will be giving up some sound quality....

But do this...get the mic first and try it...if it doesnt sound good enough for you, get the Art....I guarantee with a sm57 and the Art you wont be disappointed, but make do however you have to to save $$$$.....
 
People wont like me saying this, but for your price range I would get a Shure SM-57 ($99) and a Behringer 802 mixer (about $150). You cant go wrong with a SM-57. Behringer have a mediocre rep for quality control but my 802 has been flawless, and there isnt much else in that price range. And if you stick with recording you will find uses for both of these items as you buy more stuff and upgrade.
 
RW,

If he needed more routing, id agree.....id rather get one damn good preamp for $99 than 4 mediocre preamps for $149.....

also, never pay more than $79.99 for a sm57.......
 
While on the subject of preamps, I like mackie mixers. Not the warmest sound, Mackies are built to be transparent. I think that that mackie has done the most to improve our sound than any other piece of equipment. (the Digi001 for recording, and a used Yamaha amplified mixer, for vocal amplification, (After running Mics through the mackie for EQ to lessen feedback. (Mackie CFX 12, $550 USD, Digi001 $800 USD)
 
jgalun said:
You said that my amp does not have an XLR connector - this is true. But I could get an adaptor cable, no? Any reason not to go that way with a dynamic mic?
Click to expand...

I think Gidge already covered this in his post.

(in case you missed it)
Gidge said:
For awhile I recorded a sm57 thru my Johnson J-Station...was it the best sounding?...no....but it was usable until I got a preamp.....like Queue said, a condensor wont work, but a dynamic like the sm57 will....you will be giving up some sound quality....

But do this...get the mic first and try it...if it doesnt sound good enough for you, get the Art....I guarantee with a sm57 and the Art you wont be disappointed, but make do however you have to to save $$$$.....
Click to expand...

Get the 57 and the adapter. If you stick with playing music (not even recording) you'll use them the rest of your life... There are a hundred reasons not to get the ART (the 100 reasons are green, and all have George Washington's portrait on them)

Queue
 
Thanks Queue, that post is a great find, and a good sign for cheapskates (and poor students) like me! :)

Actually, I just talked to a friend about all this, and he reminded me:

"Another thing to consider is that your sound card has a mic preamp built in, most likely (that's what the mic-in jack is for). I imagine the quality of this preamp depends on the overall quality of the sound card. I remember you were using my mic and your sound card and nothing else and were pretty satisfied with
the results. So you might try getting a mic first, then seeing if
you're satisfied with the quality before you get a separate preamp, too."

I think that sounds like pretty reasonable advice too, since it allows me to try out both my guitar amp's preamp and the sound card's preamp before I decide on a mixer or preamp. But of course, I defer to the experts (you guys) on whether going direct into the sound card makes sense.
 
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