Best Condenser for Acoustic & Vocals Simultaneously?

J

Josiahjjr

New member
Hello all! Hope you're doing well!

Had a bit of a beginner question, but it pertains to a mic purchase so I figured it should go here!

I'm trying to get into recording, I've dabbled a bit with some borrowed equipment, but I'm getting my own stuff now. I have a Mac, and Presonus audio box 2x2, and now I need a microphone. I'll be doing mostly acoustic guitar and vocal covers upfront. I'll edit in Garageband then upload to YouTube.

I'm at college, living a dorm, so space is a premium. I'd like to get a single condenser, a shockmount, and a desk stand and fire away! I've heard some great vocal & acoustic sounds with a single mic, and I think it'd be best for me at this time. Eventually I'd like to get a dynamic (sm57,58?) for the vocals and then use this same condenser for the guitar!

My budget is anywhere from $60- $150, but I'd prefer to stay around $100. I don't mind spending closer to the $150 cap if the mic is superb or suits me well. I've looked and read around, and have found MXL V67G & Audio Technica AT 2020 & Behringer B-2.

I was wondering if anyone has owned these mics, and what their thoughts on them are. Are there some mics I missed? I really want help before I go out and buy. I need the mic to suit me and my situation well, and preferably be useful later down the the road.

Any feedback is highly appreciated! :D
 
A mic with a multi pattern switch (cardioid/fig-8/omni) will give you a lot more options...
Not sure on the exchange rate (I'm in the UK) but I recently picked up a new SE2200mkii-mp for £169 in a sale.

If you don't mind buying used you might get a Rode NT2a (similar to the SE - probably more 'respected' round here) for the kinda money you're talking about...
 
And the Rode M3 goes for 60 quid new here... You can do a lot worse on acoustic and for 110 quid you can have 2 of them!
 
I didn't think there was a big enough difference in the diaphragms of low budget mics to justify one in terms of sound. I guess the thing to really look for is frequency response and and durability. I've found that when I mix my MXL 4000 and AT 2020, there isn't much of a difference in sound when I adjust for the differences in frequency response.
 
Are you recording both acoustic guitar and vocals together in one take? I'd advise against a desk stand, the desk surface itself will reflect sound waves and muck up the sound.
I have an AKG Perception 220 that I use for separate vocals and acoustic ($150 new, you can often get used ones for $120 or less), but also for doing demos with both guitar and vocal at the same time, I set it up about 24" away from me, height halfway between the soundhole and my mouth - I've got a fairly loud singing voice and play a Taylor acoustic loudly, so your positioning could differ.
 
If you want to hear how a few different condenser mics sound, the guys I work with recorded some pretty in-depth video & audio of 25 condenser mics. They did solo acoustic singer/songwriter tests, as well as solo vocalists so it might help you out. Some of the mics are a bit outside your price range, but some do fall within your needs. There's an audio app built into the article that you can choose files of each mic and build custom playlists to compare which ones you want to hear side-by-side.
Hope this helps!

Condenser Microphone Comparison: Audition 25 LDC Mics


Cheers,
Mike
 
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