Best mic for vocals direct to computer

[tadmaz]

I am amazed at the prices of some mics I've been reading about on these forums, as about 2 years ago I bought a $35 mic, and I thought that was lot. It's a Sony F-V420. I don't have a fancy schmancy sound board, I just have a $25 5.1 Creative sound card, and I do basic vocal recording through my computer. I am looking for a cheap mic (hopefully under $50, but I understand this may be tough) that can record nice clean voice, not necessarily singing, from about 5 feet away. I was reading about the Shure SM58 and it looked good, but is there anything cheaper? Thanks.

 

[cominginsecond]

I was reading about the Shure SM58 and it looked good, but is there anything cheaper? Thanks.

Not that's worth, in any way, getting.

 

[tadmaz]

lol...ok. Also how much improvement in quality would I see between the Sony F-V420 and the Shure SM58? (is it a worthy upgrade basically?)

 

[Big Kenny]

let's see....how much improvement......ummmmmmmmm...................four, yep an improvement of four
In His Name
BK

 

[TimLyons]

Either way you need a preamp and XLR connector, right?

If you have phantom power, I HIGHLY recommend the Studio Projects B1 - it's a pretty brutally honest mic, but that's what I use for all of my recordings. Over the SM58 that I also own, that is. When I got mine, they went for about $80, so I don't know what price they're at now.

I also record to a computer.

If you're looking for something where you don't need a mixer of any kind, I personally have no idea...

 

[TimLyons]

Oh, a good example of my vocal sound is

- that's with minimal EQ, and just your basic compression and reverb after I recorded. Fairly easy stuff, although I do think I accidently semi-distorted the vocal track a bit... so also check out... let's see... I've got quite a few tracks...

That should do it.

 

[Robert D]

I am looking for a cheap mic (hopefully under $50, but I understand this may be tough) that can record nice clean voice, not necessarily singing, from about 5 feet away. I was reading about the Shure SM58 and it looked good, but is there anything cheaper? Thanks.

Why from 5 feet away? Whatever mic you get, and it probably should be a condenser if you want to sing more than a foot away from it, you should experiment with moving a little closer to the mic. Dynamic mics are not real sensitive, and you are using a soundcard that isn't real clean. So, aside from losing the sound of close miking (generally, the further from the mic, the thinner the vocal sounds), you will also suffer from having to increase the gain on the preamp, decreasing the signal to noise ratio. In other words,

Dynamic mic, 5 feet away + Soundblaster = noisy recordings.

Even with a condenser and a nice clean preamp, a more typical distance for recording lead vocals is less than a foot, with a pop filter between the singer and the mic. That's not to say you need to follow the rules. Always experiment and find what works for a particular track, but read up on proximity effect, polar patterns, mic types, and popular mic techniques.
Cheers, RD

 

[BrookeLynn86]

Hi!

Well, I've read your post and thought maybe you could help me. I've been asking, but no one can really seam to give me a good answer. I want to record my stuff onto cds, just simply, nothing schmancy fancy, just a little something. Now I don't know how to do this. I see you said you had a soundcard and a microphone, so I think I've realized that I'll need those two. But is there something else I need? Such as software? Is there certain equipment I'm going to need to? Can I pick up software at anywhere like best buy? Do you know where I can get a microphone? Does it have to be compatable with my computer? Anyway, I'd really appreciate it if you could help me out. If you can, I can be reached at BrookeLynn86@hotmail.com, thank you so much!

 

[Les W]

i PAID $20 for my first mic and thought it was a lot too If i were you and I was still going through sound blaster i would try the shure out, get a preamp. call it a day. It will cost a bit maybe $100 but you will get the quality you want. IMO. I would throw in an extra $30 if I were you and get the Studio Projects B1 for about 80 check ebay for a week or so you might get them all for $70-90.

 

[tadmaz]

I checked out the Studio Projects B1 and it looks real good for me! Between that and the Shure SM58 will take some deeper researching.

Ok, when I read some of those terms, XLR, phantom power, I was totally clueless. What's a good basic preamp I should look at? And what exactly will it do?

 

[crazydoc]

read:http://www.homerecording.com/newbies.html

http://www.hr-faq.org/

Go to newbies forum http://www.homerecording.com/bbs/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=3 and look around. Your questions are just too general for now.