Big, cheap microphone for karaoke
- Thread starter bcodemz
- Start date
BBC News - The BBC's ornate 'royal microphone' from the 1930s revealed
Big and impressive enough for you?
Dave.
Big and impressive enough for you?
Dave.
Rich_S
Member
Just buy the SM-58. As other have said, all vocal mics are pretty much the same size. The "big" ones you see are all wireless, high-end, and expensive, and their size doesn't really have anything to do with the sound of the mic.
Not only is the SM-58 "the standard" and "bulletproof" it's also easily replaceable. Best feature: when the drunk kariokers drop the SM-58, it won't be hurt, but its windscreen will eventually get smooshed. Replacement windscreens are readily available on line for about $8 and will make 'most any '58 look new again.
Just buy the SM-58.
Not only is the SM-58 "the standard" and "bulletproof" it's also easily replaceable. Best feature: when the drunk kariokers drop the SM-58, it won't be hurt, but its windscreen will eventually get smooshed. Replacement windscreens are readily available on line for about $8 and will make 'most any '58 look new again.
Just buy the SM-58.
Steenamaroo
...
I'm betting they wouldn't think that because 58s are pretty heavy and very solid.
You could literally hammer in nails with one.
Some of the Sennheiser handhelds are bigger than a 58, but not like in your picture.
The bigger mics you see are likely to be wireless or not hand-held, like the re20/sm7b/md421 etc.
witzendoz
Senior Member
gecko zzed
Grumpy Mod
Actually, they are not 'small'. They are normal size. I don't imagine your parents would be that superficial.
witzendoz
Senior Member
Bobbsy
Boring Old Git
witzendoz
Senior Member
I never thought I would be in a discussion where we were saying, "Mine is Smaller Than Yours!"
WhiteStrat
Don't stare at the eye.
Unfortunately, I find myself in that discussion all the time. Hey, I gotta win at something...
witzendoz
Senior Member
The Behringer is 1/4 of the price and 10% of the quality, Strange that you ask for advice and totally ignore it.
Yes, you can plug it into the computer, you should get about 10% of the quality of the 10% quality mic doing it this way. It seems price is everything in this case.
Alan.
Atkron205
Member
The Behringer is 1/4 of the price and 10% of the quality, Strange that you ask for advice and totally ignore it.
Yes, you can plug it into the computer, you should get about 10% of the quality of the 10% quality mic doing it this way. It seems price is everything in this case.
Alan.
View attachment 88330
I am so confused, I thought size was the deciding factor. figures, they start off wanting something big then settle for cheap. story of my life.
gecko zzed
Grumpy Mod
I bought a set of three of those behri mikes for when I was doing music for footie clubs and stuff like that.
When the drunken yobbos wanted to sing Khe Sanh at the end of the night, having a $20 mike or two was handy for (a) keep the natives happy and (b) protecting my good stuff.
I found them to be surprisingly good: they didn't sound too bad, and they were very durable. For someone starting off with no money, they are not a bad option.
When the drunken yobbos wanted to sing Khe Sanh at the end of the night, having a $20 mike or two was handy for (a) keep the natives happy and (b) protecting my good stuff.
I found them to be surprisingly good: they didn't sound too bad, and they were very durable. For someone starting off with no money, they are not a bad option.
Whoa, I'm surprised by the responses. I'm definitely not ignoring your responses. I'm just combining your advice with stuff I read from the internet.
I did some reading, and apparently the XM8500 is very close to the SM58. Are they actually that different? I was thinking I definitely don't mind paying 75% less for a mic that's 90% of the SM58, especially when I'm buying a "small" and "seemingly cheap" mic. I'm buying 4 mics, and the $350 difference is not chump change for me, especially since this is just a "toy" that I use maybe once or twice a month.
I'd like to avoid buying a mixer if I can. I can't imagine doing a mic in on a computer be that much worse. I don't know anything though, so please enlighten me. I thought mixers are just to add effects to the voice, like reverbs and stuff.
Lastly, size is important, but it seems like I won't be able to get a big mic unless I plan to spend at least 2-3x the price of a SM58, and that's far too rich for me as even the SM58 is really pushing my budget.
I did some reading, and apparently the XM8500 is very close to the SM58. Are they actually that different? I was thinking I definitely don't mind paying 75% less for a mic that's 90% of the SM58, especially when I'm buying a "small" and "seemingly cheap" mic. I'm buying 4 mics, and the $350 difference is not chump change for me, especially since this is just a "toy" that I use maybe once or twice a month.
I'd like to avoid buying a mixer if I can. I can't imagine doing a mic in on a computer be that much worse. I don't know anything though, so please enlighten me. I thought mixers are just to add effects to the voice, like reverbs and stuff.
Lastly, size is important, but it seems like I won't be able to get a big mic unless I plan to spend at least 2-3x the price of a SM58, and that's far too rich for me as even the SM58 is really pushing my budget.
Bobbsy
Boring Old Git
There's nothing wrong with the Behringer mic, especially for something like karaoke where, let's face it, quality is not the top issue. I also carry some cheap mics (not Behringer in my case but they just as easily could be) for use on things like that.
However, I'm not quite clear on how you plan to feed four mics into a computer without some form of interface or mixer? At best, you can only hook up one.
Indeed, of bigger concern to me than the cheap mics is the whole idea of trying to plug straight into your computer without an interface. The super cheap sound card that comes on the mother board of most computers is literally a 39 cent chip and that will have a far bigger effect on your sound than the mics--you'll find a noticeable "hiss" and also that you don't have much headroom and can easily "clip" (overload) the signal...and doing karaoke with a round trip via the computer could easily result in some troublesome "lag".
If you only want two mics at a time there are tons of cheapish USB interfaces or USB mixers that would do the job for you but if you need all four mics at once then things get a bit more specialist (and expensive!). What are your plans?
However, I'm not quite clear on how you plan to feed four mics into a computer without some form of interface or mixer? At best, you can only hook up one.
Indeed, of bigger concern to me than the cheap mics is the whole idea of trying to plug straight into your computer without an interface. The super cheap sound card that comes on the mother board of most computers is literally a 39 cent chip and that will have a far bigger effect on your sound than the mics--you'll find a noticeable "hiss" and also that you don't have much headroom and can easily "clip" (overload) the signal...and doing karaoke with a round trip via the computer could easily result in some troublesome "lag".
If you only want two mics at a time there are tons of cheapish USB interfaces or USB mixers that would do the job for you but if you need all four mics at once then things get a bit more specialist (and expensive!). What are your plans?