DL da ARSUN
New member
Whats the best microphone for hip hop under $500 dollars?
Hip Hop microphone....
- Thread starter DL da ARSUN
- Start date
there's no such thing as a hiphop microphone..
what kinda sound are you after?
under $500. i say step you budget up a little and pick up a Rode K2 or Shure ksm44
if you wanna stay under $500...Cad M9's are on sale at $299 right now. not to many mics sound as smooth as it does under $500
might wanna look at a ksm32. but have yourself a good pre too.. don't setup a K2 with a behringer pre...
i produce hiphop and r&b. my main vocal mics are:
Neuman U87ai
Rode K2
Cad m9
AKG 414
through a john hardy M1, great river mp2nv, vintech x73, true systems p2a. if the artist is on a tight budget i setup a m audio tampa. its a clean pre for the price and has digital outs
what kinda sound are you after?
under $500. i say step you budget up a little and pick up a Rode K2 or Shure ksm44
if you wanna stay under $500...Cad M9's are on sale at $299 right now. not to many mics sound as smooth as it does under $500
might wanna look at a ksm32. but have yourself a good pre too.. don't setup a K2 with a behringer pre...
i produce hiphop and r&b. my main vocal mics are:
Neuman U87ai
Rode K2
Cad m9
AKG 414
through a john hardy M1, great river mp2nv, vintech x73, true systems p2a. if the artist is on a tight budget i setup a m audio tampa. its a clean pre for the price and has digital outs
DL da ARSUN
New member
Thanks for the feedback!!
i'm not big so i don't ask for big prices.. but when someone comes to me and says "i heard this or that on a mixtape.. i want my song to sound just as good as that".. i tell him/her the rate.. they end up saying thats a little high for me.. so i say i'll work with you and set the tampa up for them, only charge $30hr and everyone is happy..
actually i got rid of my RNP for the tampa and i haven't looked back..
the only other pre i have setup over here right now is the john hardy and the vintech. the other 2 i have to go to atlanta and pick them up b/c either my video partner has one of my cousin..
my cousin is tracking his album with a sony c800 through the true systems pre.. after he's done he'll bring the pre back to me and i'll mix the album, i should have all my pres back by late nov.04
my dad thinks i should track everyone through a hi end pre but when he hears some of the songs done with the tampa he thinks it was the right pre for that person.
i admit i tracked this female group and they just didn't sound good through the great river or vintech(neve pres).. and i didn't have the hardy at the time nor the true.. i set the mic up with the tampa and they sounded perfect.. when they heard the vox they thought i did this and that.. all i did was track with some smooth compression through the tampa.. for only $350-400... its a workhorse preamp.. i'm not gonna be getting rid of it for a while.. i wish m-Audio would make a 2-8 ch compressor from the tampa's compressor. but they just got bought by avid so i don't see that happening
i'll be buying a distressor for the other pres very soon..
actually i got rid of my RNP for the tampa and i haven't looked back..
the only other pre i have setup over here right now is the john hardy and the vintech. the other 2 i have to go to atlanta and pick them up b/c either my video partner has one of my cousin..
my cousin is tracking his album with a sony c800 through the true systems pre.. after he's done he'll bring the pre back to me and i'll mix the album, i should have all my pres back by late nov.04
my dad thinks i should track everyone through a hi end pre but when he hears some of the songs done with the tampa he thinks it was the right pre for that person.
i admit i tracked this female group and they just didn't sound good through the great river or vintech(neve pres).. and i didn't have the hardy at the time nor the true.. i set the mic up with the tampa and they sounded perfect.. when they heard the vox they thought i did this and that.. all i did was track with some smooth compression through the tampa.. for only $350-400... its a workhorse preamp.. i'm not gonna be getting rid of it for a while.. i wish m-Audio would make a 2-8 ch compressor from the tampa's compressor. but they just got bought by avid so i don't see that happening
i'll be buying a distressor for the other pres very soon..
In Tune Audio
New member
Like was mentioned earlier, check out the Rode K2. I have one that I use for rap and hip hop, and spoken word all the time. And all my customers have been very very happy. Even ones who have recorded in other studios, with different mics.
c9, in just the way you could say you've found a better pre in the Tampa for Hip-Hop and R&B - because the Tampa is cleaner than the RNP and the Vintech - it's not too wild of a stretch to list some mics that are cleaner as well.
The MXL V69ME is a great tube mic, very colored and dark. It's not that great for Hip-Hop in general, because that type of music is usually tracked cleaner. Sure there are Neve's and colored pres used for Hip-Hop, but they are the exception rather than the rule.
And with that, I think it makes more sense to recommend to someone who's looking for a good mic under $500 for Hip-Hop/R&B that they should consider a cleaner, more neutral mic. Some of the mics in that price range we have here that are performing well on that type of music are the AKG 414 TLII - which you may be able to find used for under $500. The ADK TL [ transformerless 4-pattern ] is proving to be an excellent mic on Rap tracks. The Shure KSM series offers a smooth, clean sound.
The Studio Projects T3 offers a sexy hyped sound, and if you're doing R&B more than Rap, that might be a good mic to consider. The T3 offers 9 pattern variations for a lot of tonal variety. The cardioid-only Neumann TLM 103 is more colored, can also work well, but probably harder to find used for under $500.
The one mic under $500 that I'd personally choose as a general mic for a Hip-Hop studio would be the ADK TL. With Rap you're also going to often have "gang" vocals - and the figure-8 and omni patterns are perfect for that.
My 2 cents.
The MXL V69ME is a great tube mic, very colored and dark. It's not that great for Hip-Hop in general, because that type of music is usually tracked cleaner. Sure there are Neve's and colored pres used for Hip-Hop, but they are the exception rather than the rule.
And with that, I think it makes more sense to recommend to someone who's looking for a good mic under $500 for Hip-Hop/R&B that they should consider a cleaner, more neutral mic. Some of the mics in that price range we have here that are performing well on that type of music are the AKG 414 TLII - which you may be able to find used for under $500. The ADK TL [ transformerless 4-pattern ] is proving to be an excellent mic on Rap tracks. The Shure KSM series offers a smooth, clean sound.
The Studio Projects T3 offers a sexy hyped sound, and if you're doing R&B more than Rap, that might be a good mic to consider. The T3 offers 9 pattern variations for a lot of tonal variety. The cardioid-only Neumann TLM 103 is more colored, can also work well, but probably harder to find used for under $500.
The one mic under $500 that I'd personally choose as a general mic for a Hip-Hop studio would be the ADK TL. With Rap you're also going to often have "gang" vocals - and the figure-8 and omni patterns are perfect for that.
My 2 cents.
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Beleive it or not. One of my friends has a 20 dollar packard bell computer mic. Into a standard sound card. For some reason this mic although it is ghetto produces better hip hop vocals then my SM58 into an audiphile 2496. Its a miracle setup. People often as us what studio we record in and when we tell them what we use they dont believe us. as im sure you wont lol.
DL - MY MIC SUGGESTIONS ARE AS FOLLOWS...
from the cheap to high end...
find an old electrovoice dynamic from the 70's if you can. sometimes you can find them for 20 bucks in pawn shops.
a cheap condensor mic a lot seem to like for 50 bucks is the cad gxl.
looks impressive too. more expensive even so - maybe check out a senn 421. or a cad higher range mic . more expensive still ,
some folks like shure sm7. also i would suggest you check out beyers line of mics. i like all things beyer.
hope this helps. just some ideas.
from the cheap to high end...
find an old electrovoice dynamic from the 70's if you can. sometimes you can find them for 20 bucks in pawn shops.
a cheap condensor mic a lot seem to like for 50 bucks is the cad gxl.
looks impressive too. more expensive even so - maybe check out a senn 421. or a cad higher range mic . more expensive still ,
some folks like shure sm7. also i would suggest you check out beyers line of mics. i like all things beyer.
hope this helps. just some ideas.
yo man what type of pre do you have? after we know that we can help with select the mic...DL da ARSUN said:
if you wanna get 2 different flavors.. you could always get a M9 and SP C1.
or a v69 and C1.. something like that... have 2 mics that have 2 different sounds for $500-550
aye dot your right about the ADK TL i use to have a TC but when ppl SHOULDN'T be in a studio and they hit the boom and the mic crashes down to the floor(cement at the time) you can't keep a mic like the TC..
i could probably get it fixed, the capsule is just hanging.. something broke.
i bought the mic from ebay and didn't have a warranty.. thats when i bought the M9..
i really wanna try the TT or the CE.. have you used those yet Dot? if so what do you think about them.. i'm either gonna save um for a C12vr or a Sony c800. but if that Ce sounds like i hope it does i might be able to save some money