Mic Recommendation for Home Recording?

O

obdata

New member
Hello,

I'm looking for a microphone for recording singing. What I have now is just a $25 RadioShack Omnidirectional dynamic mic, with the sound fed thru an old tape deck for the amplification, but actually recorded on a computer. The sound quality is surprisingly good for such a cheap setup, but I'd like less background hum.

Here is what I'd like:

A USB mic that plugs directly into the computer.
The mic has to have a fairly broad range, for use with singing groups of 4 to 12 people, standing 10 to 15 feet away.
Needs fairly good pickup in bass frequencies.
The optimum pickup pattern would be about a half circle or slightly less.
The room where this is setup is not very sound proof, but I read that some mics can filter out alot of the outside noise. The mic I have picks up everything from thunder to the neighbors lawn mower, and thats not so desirable on a recording.

Obviously I'm not looking for super high quality, or I'd have a better sound proofed building. This is just a for-fun setup. :)

I would basicly like the best microphone I can get for $50 - $80.

Thanks in advance for your recommendations!

Jason
 
I think you're asking a lot of a usb mic in that price range.. A lot of people speak highly of the Blue Snowball.. it's usb.. $99 omnidirectional and cardioid pickup.. for $150 or so more you might look at the Shure PG series.. Can't say I have ANY experience with usb mics though so I might be off the mark.. best of luck.
 
USB mics are really just for people doing podcasting. You'll be disappointed.

Go read Tweak's Guide ( http://www.tweakheadz.com/guide.htm ), then get an interface/soundcard and a Shure 58.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

My obligatory standard reply-for-newbies that I keep in Wordpad so this is just a paste (I don't want to re-type this all the time):

First off, immediately get a good beginner recording book (spend $20 before spending hundred$/thousand$) that shows you what you need to get started and how to hook everything up in your studio:
Home Recording for Musicians by Jeff Strong - $15
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/04...mp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0470385421
(Wish I'd had that when I started; would have saved me lots of money and time and grief)
You can also pick up this book in most any Borders or Barnes&Noble in the Music Books section!

Another good one is: Recording Guitar and Bass by Huw Price
http://www.amazon.com/Recording-Gui...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1215734124&sr=1-1
(I got my copy at a place called Half-Price Books for $6!!)

And you can get a FREE subscription to TapeOp magazine at www.tapeop.com

Barnes&Noble or Borders are great places to start --- they have recording books and you can go get a snack or coffee and read them for FREE! Don't pass by a good recording book --- this is a VERY technical hobby and you REALLY want to start a reference library!!!

Good Newbie guides that also explains all the basics and have good tips:
http://www.tweakheadz.com/guide.htm
http://www.computermusic.co.uk/page/computermusic?entry=free_beginner_pdfs
http://www.harmony-central.com/articles/
http://www.gearslutz.com/board/tips-techniques/168409-tips-techniques.html

21 Ways To Assemble a Recording Rig: http://www.tweakheadz.com/rigs.htm

Also Good Info: http://www.theprojectstudiohandbook.com/directory.htm

Other recording books: http://musicbooksplus.com/home-recording-c-31.html

Still using a built-in soundcard?? Unfortunately, those are made with less than $1 worth of chips for beeps, boops and light gaming (not to mention cheapness for the manufacturer) and NOT quality music production.
#1 Rule of Recording: You MUST replace the built-in soundcard.
Here's a good guide and tested suggestions that WORK: http://www.tweakheadz.com/soundcards_for_the_home_studio.htm


Plenty of software around to record for FREE to start out on:

Audacity: http://audacity.sourceforge.net (multi-track with VST support)
Wavosaur: http://www.wavosaur.com/ (a stereo audio file editor with VST support)\
Kristal: http://www.kreatives.org/kristal/
Other freebies and shareware: www.hitsquad.com/smm

Another great option is REAPER at http://www.cockos.com/reaper/ (It's $50 but runs for free until you get guilty enough to pay for it...)
I use Reaper and highly reccomend it...

Music Notation and MIDI recording: Melody Assistant ($25) and Harmony Assistant ($80) have the power of $600 notation packages - http://myriad-online.com
Demo you can try on the website.

And you can go out to any Barnes&Noble or Borders and pick up "Computer Music" magazine - they have a full FREE studio suite in every issue's DVD, including sequencers, plugins and tons of audio samples. (November 2006 they gave away a full copy of SamplitudeV8SE worth $150, November 2007-on the racks Dec in the US- they gave away SamplitudeV9SE and July 2009 issue they put out Samplitude10SE. FREE. It pays to watch 'em for giveaways...)
 
excellent info

Tim,

I would like to add Finale Notepad at $9.95. Does the job for notation software and you can import your files into an expensive Finale package.

Also TapeOp magazine is free and consistently keeps me thinking about what I'm doing.

http://tapeop.com

Thanks,

Hairy Larry


TimOBrien said:
USB mics are really just for people doing podcasting. You'll be disappointed.

Go read Tweak's Guide ( http://www.tweakheadz.com/guide.htm ), then get an interface/soundcard and a Shure 58.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

My obligatory standard reply-for-newbies that I keep in Wordpad so this is just a paste (I don't want to re-type this all the time):

First off, immediately get a good beginner recording book (spend $20 before spending hundred$/thousand$) that shows you what you need to get started and how to hook everything up in your studio:
Home Recording for Musicians by Jeff Strong - $15
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/04...mp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0470385421
(Wish I'd had that when I started; would have saved me lots of money and time and grief)
You can also pick up this book in most any Borders or Barnes&Noble in the Music Books section!

Another good one is: Recording Guitar and Bass by Huw Price
http://www.amazon.com/Recording-Gui...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1215734124&sr=1-1
(I got my copy at a place called Half-Price Books for $6!!)

And you can get a FREE subscription to TapeOp magazine at www.tapeop.com

Barnes&Noble or Borders are great places to start --- they have recording books and you can go get a snack or coffee and read them for FREE! Don't pass by a good recording book --- this is a VERY technical hobby and you REALLY want to start a reference library!!!

Good Newbie guides that also explains all the basics and have good tips:
http://www.tweakheadz.com/guide.htm
http://www.computermusic.co.uk/page/computermusic?entry=free_beginner_pdfs
http://www.harmony-central.com/articles/
http://www.gearslutz.com/board/tips-techniques/168409-tips-techniques.html

21 Ways To Assemble a Recording Rig: http://www.tweakheadz.com/rigs.htm

Also Good Info: http://www.theprojectstudiohandbook.com/directory.htm

Other recording books: http://musicbooksplus.com/home-recording-c-31.html

Still using a built-in soundcard?? Unfortunately, those are made with less than $1 worth of chips for beeps, boops and light gaming (not to mention cheapness for the manufacturer) and NOT quality music production.
#1 Rule of Recording: You MUST replace the built-in soundcard.
Here's a good guide and tested suggestions that WORK: http://www.tweakheadz.com/soundcards_for_the_home_studio.htm


Plenty of software around to record for FREE to start out on:

Audacity: http://audacity.sourceforge.net (multi-track with VST support)
Wavosaur: http://www.wavosaur.com/ (a stereo audio file editor with VST support)\
Kristal: http://www.kreatives.org/kristal/
Other freebies and shareware: www.hitsquad.com/smm

Another great option is REAPER at http://www.cockos.com/reaper/ (It's $50 but runs for free until you get guilty enough to pay for it...)
I use Reaper and highly reccomend it...

Music Notation and MIDI recording: Melody Assistant ($25) and Harmony Assistant ($80) have the power of $600 notation packages - http://myriad-online.com
Demo you can try on the website.

And you can go out to any Barnes&Noble or Borders and pick up "Computer Music" magazine - they have a full FREE studio suite in every issue's DVD, including sequencers, plugins and tons of audio samples. (November 2006 they gave away a full copy of SamplitudeV8SE worth $150, November 2007-on the racks Dec in the US- they gave away SamplitudeV9SE and July 2009 issue they put out Samplitude10SE. FREE. It pays to watch 'em for giveaways...)
Click to expand...
 
$25 Radio Shack mic

obdata,

I'm not sure what $25 Radio Shack mic you've got but if it's a 1070 series it's a very high quality dynamic omni. I got a pair of 1070b mics used for $30 and I use them all the time. They are like an EV 635a with extended frequency response and a midrange bump.

The hum is probably caused by using the tape recorder as a preamp for your computer. Or it might be the computer sound card itself. Or your cables. Or the flourescent light or dimmer switch. Or maybe it's the refrigerator humming in the background.

Let's face it. Hum sucks. Totally ruins the recording. Can be hell to track down and eliminate. Everything has to be grounded good. The room has to be quiet. It could even be the sound of the computer.

Also if you're plugging into a tape deck with 1/4 inch phone jacks you probably have high impedance cables. High impedance cables pick up hum. Does the mic have and XLR plug? What is the model number?

There's a lot to this stuff and I don't really know of any good solution for recording choral vocals under $100.

Thanks,

Hairy Larry


obdata said:
Hello,

I'm looking for a microphone for recording singing. What I have now is just a $25 RadioShack Omnidirectional dynamic mic, with the sound fed thru an old tape deck for the amplification, but actually recorded on a computer. The sound quality is surprisingly good for such a cheap setup, but I'd like less background hum.

Here is what I'd like:

A USB mic that plugs directly into the computer.
The mic has to have a fairly broad range, for use with singing groups of 4 to 12 people, standing 10 to 15 feet away.
Needs fairly good pickup in bass frequencies.
The optimum pickup pattern would be about a half circle or slightly less.
The room where this is setup is not very sound proof, but I read that some mics can filter out alot of the outside noise. The mic I have picks up everything from thunder to the neighbors lawn mower, and thats not so desirable on a recording.

Obviously I'm not looking for super high quality, or I'd have a better sound proofed building. This is just a for-fun setup. :)

I would basicly like the best microphone I can get for $50 - $80.

Thanks in advance for your recommendations!

Jason
Click to expand...
 
You could probably get less hum with a better soundcard and the same basic setup. If that's all that's bugging you.

I've got an Optimus 33-3014 myself. It's not the noise that bugs me, it's the muddy sort of lost in a closet type sound that gets me. A USB mic addresses a few of those issues, but doesn't really resolve any of them IMO.
 
obdata said:
Hello,

I'm looking for a microphone for recording singing. What I have now is just a $25 RadioShack Omnidirectional dynamic mic, with the sound fed thru an old tape deck for the amplification, but actually recorded on a computer. The sound quality is surprisingly good for such a cheap setup, but I'd like less background hum.

Here is what I'd like:

A USB mic that plugs directly into the computer.
The mic has to have a fairly broad range, for use with singing groups of 4 to 12 people, standing 10 to 15 feet away.
Needs fairly good pickup in bass frequencies.
The optimum pickup pattern would be about a half circle or slightly less.
The room where this is setup is not very sound proof, but I read that some mics can filter out alot of the outside noise. The mic I have picks up everything from thunder to the neighbors lawn mower, and thats not so desirable on a recording.
Click to expand...

Some of your requirements are conflicting. Good pickup in bass frequencies means you will pick up rumble. The only mics that are really directional at low frequencies are figure-8, but you can't exactly aim the side of a fig-8 mic at a lawn mower or thunder. So if you want a mic that rejects outside low frequencies, you must choose a mic that rejects inside low frequencies too.
 
Thanks for all the helpful replies. I expiremented some more, and found that if we stand closer to the mic, and of course turn down the volume, it basically eliminates all hum and background noise. Besides that, the sound quality is noticably better; when standing farther away the recording sounds alot more "distant".

I also found that when I moved the mic to another room, the sound quality improved. Before it added rather many clicks, etc., and theres almost none of that anymore.

For now I'm just going to use the setup I have, may try another computer with a better soundcard, but otherwise leave it the way it is for now, other than standing closer to sing.



p.s. The mic I have is a 33-3039, and cost only $25 brand new.
 
obdata said:
I also found that when I moved the mic to another room, the sound quality improved. Before it added rather many clicks, etc., and theres almost none of that anymore.
Click to expand...

It sounds like you have interefence issues. I tried some cheap mics at the start. Unshielded cables draped across gear leads to issues. Like the mic cable going across / next to an LCD or CRT. In conjunction with a counter / waveform monitoring while recording and the clicks as they are seem to coincide with said video activity. And other network traffic things that seemed to influence the recording quality. That's why the higher end gear has breakout boxes and the likes. Computers are essentially interference noise boxes. Cell phones also cause issues with unshielded / lightly shielded gear. And hopefully you don't live next to a radio tower. Or run into issues with florescent lighting. And other quirks.

Closer to the mics lowers your gain needs, which lowers the amplification of the gears own self noise. It doesn't elminate it, but it can make it unnoticeable (on consumer grade gear). I don't have much noise issues myself, but I play a trombone and don't need much proximity to toy with most mics max spl limits.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top