Help on setting up a home studio.

M

Minipo99

New member
Hey guys!! I was setting up a home studio but I don’t really know what to buy, I just have a Behringer U-Phoria UMC22 audio interface that a friend gave to me. I want to buy a vocals mic but I’ve seen there’s people that buys usb microphones like a “fifine” one so I don’t know if I should buy an xlr to use with the audio interface I have or an usb. Also, I’m kind of under a budget so I’m looking for something around $50.

Hearing you guys!!!
 
First off, skip the USB mic. You have the U-Phoria which takes XLR mics, and also provides for phantom power if you have a condenser mic. Also, the issue with the FIFINE setups is that you're paying $50 for a mic, with about $15 worth of mic telescope stand and $5 worth of pop filter. That means that realistically the mic is a $25-30 mic.

For mics, there are decent mics out there but seriously, $50 is pretty bottom of the barrel for new mics. A few bucks will give you a much better mic. Find a good used SM57 or 58, or even the MXLV67G, which can be had new for $70 on Amazon. Skip the Starbucks and McD's a couple of days and you've got the extra cash (do they have Starbucks in Ecuador?:)). Check out this thread... Its 10 years old, but Harvey has a lot of good wisdom in there. Mics for under $100 - that just may work for you. . You'll still need a mic stand and a pop filter so you'll need another $30 or so but it will beat the stand with the FiFine.
 
If you can find one the French company Prodipe make the TT1 dynamic which is very good for around £30 here.
I hope the mic pre amp on the UMC 22 is as good as those on the UMC 204HD? I had one of the latter for a while (gave it to son in France) and the pre amps are easily good enough for use with dynamic mics. That is to say they have a decent amount of gain and low noise. If at all possible, try to borrow a dynamic mic and try it, if you find you cannot get a good level with low background noise you might have to search instead for a budget capacitor mic (aka 'condenser).

Once you have a mic you are still going to have a zillion things to get right! For example, what software are you going to use to record with? (called a 'Digital Audio Workstation') Many news use Audacity but it can be limiting. Reaper is much better and free for as long as you can stand the nags.
Don't worry, there will always be someone here to help you.

Dave.
 
I did a bit of "online shopping" in Guayaquil, and there are several music stores. EckoMusic, EQMusic, AudioPro and JC Instrumentos stood out. Unfortunately, most don't have pricing and stock. One store in Quito, Import Music did show a number of mics that may work. The Audix F9 and I5 might be of interest. They also had the Sennheiser XS1 which is usually a budget version. It is more of a vocal mic, but could be used for instruments.

It may also help to know what type of music you plan to record. Guitar/vocal, piano, acoustic group, choral? Those things may tailor your selection towards certain types of microphones. For example, if you want to do basic acoustic guitar plus vocals, a small diaphragm condenser mic would work well. it may not work as well if you are trying to record a full rock band, it may not be the right choice.

Can you describe what you want to do with your recording setup?
 
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