2 dumb mic questions...

[the_man]

So I went in to the local music store to look for mics. I have 3 Shure PG58s and 1 Electro Voice something something something. I use these 4 for a small PA that I run and wanted a higher quality mic for recording, maybe an SM-57 or something. The guy at the mic counter told me to forget the SM-57, because it wouldn't be that much of an improvement over what I already had. I should mention here that I am recording indierock-indiepop on my computer through a PreSonus TubePre and Behrenger MDX2200 Compressor. I use fruity loops for the drums and run bass direct, so 95% of the time I'd be using the mic on guitar cabs and vocals.

Question 1: Is the mic counter guy right about the SM57 vs. PG58? No one disputes that the 57 is better, but given that I already own the PG58, is $60-$100 better spent eslewhere?

Instead, the mic guy said I should go with a condensor mic, reccomending the CAD/Global Audio gxl2400. I bought it, and took it home to try it out. Now, let me preface this next part of the story by saying I am fully aware that I'm a moron, a newbie, and a hack. I stuck the thing in a shock mount on a mic stand, shoved it right in the grille of my 125 watt guitar amp, and let rip. Needless to say, everything sounded like crap, because, as I *now* know, LD condensors are not for close-up mic'ing of loud sources.

Question 2: What are the chances I have permanently damaged my mic? It might not do anything obvious like flutter or distort, but keep in mind that the guitar thing was the first thing I did with the mic, so I never got to hear what it "really" soundsed like. Could I have permanently screwed up the diaphragm in a way that would affect the sound of the mic?

Thanks.

 

[Meshuggah]

Bring it back to the shop and say you didn't like it.

For 100$, the usual recommendations around here would be Studio Projects B1, or MXL V67, if it's a LD you want.

I never heard the PG-series myself, so I can't say if a SM57 would be a big step up.

 

[Seanmorse79]

Yeah, I'd go with what Meshuggah suggested. I highly doubt that you did any permanent damage to your mic. And the "can't close mic a loud cab with an LD" is something of a misconception, although I thought the same thing not too long ago (I had similar results with an Oktava LD condenser). Ask around - people do use LD's on loud cabs successfully.

If you haven't tried recording vocals through an LD condenser yet, try it ...if you return the CAD, you'll probably end up with a different LD