All round Microphone for nearly everything? under $250

[taddeo]

I'm wanting to start a mobile recording setup. I need some versatile microphones to start with. So, what can you suggest? For recording drums, vocals, guitars, bass and ambience. Shure sm57?

 

[antichef]

Your question is tough to answer. The unofficial "workhorse" category normally consists of multi-pattern condensers with a new street price that exceeds your budget. (a lot of inexpensive truly mobile recording rigs may have a hard time powering these honkin' mics, too, it's worth mentioning) Do you have a long time frame for the purchase and are you willing to buy used? Or do you want to go buy it new off the shelf now with warranty/support? If the former, you can educate yourself about a number of different mics that would work, and then hunt/gather/hide/stalk out a good deal on one that would cost a lot more if you bought it new, staying inside your budget. If the latter, then you might want to start saving, and possibly think about a compromise to tide you over in the meantime.

In my case, I have a laptop and a bus-powered interface, and I scored an AKG C414B-ULS for less than your budget, but the downside is that I still need a power outlet (for a dedicated phantom power supply), because the interface doesn't provide enough phantom power juice to properly operate the mic.

 

[darrin_h2000]

The best thing out there in a live situation is a standalone...I have a Tascam 2488neo Im using for this pourpose...laptops are the underachievers of the computer world and computer programs can have issues you dont want to hassle with in a live situation....besides your computer OS isnt designed to be a recording studio...the OS in the stand alone is...this makes it less of a headache and it wont leave you at a show with your dick in your hand.

You might get lucky and find an AT4050 used close to that.