Best all round Mic

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Eboe

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Ok so if you could only buy one type of mic to record Drums, Vocals, Amps etc what one would it be?

O yeah and it cant be the most expensive mic. I talking about the best all round mic. Best sound, best reliability and best value for money (ie the cheaper the better)

Im asking because I want to do some home recording but I dont want to go OTT with mics and was thinking of gettin 3-4 for general use.

What do you think?

E
 
Sorry to sound like a cheap skate but thats a little bit more than what i was hoping to spend! Does get great reviews tho!

Am i right in thinking that i could get away with a smilar mic for Guitar Amps, Snears, Toms , overheads and vocals but not for bass drums and Bass guitar amps? Or is there a mic that will fit the bill for all types of recordings.

Sorry im fairly new to the whole recording/mic thing.
 
Eboe said:
Sorry to sound like a cheap skate but thats a little bit more than what i was hoping to spend! Does get great reviews tho!

Am i right in thinking that i could get away with a smilar mic for Guitar Amps, Snears, Toms , overheads and vocals but not for bass drums and Bass guitar amps? Or is there a mic that will fit the bill for all types of recordings.

Sorry im fairly new to the whole recording/mic thing.
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You're asking for a 'desert island' mic and IMHO a Sennheiser MD421 is one of them mics.
 
Han, although I agree, if he can't do 57's, he's have to STEAL the 421's.
 
Han said:
You're asking for a 'desert island' mic and IMHO a Sennheiser MD421 is one of them mics.
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WOW thats even more expensive than the last 1!!! :eek: but yes it does look like the best option! Shame i cant afford 3-4 of them bad boys!

To be honest im not after perfection im just after the best i can get with the little amount of money i have! Are there any cheaper alternatives out there that are good enough to get a decent sound?

P.S. desert islan' mic????
 
How much cash DO you have? It's not so much what mics you have anyway, it's your SKILL as an engineer that counts. Recording is exactly like learning to play a new instrumnet. It takes years of practice to do it well.
 
Eboe said:
To be honest im not after perfection im just after the best i can get with the little amount of money i have! Are there any cheaper alternatives out there that are good enough to get a decent sound?

P.S. desert islan' mic????
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I don't think that too many people are going to have a "desert island" mic that's in your price range, unless you have $6000 to $10,000 to spend. However, there are some good values out there. I'd personally recommend finding a used ElectroVoice e635a or Shure 545. Both of them are versatile mics that will sound reasonable on a large number of sources. If you don't want to buy anything used, then perhaps an SM57 clone (like the GLS ES57) would be a good choice. There was a thread about them recently, so try doing a search. I don't have any personal experience with them, but some folks like 'em.

If those are too expensive, then your best bet is to make friends with a recording engineer and borrow his or her stuff.

- Jerfo
 
I think a lot of this hobby/profession is "you get what you pay for"..Ive found that a lot of times in this business. quality increases with price...there are somethings that maybe could cost more(studio projects c4s could go for more , i believe)

but you aint gonna find nothing too hot for real cheap, in my opinion. Save your money and get decent stuff(like the mics suggested). Your recordings will thank you later. you polish a turd, its still a turd.

Probably not what you wanted to hear, but its my take. I have to pinch pennies all the time to get decent stuff ,, but boy do I thank myself later.
 
yeah i no wat u mean but 4 the purpose of practice and learning theres no point in buyin the top notch stuff and finding out i aint guna do much recording or i cant b arsed etc!

I can always sell wat i buy to upgrade! Problem is there isnt many pennys to pitch atm lol! Thanks for the advice tho! Theres sum good options here for me to choose from!
 
Sennheiser E835 .... I use them on many more sources than SM57s nowadays, plus they're cheaper and sturdy as hell. The tops won't break or dent like 57s/58s because the basket is squared off at the top.

Just one of the best budget mics on the market, IMHO.

Nik :)
 
Going against the grain, I could probably do a whole album with a $35 Behringer Omni ECM8000 as the only mic. No, not because I'm a great engineer, just because it's a fairly neutral mic that I can control, and it's pretty smooth.
 
best alol around mic

dude definetly a shure sm57 ,the only thing is ,there is no mic that is all around and will pick up good bass ,so a shure sm57 ,but you need and individual one made just for bass ,and shure sm57 is about 90 bux which isnt bad..
 
Harvey Gerst said:
Going against the grain, I could probably do a whole album with a $35 Behringer Omni ECM8000 as the only mic. No, not because I'm a great engineer, just because it's a fairly neutral mic that I can control, and it's pretty smooth.
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Nice!!!!!!!!!
 
If you can't afford an sm57, then it probably doesn't really matter what mic you get. No mic cheaper than that is going to offer an all around solution that is worth much.
 
Have you looked at Radio Shack?

Or, maybe, Behringer?

Or, even, cough, gasp, save up for an actual decent entry level condensor mic?
 
Eboe said:
Sorry to sound like a cheap skate but thats a little bit more than what i was hoping to spend!
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So audio gear costs more than you had thought... no big deal... just readjust your budgeting or adjust your expectations.

I agree that the ECM8000 is a very good and highly underrated mic. I have two. But personally I don't think it would be as easy for a novice to use for what you want as a 57.

Tim
 
One of my favorite mics is my Neumann TLM103 but its starting to get into the silly money range for a mic but I think it was one of my best investments yet. I love the thing.
 
come on man, i got an sm57 for 40 bucks used, but in perfect condition - im sure you could spare 40 bucks? just how cheap of a mic are you looking for? it doesnt get much better than that.
 
You could always try whatever mic came with your computer. Or you could go to the Salvation Army or a garage sale and try and find an old, beat up boom-box. Some of those have microphones built right in. Heck, you could even rewire an old speaker from a Television set or something and use that as a mic. In your price braket, the options are almost limitless.
 
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