Best studio mic for under $750?

Well, that depends...

...there really isn't one best that you can use for everything - there will be different mics for different applications and for different tastes........

I could tell you a Shure SM57 (<$100) - and I'd be right IF we were talking about mic'ing a guitar cab or snare drum! Some people can even get decent vocal sounds out of them, but it's not really a vocal mic......... so your question is unanswerable without qualifying it further.

Bruce
 
I'm talking strictly for vocals, and I want as much full tone and accuracy as possible.

I've heard alot of good about the SM58, and here in Sweden it's at about $140 - so that's an option.
But since I won't be using the mic outside of the "studio" (my home recording corner), aren't there better microphones? Like a condenser mic, or something?

I'm willing to spend more money than $140 - *if* I would be getting my money's worth in better sound.

...or would a SM58 and a D/A converter give me more bang for the bucks?

All I know is that my vocals are by far the worst right now, as far as recording quality goes... and I wan't to rectify that.
 
what kind of preamp do you have. I think that the preamp is even more important than the mic.

for example: A tlm103 into a crappy preamp probably will not sound as good as an AT4047 into a good preamp.


If you only have seven hundred for the whole deal, I would suggest splitting it up evenly between the mic and the pre.

And don't be afraid to buy used. As long as the person has good reviews
 
I was planning on using my POD 2.0 pre-amp setting - probably not best in the world! :)

So... a mic and a pre-amp then. I've heard Amek 9098 being recommended, but it might be out of my price range..? So what's a good pre-amp for $500-$1000?

Damn this recording business is a jungle!!!
 
This is the kind of mic I was thinking about originally:
http://www.musikborsen.se/akgsolid.html

...it's $700 in Sweden, and I honestly have no idea how much better it is to a SM68. Would something like that (a tube mic) and a good pre-amp be a worthy investment?
Vocals are so important, and my gear is very heavy on the guitar side right now, and extremely poor on the vocal side...
 
Sorry to muddy the waters...

But the POD won't work as the preamp except as an effect (something that sounds whacky). For $700-$1000, you can get a good condensor mic and a "voice channel".

A voice channel is a preamp, along with (usually) some eq and compression, though each one has a little different feature set.

There are discussions along these lines all over this forum, take some time and look at some of them.

Some popular mics in your price range would be the Rode NT1 ($200), NT2 ($300), and the new ones, whose model number I can't recall.
The AT 4000 series are very popular, the cheapest (4030, around $350)) is very well regarded in these circles.

JoeMeek, DBX (386), Presonus, and others all make voice channels for around $500, some are even less.

Good luck, come back when you have some more questions.

By the way, to answer your question specifically, I would proabbaly pick the Shure KSM-44 as the best under $750 mic. It goes for $699.
 
CyanJaguar said:
hi,

I've heard that the akg solidtube is not the best mic for studio vocals. I would try a c414 instead.
Click to expand...

You have heard wrong. I'm finishing a whole album now using it as the main vocal mic.

It is slightly bassy and the upper lows are a bit pushed
but it is an excellent vocal mic.
If your room is noisey then this mic could be a problem.
It has only one polar pattern which is quite wide.
 
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Shailat, can you tell me anything about the AKG Solidstate?

The shop I linked to have it for $700 for a limited time, normal price is $1000... so if it's good it might be worth picking up then?

So much to chose from! I'll probably just go ahead with just anything you guys have suggested, and I'll probably be happy with it.

The prices here are:
AKG C414 - $1300 (out of my league)
AKG SolidState - $700
Shure KSM32 - $600

...of those mentioned those are what they have (no Audio Technica's)
 
What do you want to know? ask specifics if you want more info.

In general its a tube mic with a big warm sound.
Very punchy. Only one polar partten - cardiod.
It's a quiet mic and sounds really good if your looking for a full warm sound.
But it has it's faults - a bit to much in the lows around 300Hz. and it's not the brightess sounding mic around
 
hi shailat,

the reasons you posted are the reasons I read for the solidtube not being a vocal mic. the bass is too present, and the highs are not all that there.

I read that it was better for the spoken word.

xipe,

the c414 tlII might be $1300, but the c414 b-uls is about $725

Hey, I don't think you can go wrong with something like an at4033. I have read where engineers would rather use them than u87 mics on vocals.

peace
 
ADK A-51tc Tube Microphone , got it love it and recomend it. Comes in a nice flight case with its own power supply and sounds very nice for the price.
 
i may be a semi serious engineer but I like a good deal when i see one and theres a marshal large diaphram mike and a tube mp preamp(art) offered at mars right now for only 150 bucks and for a little moe theres a 2 channel bundle availible as well there

a few months back i purchased a berringer 602a and a nady 900 at the musicians friend clearance center in kansas city for eighty bucks total . they thought these returns were broken but their techs dont really go through the stuff well so ive bought over 10000 dollars worth of stuff from them in the last 6 months but it has only set me back about 400 dollars. im a tech so fixing equipment and selling it online has furnished my whole studio.
 
new Rodes

The new Rode NT1000 is a pretty killer mic for $379. Beats my previous favorite mic in this price range (AT4033) hands down. I picked one up, and liked it so much I immediately picked up another. I also got a Rode NTK, a nice tube mic for $479. This one is an incredible deal, and the best vocal mic I own. I tried out several Rode mics in the past (NT1, NT2, and Classic) and never liked them much, compared to other mics in similar price ranges, but these new ones are exceptional mics... although they both only have a fixed cardioid polar pattern. With the NT100 you can also afford a pretty nice pre, like a joemeek vc3q or similar.
 
Xipe said:
Only for us in studio. $750 ceiling. So which is it?
Click to expand...

Hey Xipe...

You live in Sweden, so why don't you check out the Milab stuff? I've heard a lot of great things about their mics, but you rarely see them over here in the States...

I gave them a listen at the last NAMM show, but it's pretty hard to hear anything useful in that din...the jangling keys sounded pretty good, though...

Check them out here:

http://www.milabmic.com/frame.htm
 
Thanks for your advice on microphone choice and mentioning importance of preamp.

Have you got any cheap solutions for getting vocals recorded? What I have is:
The SM58 mentioned
Alesis compressor (3630)
Yamaha power mixer (used for live)
SB Live

Can I use this for vocal equipment for vocal recording? And how do I use it best? Any idea getting another soundcard, like the ISIS?

I haven't got a lot of money for this, but would like to use what I have as best as possible.

Tom
 
i think the best *cheap* soundcard out there is the delta44... if you dont need to record drums then get a delta audiophile 2496. you will never be able toget a good sound using the SB live! ever. i just tried it once as a mixdown medium from reel to reel. it does work. at all. it loses all high end, and wit 16 bits you get low resolution sound. its really crappy. 58 through your yamaha into a decent 24 bit soundcard. no compressor wil get some decent sound. but it will not be a condensor. but do you need one to get good vocals? nope. does it help? yea. there are a million options for cheap condensors out there. about 5% are decent. the oothers sound like you are yelling through a tin can.
 
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