cheap first mic

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dark_iscariot

New member
Id like to buy a mic, cause the pc-standard works like nothing for me. I need a mic which can take up my voice through line in, using n-track, and get a decent sound, not with any clipping or so, even if i growl/scream or do weird noises=) I dont have much money to spend, but I need a decent mic to start with, so for 10-30dollars? Oh and are there any soundfiles on the internet were I can hear different mics? Thanks guys
 
with that budget, you probably wanna look into radio shack mics, or used Shure 57 on eBay. Nonetheless, you probably will need a preamp of some kind, which a home stereo can sometimes work for ya.

Good luck

AL
 
sony v220 at best buy. It'll work fine. don't expect greatness. It'll go through the mic or input, whoever said that is mistaken.
 
No one does mic shootouts of $30 mics, because they're all crap. There's probably not going to be a discernable difference. The only exception might be the behringer measurement mic, the ECM 8000. They can be had for around $35.
 
Hmm. Asking for a detailed comparison of the various different 10-30 dollar mics is a bit like asking for a full discussion of the relative merits of various $2.98-per-six-pack beers.

A few points, just to clarify a few things above.

You said you want a mic that you can input through the line in of your soundcard, if I remember correctly.

You generally can't plug a microphone directly into a line in. A microphone doesn't put out a line-level signal. (Also a line input is very likely quite high impedance: decent mics -- though perhaps not 10-30 dollar mics -- are all low impedance, and won't sound great going into such an input.

A microphone signal must be amplified by a microphone preamplifier, which amplifies a mic-level signal to a line-level signal. Generally speaking, any input (to a soundcard, a tape recorder or whatever) that's labeled as a microphone input is connected to a microphone preamp. Many soundcards have mic preamps in them.

If you do, as you said, want to connect your mic to the line input of your soundcard, you will pretty much need a mic preamp. A stereo receiver will not generally work, certainly not well.

If, rather, you want to connect your mic to the "mic" input of your soundcard, there may be some interface issues. I don't know much about your standard-issue sound cards, but I think they're intended to work with computer mics which have some different specifications from typical decent recording mics (unbalanced, I think; not sure what impedance; also I think soundcards supply power in some way). Also, I suspect the mic preamp in a standard-issue sound card may not be the greatest piece of equiment in the world. To put it another way: plugging a decent recording mic into a standard-issue sound card's mic input may not accomplish much, and may even be worse than using a standard computer mic.

You might want to consider looking for the best mic that's made for a computer and is in your price range. To do better than that, you may need to raise the price range high enough to accomodate a mic and an outboard preamp (or maybe a little mixer with preamps built into it).

A real "pro" would probably scoff, but if you go the latter route, I think you could get something that might please you in the $100-$300 range (total). For example, an all-Behringer set-up that would raise eyebrows and scowls in some circles (but might make you sort of happy): an ECM 8000 ($35) + one of those tiny mxers with two preamps in it (about $80, I think?).
 
Sorry... but I'd suggest that you'll have to spend a bit more.

I'd suggest buying a Shure SM-57 ($80 street price) and an Audio Buddy mic preamp (another $80 street price). This will give you a great place to start.

If you plan on screaming into your 57, you'd better snag yourself a compressor to go with your preamp (another $80 minimum).

The Shure SM-57 is an industry standard, and you'll never regret buying it; you'll get lots of use out of the Audio Buddy; you'll probably outgrow an $80 compressor pretty fast.
 
i dont want to spend that much money cause i dont have it.
All i need is a mic which works without clipping and noise when say growling or singing louder into it.

for me it doesnt matter wether if i put it in the mic- or line-in, as long as the sound is OK.
 
Then why do you need to hear sound clips? Just go to radio shack, tell them what you're looking for, see if you can audition it in the store and be done with it.
 
Borrow one of those mics that come with another PC. Your pc-standard might not be working right. Compaq PC's a few years ago came with them. They were on a thin shaft. We used to pile em up b/c we were installing business machines and they weren't needed. Anyway, they, at least, were matched for the soundcard and, most likely, would be matched for standard souncards. Try that one first, if it suks also, then go try to find something like an upgrade for that same kind of mic. Don't bother with music stores, go retail, or on web.

I did have some success with SM-57, transformer on end of cable, (the cable can be $20) and a 1/4 to 1/8 inch adaptor into sound card, but all of this together is out of your range. Also, it went into the mic input of sound card.

I don't have examples of this sound b/c it was still low qual.

Sure makes a $50 mic, if you can get that used w/ cable and transformer, you might be at your budget - that's if you can use mic input on card, not line, as a prior post noted.
 
All i need is a mic which works without clipping and noise when say growling or singing louder into it.
Click to expand...
Every mic will clip when you sing too loudly into it, and, actually, to be more accurate, mics don't clip, inputs and outputs do. If you want to guarantee that the signal won't clip, back up from your mic. Getting a new mic will not fix the problem you're having. now, when you do this, I'm sure you'll be back and say "Well, my signal doesn't clip anymore, but you can't hear the quiet passages in my vocal track." That's when you'll realize that there's no getting around the suggestions that people are giving you on this board (decent dynamic mic, preamp, compressor, etc.)
 
It all depends on how serious you are. If you just wanna muck around then get a cheap mic. If you are starting out and think that your into recording then as the other guys said get a SM57. This is a industry standard microphone and will last you a lifetime.

Spend a bit more now and youwont regret it in a few years when you want better quality.

Tukkis
 
spend a little more money and get a shure sm-57. it will hold its re-sale value better than a radio shack mic in the event that you would want to get rid of it.
 
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