Good starter mic for guitar and vocals?

M

monkeywrench

New member
Hey, I'm new here and not very experienced with home recording and therefore microphones, setups and so on.

I'm looking for a microphone that would deal well with both vocals and acoustic guitar (not necessarily recorded at the same time). My budget is low, probably say... £150 at the most.

So far I've had recommendations about the Shure SM57, MXL 990 and the Rode NT3.

I've also read that dynamic mics are not usually good for vocals, is this true?

Any suggestions about what to go for and anything else useful about mic'ing acoustic guitar and vocals would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks. :)
 
The RV8 from Red5 Audio retails (direct from the company) for £99. That's had some good reviews. With the remaining £50 you could get a TFPro TF27 for £39 (which has also had decent write ups) and have £20 left over for postage.

You could also get an ADK A51 Type V for your vocal mic (also for £99).

And, yes you can use dynamic mics on vocals.
 
Starter, eh? IMHO, combo SP B1 and ART preamp will do the job for ~$150.

monkeywrench said:
I've also read that dynamic mics are not usually good for vocals, is this true?
Click to expand...

This is not true. It deppends on many many factor (voice character, miking technic, pre-amp used, music genre, etc). SM57 or SM58 are dynamic mics you WONT ever regret that you've purchased them!!! They always find the way to be usefull somehow.

;)
Jaymz
 
CanopuS said:
Are you in the UK or USA or elsewhere? (You give pounds as the currency so..)

For UK prices, this really is a steal: http://www.dv247.com/invt/18659

I think that'll honestly be the best option. Good luck :)
Click to expand...

I agree.

Or, if you're REALLY strapped for brass, I'd go with James Argo's suggestion... it's the same Studio Projects B-1 LDC, but with the ART mic preamp.
 
Hey guys thanks very much for the suggestions, they're very helpful.

I think I may go for the SP-B1 and a pre-amp. It seems like a good idea as I was going to get a pre-amp anyway. That package deal sounds great.

Does anyone else have any more comments about the B1? Is it suitable for recording from a guitar amp (that would be a bonus)? Also, would the pre-amp in the package that CanopuS suggested or the ART Tube MP Original be better?
 
guess you dont want to be fucking cool.

b-1 aint fucking cool. good mic, no doubt. but not COOL.
 
Hehe...I may be new to this, but how the heck is a mic 'cool' anyway? :confused: I guess I have to be really into mics to understand. Anyways, if it does the job then I'm fine with it.
 
Yeah, a cheap condenser like the B1 is a great idea. I agree that you will never grow out of an SM57 no matter how much gear you acquire. The only problem with chinese condensers is getting rid of sibilance later on when you're mixing down and mastering can be a pain.

Oh, and be warned that you're probably going to get hooked on home recording and possibly gear lust. It's a sickness we all have...
 
a cool mic? i suppose you have to be "into" mics to a degree, but let me explain what is cool about the B1 and what is cool about that sennheiser.

B1 ulitarian (cool). cheap (cool). sounds pretty normal. considered prosumer in the engineering world (sort of cool sort of not). will decrease in value over time (not cool)

Sennheiser 511/409. rare (cool). looks cool (people actually rent these mics to look cool in music videos). sounds very colored (cool). very desired mic in the engineering world. good investment (cool) will increase in value over time (very cool).
 
Geez Eel why do you have to tempt us!
Best of luck on your EV 666's BTW-another "cool" series for sale right now.
They still are...right? (I've got two 666's)

The B1 is an excellent choice based on end user comments.
I thought it was very nice on my vocals.

With the $$ left over, it would be wise to get something like a Shure SM57,
EV 635a, or EV RE15 in addition IMHO.
Good to have a couple of "sounds" available.

Plus you may get lucky :) and find out the Shure's/EV's work A-1 for vocals for you (like me). Any of these can rival or surpass an expensive Neumann on a given voice BTW.

Chris
 
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