Home Office/Studio

[Owinz]

Hi folks, I'm a "noobie" but have tried to do my own research as much as I can.

I have a home office (software developer) but I've recently gotten back into songwriting. As a result my home office has started to double as a basic studio.

My situation is that I need a mic. Since I'm in my home, I use high quality headsets instead of external speakers for those times when I don't want to disturb the wifey and kids. In the past I've used a standard clip-on mic w/ a make-shift boom off the headset. This has worked great but now I'm reconizing that I need higher quality vocal audio.

[Thought #1]
Ideally what I would like is a lav-type mic that I can wire onto my headsets and use for recording. However, I can't seem to find a definitive answer to this question (even in searches in these forums).

While I've read that a lav won't do for some I wonder if it will do for me since I'm in a controlled environment. Further, I don't want a "tin can" mic, but rather a best possible full range one that will pick up my low voice as well as higher signing voice.

[Thought #2]
I've considered scrapping the headset mic idea in favor of a "real" vocal mic mounted onto a stand. Can I find a directional mic that I can mount 12" away that will pick up just my voice and ignore the other potential ambient/environment noises or does it have to be closer to my mouth to help?

While price is a concern, I'm not "budgeting" ... so if I had to put an absolute maximum cap I'd say $250 would be my top absolute end. In other words I don't want a $30 mic if a $130 mic would be better.

Thanks everyone for your inputs! I'm glad I finally found a home for this.

 

[Weasel9992]

[Thought #1]
Ideally what I would like is a lav-type mic that I can wire onto my headsets and use for recording. However, I can't seem to find a definitive answer to this question (even in searches in these forums).

While I've read that a lav won't do for some I wonder if it will do for me since I'm in a controlled environment. Further, I don't want a "tin can" mic, but rather a best possible full range one that will pick up my low voice as well as higher signing voice.

While a lav or a headset mic will work well for podcasting and things like that, it's not going to be a high quality option for singing. It'll probably sound okay, though plosives (pops from "P's", "B's", "T's" and the like) will be an issue, and lavaliere mics don't represent the full vocal range well.

[Thought #2]
I've considered scrapping the headset mic idea in favor of a "real" vocal mic mounted onto a stand. Can I find a directional mic that I can mount 12" away that will pick up just my voice and ignore the other potential ambient/environment noises or does it have to be closer to my mouth to help?

I think this is a better option for you too, but there's no such thing as a mic that rejects noise off-axis completely. There are good options out there though, but most of them are dynamic mics rather than condensers. That might be a good thing for you any way...you didn't say whether you had phantom power, which you'd need for a condenser.

While price is a concern, I'm not "budgeting" ... so if I had to put an absolute maximum cap I'd say $250 would be my top absolute end. In other words I don't want a $30 mic if a $130 mic would be better.

For me, your budget pretty much puts the nail in it. I'd look at dynamic mics like the Heil PR40, the SM7 or the EV RE-20. They're all about $100 more than your budget though. You might be fine with a simple SM58 quite honestly. What preamp are you using?

Frank

 

[pohaku]

Used SM7s often go for @$275 or so. But you will need a decent preamp. Weasel is right, an SM58 (or I'd prefer an SM57 with a pop screen) my work reasonably well for you.

 

[mshilarious]

While a lav or a headset mic will work well for podcasting and things like that, it's not going to be a high quality option for singing. It'll probably sound okay, though plosives (pops from "P's", "B's", "T's" and the like) will be an issue, and lavaliere mics don't represent the full vocal range well.

Headset mics are very common in live use, and for that reason most are terminated with miniplugs that are designed to be used with transmitters. AT has a phantom adaptor for their headworn mics. Shure and Sennheiser also make professional headworn mics.

The difficulty is since they are designed for live use, many are cardioid, and miniature cardioids do have trouble with capturing a full-range response. An omni capsule works better, would have full-range response, and is also very resistant to plosives. But if you have serious ambient noise problems, you'd have to compensate by moving the capsule closer to your mouth, which is less than ideal.

You need to think about minimizing ambient noise, because if it's coming from all sides, again the only way to compensate is by moving closer to the mic irrespective of polar pattern. If you have localized noise, you can use the null of a cardioid pattern to reject it.

 

[darrin_h2000]

With that boom...try a mic flange on the cieling and drop it down with a gooseneck...you have all the free room on the desk for other things.

 

[hairylarry]

EV 649b for example

Headset mics are very common in live use, and for that reason most are terminated with miniplugs that are designed to be used with transmitters. AT has a phantom adaptor for their headworn mics. Shure and Sennheiser also make professional headworn mics.

The difficulty is since they are designed for live use, many are cardioid, and miniature cardioids do have trouble with capturing a full-range response. An omni capsule works better, would have full-range response, and is also very resistant to plosives. But if you have serious ambient noise problems, you'd have to compensate by moving the capsule closer to your mouth, which is less than ideal.

You need to think about minimizing ambient noise, because if it's coming from all sides, again the only way to compensate is by moving closer to the mic irrespective of polar pattern. If you have localized noise, you can use the null of a cardioid pattern to reject it.

mshilarious,

I have several of the vintage EV lav mics including the RE85. They are omnis. The EV 649b is my main vocal mic for live shows. I velcro it to my harp rack so it's very close to my mouth. It's kind of like an attenuated 635a. But very much optimised for the vocal range. I sing all styles and the little mic works great.

It does sound to me like Owinz is looking for a hypercardiod though. Something like an AKG D690 might work well from 8 to 12 inches away minimizing background noise yet not having to be too close to his mouth.

Thanks,

Hairy Larry