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DeniedTalent
New member
Alright for the last time...I have $200 to spend on a mic for RAP VOCALS not insturments or anything...wat should i buy?
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chessrock
Banned
sm57
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trickless
New member
I second the 57 @ $80 new, or you could get the sm58 @ $100 new. The 58 just has the cool metal windscreen ball end and it looks like a typical vocal mic, but they use the same capsule. The 58 has to be the classic live rap mic, but a 57/58 will work well in the studio too. Use some of the leftover bread for a pop filter, yo.
Rock on!
Pat
Rock on!
Pat
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trickless
New member
Doh!! I read one of your other threads where you said you have a 58. I doubt that the 58 is what's giving ya the troubles.
Getting some clipping on Ps and Bs and whatnot?? A pop filter will help with that. You can even make one out of panty hose and a wire hanger or an embroidery hoop if ya want, but they don't look as cool as the store bought ones.
I'd say the soundcard is your problem. Does the soundcard have a line in, or is the mixer plugged into the mic in?? Always use the line in, if ya have one. If not, ya might as well use a good ole' computer mic cause that's what is designed to be plugged in there. Hey I've done it before, and it will work if ya need it too bad enough.
There are plenty of people here to help out, but you just have to be patient. How about posting a sample and telling us what is bothering you about the sound in that example. Maybe someone will know right away something you can do to make things sound the way ya want, without you dropping tons of cash on new mics and whatnot.
Good luck!
Pat
Also I checked your profile to see your other posts and I am exactly ONE day older than you. Weird huh...
Getting some clipping on Ps and Bs and whatnot?? A pop filter will help with that. You can even make one out of panty hose and a wire hanger or an embroidery hoop if ya want, but they don't look as cool as the store bought ones.
I'd say the soundcard is your problem. Does the soundcard have a line in, or is the mixer plugged into the mic in?? Always use the line in, if ya have one. If not, ya might as well use a good ole' computer mic cause that's what is designed to be plugged in there. Hey I've done it before, and it will work if ya need it too bad enough.
There are plenty of people here to help out, but you just have to be patient. How about posting a sample and telling us what is bothering you about the sound in that example. Maybe someone will know right away something you can do to make things sound the way ya want, without you dropping tons of cash on new mics and whatnot.
Good luck!
Pat
Also I checked your profile to see your other posts and I am exactly ONE day older than you. Weird huh...
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chessrock
Banned
If your username is a fitting description of your situation, then I would say that is your likeliest obstacle.
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DeniedTalent
New member
yea i have a SM58 now...i have the SM58 hooked up to my mixer and then the mixer is plugged into the mic input...yea as u can see i aint that smart at audio...and yes i do need a soundcard. i still have the factory soundcard. Although I dont know how to install one. Oh yea i might add that the age on there isnt right well the year isnt im actually only 15. Yea ya i know what your thinking. Anyways...it kind of sux cuz my mom wont let me install anything on the computer cuz she doesnt "trust me". Oh well...what do u guys think about external soundcards? I want to get a new mic just for the fact that its a dynamic mic and i heard its pretty much only used towards live performances. Thats why Im asking u what mic to buy. So your sure Shure SM57 is the mic for me? Well thanx a lot and ill be sure to record a sample and post it up...sounds crappy though. Oh yea if this helps i have a Behringer Eurotrack UB802...i dont know if it has a good pre-amp or not. Thanks for the feed.
Fletcher
New member
DeniedTalent; at this point in your development... chances are an SM-58 will be more than sufficient for your actual needs... investigate a 'soundcard'... it'll make more of a difference to the overall sound of the product you produce than a different micropone [at this point in your 'career'... in a few years things will be different, but for the moment, the "58" will work fine].
trickless; just because the 57 and the 58 use the same "capsule" doesn't mean they sound the same. The 'grill assembly' is a major portion of the sound of a microphone... in many ways it's as important to the sound of a microphone as the "transduction element".
The 58 is more 'open' sounding than the 57, because of the grill assembly. Think of grill assemblies like pilings on a pier... if you look at the pilings that support a pier you'll noice that the ripples in the water that passes the pilings has different shapes... this is very similar to air passing through the wire mesh of a grill assembly.
The grill will greatly affect what the transduction element "hears".
trickless; just because the 57 and the 58 use the same "capsule" doesn't mean they sound the same. The 'grill assembly' is a major portion of the sound of a microphone... in many ways it's as important to the sound of a microphone as the "transduction element".
The 58 is more 'open' sounding than the 57, because of the grill assembly. Think of grill assemblies like pilings on a pier... if you look at the pilings that support a pier you'll noice that the ripples in the water that passes the pilings has different shapes... this is very similar to air passing through the wire mesh of a grill assembly.
The grill will greatly affect what the transduction element "hears".
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christiaan
Active member
First thing you should do: plug the mixer into the line-in of your soundcard instead of the mic input.DeniedTalent said:
A mic input is not suitable for plugging a mixer in.
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trickless
New member
Fletcher said:
Yeah but would you agree that they sound close enough that at this point he wouldn't need one of each if he's only recording his vocals. I only have a 57 so I admit I've never done a comparision. I've read on here a million times though that if ya screw the grill off the 58 ya got a less rugged 57. Please feel free to destroy this myth if it is so, but it made sense to me that it would work like that.
You say that the 58 is more open sounding which I don't quite understand. Sorry if this is less a microphone theory/design thing and more of an opinion, which is fine, but I'm a geek. Is it because the grill/foam has more space between it and the diaphram, or were you talking about the scenario of taking the top off the 58 and having it's guts exposed. I guess in that case the 57 has more deflection that a 58, but is that true with a stock 58 also because the 57 grill is so close to the diaphram??
Thanks for helping out fletcher!
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trickless
New member
DeniedTalent said:
Well yeah, it definately sounds like your troubles are being caused by the mic input on the computer. Got a cassette recorder?? If ya got one of those dual deck stand alone ones it'll probably have a stereo line input. If the UB802 has the rca tape outs just hook em up and try recording that way. That should be closer to the sound you're actually capturing.
Don't worry about a new microphone, you're 15 for god's sake. When I was 15 my band was using a borrowed plastic karaoke mic plugged into a boombox as a pa.
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DeniedTalent
New member
Alright i plugged my mixer into the line in on my soundcard...when i tried to record no sound was going through the mic. Now i know this is because you need a pre-amp. Obviously the pre-amp on my mixer sucks. Or could it be the program im using...is there settings that i can change to maybe make my voice come in and not loud or to the point where u cant hear it at all?
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DJL
Self Banned
Make sure youir computer system has the Line input turned on instead of the Mic input.
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DJL
Self Banned
I'm not Fletcher, but the 57 & 58 are different... close yes, but different. Someone broke one of my SM58's after I took the ball off of it like a dummy.trickless said:
Fletcher
New member
trickless said:
It's because the grill assembly has an entirely different acoustic signature. Any and every thing between the source and the transduction element of the mic will affect the tone. A dent in the head grill of a mic, even a 58 will affect the tone as it changes the acoustic signature of the grill assembly.
A 58 sounds more 'open' for a couple of reasons... the first being that the grill assembly leads to the singer being a bit farther away from the transduction element when they get right up on the mic [lips touching grill]... the second would be the 'wide mesh' used to construct the assembly.
I'm not that heavy a mic guy, so I can't give you the physics of the thing... but I've heard enough of them over the years to have definitely formed an opinion.
Best of luck forming your own opinions/experiences.
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DeniedTalent
New member
How do i switch from Mic input to line in input?
Lt. Bob
Spread the Daf!
The 57 and the 58 flat out sound different even though they use the same capsule and it is because of the ball but more because of the pop screen that's inside the ball than the ball itself. The pop screen stops a certain amount of airflow, thus lessening the pops you get with p's and t's and such. But since sound is airwaves, obviously anything that affects that is going to affect the sound. I don't agree that the 58 is more open sounding however....it's actually the other way around. For recording work especially, the 57 is more transparent and a bit less colored. However.....neither of these mics go above about 16khz so they aren't the most airy mics around for recording although they are used for that a lot.
In general I have always preferred the sound of a 57 because it is more transparent but for rap vocals, I'm gonna have to think the 58 would be better because of the close proximity to the mic that rappers tend to use.
Also, I agree with Fletcher and trickless, that if you have a 58 already, the thing you need most is not a new mic. A 58 should do just fine for now and you can probably do a greater amount of good in other areas such as a new soundcard.
In general I have always preferred the sound of a 57 because it is more transparent but for rap vocals, I'm gonna have to think the 58 would be better because of the close proximity to the mic that rappers tend to use.
Also, I agree with Fletcher and trickless, that if you have a 58 already, the thing you need most is not a new mic. A 58 should do just fine for now and you can probably do a greater amount of good in other areas such as a new soundcard.
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DJL
Self Banned
Right click on the speaker icon in your task bar, open volume control, click on options, open properties, and put a check-mark in the "Line in" box, click OK. Oh, make sure the line-in mute is off and turn the line-in volume up... you'll see it on the main volume mixer page.DeniedTalent said:
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DeniedTalent
New member
I dont have that on my toolbar...says its not installed but i dont know how to install it.
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DJL
Self Banned
Well, at least you found the problem. Good luck.
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christiaan
Active member
DeniedTalent said:
If you got any sound coming out of your computer, it obviously is installed. Press start -> programs -> accessories -> entertainment to find the volume control.
If nothing there: Start -> control panel -> add/remove programs -> add/remove windows components or something like that.
(Now I got the feeling that I'm going a bit too much into detail here for a question in the microphones forum..)
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