Mic recomendations for USB or 1/8th''

[Kuzio]

Hi,

Im a solo musician who often records with alot of acoustic but also an electric guitar. I recently joined a band and we have been booked for a few gigs and so I needed to invest in alot of equipment. Now, Im pretty broke and have about a $150 budget. I was hoping for a few tips on some decent mics. Im not exactly sure on what kind I need. Im pretty new to home recording. Right now my "Studio" is in an extra bedroom in my house so its pretty small. On top of that I have 3 amps, a large keyboard, and all my stands and equipment inside it which gives me even less space. Im currently running Mixcraft 4 on a laptop as my software. When I record tracks I use a mic with a 1/8th inch output and another with USB. I havent decided which of them i should use for vocals or guitar but I know the USB mic is very sensative and picks up everything. So i was wondering what mics would be effeciant for picking up just vocals or just guitar. I was looking at the Samson CO1U condenser for around $80. Any advice on mics or recording tips would be great. Thanks

 

[Shadow_7]

$150 is a pretty small budget. For taking the room out of the picture you're probably looking at a dynamic mic. For a slightly larger budget you could get a field recorder or some other device and use the headphone monitoring out as line in (1/8" / 3.5mm) for your recording application. Set the headphone out to about 10% (1 of 10). At least that is how I plan on feeding my camcorder (when I get one).

For $150, you're probably looking at an M-Audio Mobile Pre and a Shure SM58. Used off of craigslist. Not the best options, but for $150 okay. Bear in mind that XLR cable(s) and mic stands / boom arms will likely consume part of that budget. So even that is a bit hopeful / optimistic for $150.

 

[antichef]

I don't have a specific recommendation, but I would stay away from a USB mic -- the reason is that you won't be able to do anything with it later if (that is, when) you upgrade. A regular mic plugged through a cheap interface is better, assuming the cost is similar (or even more). The reasons are that a) you can use the mic with whatever setup you have later, and b) the interface probably allows you to record at least two tracks at once (with two mics, of course) and that may become important to you, especially for guitar. The USB mic will essentially hog the entire input capability of your computer, and all you get is one track -- it probably won't share the stage with other inputs (even if they're plugged into an interface that's going into another USB port) due to converter clock sync-ing issues.

Worst case, get a dynamic mic, like the SM57 that Shadow_7 mentioned (or was it SM58?) and an adapter or set of adapters that get you down to 1/8" (or 3.5mm as it may be) and save up some $ for an interface -- that may sound worse than a USB mic for now (but maybe not), but you'll be better off later.

 

[johnreelsound]

Im with the idea of avoiding USB mics. Dont waste your money

John