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jokke
New member
I want to start recording my own songs in my room, and want to buy a microphone for recording guitar and vocal. My budget is 150-300 dollar. What do you recommend?
Thanks,
Jokke
Thanks,
Jokke
A
adam_in_audio
New member
hi
if you're on a budget like that you should maybe think about getting a matched pair.
the mxl 603s will do you pretty good for acoustic guitar, since that is an instrument recorded in stereo often. The 603's will probably work for your voice too..,, voices can be a little tricky, different mics work for different people. If you are a tenor/soft singer, you may want to consider a large condenser such as the studio projects c-1. If you are a baritone (like myself) you should think about a dynamic such as the shure sm57. that is all considering you want to record right NOW
if you can, save up some more money so that you can buy a couple really nice mics and maybe a preamp. But if you're on a budget pinch, the sm57 ($90) and the 2 603's ($200) should do you quite well.
if you're on a budget like that you should maybe think about getting a matched pair.
the mxl 603s will do you pretty good for acoustic guitar, since that is an instrument recorded in stereo often. The 603's will probably work for your voice too..,, voices can be a little tricky, different mics work for different people. If you are a tenor/soft singer, you may want to consider a large condenser such as the studio projects c-1. If you are a baritone (like myself) you should think about a dynamic such as the shure sm57. that is all considering you want to record right NOW
if you can, save up some more money so that you can buy a couple really nice mics and maybe a preamp. But if you're on a budget pinch, the sm57 ($90) and the 2 603's ($200) should do you quite well.
diogo
New member
hi,
if you want the best mic on that price range for BOTH guitar and vocals, get the ADK Hamburg (if you want a warmer sound) or the ADK Vienna (if you want more sparkle).
on the ADK note, the Joe Meek mic line is coming up with an Hamburg clone in a few months for 108 bucks or something like that...its expected to be the same circuit, if you have the patience, wait for reviews on this..its gonna be the JM47 but the revised one, not the one selling now.
if you want to sing and play at the same time or just record one thing at the time but with dedicated mics to each, u should consider a matched pair of MXL 603's (for guitar) and an MXL V67G (for vocals). this will surpass 300 bucks a bit but not for much.
shure sm57 will do good on acoustic (it always surprises me), but if you have a fairly silent room, a condenser can do a lot more i think, richer sound.
it would be cool to know what pre are you using or plan to use with the mic...
if you want the best mic on that price range for BOTH guitar and vocals, get the ADK Hamburg (if you want a warmer sound) or the ADK Vienna (if you want more sparkle).
on the ADK note, the Joe Meek mic line is coming up with an Hamburg clone in a few months for 108 bucks or something like that...its expected to be the same circuit, if you have the patience, wait for reviews on this..its gonna be the JM47 but the revised one, not the one selling now.
if you want to sing and play at the same time or just record one thing at the time but with dedicated mics to each, u should consider a matched pair of MXL 603's (for guitar) and an MXL V67G (for vocals). this will surpass 300 bucks a bit but not for much.
shure sm57 will do good on acoustic (it always surprises me), but if you have a fairly silent room, a condenser can do a lot more i think, richer sound.
it would be cool to know what pre are you using or plan to use with the mic...
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baekgaard
New member
You should really spend a little time looking around the forum and do a search, since this question has been answered numerous times, even during the last couple of days probably.
What is the purpose of your recording? Scratch recordings for your band to rehearse your songs? Christmas gift CD to your grandma? Something to land you a record deal? Will go straight to print? ...
Do you want/need stereo on the guitar?
Simplest and cheapest option is something like an SP B1, which will do fine on most guitars and can be OK on your voice. Price around 100 USD.
Maybe a step up (at least it should give you a more flattering voice) would be something like an ADK Hamburg og Vienna, judging from other posts here. Price in the range of 250 USD. There are other contenders here also for voice, such as the SP C1 or MXL v67g. Whether they will work on your guitar in your room is not known, but they may be more "risky" if you cannot test it out before buying.
This will allow you to record your guitar in mono and afterwards your voice also. If you have a nice room, you could also record both at the same time, with one mic -- but only if your room sounds nice!
If you want to record in stereo, either a couple of B1 or possibly a pair of MXL 603, Oktava MC012, SP C4, Røde NT4 or similar could do the job well. But I would not generally recommed the SDC mics for voice, although some of them will work OK to well, depending on your voice. This will set you back some 200 to 300 USD, but may require an additional mic for the voice.
So... you can get by with one mic only, or a stereo set that can do both, or one or two mics for the guitar and another for your voice.
You need a pop filter also, btw, if you don't have one already or can make one.
And I assume you have a preamp with phantom power? If not, add one (such as a DMP3) to your budget.
For plain acoustic guitar, I don't find the SM57 doing a good job. It is good for many other things, but it does not work for me on acoustic.
There is another thread here btw, just a few days old, dealing with how to record a guitar. And there is a lenghty thread on the B1 also. Do a search.
-- Per.
What is the purpose of your recording? Scratch recordings for your band to rehearse your songs? Christmas gift CD to your grandma? Something to land you a record deal? Will go straight to print? ...
Do you want/need stereo on the guitar?
Simplest and cheapest option is something like an SP B1, which will do fine on most guitars and can be OK on your voice. Price around 100 USD.
Maybe a step up (at least it should give you a more flattering voice) would be something like an ADK Hamburg og Vienna, judging from other posts here. Price in the range of 250 USD. There are other contenders here also for voice, such as the SP C1 or MXL v67g. Whether they will work on your guitar in your room is not known, but they may be more "risky" if you cannot test it out before buying.
This will allow you to record your guitar in mono and afterwards your voice also. If you have a nice room, you could also record both at the same time, with one mic -- but only if your room sounds nice!
If you want to record in stereo, either a couple of B1 or possibly a pair of MXL 603, Oktava MC012, SP C4, Røde NT4 or similar could do the job well. But I would not generally recommed the SDC mics for voice, although some of them will work OK to well, depending on your voice. This will set you back some 200 to 300 USD, but may require an additional mic for the voice.
So... you can get by with one mic only, or a stereo set that can do both, or one or two mics for the guitar and another for your voice.
You need a pop filter also, btw, if you don't have one already or can make one.
And I assume you have a preamp with phantom power? If not, add one (such as a DMP3) to your budget.
For plain acoustic guitar, I don't find the SM57 doing a good job. It is good for many other things, but it does not work for me on acoustic.
There is another thread here btw, just a few days old, dealing with how to record a guitar. And there is a lenghty thread on the B1 also. Do a search.
-- Per.
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jokke
New member
thanks for the advise. I just bought the Fostex VF160EX, but I havent recieved it yet. so I appreciate all the advise i can get. cheers Joakimdiogo said:
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jokke
New member
Thanks for your help per.baekgaard said:
I need stereo for the guitar. I don't know much about recording equippment, but I'm trying to learn. I've bought the Fostex VF160EX, so I'm taking all the good advice I can get. I'm gonna take a look around the forum, thanks again. Jokke
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astoebe
New member
hey.....you don't HAVE to have stereo on the guitar....why don't you try something real inexpensive like an MXL 990.....see what you can do with it? If you are totally new to this, this might not be a bad option. I had some very good success w/ this when I started out. Actually, I compared my recordings w/ the 990 to some recordings I did with some AKG's (higher end) at my University's studio, and I like the sound I got w/ the MXL 990 just as much (I eq-ed it as well). This is I'm sure partly due to the inexperience of my friend who recorded me....but still, the MXL 990 was not too bad.....If you want, I can post something I did w/ it on here. Let me know!
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Big Kenny
New member
cad m179, multi pattern that sounds good on vocals and guitar and you will always have a use for it. Under $200, for stereo, get two (but you could have figured that out, huh?)
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tmix
Well-known member
Big Kenny is right.
With 2 multi pattern mics you can do a lot. From stereo to mid side.. plus you can track guitar AND vocals at the same time wih minimal bleed by setting them up in figure 8 pattern and pointing the null point of the guitar mic at the voice and null point of the vocal mic at the guitar. This works wonderfully well for those folks that have a really hard time tracking vocals without playing at the same time.
Tom
With 2 multi pattern mics you can do a lot. From stereo to mid side.. plus you can track guitar AND vocals at the same time wih minimal bleed by setting them up in figure 8 pattern and pointing the null point of the guitar mic at the voice and null point of the vocal mic at the guitar. This works wonderfully well for those folks that have a really hard time tracking vocals without playing at the same time.
Tom
