New microphone - Advice needed

  • Thread starter Thread starter fatjakep
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
F

fatjakep

New member
Hi there,

I am looking into purchasing a microphone as a gift for someone. I do not have any knowledge in this area myself so I would like some advice.

The gift is for an 18 year old female interested in recording vocals (with the intention of merging with a backing track sourced elsewhere). She has experimented with the built-in microphone in her laptop but as you would expect, the results are less than perfect!

I would like to spend around £50 ideally, but I appreciate this is a relatively small amount and will spend more if necessary.

What information do you need in order to best advise me (such as voice type, etc)?

Thanks in advance for any help.
 
Hey there. If I were you, I would go with a simple USB microphone. These aren't the best quality, but should suffice for recording little songs and such. They are also incredibly easy to use. Check out the Audio-Technica AT2020. It should be right in your price range and not too hard to find. Some people also enjoy using the Blue Snowball or the Samson C01. I have used the AT and can attest that it does well for the money!
 
Thanks for the fast response.

My only concern with such a microphone is that the person the gift is intended for is a strong singer and that the sound would distort at higher volumes. I'd prefer to spend more money if it means the quality of the recording will increase significantly.
 
Based on the limited information (with all due respect) suggest a Shure SM58,
for a number of reasons.

Along with a decent computer/pre interface-like the Yamaha Audiogram series (3 or 6).
They throw in multi-track recording software in the deal BTW.

Won't be Abbey Road :), but will be more than good enough...

Chris
 
fatjakep said:
Thanks for the fast response.

My only concern with such a microphone is that the person the gift is intended for is a strong singer and that the sound would distort at higher volumes. I'd prefer to spend more money if it means the quality of the recording will increase significantly.
Click to expand...

Well see, you're still leaving it a bit too open.
How much are you willing to spend?
With every increase, you can see a big jump in recording quality.
A used SM58 and a cheapish USB interface will run you in the range you initially quoted.
Double it, and you could probably noticeably improve your quality.
Double it again, and once again you could get a noticeable improvement.
You could spend upwards of $5000 for a single microphone and interface.
And the quality of the recording would increase significantly.

If professional results are desired, there's going to be a whole lot more going into it than simply buying the right mic.
Room treatment along with some solid know-how about mic placement and mic technique are gonna play into it. It doesn't matter how nice the mic is - if it records the sound of her voice reverberating around an ugly sounding room (or even too much of it reverberating around a nice sounding room), you'll never get it to merge naturally with the backing track.
There's also the know-how that it will take to get the vocal to merge with the backing track.
Even a professionally recorded vocal part can be very hard to sit into a mix that has already been mixed and mastered. One generally mixes with all the instruments - voice included - in mind, and so you might end up finding that there are some backing tracks that just won't ever have room for the vocal to sit naturally.
If you aren't looking for professional results, I'd say start small and work with what you have.
That USB mic might be the ticket, and the fact that it might distort on louder passages may actually be an advantage, as having to work around that could be a great way for your singer to start to learn proper mic technique.
If every time she makes an "s" sound the mic picks up a very harsh amount of sibilance, she'll have to start learning to pull those sounds back a bit. If every "P" creates a pop, she'll have to learn how to still convey the p sound without that big explosion of air. If loud passages make the mic distort, she'll have to learn to lean back a bit to make sure that when she goes loud the sound remains consistent.
These sorts of techniques are crucial in singing well with a microphone, and once a singer internalizes them to the point where they're automatic, it helps make all her vocal work with any microphone sound that much more natural.
There are downsides to the USB mic, though.
Many of them don't have monitoring capabilities built in, so it takes a good bit of effort to make it so you can hear what you're singing while you sing it. Also, the sound quality on many of them is believed by many to be pretty low for music recording.

If you decide to go the route of an interface combined with a microphone, you might look into something that allows live monitoring of the input signal.
The Lexicon Alpha may be the sort of thing you need.
It has a headphone amplifier in it and a "mix control" knob on the front which allows you to dial into the headphone mix the ratio between the already-recorded backing track and the live track that is being recorded. Fairly convenient and simple to operate, and it comes with recording software included.
As far as the microphone goes, you might look at a couple of different threads on this site, starting with these:
https://homerecording.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=311197
and
https://homerecording.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=302579

Either way, as I said, you could easily spend thousands of dollars and still not get pro quality, so if that's your goal, I'd make a gift of some studio time rather than a microphone, but if you're simply looking for something to help her improve her singing and hear an approximation of how she might sound over those backing tracks, I'd keep it simple and cheap and remember that most of the improvements in one's recorded sound can't be bought - they have to be earned through hard work and experience.
Good luck. :D
 
fatjakep said:
Hi there,

I am looking into purchasing a microphone as a gift for someone. I do not have any knowledge in this area myself so I would like some advice.

The gift is for an 18 year old female interested in recording vocals (with the intention of merging with a backing track sourced elsewhere). She has experimented with the built-in microphone in her laptop but as you would expect, the results are less than perfect!

I would like to spend around £50 ideally, but I appreciate this is a relatively small amount and will spend more if necessary.

What information do you need in order to best advise me (such as voice type, etc)?

Thanks in advance for any help.
Click to expand...

This is a tiny amount for a microphone.

For this price the best option would probably be a good dynamic mic. designed for stage vocals.

You should be able to get a Sennheiser e835 for around this price, though the e840 may be better if she wants the vocals to cut through over a backing track.
 
The breaking up at the higher volume is called SPL limit. At 140dB-ish, you can take on most things without an issue. At 125dB-ish SPL, I can clip at the mic on a number of mics on trombone. My voice on the other hand is well beneath any of those numbers which are tolerated by a number of mics. Baring stage / live use, you can control SPL levels by putting some distance between the mic and the singer, so not really that important per say. But if you're still concerned a dynamic mic like an SM58 can handle high SPLs. Ribbons can too, but they don't take kindly to wind, so not a first choice for some vocals. But also quite tolerant of high SPL levels.

What does this person need to use said mic? As in what do they already have? Anything? I mention this because I got literally sucked into this money pit (albeit worth it for me as a musician and a techie) because I got a deal on a good soundcard. But it was JUST a soundcard. No traditional sound blaster type connections. No mic preamps, no headphone preamp, TRS ins and outs ONLY. In the end my $100 (used) soundcard ($300-ish USD retail), costs me about $500 to fill in all the gaps to use a $50 mic to multi-track. XLR cables, mic preamp, headphone preamp, mic stand, boom arm, TRS cables and the works. If this gifted person, figuratively and literally, doesn't already have these things, they may not be able to use your gift. Unless you opt for the cheap (and probably sounds that way) USB mics. But not the best for vocals as they are geared more for podcasting. Multi-tracking to a backing track might be difficult at best with a USB mic. Just some things to consider.

If the intent is not professional quality results, then you could get them some giant squid type mics. Mini-mono for $10-ish depending on the time of year. And other variations. But I think that the mini mono is their best mic. That's the one I usually gift out. Any old PC or voice recorder with PIP can use it. And/Or buy the battery box and open up a few options. Not that you have to get that brand/type, there's tons of cheap electret mics to choose from. I just happen to like that one because it's not too far from some of the higher end gear in terms of results. It's no great mic through a great interface, but it could probably outperform your average camcorder mic.
 
SPL limits matter if you're miking a drummer and are worried about bleed. SPL limits for a singer? Yeah... um... no. Just back away from the mic.

BTW, I'm not a fan of USB mics. They generally have serious latency problems, and not all of them even provide a means of monitoring what you're recording. Even if they didn't have those problems, you're still paying for most of the cost of a usable audio interface plus a microphone, but without the ability to use the audio interface with any other microphones. It's really false economy in the long run, particularly if you're trying to record music. They're really designed more for podcasting.

My gut suggests buying a gift card for Guitar Center, and letting her pick the mic. Picking a vocal mic correctly can be tricky. That said, if you really want to buy a mic, we need to know more about her voice. Is her voice bright, mellow, breathy, harsh, full, thin.... Throw out some adjectives here.
 
Basically, I agree with what The Cancers said. Real microphones don't plug into a computer. The young lady needs a computer interface. Even a cheap mic will work so much better than what she's done so far. Here's a combination, which while relatively affordable, would produce a vast improvement:

Here's the interface:

http://www.8thstreet.com/product.asp?ProductCode=60669&Category=Audio_Interfaces

or this:

http://www.8thstreet.com/product.asp?ProductCode=40819&Category=Audio_Interfaces

This is cheaper but comes with a major limitation. It does not provide "phantom power", so it cannot be used with condenser (capacitor) microphones. That may be all right to start, as I would recommend a dynamic mic (the type usually used on stage) to start with anyway:

http://www.8thstreet.com/product.asp?ProductCode=27765&Category=Audio_Interfaces

Any of these will allow her to listen to the music or a metronome through headphones while she's singing, which really is necessary.

Heres a dirt-cheap mic which is shockingly good for the price:

http://www.8thstreet.com/product.asp?ProductCode=6535&Category=Microphones

this is better, and of course, more dear:

http://www.8thstreet.com/product.asp?ProductCode=3202&Category=Microphones

Most here will recommend the Shure SM58 or SM57. They are very popular in the US, but painfully pricey in the UK. As you gave the price in pounds sterling, I presume you are on the other side of the pond, and German mics that are just as good are more affordable throughout Europe. The sad news is- before you get her a microphone, she needs something to plug it into, and computers don't do that without an interface. Good luck-Richie
 
Thanks to everybody for the responses. It has given me plenty to think about.

I think, based on what you have said, that an interface and microphone would be the best route. Although more expensive than I had originally desired, I would prefer to invest in something that will last some time.

Thanks again.
 
fatjakep said:
Thanks to everybody for the responses. It has given me plenty to think about.

I think, based on what you have said, that an interface and microphone would be the best route. Although more expensive than I had originally desired, I would prefer to invest in something that will last some time.

Thanks again.
Click to expand...

Everything that Richard Monroe suggested will last a very long time.
Or do you mean that this stuff will go by way of upgrading in the near future?







:cool:
 
Or do you mean that this stuff will go by way of upgrading in the near future?
Click to expand...

No. I agree that everything Richard Monroe suggested will last, and so I believe that to be a worthy investment.
Thanks
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top