Questions From A True Beginner

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I just checked that post out and that along with what you said about a condenser mic lead me to do a little looking... I found a few small diaphragm condenser mics and was wondering if you've ever heard of them or had any experience with them. I saw the:

1. Audix F9 Small Diaphragm Condenser Microphone
2. MXL V67N Instrument Condenser Microphone Transformer Balanced Output
3. Apex APEX185 Matched Pair Pencil Condenser Microphones
4. MXL 993 Condenser Microphones Stereo Pair

The first two looked very nice, and the last two came as a pair which would be ideal for stereo recording. What do you think?
 
TeenChristian said:
I just checked that post out and that along with what you said about a condenser mic lead me to do a little looking... I found a few small diaphragm condenser mics and was wondering if you've ever heard of them or had any experience with them. I saw the:

1. Audix F9 Small Diaphragm Condenser Microphone
2. MXL V67N Instrument Condenser Microphone Transformer Balanced Output
3. Apex APEX185 Matched Pair Pencil Condenser Microphones
4. MXL 993 Condenser Microphones Stereo Pair

The first two looked very nice, and the last two came as a pair which would be ideal for stereo recording. What do you think?
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I`ve heard of them, but no personal experiance...

the only "MXL" I have experiance with, is the MXL 990...which is loved by some, and hated by others..but I don`t really have any complaints about it..I`ve used it on my acustic, and liked how well it worked...except how well it picked up my computor fan from across the room..LOL
it`s pretty cheap, and comes with a shock mount..
but again, it`s liked by some, and hated by others, which really made me very hesitant to even mention it..but heck with it, I`ll go ahead and post my personal experiance wth it..
it seams to go on sale every other week for $59...so if your tempted..wait until it drops again..
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/pro-...er-microphone-with-shockmount/273156000000000

All that said, I must tell ya, that I`m a newbie my self..I`m FAR from a seasoned/experianced recording guru..
I`ve been researching for a while,.. well before joining this site, but I do want to make it very well known, that I`m also new...I`ve been in a few bands, and been in the music scene in general since sometime in the late 70`s, when i was first making racket on a 6 string..but when it comes to recording, I`m pretty green over here..LOL
anyway, I`m just trying to pass along what I`ve read, heard etc, and what little bit of personal experiance I do have..
 
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TeenChristian said:
PS. KidCage, that's interusting. How was the quality, if you remember?
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It was two guys singing with one playing electric guitar and one playing acoustic.
Strangely they did not have a bass player.
It was at one of those weird school convention things in a gymnasium, so obviously the entire mix sounded kind of gross in there, but as far as reproducing the sound I would say it picked up every detail. The guy was sitting on it and it was right beside one of his knees. Surprisingly strong bass presence, and it even picked up the little finger trills the guy was doing on the snare type side of it.
 
TeenChristian said:
Hey Jimmy and Grim. I think you've definitely solidified my choice in the SM57 as my first mic
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Ahhh the beautiful workhorse, the sm57 :D My first microphone :)

If you're in America look around some music websites and see if you can get the deal where it's the mic and a mic stand for like $100ish. You can never have enough mic stands :o
 
don't try to use two soundcards at once. If you buy a soundcard/interface made for home studio recording, it will do everything your junk/stock soundcard does and do it better. After this you will probably never use the stock sound card again.

SM57 is a good start, but it wont do everything. A guy in your position should not, imo, be trying to mic an acoustic guitar, especially with an SM57. You'll get way more mileage from one of these for your acoustic.....Zoom A2

I think the Heil PR20 (or PR30 or PR40) are excellent subs/replacements for the SM57. Heil is as close as you can get to a condensor mic without buying a condensor mic.

How are you planning to record your electric guitar? If you mic it, just remember your mic is 1 inch away from the speaker, while your ear is 10 feet away from the speaker. What you hear with your ears in the room will not be the same sound the mic will "hear" and record. If you dont like the sound that plays back, put your ear where the mic is and hear what the mic is actually capturing. A lot of the crap coming from a guitar amp will never make it to your ears, but the mic will pick it up perfectly, and that's the sound that gets played back in your recordings.
 
AL P, Thanks for the info! And though you may not be a recording guru, anything you can suggest or contribute is very much appreciated!
Kidkage, that's very helpful to know, I think me or my brother may be getting a cajon soon, I've already played one of my friends and impressed.
Soundchaser... What do you think would be the best all around mic. Right now all I'm going for is an audio interface and one mic, that mic being for the electric and acoustic guitar as well as a cajon and maybe some vocals (probably not much). Do you think another mic coming in around $100 would be any better for these things than the SM57? Thanks alot in advanced :)
 
I will say this- the studio projects B1($120 I think), to my ears, is the best condenser mic I have used under $198 (@ 199 things start getting better :p). I really like the way it responds to processing.

I haven't mic'd electric with it though. I like the 57 for that.
 
Teen..hey man..just wanted to point out a mistake I made in my post above..I posted a link to the wrong mic..my link went to the MXL 990s..NOT the one I meant to link to, which is the MXL 990..
that`s why it was listing it at $89, instead of the usuall $59..
Just wanted to correct that...
when I first seen it, and it had a rating of 4.5 stars out of 5, with well over 400 reviews..(it`s got 494 reviews now)...I figured it could`nt be that bad to try out..I usually don`t base my decision on whether to purchase something or not, solely based on reviews, because ya just never know who`s writing them..but with that many reviews..IMO, it told me it must not be that bad..considering how inexpensive it is..
anyway, here`s the correct link..I`ve also fixed it in my post above..
MXL MXL 990 Condenser Microphone with Shockmount: Shop Pro Audio & Other Musical Instruments | Musician's Friend
 
The MXL 990 has some amazing reviews, and it definitely looks like one of the next mics on my list. Do condenser microphones like that work well with electric guitar? If that seems to do the trick I may even consider that over the SM57...
 
TeenChristian said:
The MXL 990 has some amazing reviews, and it definitely looks like one of the next mics on my list. Do condenser microphones like that work well with electric guitar? If that seems to do the trick I may even consider that over the SM57...
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ohh dear god..
if you pick that MXL 990 over a SM57 due to my post/suggestions, their gonna kick me off the site and ban me forever!!...

kidding (maybe?)..really though, their two totally different mics..
no way would I plant that MXL infront of a electric guitar cab..
but on the other hand, no way I`d pick a sm57 over the MXL for an acustic..
so there both for different purposes really..

if i had the money, I`d get one of each to cover acustic and electric guitar mic`ing..
if i only had the money to get one and not the other..(I`m probley gonna get yelled at for this..LOL)..but anyway, I`d pick the MXL..but that`s ONLY because I`m more interested in recording my acustic right now then my electric..and for just messing around, I can always (and have/do) just b line my electric directly into my interface...
so with just the MXL, I can record my electric, and acustic..
where as if i was only setting on the sm57, I`d be good to go to mic up my electric guitar cab, but would`nt have much going for me with my acustic..(however some swear they get good results using the sm57 on an acustic, but from my very minimal experiance, i think I`m digging the condensor for my acustic noise making)..

here, to help illustrate my point of how different them two mic are...a good comparison, would be the differences between these two dolphins....
https://img818.imageshack.us/img818/665/2222xk.jpg

LOL
 
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I see... at this point in time I'm probably more interested in recording my electric, but that brings up the question... if I were to say run my electric guitar directly through my interface (probably the Tascam US 800) how would that sound compared recording it with an SM57?
If it would sound good than I could go for a Condenser mic for acoustic, vocals, and etc. Also, if going through the interface would sound better than micing my electric, what kind of cord would I use to get from electric to interface? Normal guitar to amp chord?
 
TeenChristian said:
I see... at this point in time I'm probably more interested in recording my electric, but that brings up the question... if I were to say run my electric guitar directly through my interface (probably the Tascam US 800) how would that sound compared recording it with an SM57?
If it would sound good than I could go for a Condenser mic for acoustic, vocals, and etc. Also, if going through the interface would sound better than micing my electric, what kind of cord would I use to get from electric to interface? Normal guitar to amp chord?
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Yeah, you would just use a standard guitar cable.
Unless you're planning to re-amp or run into some sort of amp modeler I think micing your amp would be better than running straight in to the interface.
 
So you would say that buying an SM57 is my best option for a first mic, recording mostly electric guitar?

Also, I was wondering about preamps... I'm not sure exactly how they work, or what they really do. How would something like a Studio V3 Single Channel Tube preamp effect the quality of an SM57 or other mics?
 
my opinion on the sm57 is that its a quality mic that as a first mic can serve many purposes well and give you an idea of what you do or do not like about it and where you want to go from there. If you like it you'll have a pro- quality legendary mic. If you hate it, it will have resale value because so many people are always looking for one.
I think a solid dynamic mic is the perfect place for a beginner to start.

A preamp is basically an amp for your mic. You'll need one for any mic.
 
Thanks Kidkage! I think I'll stick with my choice of the SM57. As far as preamps go do you think the pre's in the tascam US-800 are suitable untill I'm able to purchase an actual preamp?
 
TeenChristian said:
Thanks Kidkage! I think I'll stick with my choice of the SM57. As far as preamps go do you think the pre's in the tascam US-800 are suitable untill I'm able to purchase an actual preamp?
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If they're the same as my Tascam 1641 (which I would think they would be...) then they'll do fine till you get a separate pre! :)
 
In that case, I sure hope they are haha When I'm considering a new separate preamp what should I be looking for? The Studio V3 really temps me.. to me it looks absolutely amazing and I've read that if I where to replace the tube inside to another it sounds great. What do you think?
 
On board preamps can vary in quality but if the interface/recorder you're thinking of getting has them, then it's definitely worth playing about with them just to see how you like them. You always have the option of an external preamp if they don't boost enough for your liking.
All my machines had/have on board preamps. They were OK for the most part although sometimes it could be a struggle getting a good enough signal and of course one runs the risk of excess noise as you try to boost preamp weakness ! It's only really this last year however, that I've been using my two external ones. What a difference. No longer like sending coded messages to an occupied zone.
What was I thinking all those years ? Where had they been all my life ? :D
 
Your comment further temps me into looking more into a external preamp, grimtraveller. What is your opinion on the Studio V3? What preamps are you using?
 
The Studio V3 I know nothing about. I don't really know which are the good preamps. I'm a peasant on the tech specs, I'm afraid.The preamps I have are Behringers {gasp ! The forbidden word ! }, one is a two channel mic 2200 {Ultragain pro} and the other one has 6 - it's from the UB1832 mixer.
I bought both of them before I got involved at HR. I can't remember why I bought the 2200. I think I wanted to experiment with preamps because I'd been reading about them alot. Prior to this, although I generally had no troubles with my own vocal levels, when recording others singing, it was often a struggle to get useful levels. I didn't even bother with lead acoustic guitar. I had tried it once and the solo I did was actually quite inventive but it was washed in excess finger noise. That kind of put me off.
Once I started using the preamps and learning how to get an optimum signal without hiss or other noise, I became a fearsome advocate of them. It's only things like electric guitar and miked bass that don't need the preamp treatment. The onboards work excellently for them.
Behringers tend to be 'the great satan' with a number of folk here. But I don't care. They work.

By the way, for the sake of balance, have a look at the first few posts in this thread.
 
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