Shopping for new Mic...here are my needs...

[microchip]

Greetings,

This is my first post in the Mic forum and hope to have some assistance.

I am doing home recording. Up to this point, everything I have recorded has been internal. However, now I would like to do some external recording and am totally new to microphones.

As I said, I am home recording. I want to record spoken word for an avant-garde poem album with music in the background. (Only the spoken voice will be recorded with a mic).

I know there are probably a million variations on mic recording,
but given these facts...

1. Are there certain mics that are best for spoken word?

2. Since there are so many different mics out there, in what ways do they sound different?

3. Does anyone have a suggestion for a mic for my use for about $200-350?

Thanks!

 

[jimistone]

if your gonna buy a mic, get one thats good for singing too. I think one of the best deals on a mic is to get a c-1 studio projects mic. This mic is a condenser mic and its about 230 bucks. With a condenser mic you will need phantom power...alot of mixers have that, if yours doesn't you can get a stand alone unit for phantom. do a serch in the mic forum for studio projects and you will see alot of discussion on these mics.

 

[Aren]

Agood old SM-57 is probobly what you need. It is just about the only mic we use for spoken word in the studio I work in. A pop filter would help too.

Oren

 

[Bear'sGnFission]

EV RE-20, Shure SM-7, and Sennheiser MD-421 are standards for spoken word and voice over, and good at lots of other applications, too. The later two are most likely to be in your budget new, but you can often get lucky on a used RE-20. Try your speaker with each to see which is better for him/her.

Bear

 

[Sonic Misfit]

I have used SM-57 and the Sennheiser e835 for roadwork type voice recordings. Both of these can be had for under $100 each.

 

[Gidge]

is this aprofessional project?....if so, the sm57 is a great utility mic but with that budget, not the best choice for the job....a LD consenser like the Marshall MXLv67 or Studio Projects C1 plus a decent preamp with phantom power like the Delta DMP3, or if you wanna go cheaper , Midiman Audio Buddy.......

 

[Aren]

I don't know about that Gidge. Singing and speaking are very different, and proffesional narrators and singers are very different. Most narrators I know tend to speak very close to the mike, and I don't think that a condenser would be the ultimate choise. An SM-7 seems like a better idea, if you want to use up the budget.

Oren

 

[Gidge]

i didnt say "ultimate"......ok, i did say best but i meant better within budget....ulimate may be the sm-7 or EV RE20.......

 

[Markd102]

Also worth checking out a dedicated broadcast mic like the Rode Broadcaster.