Tasha Morgan said:
I am wanting to buy a microphone for home recording purposes. This mic will be used 95% of the time for lead vocals only. I want a mic that will give me a warm natural sound that has a good all around balanced sound. Right now, I have a cheap CGM CG-2000 mic that I'm using. When I record with it, the track on my pc sounds like it is in a hole. I don't have the capabilities to prepare the room I'm in, my back bedroom. Can anyone suggest a good all around vocal mic? I really can't afford to spend over $100 right now. Also, what is the difference between a dynamic and condenser mic anyway?
Many musicians use the trusty
Shure SM58. For around $90 you get a dynamic microphone that is built like a tank, and can withstand all manner of abuse. Its cardioid (heart-shaped) pickup pattern gives it a characteristic "warm" sound when used close-up for vocals (proximity effect - noticably on all directional mics.)
Dynamic mics use a coil attatched to the diaphragm to generate their electrical output, similar to a loudspeaker in reverse...
Advantages: very robust, self powered, inexpensive
Disadvanges: frequency response and sensitivity limited by mass of diaphragm and moving coil
Condenser mics generate their signal by having their diaphragm being one of the plates of an electrical capacitor, the capacity of which changes with the air pressure on the diaphragm. This change of capacitance can be measured and amplified.
Advantages: very light diaphragms can give condenser mics very accurate response; they can also be very sensitive.
Disadvantages: fragile (both electrically and mechanically), expensive, signal is so weak that it needs amplifying in the mic, and so needs power (either "phantom-power" or a small battery in the mic; actually, some condensers are "electret" where the capacitor has a permanent charge placed on it at the time of manufacture)
er, um - hope this helps -
Good Luck -
- Wil
