Where to start...

[poopsie]

Alright, I am starting up a studio at my house for Voice Over stuff. I really want a warm sounding mic. My first question, what is the difference between a condesor and dynamic mic? I know a lot of people use the shure 57 and 58 with good luck. I am thinking about what ever mic, a behringer or mackie board (probably a Behringer due to cost), and the echo or m-audio sound card. I am using an external SB, and OLD shure mic which doesn't even have a model number on it and it sounds like crap. Quite a bit of hiss and the sound is kind of muddy. I can clean it up in AA, but the hiss is still there and I would like to have a clean sound so I don't have to revamp it in AA. The room I am in is fairly quiet, not padded, but it doesn't have any sound in it so recording in it should be good. Will this setup give my a better sound then I have right now? Whoa, sorry for so many questions, thanks for the help!

 

[whyseye]

There's a wealth of information on the microphone boards - check out the top couple of threads, and it'll probably answer a lot of your questions. It'll probably also give you tens times more new questions based on what you pick up there, but isn't that the fun of it? It can be so frustrating to realize the vast scope of what you don't know, but it's the thrill of the hunt, eh?

 

[poopsie]

Funny you say that, I found the section that told me exactly what the difference was between a cond. and dynam. mic. I have been searching but so much comes up. Looks like my best bet is too just go through each section and read! Oh my god, not that!!!! LOL, thanks-Great board BTW!

 

[mshilarious]

Post a picture of your old Shure mic, it could be something interesting. If it's not a good mic, then try to score a used SM7 off eBay, that's a nice warm VO mic.

 

[poopsie]

Actually I found it online, its a Shure SM7, but pretty old. I brought it to a buddies place and plugged it in to see if it sounded ok, and all be damned, the thing sounds great! Guess the SB Live is crap... So I'll just keep it for a while till it craps out. Now I just need to get a m-audio 2496 and either a Yamaha mixer or just a preamp. I am in the air on those, I don't know which way to go with it cause I don't need any more then two inputs so the DMP3 would probably work OK for me.

 

[Rokket]

Actually I found it online, its a Shure SM7, but pretty old. I brought it to a buddies place and plugged it in to see if it sounded ok, and all be damned, the thing sounds great! Guess the SB Live is crap... So I'll just keep it for a while till it craps out. Now I just need to get a m-audio 2496 and either a Yamaha mixer or just a preamp. I am in the air on those, I don't know which way to go with it cause I don't need any more then two inputs so the DMP3 would probably work OK for me.

Don't think it terms of what you are doing now, but where you will end up. A lot of people buy what they need for now, and end up buying again because they need more inputs, more flexibility, etc. I good mixer doesn't cost much more than a good pre amp, and gives you many more inputs and flexibility in achieving your sound. If you only plan to do just voice overs and never get into more down the road, then go for the DPM3. If you think that later on you want to record vocals, guitar, drums, or whatever, then buy a mixer. Think it over carefully before you spend the hard earned cash. Just my 2 cents, since you are still up in the air about it.

 

[scrubs]

Actually I found it online, its a Shure SM7, but pretty old. I brought it to a buddies place and plugged it in to see if it sounded ok, and all be damned, the thing sounds great! Guess the SB Live is crap... So I'll just keep it for a while till it craps out. Now I just need to get a m-audio 2496 and either a Yamaha mixer or just a preamp. I am in the air on those, I don't know which way to go with it cause I don't need any more then two inputs so the DMP3 would probably work OK for me.

You should definitely get rid of that "old" mic and get something new and shiny. I would begrudgingly take it off your hands for a small fee.

...

Just kidding. That mic has a great reputation for voice work and is found in many radio stations and recording studios (I think Robin Quivers uses one on the Howard Stern Show). I've been scouring e-bay for a deal on one.

Happy recording.