Which Microphone?

[RBrez]

Which microphone under 300$ would ya'll suggest for a home studio???

 

[baniak]

more detail

w'all (we all) would like to know more about what you are thinking about doing in your home studio - and what kind of setup you are using/ going to use.

There are tons of microphones under $300. It's hard to pick just one at random.

 

[RBrez]

Here's all I have! Now what do U think I need?

Gateway 500s
2.4 P4
512 SDRAM

Acid Pro 4.0
Sound Forge 6.0
Fruity Loops

Shure SM 58
Pop Filter/ Mic Stand

That's all I have right now...... I need a good soundcard! (Just brought the piece of shi( Soundblaster back today) and maybe a better mic........ And also I would like something to make beats with besides Fruity loops, was thinking about a Korg Triton

 

[eeldip]

i think an sm58 is prolly good enuf

the sm58 is a really great rock/hip hop mic.

you might want a nicer mic pre though to help it out.

maybe a meek mq3 will help you.

 

[DJL]

Which microphone under 300$ would ya'll suggest for a home studio???

Two SDC like the Marshall MXL603s mic's and a LDC like maybe the Marshall MXL V67b or Studio Projects B3. It don't have to be these mic's listed above, I just used them as an example because they would keep your budget at about $300. The idea is to get a cuuple of SDC and a LDC and a dynamic mic or two. You'll also need phantom power for condenser mic's. Buying second hand can save you money.

 

[RBrez]

What do you think of the Rode NT1........... what Phantom Power manchine would I hook it up to?? And does the Phantom Power Machine hook up str8 to my soundcard to the mic input

 

[eeldip]

im telling ya

you dont need another mic! there are a million great sounding records with sm58s used for vocals. if you are micing instruments, then you might need another...

get that soundcard first.

then get going.

ohhh, and dont get that korg triton! too much money! no personality!

your money is better spent on some cdrs to distribute your music, or maybe putting together a live rig.

 

[baniak]

small mixer or mic pre

most mic pre's and mixers have phantom power in them. If you're just going to record one mic at a time, I would look into a mic pre - otherwise, since you were talking about a Triton, you might want to get a mic pre and a mixer - a mic pre because you'll need one anyways, and a mixer to plug other stuff into (like keys, drum modules, etc.) and then into your soundcard.

Depending on the sound card you get, you could hook up your mixer/ mic pre to the sound card either through an XLR cable (the one with 3 pins) a 1/4" cable, or an 1/8" cable (the small headphone size connectors) - with most sound blasters its the 1/8" (maybe called 3mm sometimes) cable you use, and don't plug it into the Mic In, plug it into the Line In -

Do a little research on how to hook stuff up, especially different types of cabling - what balanced and unbalanced means, line-level vs. mic-level inputs, low impedance vs. hi impedance, grounding, shielding, electrical hum, etc. - and you'll figure how to plug it in, and you'll avoid the headaches that I currently have

This is important because even if you know how to plug stuff into a mixer and your soundcard, you're still probably going to have buzzing caused from electrical circuits - it's unavoidable with a computer. Also, on certain occasions plugging stuff in wrong can destroy your equipment - I learned that last week.

 

[RBrez]

Thanks for the help....... Well what HARDWARE do you suggest I use for Hot beats... It's really pissing me off using the mouse in Fruity Loops... I heard the keyboards are good to make beats with............ As for software, I record in ACID and that's that once my beat is in there, pretty simple....!

 

[RBrez]

Baniak, your on top of your game, that's no doubt!!! So basically what would you suggest as far as mixer and preamp and keyboard? Just throw some good stuff our there for me.... So the Korg plugs into the mixer and the mixer plugs into the sound card. And then my Shure 58 will plug into a preamp which will plug into the soundcard........ I should be str8 after that correct????

 

[RBrez]

What do you think of this mixer

 

[baniak]

Actually, you could avoid the mixer if you got a mic/ instrument combo preamp (I think they have those) and just plug that into your card - but if you got a mixer, I think you would want to plug everything into your mixer first, and then into your soundcard - just so you are able to control everything from one source.

The mixer - just get something cheap and useful, but not too crappy - I have a Behringer MX802, and it's cheap ($80), but I think most people (myself included) would suggest that you avoid the Behringer MX series because they are kind of noisy.

Mackie, Soundcraft make small nice mixers.

Mic-pres: depends on what you want to do - there will be mic-pres in most mixers you buy - but if you buy mic-pres separate from the mixer you can get more features - the reason you buy mic-pres is two fold: a) to make your microphone strong enough to be recorded b) to "change the character" of the sound of your microphone - it is the second reason why you would buy an outboard mic-pre -

read about mic-pres in "The Rack" section of this board, you'll see that each mic-pre has a different sound they can give your vocals.

I would go the sampler route myself - get a keyboard controller - but then get a sampler - like an MPC2000 or something - much more versatile than a keyboard - but costs about as much.

 

[baniak]

What do you think of this mixer

It's not a mixer - it doesn't have knobs to control the volume of each input. Also, I don't see any phantom power. It would work with your SM58 - and any keyboards you plugged in, but it won't work with condenser mics.

Also, I don't see any XLR inputs - just two 1/4" inputs. So it might not even work with your SM58.

Good luck - just keep learning and doing reseearch about audio - you can start recording now - but you've got a long way ahead of you.

 

[jslator]

What do you think of this mixer

I think that it's not a mixer. It's a splitter.

 

[RBrez]

Alright brother, I'm newer at this and havent bought anything yet but my software and the Shure 58....... So your telling me all I really need is a good 1. SOUNDCARD
2. MIXER

If there's anyway you could post a pic of what's ideal that would be great.

I haven't spent my money yet because I wanna get sound advice so I don't screw it up and just buy stuff... I just need to make sure everything is compatible and sounds good.......

What's an MPC2000 look like??? and why that over say....... a Triton???

 

[RBrez]

I appreciate ya'lls patience with my learning this stuff..... I've always been interested and now have the money...... I'm just trying to keep it simple...........

 

[jslator]

If there's anyway you could post a pic of what's ideal that would be great.

This would be ideal:

But something like this might be more manageable:

 

[RBrez]

Hahhahahahah..... Thanks man........... Am i gonna plug the SM58 and the Korg into the mixer you just showed me?? And then just plug the mixer into the soundcard?? Seems pretty simple

 

[baniak]

If there's anyway you could post a pic of what's ideal that would be great.


What's an MPC2000 look like??? and why that over say....... a Triton??? [/B]

http://www.mackie.com/record/1202vlzpro/index.html - this is a mackie mixer.

http://www.mpc2000xl.com/ - here's some stuff about the MPC2000

THe reason I say MPC2000 - is because it's supposed to be the standard for hip-hop - also a sampler is more versatile than a keyboard because you can load your own sounds onto it, rather than using a bunch of preset sounds.

 

[RBrez]

Man, I've learned so much just talking to you man..... How much do those run.?? So was I right? You just hook your mic and keyboard into the mixer and the mixer into the soundcard??