Will a dynamic mic be better for an untreated room?

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Joe-H

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Hi, I have a question that I'm hoping some of you can help me answer.

I have been doing vocal recording in an untreated room (with a computer running in the room!). I have been recording using a Rode NTK condenser. I'm not happy with the results I'm getting at all. There's just too much reflection and noise (picked up from the computer fan) in the recordings. It really muddy the sound. It gets even muddier when I apply effects (reverb & delay) to the dry recordings.

What I'm wondering is if a really good dynamic mic would give me better results. A dynamic mic has better isolation and doesn't pick up the room sound nearly as much as a condenser, right?

I would love to acoustically treat my room, but I currently don't have the money (I think I would need to spend around 3k to treat my room) or the means to get this done.
 
Yes a dynamic will help a lot. I would suggest that you get an Audix OM5 it has condenser like sound (very very good sound) and a tight pick-up pattern. It also has the best rear rejuction of any mic made. If you turn the mic around and put the housing against your cheek with you mouth against the back of the wind screen and talk you will hear it picks up almost none of your voice. Now try that with an SM58 and you'll see that it sounds like your almost in front of the mic. And to top it off the Audix OM5 is the best sound dynamic on the market.
 
deepwater, thanks so much for your reply.

So a good dynamic mic would indeed better for me since I record in an untreated environment? I mean, most of my vocal recordings I did with the NTK is really muddy. It doesn't cut through the mix at all. I think my untreated room is definately the problem for this.

I checked out that Audix mic you recommended. Is it a bright vocal mic? I'm looking for a VERY bright mic for vocal recording. One that can really accentuate (even exaggerate) the highs and give it some smoothness.

And, what about the Audix OM6, or OM7? Does it still have the same isolation as the OM5? I don't mind spending extra if it can give me what I'm looking for.
 
Joe,

> A dynamic mic has better isolation and doesn't pick up the room sound nearly as much as a condenser, right? <

No. Condenser versus dynamic defines how the sound waves are converted to electricity. You might be thinking of pickup pattern - omni, cardioid, figure eight - and those patterns are available with both dynamic and condenser mikes.

> I would love to acoustically treat my room, but I currently don't have the money (I think I would need to spend around 3k to treat my room) or the means to get this done. <

Yes, you really need to treat your room, and it doesn't need to cost anywhere near $3,000. If you have only a small budget you'll have to build your own treatment, but it's not difficult or expensive. The key material is rigid fiberglass. See the Acoustics FAQ, second in the list on my Articles page:

www.ethanwiner.com/articles.html

--Ethan
 
I agree about treating the room. Sure to do the whole thing really right might be a lot of money, but it is a curve. The first hundred dollars you spend on treatment gets you a lot more than the last hundred dollars. So you can do a half job in terms of price and have way more than a half job in terms of sound improvement.

Ciome to think about it microphones are the same way. The difference in sound between a $50 microphone and a $150 microphone is more than the difference between a $150 microphone and a $250 microphone.

The dynamic mic is more forgiving of the bad room not because it has a tighter pattern but because it does not grab and accentuate the little details of sound like your NTK does.
 
Ethan Winer said:
No. Condenser versus dynamic defines how the sound waves are converted to electricity. You might be thinking of pickup pattern - omni, cardioid, figure eight - and those patterns are available with both dynamic and condenser mikes.
Click to expand...
Thank you for your answer. I was a little confused about this subject. I had thought that since dynamic mic tend to be less sensitive to picking up room noise that would equate to better sound isolation.

Yes, you really need to treat your room, and it doesn't need to cost anywhere near $3,000. If you have only a small budget you'll have to build your own treatment, but it's not difficult or expensive. The key material is rigid fiberglass.
Click to expand...
Ideally, I would want a vocal booth. Since I can't build one myself, I would have to buy one. And being in a wheelchair, I might have to customize it so that it would fit me. I took a look at whiserroom.com, and for my need I think I would have to spend around 5k for a vocal booth. I just don't have that kind of money to spend on a vocal booth right now.

I have a store nearby (in Portland, Oregon) that sell rigid fiberglass. You're right that they are cheap. But how would I apply it to treat my room? Just stack them on all over the walls? What about sound isolation then? The computer is still going to make noise in my room, the door still has crack so sound coming in and out easily, and then there is my big window.

I also took a look at realtraps.com. I'm thinking I would need about eight of those micro-traps to put around my mic and the singer. That would cost me about $960, not counting shipping cost and the cost of mic stands to hold up those micro-traps. But then would they even be that effective? I still don't solve the noise problem in and out of my room, right?
 
Joe,

> I had thought that since dynamic mic tend to be less sensitive to picking up room noise that would equate to better sound isolation. <

The difference between most dynamic mikes and most condenser mikes is that most dynamic mikes have a poorer high frequency response. Again, the mike's pickup pattern affects how much room sound it picks up much more than whether it's dynamic or condenser.

> Ideally, I would want a vocal booth. <

You don't need a sealed enclosure to reduce room sound and echoes. That is done by treating the room's surfaces with absorption.

> how would I apply it to treat my room? <

All of this is explained in detail in the Acoustics FAQ I linked earlier. Read that first, then I'll be glad to answer any follow-up questions.

> The computer is still going to make noise in my room, the door still has crack so sound coming in and out easily, and then there is my big window. <

Those are different issues than improving the sound quality within the room. You can move the computer, and my FAQ has some other suggestions for that too. You can put something on the floor to cover the crack under the door. You can get a piece of thick plywood or MDF and put it in front of the window to reduce sound from coming in. There are lots of solutions to these problems, and many of them cost very little.

> I'm thinking I would need about eight of those micro-traps to put around my mic and the singer. <

You can make a "booth" using as few as three or four MicroTraps.

--Ethan
 
A dynamic mic like the Audix OM5 is a great mic for an untreated room. I'm a sound contactor and spec the Om3 and 5 on every job. The Audix mics have great rear projects and very very tight pickup patern. I use them because you get a lot less feedback and crossbleed. In fact the OM5s patern is so tight you have to be right in it. If you so to www.audixusa and read the pdf manuel you will under stand. Not many people understand the design and quailty in Audix mics. The OM5 will also give you condenser like respones.
 
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