studio microphone
- Thread starter stussy
- Start date
There are many choices out there. What do you want to do with it? Vocals? Male, female. Instruments? Do u want to use it for video? What pre-amp do u have? What's your budget? Let's go from there.
Mark
Mark
Hi, sorry it has taken a bit long to get bcak to you.
The issue I can see is that any decent condensor mic (studio-type, big, good for vocals) is going to need a pre-amp to take the signal from the microphone (which is very low level, electrically) and amplify it enough to be able to get it into a computer. It also needs a separate power source to make it work (usually 48v). There are those that work on USB and have a mic one end and a USB the other, but that limits you for using the mic with anything else in the future. They are generally best for vocals (in fact some of the classic German ones - read very expensive German ones - Neumann U47 valve, AKG C12, Geffel, etc...are legendary for a good reason) and good for ambient sounds. They are not to be thrown around, beered around or blown on (testing testing phew, phew, phew).
The other type, dynamic, is what you would see on a Friday night out, getting shouted into by any band. They don't sound as good as a studio condensor and aren't usually the best choice for "ambient" type sounds, like capturing room sounds for video, but don't need their own power and are a lot more robust. I have seen them being hit by drummers and used as weapons. You are still going to need a pre-amp to drive them.
So as I see it - you need a sound card (internal or USB) with a pre-amp built into it (lots have - EMU, MOTU, M-Audio). Then if you want a true beginner's micophone that you will always end up using on other things (like drums/guitar amps/singing at gigs) a sm58 or other quailty dymanic mentioned (always stick to a decent brand - Shure/AKG/Sennheiser). This will NOT give you the best quailty for now, but to start with it's fine and a good dynamic ALWAYS gets end up being used again on something else. Most studios have a good selection of these for the instruments mentioned above. If you budget is higher, then get the sound card (make sure it's got 48V - phantom power its called) and go for a cheaper brand named condensor (Rode, AKG, Shure, etc...).
There are a lot of CHinese copies around. They are fine to begin with but you will outgrow their sound, and the support is not as good as the brands. The branded mics hold their value well and some of them have been used daily for almost 50 years by now.
Try this article: http://homerecording.about.com/od/microphones101/a/mic_types.htm
Just my thoughts,
Mark
The issue I can see is that any decent condensor mic (studio-type, big, good for vocals) is going to need a pre-amp to take the signal from the microphone (which is very low level, electrically) and amplify it enough to be able to get it into a computer. It also needs a separate power source to make it work (usually 48v). There are those that work on USB and have a mic one end and a USB the other, but that limits you for using the mic with anything else in the future. They are generally best for vocals (in fact some of the classic German ones - read very expensive German ones - Neumann U47 valve, AKG C12, Geffel, etc...are legendary for a good reason) and good for ambient sounds. They are not to be thrown around, beered around or blown on (testing testing phew, phew, phew).
The other type, dynamic, is what you would see on a Friday night out, getting shouted into by any band. They don't sound as good as a studio condensor and aren't usually the best choice for "ambient" type sounds, like capturing room sounds for video, but don't need their own power and are a lot more robust. I have seen them being hit by drummers and used as weapons. You are still going to need a pre-amp to drive them.
So as I see it - you need a sound card (internal or USB) with a pre-amp built into it (lots have - EMU, MOTU, M-Audio). Then if you want a true beginner's micophone that you will always end up using on other things (like drums/guitar amps/singing at gigs) a sm58 or other quailty dymanic mentioned (always stick to a decent brand - Shure/AKG/Sennheiser). This will NOT give you the best quailty for now, but to start with it's fine and a good dynamic ALWAYS gets end up being used again on something else. Most studios have a good selection of these for the instruments mentioned above. If you budget is higher, then get the sound card (make sure it's got 48V - phantom power its called) and go for a cheaper brand named condensor (Rode, AKG, Shure, etc...).
There are a lot of CHinese copies around. They are fine to begin with but you will outgrow their sound, and the support is not as good as the brands. The branded mics hold their value well and some of them have been used daily for almost 50 years by now.
Try this article: http://homerecording.about.com/od/microphones101/a/mic_types.htm
Just my thoughts,
Mark
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