First Microphone Suggestions?

[rashayritto]

Re: First Microphone Suggestions?

I have an SM57 and an MXL 990. I paid about $40 bucks each used.
They are going through a Saffire and although I double mic, I like the MXL better - but it needs phantom power.

Yeah my MXL has served me well on guitar AND vocals

[dotsdad]

Re: First Microphone Suggestions?

Shure SM57. It is one of the most affordable professional-grade mics on the market, and it is virtually indestructible. Best of all, it sounds great on guitar cabinets.

[123acdc123]

Re: First Microphone Suggestions?

Shure SM57. It is one of the most affordable professional-grade mics on the market, and it is virtually indestructible. Best of all, it sounds great on guitar cabinets.

I don't need a mic for guitar cabs. I need a mic for vocals and acoustic guitar.

[DrNewcenstein]

Re: First Microphone Suggestions?

Sennheiser E835 my singer had beat out the SM58, but the Shure BetaGreen 2.0 ran a close second, believe it or not.

My drummer let me use one of his spare Sennheiser e604 tom mics (!) to mic my cab and it sounded great.

[ItsaBass]

Re: First Microphone Suggestions?

For that budget, Shure Beta 57. It's basically a more directional SM57. That slight change in pickup pattern makes them a godsend for live sound, or any situation in which you are having problems with bleed and/or feedback.

[dotsdad]

Re: First Microphone Suggestions?

I don't need a mic for guitar cabs. I need a mic for vocals and acoustic guitar.

57 is also great for vocals. Bass proximity effect gives great chest tone...really fattens male vocals. 57 is also great at rejecting feedback; if you are on a cramped stage in a club, right up on the monitor, it's still wont squeal. And, as I mentioned earlier, you really have to try to break it.

I love my AKG C3000 condenser for acoustic - crystal clean, yet not shrill highs' gobs of dynamics.

You could prbably get a 57 AND a c3000 within your 150 budget if you are patient enough to find em cheap on eBay,

[ItsaBass]

Re: First Microphone Suggestions?

I don't need a mic for guitar cabs. I need a mic for vocals and acoustic guitar.

SM57's are "do everything" mics, as are SM58's. In fact, they are the same internally, but have different wind screens, causing a slightly different frequency response. I prefer 57's, as you can simply add an accessory screen to effectively turn them into a 58. With a 58, you need to unscrew the wind screen to make it sound like a 57, and that exposes the internals to damage.

[123acdc123]

Re: First Microphone Suggestions?

Well, none of this will be for live use.

[rashayritto]

Re: First Microphone Suggestions?

Well, none of this will be for live use.

regardless, you have plenty of great suggestions to go on

[NecroPolo]

Re: First Microphone Suggestions?

I don't need a mic for guitar cabs. I need a mic for vocals and acoustic guitar.

Check a RODE M3 then:

http://www.rodemic.com/mics/m3

Cheap like hell and it's brill for acoustic guitars and vocals. And a lot of other things, too. I used it from sound design projects where you record ambient noises to voice recording through musical instruments and it performed pretty fine everywhere. This one was some kind of test file, a single M3 was used for almost everything:

[beaubrummels]

Re: First Microphone Suggestions?

Check a RODE M3 then:

http://www.rodemic.com/mics/m3

Cheap like hell and it's brill for acoustic guitars and vocals. And a lot of other things, too. I used it from sound design projects where you record ambient noises to voice recording through musical instruments and it performed pretty fine everywhere. This one was some kind of test file, a single M3 was used for almost everything

+1 - not necessarily because it's the ultimate mic, but the budget is restricting options. Rodes are good and inexpensive.

Because acoustic guitar is in the mix, you need a small diaphragm mic. Because vocals are in the mix, you need high pass filter on the mic to defeat proximity effect. The pad on the mic will be a bonus if your source sounds are overloading the capsule. (e.g. if you try it on electric guitar, or your acoustic is really thumpy in the bass)

[Grindspine]

Re: First Microphone Suggestions?

I'm looking for my first microphone. I want it to be able to do electric guitar, acoustic guitar, and vocals all very well. I don't foresee needing to mic bass or drums. It needs to stay below $150.

For vocals or micing a guitar cab, a Shure SM57 is hard to beat. It's the industry workhorse. I have used ones from the 1970s that still sounded great for vocals, micing drums, and micing guitar cabinets. I have also used them for remote broadcast radio station events. Overall the Shure SM57 is just a great mic.

However, for acoustic guitar, I would suggest looking into condenser mics instead. I think that SM57s are best with recording loud sources, but not so much for acoustic guitar.

[Bassman1]

Re: First Microphone Suggestions?

I have used Shure and Audio-Technica in the past. I still have them but haven't used them in years. I think one of them was like 99$ but that was like 12 years ago.