• Hardware
  • Advise On Microphone Purchase (p.3)
2015/11/09 18:07:50
batsbrew
microphones are your lowest common denominator.
 
you can spend a million bucks on your front end,
but if you have a mediocre mic,
your sound will always be mediocre.
 
now, ask yourself if a good mic purchase is worth it....
2015/11/09 18:09:56
batsbrew
for poor room acoustics, this:
 

 
http://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=602650
 
 
will not break the bank.
 
2015/11/09 20:41:27
rebel007
There are also places you can hire mics, take them home, and try them in your room. I can't recommend this enough. You'll probably find there's more than one that will grab you. You may find that there will be microphones that will work great on your vocals, and others that work great on your instruments. I'm warning you, you may come back here and say you just had to buy two or three mics.
2015/11/09 23:11:28
Cactus Music
The other factor is that we each have a unique voice and there's no one mike does it all for ALL vocals. 
The other day I had to try about 4 mikes on a female vocal and the best pick bar none was a Beta 58. 
 
Those Apex mikes are sort of dogs, I have one. It distorts real easily. Works good on people with weak vocals. Not good for me. 
2015/11/10 08:25:24
Jim Roseberry
batsbrew
you can spend a million bucks on your front end,
but if you have a mediocre mic,
your sound will always be mediocre.



I was considering mic/s as part of "front-end" gear.  
Great mics are one of the best studio investments.
2015/11/10 10:00:55
tlw
Jim Roseberry
Classics are classic for a reason (they work).


This.

Unless you've a big budget and can go out and buy as much gear as you happen to feel the need for you're almost certainly going to be better off with a couple of the "classics" than any number of very cheap microphones or a single "distinctive" one.

Valve (or tube, depending where you are) microphones, pre-amps etc. open up a new can of worms. Valves do not sound the same, even if they are electronically interchangable. A 1970s Philips 12AX7 doesn't sound like a same vintage General Electric or a modern JJ-Tesla 12AX7. Which in turn doesn't sound the same as a modern Sovtek and so on. Cheap valve gear also often uses very cheap Chinese valves which are frankly horrible sounding and replacing them with something better can make a real difference, though some guitarists who use high-gain Marshalls seem to like the Chinese valves because they distort nastily and easily.

So before you know it you'll be off down the valve rabbit hole comparing and trying different ones then, especially if New Old Stock valves give you the sound you particularly want buying a substantial number of them before they disappear to make sure you've enough in hand for when one fails. The valves used in mics and preamps tend to last many years but once on a while even a new valve can fail which is why virtually no-one warrantees a valve for more than 90 days. Not even Fender and Marshall. Some valves used in microphones are hard to get hold of at all which doesn't help.

My personal opinion is that it's best to get a couple of "classics" that can be used for many applications and leave the more specialised or oddball microphones alone until you know why you specifically want that particular microphone's sound. Say one large diaphragm condensor that doesn't break the bank and a general purpose dynamic like the SM57. Or a Shure SM7B dynamic which can handle pretty much anything you care to point it at. If you record acoustic guitar, strings or similar a small-diaphragm condensor can also be very useful.

When shopping for a condensor check if an elastic suspension comes with the mic or not, or, like the C1000S, if there's one built in. They can by surprisingly expensive if bought seperately and without one every foot-tap on the floor will be transmitted up the mic stand into the mic and get recorded.
2015/11/10 10:39:56
batsbrew
Jim Roseberry
batsbrew
you can spend a million bucks on your front end,
but if you have a mediocre mic,
your sound will always be mediocre.



I was considering mic/s as part of "front-end" gear.  
Great mics are one of the best studio investments.


not me,
i always give mics their own category.
 
seems that they have so much personality,
they deserve special treatment.

2015/11/10 11:38:23
Jim Roseberry

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