Microphone Recommendations?

dimelives1


Hi all. I'm looking to pick up a new mic for recording. I want something of high quality, but would like to keep the price under $300 or so. I need something for both musical vocals as well as speaking for dialogue-centric multimedia projects. For music, I do hard rock/metal, so I need something good for clean vocals AND screaming.

Any suggestions, fellow recordists?

Thanks!

Under $300 I'd go with a good Shure.  Beta 57a comes to mind.  A Shure SM7 would be great but they are just over $300 even on e-bay.

hi dime,
my next purchase will hopefully be an sm7b.
it is designed for broadcast use, so for voice-overs and stuff like it, you'd be set. it so happens to be a great power vocal mic as well. a clean, hi gain preamp is essential though. they run about  $350 msrp, but if you shop around good enough, you can do better but not a lot better.

Check out a Senheiser MK4

sm7B

Try the Rode NT2-A Bundle.  The price is a little over $300 if you search around for it online.  It's a good mic and well worth the investment.

Peace

batsbrew


i don't think any of the mics mentioned would rank as 'high quality'.

that said, most are proven workhorses. the sm7b really shines. especially for screaming.
it's a dynamic, the condensers can overload if they don't have good pads, and most of the cheap ones ($500 and down) have pads, but i wouldn't call them highly effective)

while you are correct, high quality is relative in the terms of the OP's budget.
 
the real high quality mics are not going to be $300, and actually your $500 limit is kind of low as well.
 
but for $300 the mics which have been mentioned are excellent.

is price the only determining factor for quality?
how do the facts that anthony kiedis, james hettfield and micheal jackson sing/have sung on an sm7 play into that determination? especially considering the fact that m.j's "thriller" is the biggest selling record in history? i would have to say it's capable of being rather "high quality."

M@ B


is price the only determining factor for quality?
how do the facts that anthony kiedis, james hettfield and micheal jackson sing/have sung on an sm7 play into that determination? especially considering the fact that m.j's "thriller" is the biggest selling record in history? i would have to say it's capable of being rather "high quality."

The rumor I heard was that it was an SM57.  regardless, what that really states is that the quality from that recording came from the the performance and the recording, mixing and mastering engineers and producers.

M@ B

quincy jones could have put up any mic in existence during the thriller sessions.

Bruce Swedien, the famous engineer, was responlible for tecnical stuff like mics. Quincy was more of the sesesion leader/arranger type of producer.
 
Sven

batsbrew


not saying you can't catch an EXCELLENT PERFORMANCE with a less than 'high quality' mic.

there's a big difference, in a quality performance captured by a mid-grade mic, versus a crappy performance captured by an expensive stellar mic.

both of these instances have occurred, i'm sure you've heard them.

that's not what we're talking about.


the Quality of a mic, can be scientifically measured.

the WORTH of a mic, is entirely subjective.

what i'm trying to say is that a microphone's usefulness or quality is not necessarily a function of it's price and is not restricted to what the o'scope says. 

Beagle

M@ B


is price the only determining factor for quality?
how do the facts that anthony kiedis, james hettfield and micheal jackson sing/have sung on an sm7 play into that determination? especially considering the fact that m.j's "thriller" is the biggest selling record in history? i would have to say it's capable of being rather "high quality."

The rumor I heard was that it was an SM57.  regardless, what that really states is that the quality from that recording came from the the performance and the recording, mixing and mastering engineers and producers.

Hey I just got a Martin D-35 (brag brag brag) what mic would you use on that ?

ohhey

Beagle

M@ B


is price the only determining factor for quality?
how do the facts that anthony kiedis, james hettfield and micheal jackson sing/have sung on an sm7 play into that determination? especially considering the fact that m.j's "thriller" is the biggest selling record in history? i would have to say it's capable of being rather "high quality."

The rumor I heard was that it was an SM57.  regardless, what that really states is that the quality from that recording came from the the performance and the recording, mixing and mastering engineers and producers.

Hey I just got a Martin D-35 (brag brag brag) what mic would you use on that ?

audio technica 4021

Thank you, everyone, for your suggestions. I have checked all of them out and am looking over the details with much care.

I've been leaning toward the Rode NT1:
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/NT1AAnniv/

After reading into the matter more, I believe I need a large diaphragm condenser mic, I've seen Rode recommended elsewhere, the reviews are all positive, it comes with the full shabang package including a shockmount and pop shield, and the price is right.

But I can't ignore all the suggestions of a mic like the Shure SM27. But with the higher price and fewer reviews, I'm not sure that this would be the wiser choice.

Objective thoughts?


(Again, I will be using the mic only for recording hard rock vocals and speech dialogue, and possibly guitar amps and a touch of acoustic guitar in the future. No plans for recording drums, live audio, etc.)

This one looks sweet too and it handles pretty high SPLs... I was looking at it last night in the SW print catalog.
 
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/MK4/
 
Julien
 
Julien

"plugged into a Neve 1084"


Does that mean they didn't use the custom built Harrison 3240?