Help me buy a new mic

August 7, 2010 9:48 PM

With my first steps into home recording, I'm realizing that my live gear just isn't cutting it anymore...but I could use some advice.

Despite there being several places I could upgrade, I plan to start with my microphone setup. I've been using a Shure SM-58, which I bought on recommendation and have been mostly pleased with it. However, it's starting to show it's age, and it's time to invest in better equipment. I'd like to keep using this one for live gigs, but I need to buy some new mics for home.

So what I'm looking for is something that will be really good at picking up acoustic instruments. Whether it's guitar, piano, accordion...you name it. True, I could google this, but I'm hoping for some straight recommendations on actual products. Brands, models, etc.

Budget-wise...it's a hobby, not a career, and I'm not looking to take a huge jump yet. I don't really know what my price limit is yet, but lower is better.
posted by SamuraiCarChase (10 comments total) 2 users marked this as a favorite

I don't have a broad experience with mics, but I can tell you what I use: a Studio Projects B1 condenser (~$100), which requires phantom power but has been very versatile for tracking vox, acoustic instruments, and room mics for misc. recordings.

There are other similar condensers in this range; I've had mine for several years, there may be better bargains since. But that general range is good for a very solid low-end condenser. You don't need to spend a whole lot more for a mic at the moment.

The phantom power thing is a trick because you need a pre-amp that provides same. If I recall right (and please correct me if I'm wrong here), you're currently using a (now discontinued?) M-Audio FastTrack USB, which is a nice little box but doesn't do phantom. I had the same setup for a number of years and dealt with it by buying a small Yamaha mixer (an MG102C specifically, ~$100) with phantom power and running mic -> yamaha -> fastrack, which was a pretty cost-effective solution.

That setup is fine, especially if you don't need to move your recording setup around a lot, but I wanted more quick mobility so I ended up buying the big brother unit, the Fast Track Pro (~$200), for the phantom power and slightly nicer overall interface. Mostly just the phantom, though, everything else was just icing but it's nice icing to have. Now I don't need to involve the mixer at all, which means the condenser can go anywhere I need it to.

There may be cheaper USB-driven phantom-ready pre-amps available, I never really went looking. You may also want to consider the self-contained USB-powered condensers on the market, since it'd be an all-in-one solution that'd go straight from mic -> computer; I like that idea but had trouble with the one I tried not playing nicely with my existing recording setup (I couldn't do live monitoring of the input with it the way I could with the Fast Track interfaces, though that may have been more a reflection of the not-great DAW software I was using than anything).

Anyway, that's what's worked for me. You can get a lot of flexibility out of a nice $100-class condenser and a pre-amp solution, and it'll give you more control over noise floor stuff with your Shure mic as well.
posted by cortex at 10:43 PM on August 7, 2010


Well....an idea of budget would be a help, even just a range. With mics, as with everything else, you generally get what you pay for. But not always...

The biggest difference for recording v live is that you're looking at condenser (or even tube) mics rather than dynamics like the SM58. Condenser mics are generally more sensitive. Even there, there's no rules - I believe Jagger uses a dynamic when recording and Freddie Mercury sometimes did too.

In terms of recording acoustic instruments the family of AKG C414 - there are several variants - is arguably industry standard. But they're not cheap - you might get a new one for £500-£600 - and vigilant monitoring of eBay might get you a good used one for half that if you're lucky. As cortex says, condenser mics need to be powered. Most modern desks have this facility built in and you can just switch on the phantom power and off you go. But if you're using a PC or Mac-based system, you'll need a separate power supply. I think you can get DI boxes reasonably cheaply that have phantom power on board.

Failing that - and an option that might be worth considering - is something like the AKG C1000S. This is a small diapragm condenser that can be powered by a PP3 battery (those little rectangular ones). I have one of these - in fact it was my first condenser mic - and it's quite good for instruments. But not great. It's a quite "toppy" and is, in my view, best used in conjunction with another mic as the C1000S can pick out the brighter elements.

Another cheaper mic - that does need phantm power I'm afraid - is the Rode NT1A. This is a good mic that can be used for a lot of different applications. I think they can be got in the UK for around the £100 mark. Rode - Australian-made - are really, really good mics in my experience. I have a tube mic of theirs called a K2 which I always use for vocals and, along with my AKG C414 XLS, is my weapon of choice.

Another thing to consider is mics that have switchable polarity patterns and various attenuation pads built into them. The advantage with these is that you get a lot of flexibility - you can use them in cardioid pattern, hypercardioid, figure-of-eight etc and also drop the sensitivity by -10dB steps if recording loud sources. There are a lot of these around. They all need phantom power (you will struggle to escape that caveat I'm afraid). Good ones in my experience (and relatively cheap) are the AKG C3000 and the Rode NT2A.

One final point - probably the most important one. It doesn't matter how good the mic is objectively, if you're pre-amp is shit the sound will be shit. There are various portable pre-amps around. Again, I'm afraid you ge what you pay for. I use a Focusrite ISA 1 - which is just fantastic to my ears. But - expensive. Others may be able to advise on the relative merits of Behringers etc etc. But I can't stress enough how important the pre-amp is in getting a good, faithfully-reproduced sound onto "tape".

Oh - and don't forget the connectors etc. The ISA 1 - and most modern stand-alone pre-amps feature a wide range of analog and digital connection options.

Oh, oh, oh.... and the room. Yesssss - don't forget the fucking room. You'll need to make sure your recording environment has as little "colour" (room reflections etc) as poss. Again - good mic, good pre-amp, shit room = shit sound. If the room can't be treated - think about a reflection filter.

The real deal here is quite simple - you need to ensure that every step in the pathway between the voice/instrument and the "tape" is as high-quality as you can afford.

Soooo.....your start-up budget needs ideally to be in the £750 range (about a $1000 bucks??) to take account of the following key points (in my view at least):
- decent pre-amp;
- flexible polarity/pad mic;
- reflection filter; and
- phantom power source.

Whew - exhausted now. So must you be reading that! Happy to advise further if you want more steer.
posted by MajorDundee at 3:33 AM on August 8, 2010


Sorry - should have revised that a little. Most portable pre-amps have switchable phantom power. So if you buy a pre-amp you can probably scrub the independent phantom power source from the shopping list (and cut costs accordingly).
posted by MajorDundee at 3:46 AM on August 8, 2010


Yep, the Studio Projects B1. And an M-Audio Mobile Pre for the phantom power and audio interface. Will get you incredible sounding results for about $275 all in. Plus a pop-shield and a boom stand (which makes life much easier flipping between recording vox and guitar). I upgraded from my SM58 and haven't looked back (still use the 58 for miking amps though).
posted by unSane at 6:51 AM on August 8, 2010


Here's a possibly silly piggy back question that might be of use to SamuraiCarChase:

On my condenser mic there are two switches...one is for "low cut" the other is "-10dB/0dB".

How and why would I use them? I kinda get that they gate sound, like loud instrument vs. quiet instrument. But having played around with it I really haven't noticed a difference.

(Since you folks are talking condenser mics, I figured that this is a good time and place to ask. Gracias!)

Good luck, SamuraiCarChase, these guys are definitely putting you on the right track.
posted by snsranch at 3:18 PM on August 8, 2010


On my condenser mic there are two switches...one is for "low cut" the other is "-10dB/0dB".
How and why would I use them?


Low cut I use for cutting the boominess of things, acoustic guitar for example, especially if you're miking anywhere near the soundhole; or vocals if I'm doing a really close-mikey quiet kind of vocal, I can get pretty boomy when I do that.
The -10 I'll use if I'm miking a snare or getting close to a kick (but be careful if you do this, the membrane of a large diaphragm condenser is pretty sensitive.)
posted by chococat at 4:04 PM on August 8, 2010


Ah, that makes perfect sense! Thanks, chococat!
posted by snsranch at 4:57 PM on August 8, 2010


To be honest I keep the low cut engaged most of the time since I chop the bass off of almost everything except bass and bass drum/toms when I'm mixing. The pad is really useful to keep your pre-amp levels in the middle of the range. It's absolutely essential for recording anything with big transients (like tambourine) unless you have got a compressor in your channel strip before it hits the audio interface.
posted by unSane at 8:33 PM on August 8, 2010


MajorDundee said everything I was going to say. His mic recommendations are pretty much the same as mine.

After I got a reflection filter, things improved considerably. You can also make gobos in a pinch with a couple of 2m X 1m pieces of acoustic foam clipped to a couple of mic stands (using carpenter's wood clips) to hold it up or one of those IKEA hanger stands. If you put this in the middle of the room or next to you when you are recording it can help cut down on the reflections. The only down side is that, depending on whee you place it, it is hard to see the computer monitor when setting your levels, etc.
posted by chillmost at 4:42 AM on August 9, 2010


I record in my attic office which has bare sloping ceilings and a wooden floor and the acoustics are terrific because there aren't any standing waves to speak of.

Hard wooden floors are great for recording acoustic guitars, by the way.
posted by unSane at 5:13 AM on August 9, 2010


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