Taperssection.com
Gear / Technical Help => Microphones & Setup => Topic started by: Kindguy on January 25, 2012, 12:07:06 AM
-
Anyone have a suggestion for a inexpensive vocal mic to have in a home studio?
I'm not looking to break the bank on this. It probably wont get much use at all, but I'd like to have one around.
I have 2 Octava mk319's in the closet. (to be honest I've never hooked them up)
Any suggestions are appreciated!
Thanks
Jeff
-
I was looking at a SHURE SM7B They can be bought used for under $300 bucks....
or this is even better $$ wise AT 3035
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Audio-Technica-AT3035-Condenser-Cable-Professional-Microphone-/180803689010?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2a18bd5a32#rwid
-
I was looking at a SHURE SM7B They can be bought used for under $300 bucks....
or this is even better $$ wise AT 3035
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Audio-Technica-AT3035-Condenser-Cable-Professional-Microphone-/180803689010?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2a18bd5a32#rwid
The SM7B is a good mic, especially for rock vocals.
In that price range you could look at an MXL V69, pretty nice LDC (tube). I think I like it better than a TLM103 which is the lower end Neumann at $600-$1000.
-
Take a look at the ADK-TC... tube condenser, fixed card. That's what they are made for. I know that vocal mics are a science in itself, different mics excel at different voice types, and I won't claim to know the first thing about that.
Yes, I happen to have an ADK-TC for sale. If it interests you let me know and maybe we can work something out.
-
Shure Sm7b is a great choice for vocals. Very versatile mic that can also be used on bass and guitar cabs.
ADK makes some really affordable fixed cardioid mics. Great value.
If you have a little bigger budget, I would look at the Neumann TLM102, which is a much cheaper version of the TLM103 and performs in a similar way.
Either way, I would go with a medium to large diaphragm mic, it will work just fine for your purposes.
-
People's preferences for vocal mikes are so very personal that the only serious advice anyone can give you is to try this or that. No one can possibly predict what you'll actually like.
That said--there's no functional engineering reason that a vocal microphone needs to be large, and there are good engineering reasons to use single-diaphragm microphones. Some smaller mikes that are widely used on stage for vocals (hand-held or otherwise), can also make very good studio vocal mikes.
In the reasonable cost range I like the AKG C 535, but if you want an even less expensive mike, surprisingly good sound can be gotten sometimes with a Shure SM 58 (dynamic, needs no phantom powering). And I'd bet that there are other Shure models that would be very good, too, although their product line is large and I don't know most of it specifically. The same goes for AudioTechnica. These are both companies with serious engineering capability, which is a rare thing nowadays.
In a somewhat higher price bracket, though not astronomical, you could maybe try the Neumann KMS 105 or even their new "small large-diaphragm" TLM 102.
But the main thing is, people generally have to find their own path in this particular forest--maybe even more so than in general two-mike stereo recording. For concert recording in halls I could recommend microphones and be 90% certain that people will like them very much--but the odds are less than 50/50 that anything I could pick out as a vocal mike would satisfy anybody but myself.
--best regards
-
Thanks everyone. I'm still deciding... Will post what I pickup.
-
I went with the SHURE SM7B
Thanks
Jeff
-
check this out. Samples of different microphones.
http://www.studioauditions.com/jamroomsessions_home.php
-
Get your damn 319s out of the closet... They can be modded to be what you want.... Join my Yahoo group "micbuilders" and You could do it...
http://www.oktavamodshop.com/index.php?cPath=1_22&osCsid=etgcm5sn3fsfs767jtqhj8iv04 Notice the first thing he does in all his mods is to remove the coverings inside tha basket...