JPF Home Page Forums Musician Gear and Techniques Microphone and Vocalist Forum Studio Microphone with great Amplification

Hi Michelle!

Tell us a little bit about your recording setup?
And, when you record, are you playing & singing at the same time?

I've learned some "stuff" about mikes from the ground up since I joined JPF a while back. Right now, I'm very pleased with my Shure Beta 87A, which is a *condenser* mic. That's an important word - write it down and take it with you when you go shopping. The Shure (and others similar to it) is well within your price range, and if you can find a great sale, you may be able to pick it up for around $250. Reg. $$ is around $350 I think.
Here's a link:
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Shure-Beta-87A-Supercardioid-Condenser-Mic?sku=270168


For my setup - what I had to go to was an M-Audio input box which has several "line-in" channels, to get a *pre-amp* to go with the *condenser* microphone. I'll explain what this means in a second. Here's a visual & link for you - this is the one I have, and it runs about $200:
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/prod...bile-USB-Audio-MIDI-Interface?sku=241710


You'll also need a mike cable, and it's important to get decent ones. I like Mogami.

OK. Look at the box up there. The mike plugs in with a *standard mike cable* to the front of box. The box plugs into your PC with a USB cable (should be included). The M-Audio box has a pre-amp *built in* but you have to flip the button to "on" (it's on the back).

The front of the box there will accept both mike and guitar (1/4") cables. So - to record your voice and your guitar at the same time, you really need two mikes - one to point at your mouth and one to point at your guitar. This box will let you do that. Your software also *should* be able to record both mikes (line 1 & line 2) as separate "tracks," simultaneously, and from there you can adjust volume levels so the music is no longer "drowning out" your voice. (I hope I'm making sense.) You can get a lot fancier than that if you want. For example, there's a MIDI input on the back of the box, so you could add a MIDI piano track too.

But keeping it simple - what I learned, from other threads here on the boards, is that for vocal *recording* a *condenser mic* is necessary to get the right sort of sound input. I don't remember the tecchie electronic theory behind it. But a standard mic (usually called "dynamic") is what you need for LIVE performance... these don't feed back live like a condenser mic will (due to the different electronics).

The trick is ALL condenser mics are going to need what's called "phantom power" or a preamp (like the M-Audio box) in order to work. They need that little extra boost or they won't function *at all.*

Another big thing is, on that M-Audio box you have a button called "GAIN." Your "gain" is how much sound the mike will pick up. If it's turned up, you can speak at a whisper and it'll pick up. If it's too high, you'll get distortion (so turn it down, or step back from the mike a few inches).

Soooooo.... if you don't get a box, you *could* still get a dynamic mic and a special cable that will plug directly into your PC... but you'll lose a lot of control. But I guarantee you'll be happier with both pieces of equipment - and both together are still in your price range.

I goofed and bought a dynamic mic by accident the first time, and had to go back, fetch the condenser, & sell the other one. You can hear the vocal sound quality of the Shure on my MySpace if you like: www.myspace.com/lindaadamssings

I got confused between the terms "cardiod," "supercardiod," and "hypercardiod" when I was shopping - which refer to the range of the pickup sound pattern of the mic (either dynamic or condenser) and NOT the type of input. Which is how I came home with a "dynamic supercardiod" mike and not the one I needed. Urgh.

Hope this isn't too long - or stuff you already know - and that it's helpful information!

Linda