[LAU] best cheap mic(s) for acoustic / vocal recording?

[Robin Gareus]

Arnold Krille wrote:
> Am Mittwoch, 11. April 2007 schrieb Loki Davison:
>> Thread hijack so i changed the name... I want to record acoustic
>> guitar and vocals. Price limit is < AUD$300 so i'm thinking of 2
>> behringer c-2's ($75!!) and stereo mic pre or a single SM Pro mic 1
>> condenser and pre.

you are talking about the "most important" part of your studio:
 mic+preamp! - you'll want a compressor, too - but not for $300.

aah don't forget the to add the budget for a Spider and Popper-Stopper,
but a nylon and some wire does the trick, too ;)

>> Are cheap condensers better than sm57/58 of the
>> same price? Any recommendations?

for acoustic guitar probably yes. - but a sm58 always comes in handy as
does a sm57. ;)

i suggest to get one mid-class Mic eg. AGK200 or AT4033  and  a (mono)
tube-preamp  (eg. presonus).

unless it's just s tmp. hobby I suggest you rob your piggy bank..  over
here, 500 euro seems to be the pedestal for a basic good home recording.
 2000 for a proper. 12000 to start a studio...  - a Shure is always a
good tentative solution..

when recording acoustic guitar place the condenser in front of the it
(does not need to be close)  but put the SM58 close to the neck-end. (a
sm57 is even better)

If your guitar has a built-in pick up, record it as well. adding *a
little* of those other mics will greatly improve the ambience of many
home- recordings!

> Since some time I do have a strong urge not to buy behringer. They make same 
> good stuff. And they are certainly worth the price. But nothing more...
> And while the headphone-amp of behringer is kind of a standard, the mics are 
> most probably some cheap imitations (like there mixers).
> 
> My band-leader owns a Tube-Mic (a Fame from musicstore) which was cheap (ie. 
> in the price-range you mentioned) but sounds warmer than my C4s and so we use 
> it for vocals and guitar. Both for acoustic guitar and for electric-guitar, 
> altough the guitarist would be satisfied to directly plug in I think going 
> through his (not so high-quality) amp and the tube-mic adds some great value 
> to the signal.

i can second that. - but there's some magic in high-end analog audio
equipment that is just unbeatable...

> I wouldn't go for cheap condensors (<100� per part).

ack. you will regret it. - there are a few cheap but good condenser-mics
though. even below 30 euro. Some of them beat "brand-name" products in
the 100 euro range...

> If you want to use your mic(s) on stage too, I would go for Shure SM58 or even 
> better Shure Beta58 (or 57 for instruments-only). The later one is also 
> usable in studio for recording percussions.
> 
> For live the SM57 can be substituted by thomann the.mic mb75 if you are on a 
> budget...
> 
> Have a nice day,
ditto,
robin

> Arnold
> 
>