[nadavnaz]

I won an auction for 166$+42$ shipping (shippment to israel via 5 day. That's why the price is so high.)

This may look unreasonable, but I have no other store that ships in a reasonable price, and in israel it costs about 190$ more! (120$ if you add the customs to the ebay price.)


So.... I know this isn't really the forum, but I can't really find another one.

I need a mic to record with, but I'm talking real real low budget. (I'm just 15, and my dad's paying for most of it, so I'm tight on budget).


What's the best HORRIBLE mic out there on the market?


Thanks, Nadav

 

[sejarzo]

You would find a better answer on a pro audio forum, I think, than here on Head-Fi because most of us are not recordists. Then again, maybe one dedicated to home recording would be better if you don't want someone telling you to buy a $2,000 Neumann.....here might be a better start:

http://homerecording.com/bbs/

You can probably do a bit more research first, though, and determine what you really want--I'm guessing a cardioid rather than an omni--and whether it's for instruments or voice. All of that will play a part in your decision.

 

[MonolithTMA]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nadavnaz /img/forum/go_quote.gif What's the best HORRIBLE mic out there on the market?

For horrible you could buy just about anything.

For vocals the Shure SM58 has been a standard forever. Likewise for the SM57 and instruments.

SM58

SM57

Both go for around $100 US though. I honestly have no clue about any cheaper mics.

 

[sejarzo]

Check out this page for inexpensive mics:

http://www.naiant.com/studiostore/microphones.html

If you have a need for inexpensive omni's, they have been well reviewed. Another page on the site has samples of various instruments recorded with Naiant mics.

 

[musicmind]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MonolithTMA /img/forum/go_quote.gif For horrible you could buy just about anything. For vocals the Shure SM58 has been a standard forever. Likewise for the SM57 and instruments. SM58 SM57 Both go for around $100 US though. I honestly have no clue about any cheaper mics.

Sound advice. The SM57/58 are always strongly recommended on audio fora.
Enjoy the 0404 USB.
Which seller did u buy it from?

 

[Jahn]

i use a SM57 for my guitar. it's gonna do you right. try a SM58 for vocals.

 

[jilgiljongiljing]

Shure has a PG series which is a cheaper variant of the popular SM58. I found the PG58 to be pretty good for half the price of the SM58.

 

[imhungry]

The Nady Starpowers are decent if you need a REALLY cheap mic..

 

[nadavnaz]

Quote:

Originally Posted by musicmind /img/forum/go_quote.gif Sound advice. The SM57/58 are always strongly recommended on audio fora. Enjoy the 0404 USB. Which seller did u buy it from?

wonderland77, he's pretty good. According to his description he never used it, just took it out. But I sincerely don't care to much as long as it works P:


About the mic:

Thanks for the recommendations. I've actually heared all those names before I believe. By the way, those recommending shure sm58, isn't a condenser mic supposed to give better studio results?


http://www.naiant.com/studiostore/microphones.html

The budget model (msh-1) seems most appropriate for my budget... Just seems awkward, doesn't it come with any metal/foam grill? Just the bare mic?
Anyone has any experience with it? I'm looking for a vocal mic by the way..

 

[romanalexander]

I was able to find a used SM57 very cheap and it is amazing. It even sounds great recording the guitar while singing. I also tried an Oktava condenser which can be found cheap and it sounded great. If I could only have one mic, I would take an SM57 or SM 58.

 

[infinitesymphony]

x5 on the SM57 (designed for instruments) and SM58 (designed for vocals). Both are good for almost anything. Everyone needs a Shure SM57 at some point, even if it's only relegated to mic'ing the snare on a drum kit.

They're both dynamic microphones with a somewhat punchy but not overly present sound, significantly rolled off at 16 kHz and above.

You could go for a better condenser microphone, but they don't start to get really good until around the $500 mark, IMO... Still, there are some value microphones, but it's a good idea to look for reviews.

The Naiants certainly look interesting. sejarzo, do you have any links to reviews of them? I found someone's solo piano recording, but the guy didn't use very good mic technique, so it's not good enough to judge the SQ.

Edit: Yeesh... The Naiant microphones actually sound decent. I'm seriously considering ordering a pair of MSH-1s. Such a low price!

 

[sejarzo]

I'm not a musican or recordist, but needed a small diameter measurement omni for optimizing my subwoofer in the speaker rig (via a software solution or possibly a Behringer parametric EQ) and/or some full range room correction solution.

The Behringer ECM8000 is sort of the go-to mic for that, as it's been deemed to be sufficiently accurate, consistent, and thus a decently reliable correction curve exists--and any increase in performance comes at substantially more cost.

Some additional reading on the Behringer and similar mics revealed that they all pretty much use the same Panasonic capsule (that sells for something like 80 cents in large quantity!) One source concluded that the frequency response was virtually the same on all of them.

Well, the MSH-1's use that capsule, and a matched pair of MSH-1's was less expensive than a single Behringer at one point earlier this year, so I bought them instead. I've run room sweeps with both MSH-1's, and they do match within about 1.5 dB across the whole 20-20kHz range, with most of the differences being above 3k to 5k.

Last week, I did pick up a Behringer ECM8000, just to see how the MSH-1's compared. The responses of all three are absolutely the same up to somewhere around 1 kHz or so.

If someone needs a cheap sd omni for doing sub measurements, and has no need to measure up higher, I'd recommend getting a single MSH-1 and saving the $25 or so versus the ECM8000. There doesn't appear to be any benefit at all to using the Behringer for low Hz measurements.

If I had an ensemble to record, I'd like to try making up a Jecklin disc using the MSH-1's into the 0404 USB. While they do have higher self noise than more expensive mics, as you noted their performance is surprising. IMHO, that clip of an orchestral recording on the Naiant site is almost unbelievably good for a pair of mics that cost under $50!

See your PM's, infinitesymphony for a possible deal!

 

[nadavnaz]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sejarzo /img/forum/go_quote.gif If I had an ensemble to record, I'd like to try making up a Jecklin disc using the MSH-1's into the 0404 USB. While they do have higher self noise than more expensive mics, as you noted their performance is surprising. IMHO, that clip of an orchestral recording on the Naiant site is almost unbelievably good for a pair of mics that cost under $50!

I think I'll give them a buy. How noticable is the self noise? I guess it beats a random made in china mic anyway... So it seems like a nice choice to me, especially for my first recording setup.


By the way, does the mic come with some metal/foam mesh? Cause in the site the picture is of the mic completely visible with no grill or filter. If it doesn't, where could I get one?

 

[sejarzo]

That small black disc you see on the end is some sort of protection over the capsule. It seems to be some sort of synthetic felt, perhaps, and I think I found a picture of the raw Panasonic capsule that showed that same material on the end. I presume that they all come that way, given that my Behringer has the same little disc on the end.

I found the clips on your myspace page--do you want to record a your guitar amp/cabinet, perhaps? If so, I would recommend something else--the Naiants would be most suited to acoustic music in large spaces. If you listen to some of the clips on their site, you can hear the "boxy" effect from comb filtering when recording instruments in a small-ish room...at least that's what it sounds like to me. They pick up the ambience, too, because they are non-directional.

As to the noise level, you can usually find mp3 clips done with various mics and determine that for yourself.

However, as I posted before, I am not experienced in recording--I only have tried to learn a bit about it to understand why some recordings sound good, and a lot sound awful. Infinitesymphony might be able to render a better opinion on whether you will have issues if using small omnis.

 

[nadavnaz]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sejarzo /img/forum/go_quote.gif That small black disc you see on the end is some sort of protection over the capsule. It seems to be some sort of synthetic felt, perhaps, and I think I found a picture of the raw Panasonic capsule that showed that same material on the end. I presume that they all come that way, given that my Behringer has the same little disc on the end. I found the clips on your myspace page--do you want to record a your guitar amp/cabinet, perhaps? If so, I would recommend something else--the Naiants would be most suited to acoustic music in large spaces. If you listen to some of the clips on their site, you can hear the "boxy" effect from comb filtering when recording instruments in a small-ish room...at least that's what it sounds like to me. They pick up the ambience, too, because they are non-directional. As to the noise level, you can usually find mp3 clips done with various mics and determine that for yourself. However, as I posted before, I am not experienced in recording--I only have tried to learn a bit about it to understand why some recordings sound good, and a lot sound awful. Infinitesymphony might be able to render a better opinion on whether you will have issues if using small omnis.

Oh, I never record using a cab. I have a 15w marshall.

I record through a cabinet simulator straight out of my gt-6, using a reaaally cheap audio editing software and an onboard outdated useless-clipping and noisy realtek card.

Seeing my computer died, and that I've started to learn guitar with a teacher (and I'm gaining experience fast, due to the piano backround I have) I decided to get the emu 0404 usb and start editing and recording (more) seriously through cubase.

So a mere question,

Is MSH-1 the best option for me in a 20-35$ budget for vocal recording? I don't really see any other choice P: