Give me one mic

studio32 · Post by **studio32** » Thu May 15, 2008 7:52 pm

Hi,

I want to have a mic, which one is good? I'd like to have one for voice, but if I could record my acoustic guitar with it too, it would be nice...

I do not have much money...

I also wondering how important a good soundcard is and what is wise to buy first a mic or a soundcard, which is now a intel onboard one...

MattKingUSA · Post by **MattKingUSA** » Thu May 15, 2008 8:12 pm

Starting with the mic is always a good idea. I think if you are trying to save money you could go with a dynamic microphone. If you can, it would be best to buy a condenser microphone that uses phantom power. I use an mxl 990 it was $99 USD and I use a Behringer Mixer to power the microphone it was $56 USD. But you can find them for less on sites like Ebay.

Post by **nathan** » Fri May 16, 2008 12:47 am

Also, you can't really go wrong with a sure 57/58...they're pretty good for voice and instruments...good all around mics.

Post by **khz** » Fri May 16, 2008 11:35 am

i use a "shure beta 57A" and it is ok.

studio32 · Post by **studio32** » Fri May 16, 2008 11:59 am

Ok, thanks for your comments...

How important is a soundcard? I've a onboard one and want to be able to play/ record guitar and voice... I've no problems with latency now...

MattKingUSA · Post by **MattKingUSA** » Fri May 16, 2008 12:38 pm

I would suggest anything by M-audio. The Delta series is really good from M-audio. Also, creative makes some affordable 24/96 recording sound cards that you can buy online for around $30 USD now. They used to be more expensive until recently. Those are the only two companies that I have experience with using their products. I've used a Delta 1010 to record CDs and a few differant Creative sound blaster Audigy cards.

Post by **nathan** » Fri May 16, 2008 5:32 pm

In your M-Audio a usb sound card?

studio32 · Post by **studio32** » Fri May 16, 2008 6:00 pm

nathan wrote:In your M-Audio a usb sound card?

what is better usb or pci?

thorgal · Post by **thorgal** » Sat May 17, 2008 10:11 am

AKG C414 B-XLII

http://www.akg.com/site/products/powers ... ge,EN.html

That's my main mic, a jewel I tell you!

thorgal · Post by **thorgal** » Sat May 17, 2008 10:16 am

studio32 wrote:
what is better usb or pci?

PCI is best.
USB uses CPU cycles and has a certain latency.

Hardware I recommened : anything by RME supported in linux (Hammerfall DSP + Multiface II for flexibility and solid performance). RME is pricy though so M-Audio seems like a good compromise. But linux hdsp ALSA driver was written by Paul Davis (Ardour) and friends, so RME stuff has a very strong support in linux!

zettberlin · Post by **zettberlin** » Wed May 21, 2008 6:59 pm

One thing is beyond discussion:

The chain is a weak as its weakest segment.

So to get recordings that wont make you cry in 2-3 years like: such a great performance but what a useless sound! You should invest in small but good gear.

The best price-quality ratio should be a good USB-Inteface (brings the AD-converters you'll need anyway...) equipped with at least one acceptable mic-preamp.
I have a Presonus Firebox whatsoever - its 2 pre amps are better than anything you will find in any mixer below the Mackie VLZ-Class. The piece is about 350,- Euros ($ 450,-) though... and it is not perfectly supported on Linux (but works very well with 64Studio).

The alternative: get a envy24-Soundcard like the MAudio Audiophile (80Euros) plus a small Mackie VLZ (2 Channels for about 150,- Euros). Acceptable cheapo-mixers are from Tapco or Phonic (half the price with some luck nearly the same as good...).

I had many micros and the best cheapo for Voice *and* acoustic-git I know is the RFT DM 622 - one can get this one at ebay for about 40-60 Euros. Yet sometimes it is sold for more than 150,- for its a bit rare nowadays...

I also have a AKG Perception 100 (sold for about 120 Euros) wich is quite a bit better for vocals and provides a more modern HIFIesk sound.

Both mics are not for the stage, On Stage you have mics anyway, for the rehearsal room a 30,- Euro SureSM58-Clone does the job OK...

MattKingUSA · Post by **MattKingUSA** » Thu May 22, 2008 12:40 pm

I have to agree with Thorgal on this one. PCI, PCMCIA and Express card 54 and 34 all connect directly to your system bus. Express cards are the fastest then pcmcia and then usb and firewire. So, performance wise you should go with the fastest for audio data transfer. But for convenience maybe usb is what you want.

studio32 · Post by **studio32** » Mon May 26, 2008 11:03 am

What is the difference between shure 57 / 58 (beta)?

edit: as I should believe wikipedia:

- sm58 is more for vocals (the standard and most-used microphone worldwide for live vocals)
- sm 57 is used to mic guitar amps, drums, brass instruments, etc..., but also vocals....
- SM48, SM86, SM87A (primarily for vocal reproduction)

beta is the more modern variants

So a shure 58 beta seems to me the best choice

studio32 · Post by **studio32** » Tue May 27, 2008 11:03 pm

zettberlin wrote:plus a small Mackie VLZ (2 Channels for about 150,- Euros). .

Like this one? http://www.thomann.de/nl/mackie_402_vlz3.htm

edit:
and what do you think of this? http://www.thomann.de/nl/art_tube_mp.htm

studio32 · Post by **studio32** » Wed May 28, 2008 9:38 pm

studio32 wrote:
zettberlin wrote:plus a small Mackie VLZ (2 Channels for about 150,- Euros). .
Like this one? http://www.thomann.de/nl/mackie_402_vlz3.htm

edit:
and what do you think of this? http://www.thomann.de/nl/art_tube_mp.htm

edit: and what is the difference between a shure sm 58 and a shure sm 58 LC???