paul_c2 Posted July 17, 2020 Posted July 17, 2020 AIUI a dynamic mic (such as the Shure SM58) is more durable and has a more aggressive rejection of off-axis signal, so its more suited to live performance than a condenser mic. If you already have one, I'd use it and it will save buying another mic. If you didn't have a mic already and were to buy one for home/studio recording, you're "go to" mic would be a large diaphragm condenser. They are pretty much the same price, for what you might call a "decent starter" mic. Obviously for studio work, there is less risk of damage so the more expensive ones will go to many thousands of £, whereas in a live situation where you'd need one per singer rather than doing each part individually (so you'd need more of them) and you'd need them to be more durable, and probably hand held, etc etc then the dynamic makes more sense. Its probably worth getting a pop filter and a decent set of headphones, still. Quote
lurksalot Posted July 18, 2020 Posted July 18, 2020 One thing I found with the condenser mic is that you get the recording room ambience thrown in , so the reflections and reverbs are recorded in your ‘dry’ vocal, if this doesn’t fit with the sound you need , the wardrobe is your friend Quote
Leonard Smalls Posted July 18, 2020 Posted July 18, 2020 13 hours ago, paul_c2 said: getting a pop filter I made a reasonable one out of some stiff wire and a pair of my Mrs' old tights... Quote
ricksterphil Posted July 18, 2020 Posted July 18, 2020 (edited) Interesting comparison of different condenser mics, from cheap to expensive, by Mark Parkins who runs Psyrex Soundlab in Nottingham https://www.psyrex.co.uk Edited July 18, 2020 by ricksterphil Quote
Dad3353 Posted July 18, 2020 Posted July 18, 2020 (edited) I use a Superlux E205, 38€ from Thomann ... Superlux E205 ... It works just fine for me; no complaints. Disclaimer: I use a lot of Superlux stuff; my headset and drum mics. They're my 'first choice' for most things. An exception for the snare, though, where I use a Shure 57. Just sayin'. Edited July 18, 2020 by Dad3353 1 Quote
BigRedX Posted July 18, 2020 Posted July 18, 2020 (edited) 5 hours ago, ricksterphil said: Interesting comparison of different condenser mics, from cheap to expensive, by Mark Parkins who runs Psyrex Soundlab in Nottingham https://www.psyrex.co.uk Where one of my bands was doing our last round of recording (pre-lockdown). The results of which will be available soon... Edited July 18, 2020 by BigRedX 1 Quote
ricksterphil Posted July 18, 2020 Posted July 18, 2020 (edited) 5 hours ago, BigRedX said: Where one of my bands was doing our last round of recording (pre-lockdown). The results of which will be available soon... Yes, we've recorded there too Shameless plug Edited July 18, 2020 by ricksterphil 1 Quote
PaulWarning Posted July 18, 2020 Posted July 18, 2020 not strictly speaking home recording but I'm putting together a live set of ours, recorded from the mixing desk, problem is we didn't have a crowd mic so the cheering between songs sounds weedy, any tips on adding appropriate crowd noise Quote
Stub Mandrel Posted July 18, 2020 Posted July 18, 2020 2 hours ago, ricksterphil said: Yes, we've recorded there too Shameless plug I've seen your poster in Pirate Studios. 1 Quote
Dad3353 Posted July 18, 2020 Posted July 18, 2020 27 minutes ago, PaulWarning said: not strictly speaking home recording but I'm putting together a live set of ours, recorded from the mixing desk, problem is we didn't have a crowd mic so the cheering between songs sounds weedy, any tips on adding appropriate crowd noise Search for 'free sound effects'; you'll get several links such as this one ... Crowd cheering ... ... or these ... Crowd sounds ... Hope this helps. 1 Quote
mikel Posted July 19, 2020 Posted July 19, 2020 On 17/07/2020 at 16:39, Dad3353 said: I rather depends on what you're recording, and 'essential' is really a relative term. If you're recording your singing voice, the Shure will do the job. If you're wanting to record other instruments, such as acoustic guitar, or even your bass amp, the Shure will work, but with far less fidelity. In general, the SM58 is an excellent stage vocal mic, as it's robust, and all sound engineers know exactly how it will perform. For studio (including home studio...) stuff, a large-diaphragm condenser mic is the standard 'go-to' mic for best recording quality in most situations. You've seen 'em, every time, in studio shots with that circular 'pop' screen, which keeps the singer at the right distance from the mic. There are some very inexpensive ones around, so it's probably worth going for. One word of caution : They need powering, usually 'phantom' power from the recording console, or audio interface for home stuff. Make sure that your interface can, in fact, supply 'phantom power' before investing. Most of 'em can, of course, but it needs confirming. If there's no phantom power, the Shure will work, and work well, but the resulting sound will not be the most hi-fi, is all. Hope this helps. Thanks for that complete and easy to understand answer. Why are you not employed writing user manuals????? Quote
Dad3353 Posted July 19, 2020 Posted July 19, 2020 25 minutes ago, mikel said: Thanks for that complete and easy to understand answer. Why are you not employed writing user manuals????? Thanks, but I'm now retired, having spent many decades explaining stuff to Upper Management. If I could do that, I could explain anything..! 1 Quote
Stub Mandrel Posted July 19, 2020 Posted July 19, 2020 On 17/07/2020 at 16:39, Dad3353 said: You've seen 'em, every time, in studio shots with that circular 'pop' screen, which keeps the singer at the right distance from the mic. Means you have to download a plug-in to simulate mike-cupping... Quote
Dad3353 Posted July 19, 2020 Posted July 19, 2020 33 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said: Means you have to download a plug-in to simulate mike-cupping... If mic-cupping is the sound wanted, it's no good using a large-diaphragm condenser in the first place. Use an SM58 (every studio has at least one...) and 'cup' it. Simples. Quote
Evert Albers Posted July 28, 2020 Posted July 28, 2020 "Mic-cupping" - had to Google that. 🙂 I have 2 SM58 ripoffs, and a cheap condenser mic. The latter sounds more sophisticated, but I feel the dynamic mics work better to cover up my limited vocal skills. Quote
Dad3353 Posted July 28, 2020 Posted July 28, 2020 5 minutes ago, Evert Albers said: ... the dynamic mics work better to cover up my limited vocal skills. One very good reason why they're so ubiquitously popular as 'live' vocal mics..! 1 Quote
miles'tone Posted August 26, 2020 Posted August 26, 2020 Is anyone here using their phone to record music on? I'm a complete tech simpleton and my android IS my computer! I've bought Audio Evolution to try. I've also got a usb interface to plug into. Apparently Audio Evolution records at CD quality... I'll report back when I've had a good go at it! 🤞 Quote
Stub Mandrel Posted August 30, 2020 Posted August 30, 2020 Sorry I can't help but I have a query of my own. I'm trying to put a bassline to a piece our guitarist has sent me using Reaper and once or twice on EVERY play through the playback pauses for a moment. His track is fine in any other player. Can anyone suggest what might be going wrong? The only other foreground programs I'm running are Outlook and Firefox. (W10) Quote
paul_c2 Posted August 30, 2020 Posted August 30, 2020 What media format is it and what are you playing it back on? Quote
Stub Mandrel Posted August 30, 2020 Posted August 30, 2020 6 minutes ago, paul_c2 said: What media format is it and what are you playing it back on? It's just and MP3 as a guide, I'm playing it on the desktop and recording my bass direct into the soundcard as I haven't got my Scarlett2i here. I haven't had problems doing this before. Quote
paul_c2 Posted August 30, 2020 Posted August 30, 2020 I'd import it into a track in Reaper. And if there's still issues convert it to a WAV Quote
Stub Mandrel Posted August 30, 2020 Posted August 30, 2020 56 minutes ago, paul_c2 said: I'd import it into a track in Reaper. And if there's still issues convert it to a WAV That's what I'm doing, sorry, but converting to a wav is an idea. I've managed to record my line now, took ages to realise why it sounded so bad was because of latency! Quote
DaveFry Posted August 30, 2020 Posted August 30, 2020 If you have to use an inbuilt sound card out of necessity then try the ASIO4ALL driver . ( for Windows ) 1 Quote
Stub Mandrel Posted August 31, 2020 Posted August 31, 2020 Well using a Wav made no difference 😞 I'll try ASIO4ALL ! Quote
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