Dynamic or Condenser Mics for vocals
Moderator: Shoshanah Marohn
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Kenny Yates
- Posts: 481
- Joined: 6 Dec 1998 1:01 am
- Location: Hattiesburg Mississippi
Dynamic or Condenser Mics for vocals
Which do you prefer? recommendations Appreciated, on a poor poor budget, of course.
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Ben Jones
- Posts: 3356
- Joined: 12 Dec 2005 1:01 am
- Location: Seattle, Washington, USA
depends on what you are using it for. Live give me an sm58 dynamic. studio gimme a condensor.
condensors require phantom power so that might add to your cost.
mxl 990 and 991 condensors are only $99 for both. I use em and they work well for vocals and for acoustic instruments. to me they sound a bit warmer than dynamics.
my 2 cents.
condensors require phantom power so that might add to your cost.
mxl 990 and 991 condensors are only $99 for both. I use em and they work well for vocals and for acoustic instruments. to me they sound a bit warmer than dynamics.
my 2 cents.
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Don Lanier
- Posts: 243
- Joined: 4 Dec 2007 8:19 am
- Location: Illinois, USA
Vocal mics
There are some new player's on the market and they deserve a look see,
AUDIX makes great vocal mics and the OM-2 outperforms the venerable SM58 in many ways, The HEIL PR 20 is a great new vocal mic with far better frequency response then the SM-58, The Beta 58 By Shure has a presence peak thats preferred by many vocalists but is more expensive, Peaveys Diamond Series PVM22 or 46 are excellent vocal mics and very reasonable in price.
Condenser mics do require Phantom Power and this means your console or an external power supply is required, Cost is an issue as the Low end of Condenser mics is a bad place to shop, AVLEX makes the HO-8 which is a side address condenser and is reasonable in cost, as well as several other models and these are import mics but they do a good job.
These can be used for instruments as well as vocals, AKG and Shure both make some reasonable Condenser mics but you can expect to spend between 150-300 dollars for these inexpensive versions.
Heil Sound is producing the PR 30/40 Mics which offer condenser performance but they are Dynamic mics and have exceptional frequency response but they arent Cheap, they do come in little road cases.
AUDIX makes great vocal mics and the OM-2 outperforms the venerable SM58 in many ways, The HEIL PR 20 is a great new vocal mic with far better frequency response then the SM-58, The Beta 58 By Shure has a presence peak thats preferred by many vocalists but is more expensive, Peaveys Diamond Series PVM22 or 46 are excellent vocal mics and very reasonable in price.
Condenser mics do require Phantom Power and this means your console or an external power supply is required, Cost is an issue as the Low end of Condenser mics is a bad place to shop, AVLEX makes the HO-8 which is a side address condenser and is reasonable in cost, as well as several other models and these are import mics but they do a good job.
These can be used for instruments as well as vocals, AKG and Shure both make some reasonable Condenser mics but you can expect to spend between 150-300 dollars for these inexpensive versions.
Heil Sound is producing the PR 30/40 Mics which offer condenser performance but they are Dynamic mics and have exceptional frequency response but they arent Cheap, they do come in little road cases.
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David L. Donald
- Posts: 13700
- Joined: 17 Feb 2003 1:01 am
- Location: Koh Samui Island, Thailand
Sadly, or positively depending on your angle,
EVERY singer comes across different on different mics.
No ONE mic is perfect, though some of the pricier condensers seems to work on more singers than many other choices.
In general a decent condenser mic will give more
'presence' to your singer than most dynamics.
Though in certain situations I have done fine work with dynamics for lead vocals.
An example Steve Nicks did the whole live in the studio
album that she did with Tom Petty's band using a
Sennheiser 441 dynamic and usually used that mic live too.
She decided that she got HER SOUND with that mic
and stuck with it.
I have used that on my own vocals,
though I sound NOTHING like Stevie Nicks....
Of course today t you can get a decent condenser mic
for less then a 441....
EVERY singer comes across different on different mics.
No ONE mic is perfect, though some of the pricier condensers seems to work on more singers than many other choices.
In general a decent condenser mic will give more
'presence' to your singer than most dynamics.
Though in certain situations I have done fine work with dynamics for lead vocals.
An example Steve Nicks did the whole live in the studio
album that she did with Tom Petty's band using a
Sennheiser 441 dynamic and usually used that mic live too.
She decided that she got HER SOUND with that mic
and stuck with it.
I have used that on my own vocals,
though I sound NOTHING like Stevie Nicks....
Of course today t you can get a decent condenser mic
for less then a 441....
DLD, Chili farmer. Plus bananas and papaya too.
Real happiness has no strings attached.
But pedal steels have many!
Real happiness has no strings attached.
But pedal steels have many!
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Gary Shepherd
- Posts: 2490
- Joined: 3 May 2004 12:01 am
- Location: Fox, Oklahoma, USA
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Don Lanier
- Posts: 243
- Joined: 4 Dec 2007 8:19 am
- Location: Illinois, USA
Condenser or Dynamic
I agree Donald that no one mic is THE end all do all, while the Shures have held that place for years there are new technologies with materials and magnets, coils etc that are bringing the "sound" of the Neumann/Sennheiser studio mic into the range of everday joes. Peavey is now making a studio mic
http://www.peavey.com/products/browse.c ... %20CM1.cfm
and a handheld condenser mic thats pretty decent. I was reading the POOR POOR Budget line so I was staying away from the European Condensers since they tend to run in the Hundreds and Thousands, instead of 150-200 dollar category. While the MIC can make a difference the Users technique and the MIC PRE or Console can make a difference too. For home based recording the Shure SM57/58 is hard to beat but having a decent condenser is good as well. Ive got pairs of the Avlex/Superlux
http://www.avlex.com/pdfs/CM-H8C_catalog_00-11-06.pdf
And these are really decent mics at a very fair price. 229.00 ea
But Mics are very much like Opinions engineers all have different tastes as well as the "Name" Mics. They work good for vocals, guitars, drums, horns, etc and Ive used them in front of very loud steel amps with pretty good results.
You can spend anywhere from 100 Bucks for the Behringer all the way out to Thousands for Blue, Neumann, etc. If your just recording your self and wanting to archive your own home stuff the Superlux condenser is a great utility mic.
http://www.peavey.com/products/browse.c ... %20CM1.cfm
and a handheld condenser mic thats pretty decent. I was reading the POOR POOR Budget line so I was staying away from the European Condensers since they tend to run in the Hundreds and Thousands, instead of 150-200 dollar category. While the MIC can make a difference the Users technique and the MIC PRE or Console can make a difference too. For home based recording the Shure SM57/58 is hard to beat but having a decent condenser is good as well. Ive got pairs of the Avlex/Superlux
http://www.avlex.com/pdfs/CM-H8C_catalog_00-11-06.pdf
And these are really decent mics at a very fair price. 229.00 ea
But Mics are very much like Opinions engineers all have different tastes as well as the "Name" Mics. They work good for vocals, guitars, drums, horns, etc and Ive used them in front of very loud steel amps with pretty good results.
You can spend anywhere from 100 Bucks for the Behringer all the way out to Thousands for Blue, Neumann, etc. If your just recording your self and wanting to archive your own home stuff the Superlux condenser is a great utility mic.
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David L. Donald
- Posts: 13700
- Joined: 17 Feb 2003 1:01 am
- Location: Koh Samui Island, Thailand
If I had spent hundreds or a grand and up
on a set up to record with,
but I had only ONE mic for 'cheap money' to get,
of the mics mentioned here it would be the
Studio Projects C1. Hands down.
Really good bang for the buck.
You don't short change the rest of the system after it.
And a SM-57 ABSOLUTLY does that...
And they are pretty consistent in the manufacturing.
It is by far the most versatile mic (listed here) for ALL jobs.
There are better mics, but nothing much close
for the money that I have personally heard.
on a set up to record with,
but I had only ONE mic for 'cheap money' to get,
of the mics mentioned here it would be the
Studio Projects C1. Hands down.
Really good bang for the buck.
You don't short change the rest of the system after it.
And a SM-57 ABSOLUTLY does that...
And they are pretty consistent in the manufacturing.
It is by far the most versatile mic (listed here) for ALL jobs.
There are better mics, but nothing much close
for the money that I have personally heard.
Last edited by David L. Donald on 7 Dec 2007 8:57 am, edited 2 times in total.
DLD, Chili farmer. Plus bananas and papaya too.
Real happiness has no strings attached.
But pedal steels have many!
Real happiness has no strings attached.
But pedal steels have many!
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Bill Leff
- Posts: 1922
- Joined: 4 Aug 1998 11:00 pm
- Location: Santa Cruz, CA, USA
Dirt cheap condensor mics
If you are looking for condensor mics for recording, you might want to investigate these.
I don't own these (yet) but am considering purchasing a few based on some very good press on these in the recording forums. I'm looking at the MSH-1s for recording acoustic instruments.
http://naiant.com/studiostore/microphones.html
Check out the audio samples.
I don't own these (yet) but am considering purchasing a few based on some very good press on these in the recording forums. I'm looking at the MSH-1s for recording acoustic instruments.
http://naiant.com/studiostore/microphones.html
Check out the audio samples.
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Kenny Yates
- Posts: 481
- Joined: 6 Dec 1998 1:01 am
- Location: Hattiesburg Mississippi
Thanks all
Thanks for the input....I'm still considering several different mics. It sure is great to get ideas from people who have actually used these mics...thanks again.
Ken
Ken
