The Best Recording Mic

[ODLAWMAC]

Was Wondering

I am currently making beats with Logic Studio

Trying to get into the Process of Recording Lyrics onto the beats

WHATS THE BEST MIC ON THE MARKET FOR THIS?

Anyone have suggestions about Different Mics for this and the price ranges.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here are a few that i have found
MXL 990/MXL 991 Recording Microphone Package
AKG Perception 100

________________________________________________________________

Is it good to have a mixing board- would it matter?

Currently working with and on:

Imac G5 2GHz 1GB memory
Final cut Pro
Logic Pro
Harmon Kardon Sounsticks

Upgrading Very soon:

!!!(I ordered my Mac Pro on Jan 17th )!!!

1 Mac Pro 2.8 GHz (8 core)
6GB SD Ram
Two 30" Apple Cinema Displays
Final Cut Studio
Logic Studio
Altec Lansing FX6021

Any thoughts Comments Please leave them. Really looking for advice.
Comments can be about the Mic and the Computer.

THANKS EVERYONE... COMMENT AWAY !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[ashjamben]

hey.

right, to get started you need to get yourself a audio interface, preferably firewire but usb will do. if its just vocals then one XLR input will be fine, but you may want more inputs for in the future.

as for the mic, a price range would be more ideal. if your on the cheap then i suppose a sm58 would do the job, but you may want a condenser mic. if you have plenty of cash to spend then the world's your oyster.

get back to me on a price range and i'll happily suggest some mics and audio interfaces.

also, you'll need some quality headphones.

 

[sfs]

First, you need either studio monitors or really good headphones (I like Beyerdynamic myself); Altec Lansings are decent listening speakers, and would be good to check how your mix will sound on consumer-grade equipment - which you always need to do - but aren't quite what I'd consider studio equipment.

Before you go buying mics, you need to get a recording interface. If you're setting up a high-end studio and have an unlimited budget, get one without preamps and buy all of those separately as breakout gear. Neve makes some of the best, and Avalon Design's channel strips are good too. If, like most people, you have limited funds, get something with integrated preamps so that you can hook mics directly to it. I've used Creative's E-Mu and M-Audio's Fast Track Pro, and I like both of them (although both will add some color to the signal). Presonus makes the FP10, an 8-channel Firewire preamp/interface that Guitar Center has on sale for $650 with a free fader interface thrown in. For a project studio, that'd be a good setup.

Now, mics. Every engineer has a favorite microphone that they will recommend for almost any purpose. Mine is the AKG C414B; it's an $800 condenser that has performed more beautifully on every task I've tried it on than anything else I've heard. It is ideal for vocals, overheads, guitars, flutes, etc., etc. Many engineers swear by Neumann, and their mics are very good. For the price, I think AKG gives you more, but Neumanns are better.

You've mentioned a couple of very low-budget microphones. Their quality of sound will reflect the quality of manufacturing, and for most recording purposes that isn't desirable. If you're looking in the sub-$100 range, I'd steer you towards Audix dynamic mics. Although you will pay around $150 for the OM-5, you'll get your money's worth. The OM-2 is also good, and only $100. You don't need a condenser mic to do recording. It's nice, because they pick up every single nuance and tiny coloring of the sound. However, they pick up every sound. If someone is vacuuming next door, it will be on your recording. You need really good isolation - a soundproof room with a suspended floor - to get good results with condensers at the gain levels that make them sound good. The Audix dynamic mics, however, have great isolation built in and still sound good.

As to a mixing board, it's not necessary unless you plan on recording a lot more people than you have channels. Then, you'll have one chance to get the mix right, and won't be able to do your remixing in software (at least above the number of channels you have on your interface).

 

[CanadaRAM]

Have a look through the sticky threads at the top of this forum

Particularly, before rushing out to buy, hit the library and read some of the magazines and/or books listed here

 

[zimv20]

WHATS THE BEST MIC ON THE MARKET FOR THIS?

i heard some vox recorded on a Brauner VMA that were pretty stellar. and of course, if you can track down a Telefunken 251 or RCA 44, you'd be doing well there, too.

 

[sfs]

cruelty to newbie

Those are all great mics, and if you can afford them (note the if) they would serve you very well. However, they will each set you back a good $2k plus. The RCA 44 is also a ribbon mic - they sound amazing, but they're rather difficult to get started with. I wouldn't advise anyone who hasn't been doing this sort of thing for at least a year or year and a half to start playing with ribbon mics unsupervised. If you've got a buddy in a studio somewhere (or maybe at Guitar Center or another music/recording supply store), you can get him or her to show you what to do with them and how to handle them. Unless you're careful, you will blow the element and lose upwards of two grand. However, if you're paying that much, sacrifice some audio geek cred and get two or three C414Bs, or a Blue condenser, or something from Neumann. You'd have more mics, and ones that are easier to work with and a lot less fragile.

Update: check out this article on vocal recording. While most of the mics they mention are probably out of your price range, the techniques and ideas are exactly what you should be doing.