Buying a cheap condenser mic...

[NoSoup4you22]

Hey all, I'm looking to try recording lead vocals for one of my bands at our singer's house, rather than going in to the studio - simply for the reason that we can do as many takes as we want that way. I don't wanna go too overboard on buying gear, though. Right now I'm thinking a ST77?

Here's the singer I'll be recording (not my mix lol):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=2qhSkfradQo#t=138s

From what I hear it's a bright mic, so I figure it would be decent on a baritone voice. If it's not good I can always use it for acoustics on my other project, right?

My other concern is the preamp - right now I've just got the preamps in my Firestudio 26x26. Will that be adequate? Should I even bother with a condenser mic? I do have a SM58 if it would work better with a cheap preamp.

 

[bassguy]

Your firestudio pre's will be adequate for this. And regardless of preamp quality, a better mic is going to sound better in any case. That being said I'm sure plenty of times people use SM58's in the studio, I think I heard Bono records with a 58 somewhere...

An LDC would certainly be up to the task of these kinds of vocals though, would add some nice top end sparkle and sheen. I haven't heard the ST77, but I can recommend the AudioTechnica AT2020 which is a very good LDC for the price

 

[TheWinterSnow]

What is your budget, I have a old discontinued KSM27 (now sold under the name SM27). Its a great mic, same price as the AT2020 I believe. A friend of mine with his own studio that is a manager at Guitar Center (only person from guitar center I would ever trust) said that the KSM27 would perform better for the slight extra price. Its a great mic, warm, sounds very similar to a SM57 but warmer and more compressed, the things you want out of a LDC. It has the same overall sound of the safe 57/58 and has a very flat frequency response. It works for me, but YMMV.

 

[NoSoup4you22]

I'm looking to spend around $150... From what I read, the ST77 still seems like the way to go. I've got a bid on one currently, we'll see where that goes in a couple days.