Mic Choice for a Beginner

[AdamG94]

Hi Guys,

I'm going to be tracking some vocals (both cleans and screams) for the first time in the next few weeks and looking for some help with mic choice. I currently only have a SM57 at my disposal and I assume it will suck dick at vocals, so I was looking at the SE 2200a and other LDC's in that price range.

Does anyone have any recommendations for mic's that are suitable for both cleans and screams?

Thanks,
Adam.

 

[koalamo]

sm7b/at 4040 </thread>

 

[AdamG94]

I was hoping for something sub £200 not £400

 

[koalamo]

I was hoping for something sub £200 not £400

sm58 is pretty good honestly maybe not so much for singing but its boss for screaming. I have the at 2035 and I like it alot its cheaper than the 4040 I believe its in your price range (I'm american) its a remake of the 3035 which was a very good microphone from what I've heard. But yeah 2035 works great on both and is great for starting out IMO

 

[Trevoire520]

To be honest you'd probably be surprised how well the sm57 will work for screams, should be alright for cleans aswell. give it a go before you go spending £200 on another mic that you might not need.

 

[crillemannen]

To be honest you'd probably be surprised how well the sm57 will work for screams, should be alright for cleans aswell. give it a go before you go spending £200 on another mic that you might not need.

With a great preamp (expensive) the sm57 can sound really good

 

[Emdprodukt]

sm57. you can use it on almost anything. I used it for screams, cleans, bass, toms, room, snare, guitar and bass (using good preamps, thogh). you can mod it by taking out the cheap transformer... some people call it the "sm7b" mod. Maybe someone else knows more about this because I never tested it myself.

I have a cheap tbone sc450 and I still use it for cleans/screams from time to time. There is a USB version that you should avoid, though.

 

[Sonic75]

SM58 is a very good choice...try before your 57!

 

[AdamG94]

I'll try the 57 before I pull the trigger on something else then

 

[Trevoire520]

sm57. you can use it on almost anything. I used it for screams, cleans, bass, toms, room, snare, guitar and bass (using good preamps, thogh). you can mod it by taking out the cheap transformer... some people call it the "sm7b" mod. Maybe someone else knows more about this because I never tested it myself.

I've done the transformer mod to my 57, keep meaning to do a test to show everyone on here actually. It makes it quite a bit more scooped sounding compared to a stock one. Well worth doing if you have a spare 57 kicking about. I wouldn't say it makes it sound anything like an SM7 though.

 

[006]

I did the transformer removal mod to my 57 and bought a new one and made a thread comparing them. Dunno if the clips are still in dropbox though :\

 

[006]

From that thread (here):

Same everything, only difference is the transformer was removed:

Before

After

Also for clarification, this is using Fredman mic method, SM57 is straight on the dustcap in both, i5 is the angled mic in both.

Here are just guitars, and then also just SM57 (which is aimed at the center of the cap so on it's own shouldn't sound too good, of course):

Stock SM57 - Solo

Modified SM57 - Solo

Stock SM57 - Guitars Only

Modified SM57 - Guitars Only