vocal mic - dyn or condenser

[Nostalgiaplatz]

I would like to get my self started with vocal recording and was wondering what mic would you recommend around 150€ aside from the shure SM58 (or the SM57, which I heard a few people get good results from using it in vox).

Thanks for any suggestions!

 

[thedonutman]

I think people generally use condensers for recording clean vocals, but for growls dynamic mics work pretty well too.

I suppose the 58 could be useful if you want a live mic that doubles for recording too.

 

[Nostalgiaplatz]

cheers mate, but to be honest, I'm not considering any live use. I plan to record both type of vocals and I reckon that it's harder to get a clean vocal sounding decent/good, so, given your input, I should probably try to find a condenser mic and if I can't produce any decent growls on it, I may try to get the SM58 later, being that it's slightly cheap... any suggestions on condensers?

cheers

 

[John_C]

there are a few good engineers on this forum who say that sometimes you'll get the best performance using an SM58 in the control room with the monitors cranked. Its very very good at rejecting ambient noise so you dont get much bleed, musicians tend to understand how to use them as they're very much a standard, and they dont sound all that bad at all!

 

[Metaltastic]

I dunno, I've still had awful popping problems using a 58, and it's not the world's sweetest sounding mic - I think a good compromise is to set up a good mic (whether it be condenser or dynamic) on a stand in the control room, put in earplugs (you, not the vocalist), and crank the bejeezus out of the monitors so the vocalist can vocalize along with it; a much better vibe IMO than wearing headphones, and as long as you position the back of the mic to the monitors, the sound will get really rejected (and apparently inverting the phase coming out of one speaker helps, cuz there will be a lot of cancellation as both speakers are picked up by one mic)

 

[John_C]

mmhmm the reverse phase thing can work well so long as your mic is exactly equidistant from your 2 monitors.
You can do a reverse phase trick afterwards to cancel out the bleed too, at least in theory........

I agree that the 58 isn't the best though, but its cheap and doesn't break

 

[Rex Rocker]

For recording agressive vocals, I prefer the SM57 over the 58. I find it less muffled and just overall fuller and more agressive.

 

[John_C]

as was revealed in the sm57 impedance gizmo thread, the sm57 is just an sm58 without the popshield

 

[Nostalgiaplatz]

I've seen on a few forum posts that the difference between the 57 and the 58 is just the capsule, right? wouldn't it be feasible to buy the 57 and a capsule for the 58, thus getting the best of both worlds?

Also, I can consider a mic for at most 250euros, at the expense of not buying the filter, stand and cables (basically having it unused for a while) so let me know if I still have some other options in this range... I'm only insisting on getting a better mic because I seem to have made a huge mistake when I bought the M-Audio BX5a....even today (5 months after) I still have issues at getting the drums upfront with these monitors and now I would rather pay some more cash and get something reasonably good than buying something and regreting it during all sessions

EDIT: Thanks everyone, BTW.

 

[John_C]

i dont think the capsules are interchangeable, due to different body design. However the actual "capsule" bits are apparently the same in both, the major difference in sound between them comes from the pop filter on the 58

 

[Metaltastic]

mmhmm the reverse phase thing can work well so long as your mic is exactly equidistant from your 2 monitors.

Even so, any bleed will be minimized when the back of the mic is to the monitors, and will be completely drowned out whenever the vocalist is doing his/her thang (unless it's like super-soft whispering, in which case you could do that separately in an iso booth)

 

[John_C]

some mics will be better than others at this however. cardiod is the way to go.

 

[Metaltastic]

Nah, I've done it with cardioid condensers (a Rode NT1-a and an AKG Perception 200 in separate rooms on separate occasions) with no problems, so I'm not speaking in theory here!

 

[John_C]

i'm confused.........i said cardiod was the way to go, not dynamic........ so ofc cardiod condensers would fit the bill

EDIT: we need a better tongue stuck out emoticon....that one looks too much like its directed at someone.... need a sideways one

 

[Metaltastic]

OHHHH no you didn't, I saw that "supercardioid" before you edited! Damn, should've quoted...

 

[John_C]

haha damn, rumbled!!!
i knew i shouldn't have said it as soon as i pressed post lol

 

[GarethSE]

I love the SM57 for vocals.

Hell, I don't even use a pop-shield (but that's only because I literally can't afford one... >_>). I stand way way way back from it, crank the gain fairly high and compress the ever loving shit out of it.
Probably really bad technique but I love how that shit sounds.

Pour exemple..
http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/631208/vocals.mp3