What mic to get for my interface?

[Dexter_prog]

Hey. So I am planning on getting my first microphone and, as you may have surmised, I am a newbie on this too . So here are my doubts and what I want the mic for:

1) My interface is a Presonus Firebox. I (vaguely) remember about some type of mics that should be avoided for this interface for some reason. If anybody knows anything on this I'd be glad to learn. I might be wrong, of course.
Edit: here's some stuff on this:
http://forums.presonus.com/showthread.php?t=7625
http://forums.presonus.com/showpost.php?p=1922&postcount=2

edit2: ok, all those preamps he recommended are from Presonus, so my bullshit-meter is peaking high...

Does that mean that I am fucked and have to get a pre-amp? Because that would rape my budget.
Are those mics that the Presonus admin recommended any good? Audix OM5, Sennheiser E835

2) I want to record vocals.

3) I don't have much money. Some friends told me to get a Shure sm57 or sm58 which are around 100 usd in USA and the prices in Argentina are usually between 170%-200% of the original price (that is to say: 100 in USA are 175 or 200 in Argentina)
To make it more precise:
sm57 @ musiciansfriend: 100 usd
sm57 @ Argentina: 155 usd

sm58 @ musiciansfriend: 100 usd
sm58 @ Argentina: 181usd

So I beg that for any recomendation you can think of you multiply the price by 1.75, so you keep within my budget.

4) Budget: 200 usd TOP (Argentinian prices, see point 3)

That's all. If I should provide more info, please ask me. Thanks in advance

 

[Erlend_]

You should consider the Shure SM7b.
Its a little bit more expensive than the SM57 but you can find it used on eBay
for about 250USD.
Its a great mic for vocals, especially rock and metal stuff.

A SM57 will always serve you well and every studio has several
of them but Im not sure you will like it on vocals or acoustic guitar.
You wont regret buying one but dont expect it to work on everything.

Thats my 2 cents! Good luck! Im not sure there are any condenser mics
I would wanna recommend in that price range.

 

[Dexter_prog]

Hmm, but I can't buy from Ebay, dude. I am outside US and the customs would probably rape me with whatever they would like to charge me for getting that :/

 

[Arcturian]

Hey, I'm new to this as well, so don't take my word for much.

But as far as I know, you do not want an SM57 for vocals or acoustic guitar. That's the land of condenser mics.

As for which of those to get, I'm working on that right now. Wide condensers are for vocals, and thin ones are for acoustic guitar. If you're going to do both, I think a wide's better at doing both than a thin one is. Dunno for sure.

 

[-Loco-]

I'm currently learning that its not the equipment its the engineer bahaha. I'd recommend the audix i5 if you're doing any guitar cab micing or tom drums. A little less common than an SM57 but i kind of prefer it to the 57 it doesn't have the same exaggerated high end hiss that the 57 can sometimes carry. You can use a dynamic mic like an SM57 and get fantastic results with an acoustic guitar. It's a great all rounder

 

[Metaltastic]

I much prefer the 57 to the i5 on guitar cabs, and have owned both (guess which one I sold ) - but I think this thread really illustrates the differences perfectly (thanks again Ryan!) so check it out and decide for yourself!

 

[Zack Uidl]

+1 to that, I totally prefer a 57 to an i5. I have never really liked an i5 for guitars.........

 

[Dexter_prog]

Hmm, but I think I am going for a mic just for vocals (that's why I now have edited my post). Some dude I know is selling a used sm58 (I trust him when he says it's in good shape) + stand + antipop + xlr-to-trs cable (which I can plug to my ass because I need xlr-to-xlr, but who cares) for quite a good price for all that stuff. Should I go for it?

 

[Arcturian]

SM58 is fine for live vocals, but it's not what you want for the studio.

 

[Dexter_prog]

SM58 is fine for live vocals, but it's not what you want for the studio.

hmm then what should I get for studio vocals?

 

[Trevoire520]

Plenty of guys have used a 58 for studio vocals. If its a good deal then go for it, 58's and 57's work on just about anything. Hell I've been doing vocals for my bands cd with a Audix I5 and I'm prefer it to any of my condensers.

 

[ParsonsMatt]

SM7, totally worth it, the 57 sounds OK on vocals but the SM7b sounds AMAZING.

 

[Dexter_prog]

Plenty of guys have used a 58 for studio vocals. If its a good deal then go for it, 58's and 57's work on just about anything. Hell I've been doing vocals for my bands cd with a Audix I5 and I'm prefer it to any of my condensers.

Ok, thanks for the advice!

SM7, totally worth it, the 57 sounds OK on vocals but the SM7b sounds AMAZING.

but that's way outta my league. I mean it's like 350usd in USA

 

[Metaltastic]

Go for the 58 dude, it can definitely be made to work! (as clips on here have shown me, as well as it being used on quite a few pro recordings apparently)

 

[Dexter_prog]

Ok. I think I'm gonna go for it. It seems like a good deal and he told me it's a "made in the USA" one. The new ones are made in Mexico, right? I mean, I saw a lot of the "made in Mexico" ones in stores.

 

[Metaltastic]

Really? News to me, but I wouldn't sweat it too much either way!

 

[Jarkko Mattheiszen]

SM58 is fine for live vocals, but it's not what you want for the studio.

Seriously, who says you don't want a 58 for studio recording? Sure, you see it a lot more often in live situations, but that doesn't mean it's useless in a studio environment. You can get pretty decent results with it, and for some voices, the 58 suits much better than your average LDC.

Tone-wise there's no good mics or crappy mics, almost everything has it's use even though some are better built and more expensive than others.

 

[Erlend_]

Seriously, who says you don't want a 58 for studio recording? Sure, you see it a lot more often in live situations, but that doesn't mean it's useless in a studio environment. You can get pretty devent results with it, and for some voices, the 58 suits much better than your average LDC.

Tone-wise there's no good mics or crappy mics, almost everything has it's use even though some are better built and more expensive than others.

Indeed.

I had this one vocalist in.. He just did not sound good on LDC's..
The SM58 beat them all.

But then we tried him on the SM7b and it was heaven!

 

[Arcturian]

*shrug* Ok. I'm pretty much just parroting what other people have told me at this point.

 

[Trevoire520]

SM7, totally worth it, the 57 sounds OK on vocals but the SM7b sounds AMAZING.

You should consider the Shure SM7b.
Its a little bit more expensive than the SM57 but you can find it used on eBay
for about 250USD.
Its a great mic for vocals, especially rock and metal stuff.

A SM57 will always serve you well and every studio has several
of them but Im not sure you will like it on vocals or acoustic guitar.
You wont regret buying one but dont expect it to work on everything.

Thats my 2 cents! Good luck! Im not sure there are any condenser mics
I would wanna recommend in that price range.

To be honest I wouldn't touch an SM7 unless I had a mic pre with plenty of clean gain as the SM7 is a very low output mic, looking at the links in the original post I don't think a SM7 would be suitable.