Cheap(ish) quality microphone recommendations

O.K. sound wizards, gurus etc. I have no recording gear at all so would like to get up and running as cheap as possible but with decent quality. I was looking at something like the Rode NT-USB.

I want to be able to do the following:

Record guitar out of an amp.
Record Violin and acoustic guitar.
Record brass instruments.
Record speech as I'm toying with the idea of doing a YouTube build series for one of my future builds if people would be interested.

Video at this stage I'll probably just use my Nikon D3100 (Full HD @ 24fps) or pick up a second hand Go-Pro.

Hit me with your suggestions.

Rode make decent quality gear.
I'd probably go with that if it's within your budget.

cheers, Mark.

Are you dead set on a usb mic?

If there’s any chance you might want to upgrade or expand your studio in the future, you might be better off with an interface and an XLR mic if your budget allows.

I have no experience with USB mics but I’m very happy with my Rode so I’m sure that’s a good option if you choose that path.


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Quote:

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Originally Posted by SamSquare

Are you dead set on a usb mic?

If there’s any chance you might want to upgrade or expand your studio in the future, you might be better off with an interface and an XLR mic if your budget allows.

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This, buy a decent Mic with XLR and one of the small Focusrite Scarlett series interfaces, can't go wrong.

The A/D converter in the interface will leave for dead whatever is in the Mic or computer, and also give you a better playback / recording monitor option

Those little 3rd gen scarletts are cracking value!


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I just bought one of these for my band and it punches waaay above its weight. Highly recommend. Also it was delivered in 2 days.

You'll need to by the lead separately, but its just a standard XLR jack.

https://www.amazon.com.au/Behringer-...d_i=4885415051

I also have a Blue Snowball USB that is very flexible for room or direct recording.

https://www.jbhifi.com.au/products/b...phone-blackout

XLR and an interface is probably more flexible though.

I'll look into the Scarletts. Whatever setup I go for will need to tolerate pretty high SPLs (up to 135dB).

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I know there are many more experienced here than I when I comes to home recording, but being a recent buyer of a Focusrite interface and Reaper DAW, I'll offer some input.

I got my Focusrite Scarlett Solo (Gen 3) for $229 a few weeks ago. It was pretty standard price but lower than some retailers.
Reaper DAW - $66US - worked out to $105AU - 60 day free trial before paying; lifetime licence, free upgrades.

Instrument mic for guitar amp & brass - hard to go past the Sennheiser e609 around $115 domestic. An industry stalwart dynamic mic (budget model of e906).
Mics for voice/vocals, strings, guitar and room - condenser mic(s) is/are the way to go.

If you're looking for a decent condenser mic on a budget, I can recommend iSK available from SWAMP in Fyshwick.
I have an iSK large diaphragm condenser mic as well as a iSK kick drum mic and a pair of their pencil condenser mics. They all definitely punch above their weight for the price.

As I said, I'm new to home recording, but I'm not new to studio recording. Primarily as a performer not an engineer, but I've picked up a few thing along the way.

I've got two of the Scarlett CM25 condenser mics that come included in the Scarlett 2i2 Studio pack/bundle that Focusrite sell, they are surprisingly good quality mics, and I've managed to get good results with them so far.

For brass and guitar amps I'd generally reach for a dynamic mic first (AKG D5 is a good budget option), for acoustic guitar and voice I'd probably reach for an LDC (unless your budget stretches to an Aston Stealth or Shure SM7B). The Audio Technica AT2020 is pretty hard to beat in the UK but I don't know how the prices stack up over there.
The Behringer UMC interfaces offer a lot of bang for buck, they've not been around long enough to really talk about durability or driver support though. I've got a focusrite on my desk that I reckon is over 10 years old and still going strong, it's also still getting driver support from Focusrite.

There are a ton of choices in the affordable studio mic world. Most are OK, some are really good. I've been using an Oktava Mk-319 as my large diaphragm mic for the last, jeez, 20 years maybe? Quite a good mic, in my opinion. They're a little harder to find these days, at least here in the US. Rode makes some very good budget mics as well.

The Sennheiser e609 is my favorite guitar amp mic. You can probably find a gently used one for well under $100.

I've been using the Behringer UMC404HD interface for a little while now, and it works great. For the price, it's hard to beat.

So getting a 3rd Gen Scarlett at the moment is quite difficult, the 2i2 seems to be sold out everywhere I look.

I'm looking at the Solid State Logic SSL2 ($369) instead. Happy to hear any thoughts on this.

For microphone I've kind of narrowed down to a few options.

Condenser:

Rode NT-1 (flatter frequency response than the NT-1A), $339 but includes shock mount, pop filter and cable.

Audio Technica AT2020, $129

Dynamic:

Shure SM57, $179
Sennheiser e609, $119

Ribbon:

Golden Age R1 Mk II, $279

My thoughts:

SSL2 is very good and the 4000 console path option can add a certain something extra. The MOTU M2 is also worth considering. Technically it has some better specs than the SSL, but the SSL is certainly good enough and will give great results. I’d go MOTU myself, primarily for the extra functionality and the fact that they are up there with RME in terms of long term driver support. SSL are rather an unknown quantity there.

I’d go Røde NT1 over the AT2020 any day. My only experience of an AT2020 wasn’t very good at all. I had the first main commercial version of the NT1 (grey body) and it was a great mic. The shock mount and pop shied the NT1 comes with are both top notch products, so you’d be well set up there.

I recently borrowed an e609 to compare against my Behringer B906 and whilst the e609 is fine, the Behringer is cheaper, sounds just as good on an amp and gives three sound shaping options as opposed to the fixed sound of the e609 (which is similar to the bright mode of the e906). Neither mics have anything like a flat response and both sound terrible on vocals, so an SM57 is a better choice of all-round instrument mic IMO. The e609 sounds different to an SM57 on an amp, and that’s where I start to struggle with decisions, as both sound good, just different. And the three sound options in the B906 sound different as well, but again, just different rather than one being better than the others. It all depends on context and what sits best in the track. I haven’t found a cheap 57-alike mic that sounds anything like a 57, so I’d always recommend having at least one of them in the mic locker.

The GA ribbon is a nice choice.