Which is why I recommended the Blue Snowball USB mic early in this thread, a fact that seems to have been completely ignored by every other poster. Assuming that this guy doesn’t already have a preamp and recording interface available, the only way he’s going to get a decent mic for $100 is to get something like the Snowball, with its USB interface that will bypass whatever shoddy 1/8" input and the no doubt horrifying A/D converters.
There are some really decent large diaphragm condensors out there pretty reasonable. Some of the chinese mics…though not quite a neumann you can get some pretty incredible results. I’ve used an MXL V67 quite a bit and it wasn’t at all bad…
of course, some of the other chinese mics are crap.
I know some fairly well known folk in the recording industry that keep a V67 or two in their mic locker, and these are people who have have neumanns. I’ve got a really nice blues vocal recording that Harvey Gerst did with a V67 around here some where and he has a very impressive mic locker to choose from.
I’ve also heard some fairly impressive recordings done on Studio Projects mics…(which of course are also chinese in origin).
But if you are just recording using the built in sound card, even if it’s run through a decent pre and your wearing a mercenary audio t-shirt you’re still not going to tell the difference between a Neumann and an sm58.
That could be a good call. I’m going to have to check that one out. Blue makes some cool stuff.
Well, now I’m all overwhelmed, with people suddenly suggesting I buy semi-professional gear, sending my budget into the stratosphere.
I just wanna talk into my computer so it doesn’t sound like I’m on the phone.
lol…I’m thinking that blue usb mic that our voltage controlled oscillator friend suggested might be your best bet. I haven’t personally tried it, but blue usually makes a good product and it would be pretty much plug and play.
just checked with a friend of mine who has one of the blue snowballs…he uses the thing all the time. damn…I’m thinking of getting one myself now.
Just stick with your budget and you’ll do fine. You don’t need to spend anymore than that for what you’re doing.
I’ve never used a USB mic but the Blue snowball looks like it might be the way to go. It looks tailor made for plugging right into your computer while the Shure, fine mic that it is, isn’t.
Here is a review of several USB mics, including the Snowball.
Si
BTW…Apparently the snowball does not work in vista yet.
The SM58 is a great stage Mike for a variety of reasons and will probably do the job okay. Shure has aa PG58 which is decent Mike as well. We sell it for 59.99 packaged with cable. Very good buy if you want basic but decent quality. I didn’t see how you’re connecting to your PC. No mike will make the standard 1/8 mike connection sound decent. It’s a sound card issue. If you have a decent interface for small home studios I recommend this Audio Tecnica 2020. A very good condenser for the money which is around $100US.
It requires phantom power. Art tubeMP is a good way to go. for around $65US. It will supply phantom power and will let you warm up the vocals.
If you don’t have a decent interface SAmson makes the CO1U for under $100US which plugs in directly to the computer or Art also makes a USB tube pre amp
I know what it’s like to have a budget. Sometimes it’s worth it to spend a little more to get significantly better quality that may help you in other projects later on.
I hope that helps and good luck