First Quality Mic, need Advice

[Botnickstudios]

Hey everyone, I'm in the market for a new mic and figured this forum would be proper place to ask advice. Before now I've had a Samson C01U mic. Other than the fact that it sounds really bad in my mixes, with my new Presonus Interface, not having an XLR based Mic is giving me huge latency. I'm on a low budget at the moment and I'm selling my Samson today so I need to act fast. So, if I want a new mic, it needs to be, at 300 or so dollars, 400 MAX. At that, I would like to get the best quality I can, for not only singing vocals, but screaming vocals. The bands, and my band which I record are kinda like Attack Attack, The Devil Wears Prada, Asking Alexandria and Abandon All Ships. Not that heavy. So I saw 4 mics that interested me

The Blue Bluebird was the biggest one for me, because It got great reviews and I saw one opinion at least saying it was clear with screams. Plus I found a way to obtain it for 215 dollars

My second choice would of been the Studio Projects C1 at 250 but I hear it has overdone high-end.

Runner-Ups were the Audio Technica AT4040 and possibly the Blue Baby Bottle

Remember, I need one to handle all the best it can

Thanks so much anyone that helps

 

[ahjteam]

AKG C214 is about the same price as Baby Bottle and it's basically a stripped down C414 with only cardioid pattern and no control switches (pad, highpass filter and polarpattern).

 

[Clockwork]

Well personally I like the Audio Technica AT-4040 a lot, it's served me pretty well, I use it for clean vocals mostly but my screamer tried it a few times and thought it sounded quite good. (The only real reason we don't use it for that is he constantly fights me on using pop filters, but thats aside the point). For a runner up I think the AT mic is a good one. Can't comment on the Bluebird cause I have not used it. What blue mics I have tried I though were pretty good though so I'm inclined to think the bluebird would be a good choice. Cheers man, good luck.

 

[Jarkko Mattheiszen]

Shure SM7B, baby. $349 @ Musiciansfriend.

 

[Botnickstudios]

Im loving the suggestions. That AKG is 500 bucks tho so unfortunately so its way out of my range right now :/. And the Shure SM7B, I am soooooo tempted to buy, but it doesnt look like much of a singing mic and I want at least one condenser. But keep the suggestions coming!

 

[BLUElightCory]

SM7B.

It's a great vocal mic (see: Metallica, Incubus, Micheal Jackson, Red Hot Chili Peppers, etc.) and it'll kill pretty much any cheap condenser mic out there as an all-around instrument mic.

If you insist on a condenser, I'd hunt for a used AKG C214 or 414 - you can probably find one around $400 and it's a lifetime mic.

The best thing you can do is buy something that you won't need to upgrade later, both the SM7B and the 214/414 fit that category.

 

[Botnickstudios]

Hey Jarkko, have you ever used the SM7B for clean vocals? Like I said, I'm lookin for the best all-rounder mic from 250-400 i can get so if it gave good clean recordings, I'd be sold

 

[ahjteam]

Im loving the suggestions. That AKG is 500 bucks tho so unfortunately so its way out of my range right now :/. And the Shure SM7B, I am soooooo tempted to buy, but it doesnt look like much of a singing mic and I want at least one condenser. But keep the suggestions coming!

Ah, my bad. They are the same price in Thomanns website.

http://www.thomann.de/fi/akg_c214.htm
http://www.thomann.de/fi/blue_baby_bottle_studiomikrofon.htm


And clean vocals with SM7B -> M-Audio Profire 610:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1338211/Chris Reed - These Emotions.mp3

 

[Botnickstudios]

Wow this thread is definitely making me think. And unfortunately over here in America the C214 is 100 more than the Baby Bottle, from 400 to 500 USD. And in the first place, i thought i wouldnt go above 300, but i agree with the idea of not wanting to upgrade later. If I bought the Bluebird, do you think it would be a short time till the upgrade? If I'm correct, the AKG is a well known singing mic, and the Shure is the screaming go to mic. My question is, are both/either of them all rounders and if they are really lifetime mics, which one could handle both Singing and Screaming together best as an all rounder, because I wanna buy both now, but I'm pushing my budget with either so I wonder which one would come first

 

[ahjteam]

Well all-rounder is a compromise. Your options are that it is:

- cheap
- durable and diverse
- shines with clean vocals
- shines with scream vocals

and you can only pick 2-3 options.

 

[Jarkko Mattheiszen]

The SM7B works fine on clean vocals in the right hands, but naturally, everything depends on the vocalist's voice. I haven't used a 214, but I have often tracked vocals with a 414. I've always been happy with it on clean vocals, but somehow there has always been something about it on screams that I don't dig that much.

 

[Botnickstudios]

Alright, I think I've decided on the Shure SM7B. I hear its crazy good on screams, and really if Michael Jackson used it in the studio its obviously far superior to my cheap samson i've used all the time. And I'll probably buy an AKG condenser later, because it sounds like it's worth it also but I am on an extremely tight budget so with the SM7B i only need 135 more than I thought I would need. Thanks everyone. By the way a few questions if noone minds...

I dont need a pop filter with this right?

How close up to the dynamic mic for vocals

This is less prone to reflection right? I dont have acoustic treatment

And also dynamics dont need phantom power right?

Again, thanks so much everyone this was an immense help

 

[Jarkko Mattheiszen]

I dont need a pop filter with this right?

Not necessarily, but some people prefer it with the foam removed and with a pop filter. Experiment. You can try it with some iron wire and pantyhose

How close up to the dynamic mic for vocals

Again, experiment. Some vocalists sound cool when they're practically eating the mic. Most don't.

This is less prone to reflection right? I dont have acoustic treatment

In a way, yes. It has a pretty narrow pattern, so you won't get all that much bleed and/or reflections. Treated room always helps, but if you find it's a problem, you can make a semi-dead corner in the room quite easily. Or crawl under a blanket to record the vocals. Might be difficult to convince paying clients to do that, though.

And also dynamics dont need phantom power right?

That's correct. The SM7B can take quite a bit of gain, but it shouldn't be a problem with any semi-decent mic pre.

 

[Sloan]

ALWAYS BUY USED. ALWAYS.