Microphone advice?

[JohnH]

i'd be grateful for your advice on a microphone to buy:

Currently I use a Rode M1, which is a very good dynamic mic, comparable with a SM58 Beta, very solid and reliable and great for speaking voice, band vocals and guitar amps. It also does a good job on acoustic. I use it all day every day, for Zoom and Teams which I use for business and also teaching live and lecture recording. If I'm recording guitar its what i use and I sing through it with the band.

I want to have a second good mic, so that I can record amp and vocal at once, or close-mic and room-mic the amp. Also I have an online guitar lesson and Id like to have a mic for the amp and one to talk through. And Ill be using a mic to record acoustic too, so Ill use whichever mic is best for that (condenser?).

The M1 is about $120 Australian. Should I get another one for consistency? or would a condenser mic be more useful? Both will feed into a mixer with phantom power if needed. My budget is maybe $200 Aus. Any suggestions or comments are welcomed.

many thanks

 

[Dogs of Doom]

the thing w/ mic's like the M1, SM58, etc. is that they are designed for vocals. The main thing is that the way the head is designed, is to get a certain focus of direction while rejecting off axis sound.

This tends to not be ideal for room mic'ing, or for instrumentation.

This is why the SM57 is a more popular mic. It does not work as well for vocals, but, it is a good general purpose mic.

I'd probably suggest trying removing the grill on the M1, or the 58, & try recording instruments that way. See if you like the response better...

I think if you want a room mic, or a mic that will capture, say an acoustic guitar/singer w/ a single mic, a good large diaphragm condenser will shine. You'll get a full bodied sound.

If you get a small diaphragm condenser, you'll get a good solid snapshot, but the sound won't be as full (breadth)...

One thing to consider also, is using reference mic's. They have a flat response, because they are used for calibrations. There are some that can be reasonably cheap.

Learning techniques w/ different kinds of mic's is paramount. Learn boundary mic'ing. Learn mid/side.

Look up mic hacks & recording hacks. You'll find a lot of ideas. Some things you can do to get stellar recordings using cheap gear, & DIY mod's that transform a cheap mic into something that rivals one, 10 x's it's price...

 

[mAx___]

I highly recommend the Sennheiser MD-421.

 

[Sapient]

In your situation, since you want another mic for more "open space" recording I might not consider a condenser, ...I'd probably consider two matched small diaphragms for stereo recording which more than likely you'll wanna do, at least at some point. As doom said you get a fuller sound of large diaphragm, but two of those will go beyond your budget. I think two in stereo will give you all the fulness you need.

Neumaan KM184 mics are often the "goto" for stereo recording and are scary clear and accurate. I've had a set and used them and they are unbelievable. That said, it's something you could think to the future on but they are very expensive. For a causal application this matched Rode set gets tons of ratings and seem to be liked. I've had lower cost small diaphragms before and one thing you will notice is often they are a bit harsh at times. You can use plugins like tape saturation these days to help out with some of the inferiorities of lower cost mics. Not saying this is a massive problem with lower cost mics, it's just in comparison to top-notch mics you're going to notice some things, naturally.

I'd double your pleasure at only $200 dollars here ...
www.ebay.com/itm/403030944315

 

[ricksdisconnected]

 

[JohnH]

Thanks for the suggestions so far. lll study up on them. As a brand, Rode are relatively good value here since they are made in Aus so there is less shipping, currency conversion and taxes .eg, I can get that M5 pair for $180 Aud.

 

[junk notes]

Sounds like the criteria that is for a PZM.

I want to have a second good mic, so that I can record amp and vocal at once, or close-mic and room-mic the amp. Also I have an online guitar lesson and Id like to have a mic for the amp and one to talk through. And Ill be using a mic to record acoustic too, so Ill use whichever mic is best for that (condenser?).

 

[purpleplexi]

I have an AKG BT 330. OK it's old tech now but I've never used a better mic. You used to see press conferences for PMs, Kings and such and there was always a forest of these set up. Great for speech, really great for vocals, used it for guitar cabs, snares all sorts. Always sounds good. Has a bass or treble roll- off switch that works well. You still see them used for reasonable money.

 

[JohnH]

Ive been listening to all the youtubes I can find. Im really interested in that Rode M5 pair of small condenser mics, which gets great reviews and I think these will broaden my options very nicely for what I do and for what I'd like to do, together with the dynamic M1 that I have.

Thanks for the suggestions and I reckon I'm gonna go for it unless anyone says Noooooooo!! in the next short while......

 

[Dogs of Doom]

Sounds like the criteria that is for a PZM.

nobody wants to learn boundaries...

 

[WellBurnTheSky]

Sounds like the criteria that is for a PZM.

PZMs are great, but they have their drawbacks too (of course). If a truck passes down the street, the mic will catch that. If you kick a foot of the table, it'll catch that too (very loudly).

Ive been listening to all the youtubes I can find. Im really interested in that Rode M5 pair of small condenser mics, which gets great reviews and I think these will broaden my options very nicely for what I do and for what I'd like to do, together with the dynamic M1 that I have.

Thanks for the suggestions and I reckon I'm gonna go for it unless anyone says Noooooooo!! in the next short while......

One pretty cheap option that's seemingly very nice (especially for the price) is Lewitt mics, I've heard lots of good things about their 040 stereo pair.

 

[JohnH]

Those Lewitt's seem like a good option, quite similar to the Rode M5's. The Rode models are better value here in Australia though, since they are made here.

I've ordered a pair of M5's now, $180 AUD shipped which is about $130 US. I'll let you know what I think when I e tried them.

 

[pulsonicsound]

Audix i5

is a lot of microphone for not very much money!

 

[Sapient]

Sounds like the criteria that is for a PZM.

You've provided a lot of input for the OP. Do we get a "modes" lesson at least?

 

[purpleplexi]

I used to use a PZM in the bathroom sink for vocals. Great natural reverb. Someone turned a tap on somewhere in the house it would pick it up....

 

[december]

I put an AKG C1000S on the front of my amp and a Shure SM57 on the back. Individually, neither is great, but the 2 of them on the amp is a really great sound. Been using them almost 20 years. The C1000S is also good for vocals.
I recently got a Sennheiser e 902 for the bass amp. It's really good, and has really good mid & high frequency response. It'd probably sound great on guitar or vocals, but you'd have to EQ out some of the bass.

 

[JohnH]

I got my pair of M5's. Very nice quality, small but well made. They come with mic holders (small size to suit them) and vocal covers.

Trying one for vocal, I'm impressed with the clear well balanced tone and detail. Its more sensitive than my M1, so gain was turned down. Then i tried it set a bit back from the amp in combination with a dynamic close mic. Very nice together. I'm pleased so far and i haven't tried stereo yet.

 

[JohnH]

I just took a few minutes off from what I'm really supposed to be doing to try a sound test:



It's my Ashbury resonator, which has a magnetic pickup at the neck. The M5 is micing the acoustic sound near the cone and the dynamic mic is on the Vintage Modern amp, set to just about to break up, but dialed down to acoustic levels using the attenuator.

The M5 mic is panned just left of centre and the amp is reduced in volume and panned far right. You can hear it growling a bit.

Recorded on my equally new Mackie ProFXv3, into Audacity.

Back to work now....

 

[Derek S]

I'm just tossing up this one because I haven't seen it mentioned and maybe that's because it fly's under the radar, but the e906 (not 609) is a great option for low to high gain tones. Pair it up with a 57 and now we're really talking!

 

[miyaru]

As I use moderate volume at home, I use a Rode NT1a LDC (large Diagram Condernser) for my bass and guitar cabs..... just my two cents.