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Best vocal microphone for £150

Posted: Tue Mar 23, 2010 11:19 pm
by deadly
Apologies if this has been done before, not been on the forum for a while and search doesn't seem to be working properly?

What should I be looking at for £150? Been using an SM58 but fancy an upgrade / switch to a proper vocal mic.

Any suggestions? Do I need to spend more to get a noticeable difference?

Cheers :)

Re: Best vocal microphone for £150

Posted: Tue Mar 23, 2010 11:22 pm
by deadly_habit
studio? condenser or dynamic?
150 quid to dollars please lol

Re: Best vocal microphone for £150

Posted: Tue Mar 23, 2010 11:26 pm
by deadly
$225 - for recording purposes so whichever will have best results?

Thanks

Re: Best vocal microphone for £150

Posted: Tue Mar 23, 2010 11:30 pm
by deadly_habit
have an interface, stand, vocal booth or treatment? reflection filter if no treatment?
honestly if you want best bang for buck imo blue bluebird which runs like 300$ here
and you trying to be like my lil cousin or something with your name :6:

Re: Best vocal microphone for £150

Posted: Tue Mar 23, 2010 11:36 pm
by symmetricalsounds
think you can get a rode nt1 for around that price

http://www.soundslive.co.uk/product.asp?id=12685

Re: Best vocal microphone for £150

Posted: Tue Mar 23, 2010 11:39 pm
by deadly_habit
symmetricalsounds wrote:think you can get a rode nt1 for around that price

http://www.soundslive.co.uk/product.asp?id=12685
better off saving the bit more for nt2, that is if you want the pattern selections

Re: Best vocal microphone for £150

Posted: Tue Mar 23, 2010 11:45 pm
by deadly
deadly habit wrote:have an interface, stand, vocal booth or treatment? reflection filter if no treatment?
honestly if you want best bang for buck imo blue bluebird which runs like 300$ here
and you trying to be like my lil cousin or something with your name :6:
I've been Deadly for 10+ years since the garage days in the 90s :D

Got an interface, stand, pop shield but need to get a reflection filter.

Don't mind spending a bit more than £150 if it would be really worth it, I'm going halves with a mate anyway.

Re: Best vocal microphone for £150

Posted: Tue Mar 23, 2010 11:49 pm
by deadly_habit
deadly wrote:
deadly habit wrote:have an interface, stand, vocal booth or treatment? reflection filter if no treatment?
honestly if you want best bang for buck imo blue bluebird which runs like 300$ here
and you trying to be like my lil cousin or something with your name :6:
I've been Deadly for 10+ years since the garage days in the 90s :D

Got an interface, stand, pop shield but need to get a reflection filter.

Don't mind spending a bit more than £150 if it would be really worth it, I'm going halves with a mate anyway.
got 5 years on ya junior :p
nah if in non treated room snag a reflection filter unless you can treat like a closet to be a booth
bluebird is seriously best bang for buck imo in the under 500$ range

Re: Best vocal microphone for £150

Posted: Tue Mar 23, 2010 11:51 pm
by wirez
deadly wrote:Been using an SM58 but fancy an upgrade / switch to a proper vocal mic.
:u:

SM58 is an awesome microphone for selected vocal types/recording environments and should not be dismissed as a 'improper vocal mic'.

Re: Best vocal microphone for £150

Posted: Tue Mar 23, 2010 11:54 pm
by deadly_habit
wirez wrote:
deadly wrote:Been using an SM58 but fancy an upgrade / switch to a proper vocal mic.
:u:

SM58 is an awesome microphone for selected vocal types/recording environments and should not be dismissed as a 'improper vocal mic'.
the issue i have with it is it's just a sm57 with a windscreen and in same price range there is so much better quality mics nowadays from diff brands
granted its an industry standard for 40+ years, but there is so much better for cost with better freq response, more gain pre feedback and less handling noise for live environment. honestly i love my shures as a go to when all else fails but so much better on market at same price.

Re: Best vocal microphone for £150

Posted: Wed Mar 24, 2010 12:09 am
by deadly
wirez wrote:
deadly wrote:Been using an SM58 but fancy an upgrade / switch to a proper vocal mic.
:u:

SM58 is an awesome microphone for selected vocal types/recording environments and should not be dismissed as a 'improper vocal mic'.
I know, I just fancy spending some money on a dedicated recording mic for sung vocals.

The 'studio' is in the spare room and there's very little space in there - what would be the best way to improve quality of recordings - reflection filter / traps etc?

What could I do in this space?
Image

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Re: Best vocal microphone for £150

Posted: Wed Mar 24, 2010 12:20 am
by deadly_habit
reflection filter def and a pop filter for starters
maybe treat area behind your stand as well a couple sheets of like auralex properly sliced and applied would help

Re: Best vocal microphone for £150

Posted: Wed Mar 24, 2010 6:52 am
by narcissus
shure SM7's a little more, but is nothing short of fantastic

Re: Best vocal microphone for £150

Posted: Wed Mar 24, 2010 10:04 am
by the dub lemon
Hmmm, thats weird, I'm sure I replied to this thread last night, oh well.

All I wanted to say was that I've got a Rode NT1-A and to be completely honest I was stunned by it, it's not a character mic but I doubt you'll really find much else in it's class (not sure about the NT2) without spent £100-£200 more. Saying that I'm no authority on mics and I understand deadly (the habit variety) sells audio gear so probably knows a whole lot more on the subject than me.

Re: Best vocal microphone for £150

Posted: Wed Mar 24, 2010 10:13 am
by darigan
the SE 2200A, is pretty good as well, gotta look after it thou mine got plugged out when it was on twice and now its after getting really noisy

Re: Best vocal microphone for £150

Posted: Wed Mar 24, 2010 10:31 am
by symmetricalsounds
if you could treat the area behind the mic that would be handy and/or get one of these

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the semi circular thing. that will make a big difference.

the nt2 is a better mic, but for your price range the nt1 is a really good mic and i don't think you would have any complaints if you did a little bit of treatment. although you said your going halves with a mate so maybe the nt2 is an option?

as for the sm58 for studio use...yes you can get good results out of it but even with all that work its still never gonna be as good as the nt1 or other good condenser mics. the rodes are obviously just entry level in the world of condensers.

Re: Best vocal microphone for £150

Posted: Wed Mar 24, 2010 10:35 am
by serox
I heard Kromestar used one of these for the vox on his latest tracks. Apparently the buttons on it have basic FX but they actually sound quite good when you push more than one at a time.

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Re: Best vocal microphone for £150

Posted: Wed Mar 24, 2010 11:05 am
by Basic A
serox wrote:I heard Kromestar used one of these for the vox on his latest tracks. Apparently the buttons on it have basic FX but they actually sound quite good when you push more than one at a time.

Image
So wierd you posted this... I just nabbed this EXACT thing to circuit bend the other day...

To bad its an annoying black gob un-bendable chip inside of thier.

Re: Best vocal microphone for £150

Posted: Wed Mar 24, 2010 2:44 pm
by Sharmaji
don't fall into the trap--sm58 can be a great vocal mic, it just takes some effort via placement, etc. the proximity effect is bangin.

if you dont' like the 58, you won't like the sm7. if you do like the sm7, the mercenary-modded sm57 is a much cheaper alternative to that sonic space (mercenary.com)

in my experience, the blue bluebird beats the rode hands down, every time. I really dislike the superhyped top in the cheaper rodes. w/ that said, their tube mics and the nt4 stereo mic are fantastic bits of kitl.

Big fan of the SE 2200A as well on certain vox-- brightens things up in a nice way, tho that can instantly turn to too much brightening.

even cheaper, the MXL V67g can also be useable-- less hype in the top, no character but a nice, clean midrange. works well on fem. singers who are too sharp, or guys who need clarity.

more expensive, the AT4050 is a great all-around mic for anything and everything, and should costs 2x what it does.

you don't "need" the SE reflexion filter but if you have an unweildly room, it can definitely help.

tho tbh, you'd probably get more bang for you buck by investing 150 pounds in some room treatment.