advice needed for purchase of a studio mic..

[Madmaxxb]

Guys,

I am hoping you can give me some advice on a decent mic that won't cost the earth.

my set-up is a PC based
PT 5.3.1 & Digi 001

I have no pre-amps and currently use the Digi 001.

I have read a lot of threads on this forum on this topic, and the Neumann 149 - 147 looks like the creamof the crop.. but if I can;t afford that much I was wondering what a viable alternative might be..

My budget is around 200-300 USD..

Also was wondering about getting a seperate pre-amp as well instead of just using the Digi 001 built in..

I need the mic for Male vocals only..

Thanks.

[anthrock]

Look for a used AT 4050. Pretty well rounded mic.

[Phil O'Keefe]

200-300 isn't going to get you what I was going to recommend - which was the Rode NTK. That's a great mic for male vocals. The Studio Projects C1 is a pretty good mic, and falls in that budget range.

What's your mic preamp budget?

[Madmaxxb]

Anthrock, Phil, thanks for the info. I will check out the prices on both those mic's.

Phil, my budget will be around the same 200-300, but to be honest (newbie here) I have had no experience in using a pre-amp, will it make much of a difference to just the Digi 001 pre-amp?

If you are interested if hearing what I am trying to do (suggestions would be cool to)

http://www.mp3.com/madmaxxb

The first track wINDOWS, is my first attempt at vocals.. as you can tell I am in desperate need of a mic [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img] .. listening to my other tracks you can probably see who badly my current mic is affecting the overall track sound quality.

Thanks again.

ROCK ON [img]images/icons/cool.gif[/img]

[The Weed]

My vote also for the Rode NTK. Last US price I saw was $405. Someone, I think it was Quickdraw, said that the NTK right into the 001 pre was pretty good. I haven't tried that, but my dbx 286A works quite well with the tube, basically just getting out of the way unless I want to add something to the signal. I prefer a "dry" recording and then using plug-ins instead of having the effects already included with the audio. No undo with outboard gear.

Anyway, sorry to ramble. The whole point is get a good mic and believe me, especially for male vocals, the NTK is a great mic.

Cheers and Happy New Year,

[J. FO]

a lot of people like the NTK, but it's still a little more than you want to spend. if you can come up with the extra money, get it. if not, i highly recommend the studio projects C1. it will work well on male vocals. similar to a u87 in the way it brings out some brilliance. i did say similar, though. you can get it for about $199 many, many places.

[Deedle]

My friend Ray Rayburn is a US distributer for Superlux mics. I have 3 of them and they are incredible mics for the money. Here is a link to his page were you can get more info and buy direct.

http://www.superlux.us/recording.html

I highly recomend the Superlux CM-H8A. It is a large diaphragm condenser for $90 plus shipping. That is a great deal...
Great on vocals, guitars, and drums.

I also recomend the AT 4033 and the Rode NT1 for your price range.

[Bloux]

yes a mic pre will make a huge difference depending on which mic and pre you'll choose. get the mic first and use the 001 pre's which really arent badr.

take a little more time to save up the extra $100 bucks for the NTK its really worth it. this tube mic will really warm up the 001's input.

Plus, when you decide to upgrade from the 001 pre's you'll have a real nice mic already. you could then match the NTK up with something like the solid state Grace 101 mono mic pre for around $500.00 and you'll have a killer pre for that mic.

good luck

[Taylor1725]

i bought a used RODE NT2 off of ebay for about 300 bucks...with aluminum case and shockmount and absolutely love this mic, it sounds incredible for vocals and guitar and djembe as well. before that i used a marshal mxlv67 which is a good mic as well. rode's are great mics and if you can your hands on one, i don't think you'll ever think twice about it.

[pierbranchstudio]

IMHO, am using the Audio Technica 4033 and am happy so far. When looking for an affordable studio mic, we called a studio engineer in Nashville that we new and asked what he would recommend. He said if he had to have just 1 mic for everything, that was the one. I've used it for vocals, acoustic guitar and as a room mic for drums and works good on all. I'm sure there's better but for $200 on ebay I didn't go wrong. Of course I picked up a Tube preamp to use with it and that made a nice difference as well. [img]images/icons/cool.gif[/img]
Have fun!