So given your current yeti if you think that’s fine when sensitivity is adjusted, it’s going to pick up more than that, but it would likely be manageable.
Regarding the preamp, what I might suggest for something both good and very simple is a dbx channel strip
This would give you a basic expander/gate (helpful for potentially controlling background noise), and basic tools like compression, preset eq basically, and a desser which is nice. I think in the same price range you can get better raw sound for money but it’s not going to have the features like these have and might require more hassle as well, so this is more a one stop simple shop for most people and it ends up being all they need.
If you did go with a channel strip I would suggest upgrading the interface after (specifically the id4 given it’s a bit warmer sweeter leaning as well)
I do think that something like an art pro channel ii or moving up something like a drawmer mx60-pro are really sweet and also better sounding, but I think they are both likely more than you’d want to spend and less simple to deal with than the dbx.
Back to mics, I think the advanced audio is still viable but you might want something a bit warmer than the lewitt.
If you want a surprisingly good and well balanced mic for how cheap this thing looks, the roswell mini k47 is quite good
I’d say in comparison to the AA it’s more natural and slightly less focused in the midrange and treble, although is slightly a bit less interesting there too. It leans more overall neutral with a bit of extra warmth, and is just a general all rounder without much flaw.
I would consider warmer mics but in this price range they either tend to go too far with the warmth, or they have pretty bad upper registers tbh
So, I wanted your input on this a bit… I am looking at these mics I will probably sit with them all some point soon enough to see what I think… but whats your opinion on that Shure SM7B… heard really good things about that as far as dynamics go
I really don’t like that mic. Just being real, I think it’s overpriced, overhyped, and really not that impressive. It also has a stronger source gear need which makes it an even more expensive endeavor. Personally I’d rather have a mic like a Sennheiser MD421 II for an all rounder at the same price point. A lot of the other dynamics I enjoy more are either vintage, or higher up in the price bracket where they wouldn’t be reasonable here, or lower down in the price bracket to where I don’t know if they’d be as large enough of an upgrade to what you have now. There is the electro voice re40 but that might be too warm and rich leaning for your tastes most likely, although the re27n/d is a more potentially approachable pick
The Telefunken m82 might suit you well along with the Sennheiser if you wanted to go the dynamic route
It’s a good mic but I do think it’s over-hyped if you will, doesn’t work for everyone’s timbre, but if you have a higher voice then it’s not bad. Also it’s harder to drive so depending on your audio interface you may need an additional boost from something like a Cloudlifter which is another $100.
I’ve been using a Shure SM57 for $100 along with the dbx and it works great for a 3rd of the price.
lol, as I was typing out my response that I also thought it was overhyped.
EDIT: It looks like you also want a condenser mic, the SM7B is dynamic.
I honestly do think the sm57 or sm58 do most of what it does at much less cost
I’d agree that the general sound here would lean more toward condenser, but something like the Telefunken or Sennheiser could still be a viable option if he wants to go that route
So, I sat down and tried @M0N recommendations… least the ones I could find currently and I like a lot of them(I am not particularly picky long as its accurate reproduction and doesn’t make me sound awful since I have a higher tone voice). However, I have began to wonder if perhaps I should actually consider a dynamic mic… Since I want to have speakers too I am wondering if I could somehow manage a setup that can let me use the mic while keeping the headphones off sometimes instead using the speakers, its a weird thing for sure and I highly doubt it possible though
Nice nice, what one are you feeling the most so far?
So a dynamic might help, but that’s a tough situation either way, there’s no real winning with that unless you don’t mind whatever going through the speakers getting picked up on the mic as well
If we are only talking mics, I really enjoyed the AT-2035. Really clean, undistorted sound.
I prefer dynamic mics and use a Rode Procaster and couldn’t be happier, but with singing in mind i would prefer the AT due to beeing a condenser mic.
I don’t know why but I always had problems with audio interfaces, so I switched to a mixer. It’s more satisfying to tune your voice analog.
Cm47 wasn’t too bad actually. Not at all a fan of 440 lct. I see what you mean by brighter leaning just made my voice a bit too high into rather hot territory. Honestly wondering if a clear yet slightly warmer mic may be best
havent gotten around to k47 yet.
the more I think on it I am more leaning towards streaming sound quality than I am with musical voice quality… still I definitely want a damn good sounding mic lol
to be honest I am not sure what I want in this case lmao. Dynamic would be nice incase it picks up any background noise or say I have company over or something… condensor would be good because better sound quality.
this is one of the reasons I wanted to ask on here lol… theres so many choices and you get these instances
lol id probably have to do some serious setting up to even manage that… so I assume rather unfeasible… worth a shot
ya know, itd be nice if this actually matched my amps and dacs a bit… like my schiit stack thing stands out like a sore thumb lmao
I use my King Bee for recording music/vocals and I use dynamic for chatting/streaming. I think the background noise reduction is more valuable than any quality/detail being lost.
Also worth checking out is sE Electronics - I have the v7 and it competes very well in the $100 category.
@M0N and I are on the same wavelength in this thread for sure lol:
Good to know, then yes perhaps a dynamic option might make more sense given your case
It’s good and warmer leaning but at this point I’d just mainly consider going dynamic for simplicity here
Honestly grabbing something like a sm58 or a se v7 is a great starting point and does the job for most people, once you get up to some of the higher end dynamics they can become somewhat needy on the preamp side to get the most out of them. Also akg d5 worth a look. Other dynamics I might mention would either be too pricey or might be too dark for what you are after
Would agree
If I had to compare the v7 vs 58, the v7 is more neutral overall slightly midrange focused with less emphasis overall than the 58, the 58 has less air but less dip in the lower treble which gives it more bite and forwardness than the v7 but the v7 is more forgiving to sibilance in that range. The v7 overall is a smoother mic than the 58 and that does give it a bit more of a duller and less energetic character although it has less grain in the treble than the 58 does which has always bugged me about that mic. In the bass the 58 is a bit more boosted there which does pronounce proximity effect a bit more than the v7 so that can be good or bad. So the 58 has a more classic signature and will have things pop more but the v7 is a bit more honest from my experience but can lead to a more dull and less engaging sound so it will depend on what seems more desirable, both are great. In this case I’d lean more toward v7 to try out first
The v7 has better noise rejection and off axis from my experience as well which is great. Honestly the v7 is honestly more similar to a beta 58a than a sm58.
tried K47, the more I tried condensors the more I realized you are right… it’d be best go run dynamic honestly… less I have a better sound proof room. So dynamic it is.
I tried v7… ya know what? this aint bad at all for the price… its honestly rather impressive and I sound good on it, I might stick with this for some time honestly… less you guys have some other recommendations… Not sure what a step up from this would be since this is in the $100… I think if the gain is substantial enough I could punch this up to around $300 and be comfortable with that. Seriously though, I really do appreciate these SE electronics mics for the price they are damn good compared to some others I tried. I am astonished that I actually despise audio technicas microphones…
also I tried sm7b from shure… holy hell does that thing sound warm I was not expecting that… thats a bit much imo
No, if you like it, I’d stick with it. I think to move up to the next level of performance, you’d be spending much more into the interface and preamp along with more mic, likely pushing what’s feasible to spend, at least with the dynamics I’m thinking of
Personally only really like some of the AT shotgun mics actually
It is known to be a pretty dark mic lol. But I think you are more likely running into big limitations with your preamp and interface there, need more in that regard. Yes you can get an in line pre booster like a cloudlifter or se dynamite or etc, but I think to actually get it sounding good for what it costs you want to drop bigger money into the rest of the chain
But yeah if you find the v7 is what you are after, stick with the v7 I feel in this case
Gonna chime in on this one more time as I am tinkering with some things… just some extra trialing but what would be the best warm microphone you’d recommend within the budget? place an edit here but I want to help another out as well on this… so what would be the best USB mic as well in this case?
Probably a sm48lc/sm58 or a rode podmic for under 100.
For usb my still absolute go to is the samson q2u
For around 300 for a warmer dynamic I am a sucker for the Beyer m201 tg but the price is misleading, it’s a preamp hog and the cost of getting a quality setup for it would likely blow out budget. A heil pr-40 has a classic broadcast warmer sound, but that signature doesn’t work for everyone so it’s very hit or miss. An audio technica bp 40 is a solid choice and isn’t overall that preamp picky either for something neutral warmer. An electro voice re320 also fits well and is a very broadcasty sound that actually works well with a lot of voices and is forgiving of sources and background noise (pr40 is as well)
Fair enough, I can’t really help you there then lol, to me a mic is a mic so how it looks really doesn’t matter, have the same sort of thing with all audio gear, but I know that’s a deal breaker for some lol
I personally like a cleaner but organic and fuller pre with it since I think the more relaxed ones can lead to some dullness, I think to start getting good sound out of it I’d want to have something like a warm wa12 mkii for something cleaner yet on the richer side of things or cranborne camden ec1 for something just pretty neutral overall but the ability to add a bunch of artificial flavor if desired. Going up in price a bit I do really like the daking mic pre one or focusrite isa one with this mic. This is assuming you have a good interface as well, something at least above scarlett level
You could also go the channel strip route with this one if desired, something like a drawmer mxpro-60 or toft ec1, potentially an art voice channel as well. Good options for trading a bit of sq for much more features and flexibility (compared to the above)
I do think you can get away with something like a golden age project pre 73 mkiii but it will be pretty warm and relaxed (which some may be after, but it’s not up to the technical standard as some of the above)
I have both a stock stereo pair, and a custom modified mic that uses the capsule from the 201 (but has a custom transformer and some other tweaks) and I typically use the custom one as a casual “lazy” mic setup and it scales surprisingly well (as does the stock too), currently use it with an api channel strip, previously used an avalon vt737sp w/ babyface mod but the API just suits it better imo. But this is overkill of course (but then again the above could be considered overkill as well)
I will also note the mic is sensitive to the room, so you want to put a bit more care in placement and room treatment to get the best out of it (compared to other options, but all mics benefit from good micing techniques and treatment)
Which ones in specific?
The 201 is just a stand out fave for me from them, along with the m160 as that’s also surprisingly awesome for the money but also very source picky to get the best out of them
I’ve not really tried the newest out of the lineup and also don’t really have any experience with their wireless mics
after alot of extensive testing… while I like things such as the v7 there… for computer use I honestly found I prefer condensors since they can sit further away from me and still pick it up… meanwhile of course dynamics need to be quite close in comparison. While I appreciate the dynamics I think I will need to lean towards a warm sounding condensor mic.
So I am back to a drawing board here
Some notes, I think I will skip on the dbx processor. For my use case this just feels like unnecessary expenses(again for my use, as I do more talking then I do singing really and I may drop singing in the future).
I am still okay with getting an interface if of course necessary. I will set the budget around $400 for everything. Whether USB or XLR including interface
is there really not a better one in this case? I would think going up in budget there would be better options.
So if we remove the DBX channel Strip would the recommendations above stay the same?
I have definitely found that a warmer mic is what I am looking for after some testing. Neutral just doesn’t cut it and anything rather dry, clinical, or bright sounds horrible for my own voice. Finding theres quite a lot of texture behind my vocals is interesting but when the mic isn’t leaning warm it can make my voice sterile or piercing in some cases
I was asking about those new ones that came with the 900 pro x and 700 pro x they just released
Hey @Falenkor, even though this post is from a couple of years ago, I can still offer some microphone recommendations within your budget.
In the $250 - $300 range, you can consider the Audio-Technica AT2035 or the Rode NT1-A. These are excellent condenser microphones known for their clear audio quality. Pair one of these with a good audio interface, and you’ll have a setup that can capture your vocals beautifully.
For more detailed and up-to-date information on microphones and setups, you can visit https://asmrmicrophones.com/. They provide valuable insights and recommendations that can help you make an informed choice.
