Advice for recording gear

outontheporch

Hay Guise,

So, I'm a guy on a budget trying to get a good well rounded set of gear. Right now My roommate and I are using a Fast Track USB ($99) interface and a SHURE SM58, but he is moving out and we are splitting the goods. So here's what I'm thinking:

If I keep the interface and give him the mic, I can sell it at my local shop, The Starving Musician, for about $50. I can also sell 2 digitech pedals I'm not using, for hopefully $80 total. Then I can use that towards getting this: http://www.zzounds.com/item--SHUKSM27

I read some great reviews, I just wanted to know what you guys though. I've never owned a condensor mic, my fast track doesn't support phantom power which is why I'm selling it. Oh and here's the thing, I'd be buying it used. I understand condenser mics are fragile, so what do you think? I don't want to drop $$ on something that has the potential to crap out on me. I did test it out though and it seems ok, and the guys at the shop are decent people. But yea, do you think it would do a good job micing up my acoustic guitar, my Peavy Bandit 112, AND doing vocals?

For a new interface I was going to try and borrow my friend's MBox2 mini until I can get my own. Maybe for xmas?

Let me know what you think!

Gmoney

great mic. we had four of these at the studio i worked at. it will surly do the job of recording vocals and your instruments. it's not as practical as a 58 would be for home recordings, but in general it is a better, more versatile mic.

mccreadyisgod

It's hard to go wrong with a Shure KSM mic. They're really versatile, fairly robust, and have even been used on stage by touring musicians. There are a few other mics that cost less and would compare, though... the MXL line of condensers has always been a budget-friendly recommendation of mine. That said, the Shure will be quieter than almost any other condenser at that price (the Rode NT-1A will be a tad quieter, but it has some weird frequency issues).

It is true that a condenser is more fragile than a dynamic mic (like your SM58), but that doesn't mean you have to be afraid of using them. I would avoid dropping them, and always keep them in some sort of shock-proof case when you store it. If the mic doesn't come with a case, you can always get a Pelican case or comparable case for it. Make sure you get the shock mount, which will isolate the mic from mechanical vibrations. Other than that, it's pretty easy to use. There are some mics, especially ribbon transducer mics, which can be completely destroyed by sneezing into them... condensers are tougher than that.

Good accessories to recommend: Get a GOOD mic cable to use with the mic, like a Mogami Silver or Gold, or a good Planet Waves cable. You want to make sure the mic gets a good phantom power feed. Also, a cheap pop filter will really improve the way vocals record, minimizing those plosives (hard puffs of air made by pronounced "p" and "t" sounds). Also, keep in mind that condensers are much more sensative than dynamic mics, so they will tend to pick up any little sound you make, or comes in from outside. I've done sessions recording vocals that we had to scrap because the singer was playing with car keys in his pocket, and others because a loud diesel truck passed by outside.