Cheap mics for recording

MartinBush

Hi all

I am slowly building up some cheap kit for recording. My skills and targets are no way as high as some on here, and I need to keep costs down. 

I now have a nice Spirit Notepad mixer, which suits me very nicely, and a Behringer C-1 mic which also seems perfectly good. 

What I am investigating now is a second mic to give me a little bit of choice and also to allow me to experiment. So I am looking for suggestions for something I can pick up sub-£50 - could be condenser or dynamic. 

Some may ask why not spend more and just have one better mic, or say that I should have a clear idea of what I want to do first. These are fair points, but I'm more interested in getting a second mic and experimenting with the placement of them to record live guitar (as a for instance).

While I don't want to spend much, I also don't want to end up with something that's noisy or simply shiny junk. So... any suggestions?

I'm tempted to get another C-1, but am interested in whether another brand may sound slightly different. 

Musical_Mystery_Tour

Shure SM58 (if you haven't already got one)

PolarityMan

These are great on kick

https://www.behringer.com/product.html?modelCode=P0E7Z

MartinBush

@Musical_Mystery_Tour - I have had those in the past but always thought of them as "what the singer has" I may end up with one though. Is that listing for a genuine SM58?

@PolarityMan - my first thought was that the boundary mic would be no use to me. But then realised it may be exactly what I want in so far as it's designed for something other than what I would use it for... and I do have a drum kit, just not with me at the moment.

Jonathangus

Superlux PRA 628 Mk2 is a decent and ridiculously cheap cab mic.

PolarityMan

Jonathangus said:

Superlux PRA 628 Mk2 is a decent and ridiculously cheap cab mic.

Seconded, I have 2 of these.

Musical_Mystery_Tour

MartinBush said:

@Musical_Mystery_Tour - I have had those in the past but always thought of them as "what the singer has" I may end up with one though. Is that listing for a genuine SM58?

Yup, that's a genuine one. Bought one myself from there maybe a month or two ago, since I figured it was worth taking a chance for that price, and lo and behold it was a legit one. You can always find uses for an SM58 in a studio set up.

What is also surprisingly good for quite a few uses, is the Blue Snowball, and I think they go for less than fifty quid if I recall correctly.

Musicwolf

The Behringer B906 which looks, surprise, surprise, like a Sennheiser e906 but at a quarter of the cost, is pretty good for the money.  Great for shoving against a guitar cab

Supportact

Musical_Mystery_Tour said:

MartinBush said:

@Musical_Mystery_Tour - I have had those in the past but always thought of them as "what the singer has" I may end up with one though. Is that listing for a genuine SM58?

Yup, that's a genuine one. Bought one myself from there maybe a month or two ago, since I figured it was worth taking a chance for that price, and lo and behold it was a legit one. You can always find uses for an SM58 in a studio set up.

What is also surprisingly good for quite a few uses, is the Blue Snowball, and I think they go for less than fifty quid if I recall correctly.

Are you sure that's the one you bought @Musical_Mystery_Tour? The one in the link above doesn't look like a genuine one to me. 

drofluf

Supportact said:

Musical_Mystery_Tour said:

MartinBush said:

@Musical_Mystery_Tour - I have had those in the past but always thought of them as "what the singer has" I may end up with one though. Is that listing for a genuine SM58?

Yup, that's a genuine one. Bought one myself from there maybe a month or two ago, since I figured it was worth taking a chance for that price, and lo and behold it was a legit one. You can always find uses for an SM58 in a studio set up.

What is also surprisingly good for quite a few uses, is the Blue Snowball, and I think they go for less than fifty quid if I recall correctly.

Are you sure that's the one you bought @Musical_Mystery_Tour? The one in the link above doesn't look like a genuine one to me. 

You’ve got me worried now as I’ve just bought one. What should I look for when it arrives?

drofluf

I had a better look at the add, it’s called “For Shure” and later in the description it’s described as unbranded. 

They’ve also possibly obscured part of the Shure logo. 

I’ve requested a cancellation so we’ll see what happens. 

Moral, if it looks too good to be true then it probably is. 

Quite surprised that it’s worthwhile faking a relatively low value item, they seem to retail at around £100.

guyinlyon

MartinBush said:

What I am investigating now is a second mic to give me a little bit of choice and also to allow me to experiment. So I am looking for suggestions for something I can pick up sub-£50 - could be condenser or dynamic.

How about a used Shure SM57?

Supportact

drofluf said:

I had a better look at the add, it’s called “For Shure” and later in the description it’s described as unbranded. 

They’ve also possibly obscured part of the Shure logo. 

I’ve requested a cancellation so we’ll see what happens. 

Moral, if it looks too good to be true then it probably is. 

Quite surprised that it’s worthwhile faking a relatively low value item, they seem to retail at around £100.

Yeah the add looks iffy for the reasons you mention. There have been a lot of fake sm58s on Ebay unfortunately. Also the price just doesn't make sense for a real one, even second hand. 

I'm not an expert but in the pictures you can also see the mic clips aren't the normal Shure ones (not like any of mine anyway). 

drofluf

Supportact said:

drofluf said:

I had a better look at the add, it’s called “For Shure” and later in the description it’s described as unbranded. 

They’ve also possibly obscured part of the Shure logo. 

I’ve requested a cancellation so we’ll see what happens. 

Moral, if it looks too good to be true then it probably is. 

Quite surprised that it’s worthwhile faking a relatively low value item, they seem to retail at around £100.

Yeah the add looks iffy for the reasons you mention. There have been a lot of fake sm58s on Ebay unfortunately. Also the price just doesn't make sense for a real one, even second hand. 

I'm not an expert but in the pictures you can also see the mic clips aren't the normal Shure ones (not like any of mine anyway). 

Let’s see how it plays out. They may accept my cancellation, I can probably raise a case with eBay if not. It may even turn out to be ok but that’s probably a little optimistic. 

Worse case is I’m down £20

Supportact

@drofluf yes I hope you get a refund. Ebay shouldn't allow this kind of thing really. 

MartinBush

One way or another you won't be down @drofluf poviding it is counterfeit.

Thanks to everyone for the input. I think Suoerlux will be high on my list, but I will look into them all. Ultimately it's about the songs I come up with, but I think it's OK to find a few things out along the way. 

Whistler

guyinlyon said:

How about a used Shure SM57?

You can never go wrong having a SM57 to hand. The SM58 has been mentioned above; the two share the same capsule and circuitry, just the grille (obviously) and the lowest frequencies are different, the SM57 goes down to 40Hz whereas the SM57 goes down to 50Hz.

digitalscream

Personally, I'd say you can't go wrong with an AKG C1000S. Usually available used for £50-60 on eBay.

Musical_Mystery_Tour

If you are not sure (scuse the pun) ask for a refund, but as I say, the one I got sent was the real deal. As an alternative to the SM58, the Peavey PVi is good too and I dare say nobody would fake on of those. They can be had for well under fifty quid.

drofluf

This is the picture from eBay, not sure why they’d cover the logo on the packaging if it were genuine 

just had the shipping notification so too late to cancel so let’s see how it plays out. 

Musicwolf

drofluf said:

This is the picture from eBay, not sure why they’d cover the logo on the packaging if it were genuine 

just had the shipping notification so too late to cancel so let’s see how it plays out. 

Considering the price, the fact that ebay is awash with SM58 fakes, the obscuring of the logo and the fact that these are all listed as 'For Shure', rather than 'Shure', I'd be amazed if it were genuine.  Whether you can recover your money, I couldn't say.  You may have to chalk it up to experience.

If something seems too good to be true...........  you know the rest.

A genuine SM58 is around £100 but, for this price, there are better alternatives.  The SM58 used to be considered as the 'Industry Standard' back in the day when there was less compitition.  It has it's own particular sound but the fact that you still see so many of them in use today is down to how many are already out there and it's robustness.  I have one and it still gets used.

For around the same price you could get something like a Sennheiser e845 (my personal weapon of choice) which is more neutral sounding, plus it has a supercardioid pattern which makes it less prone to feedback.  That said, my own vocals are pretty 'orrible no matter which mic I use.  But then, you can't polish a turd.