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For a while, I only had two crappy dynamics that cost <$60. When I was recording exclusively with my 4-track, they could sound good, but I decided to start recording digitally instead and their cheapness showed. I sold them and got an SM58, but that's all I have right now. Seeing as my band are looking at recording soon, I've started getting interested in getting a decent collection of microphones.

A lot of people have told me that dynamics are better to use than condensers, so I've been sticking with getting dynamics for now (I do, however, want to get an LDC at some point). I have a Beyer M61 coming in the mail (a friend of mine turned me on to vintage Beyers, and they seem like really great mics), just bid on a cheap pair of Beyer M81s, and I have cheap (<$150 [!!!]) SM7s and MD421s on my eBay watch list. I may or may not keep the SM58, depending on how I like the other mics I'm looking at.

I'll primarily be using these for micing my amp (which will mostly be clean, but I use an overdrive pedal sometimes) and vocals. All of these seem worth getting to me, are there any I should really focus on/avoid?

See if you can get an EV 635a or the EV PL-5 that looks the same (I think they've since recycled the later designation for imported junk) for under $50 used. It's an omni dynamic, usually sold as a field reporter's mic back in the day. It's bass shy but very flat and clear through the mids. Very hand alternate mic for guitar cabs -- a much bigger flavor change than a lot of cardioid dynamics are from each other.

Different mics for different things. Anyone ho says a Dynamic is better than a Condenser does NOT know what they are talking about.

Condensers

Pros: have a faster transient response, requires phantom power, a more accurate sound, a wider frequency response, and more "onboard" features

Cons: typically more expensive, lower max SPL, and fragile (more so than dynamics)


Dynamics

Pros: cheap(er), high spl, more versatile than condensers, and durable as fuck

Cons: slower transient response, less detail, proximity effect, and typically no "onboard" features

That being said, putting a dynamic mic on a snare drum, that has a very very fast transient response, makes up for the slower transient response of a dynamic and with the proximity effect can help the sound of a thinner snare, as well as that you're probably not going to get a LDC on a snare. On Drum overheads though you'd want condensers to pickup either the high end of the cymbals or the overall detail of the kit. For recording you'd want to use a LDC as a room mic to pickup the ambience of the room, a dynamic would not do as a great of a job because it takes so much more air to move the diaphragm that you'd have to crank the gain which would decrease headroom raise the noise floor on an analog recording, and just raise the noise floor on a digital recording.

Most often a combination between the two is what gets the best sound, although it's entirely up to you. Personally I have four condensers and eight dynamics, I enjoy all of them differently.

Proximity effect is about polar pattern, not whether it's a dynamic or a condensor. Hell, the whole EV "Variable D" family of mics are directional dynamic mics that they have tuned the proximity response out of.

Gone Fission wrote:Proximity effect is about polar pattern, not whether it's a dynamic or a condensor. Hell, the whole EV "Variable D" family of mics are directional dynamic mics that they have tuned the proximity response out of.

Oops, my bad.

I'm gonna recommend the Sennheiser e609 and the Beyer M201. Both of these do a great job at many of the same things as a SM57, eg, recording guitar amps, snare drums. That said, the SM7, rocks at these same things but is also a great vocal mic too. IMHO, the SM7 is the way to go.

Decibill wrote:I'm gonna recommend the Sennheiser e609 and the Beyer M201.

I've heard good things about the M201 (that one Albini quote about how it's like "if the SM57 was a microphone" has me interested), but I had an e609 for like a week and thought it sounded way too trebly.

Gone Fission wrote:See if you can get an EV 635a or the EV PL-5 that looks the same (I think they've since recycled the later designation for imported junk) for under $50 used. It's an omni dynamic, usually sold as a field reporter's mic back in the day. It's bass shy but very flat and clear through the mids. Very hand alternate mic for guitar cabs -- a much bigger flavor change than a lot of cardioid dynamics are from each other.

635a's
We borrowed a pair of them to be used for some ambience on drums on our record. I think one is on some guitar tracks as well. Great mics and I really want to find a nice pair of them. Put one of them as OH, add a BD mic, and you'll get sorta lo-fi hip-hop drums.

The SM57 is an instrument mic while the SM58 is a vocal mic, though the 57 has been used for vocals and one of the more famous microphones in existence, the 58 is probably usable too. There is a youtube channel called "garageband and beyond" there is one episode on micing amps that is really good and some unusual techniques for getting a thicker sound.

echoraven wrote:The SM57 is an instrument mic while the SM58 is a vocal mic, though the 57 has been used for vocals and one of the more famous microphones in existence, the 58 is probably usable too. There is a youtube channel called "garageband and beyond" there is one episode on micing amps that is really good and some unusual techniques for getting a thicker sound.

I agree on "Garageband and Beyond" those videos are good. HIs video of closed back to open back speaker cabinet comparison is really cool.

echoraven wrote:The SM57 is an instrument mic while the SM58 is a vocal mic, though the 57 has been used for vocals and one of the more famous microphones in existence, the 58 is probably usable too. There is a youtube channel called "garageband and beyond" there is one episode on micing amps that is really good and some unusual techniques for getting a thicker sound.

I thought SM57 was originally designed for vocal use. Hence the internal pop filter.

Decibill wrote:I'm gonna recommend the Sennheiser e609 and the Beyer M201. Both of these do a great job at many of the same things as a SM57, eg, recording guitar amps, snare drums. That said, the SM7, rocks at these same things but is also a great vocal mic too. IMHO, the SM7 is the way to go.

this.
also, condenser mics do a lot of things that dynamics can't do as well and vice-versa.
you just need to try out a ton of combinations/variations on placement and listen to what you get each time.
you can use a 100$ mic in the right spot on an instrument/cabinet/amp and it can sound better
than 1,000$ mic in a worse spot.

if you're looking to two-mic a guitar cabinet though, i've had a lot of success using these combinations:

Punk/Rock/Metal-Punchier Tone (Good for moderate to high gain sounds)
1. On the cone, right on the grill, slightly off-axis, SM57
2. Halfway between the cone and edge of speaker surround, on-axis, e609.


Metal/Fuzz Based Tones
1. On the cone, right on the grill, slightly off-axis, SM7b (great low end, lots of detail for brighter/higher fqs) OR SM57
2. On the outer edge of the cone, aim diaphragm towards surround, slightly off-axis AT40/30 or AT20/20 (the 20/20 is more budget friendly and still sounds pretty awesome)


hope this helps!