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N00b buying a mic for recording to PC-guidance?

Usehername

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So I need to learn to sing better because I'm probably leading worship again at uni this year. I have a strong musical ear from instrumental training, and a sister who is a voice major for guidance, so I'm just going to buy a mic and teach myself to sing instead of paying for lessons.

I own a PC, so I need a mic that won't be difficult to use with that (I don't know anything about electrical cords etc. though I'm willing to learn if necessary). I'd like a decent enough mic to use for quality recording wrt tone and such, but it doesn't need to be professional level quality. It would be nice if it was good for recording guitar as well. Recommendations?

Musician's Friend has a 20% off sale today.
 

lamp

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I have no experience in this area but I imagine that some of the nicer ($$$) mics might have a jack that is bigger than the standard sized input your computer has.

I would just buy a $10 mic and find out how well it works for guitar.

see you in vent :devil:
 

runvardh

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There are mixers and adaptors out there for attaching a decent mic to a computer. I have an M-Audio Fast track Pro that connects to the computer using USB; but it takes over your computers sound functions so I haven't used it in a while. I also have a cheaper 4 line mixer from the Source that can take the 1/4 jack and it has both a 1/4 and RCA output jacks. I tend to take from the RCA output jacks and run them through a 1/8 adaptor to my computer.
 

r.a

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So I need to learn to sing better because I'm probably leading worship again at uni this year. I have a strong musical ear from instrumental training, and a sister who is a voice major for guidance, so I'm just going to buy a mic and teach myself to sing instead of paying for lessons.

I own a PC, so I need a mic that won't be difficult to use with that (I don't know anything about electrical cords etc. though I'm willing to learn if necessary). I'd like a decent enough mic to use for quality recording wrt tone and such, but it doesn't need to be professional level quality. It would be nice if it was good for recording guitar as well. Recommendations?

Musician's Friend has a 20% off sale today.

so are you going to want to record or do you want to just use this for live practice?
 

Usehername

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so are you going to want to record or do you want to just use this for live practice?

Just to hear for my own purposes, or to send a digital file to my sister to give me a "voice lesson" from her city. :) So it can't be so cheap that it doesn't pick up tone/timbre, etc.
 

Oaky

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Get a USB microphone with a filter. The filter is important if you don't want any annoying fuzzy sounds from the background. I use a filtered microphone for making my own songs and had never had any problems.
 

Athenian200

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I've heard this one is good, but I don't have any experience with these things:

Buy M-Audio Aries Condenser Vocal Microphone | Condenser Microphones | Musician's Friend

The company who made it is known for making computer-based microphones, and released one recently that's more focused on voice. It probably received better testing for computer compatibility than it would have otherwise, though. It should be easy enough to connect to a computer with the right adapters.

Others I've heard good things about include:

Buy Shure Beta 58A Mic | Dynamic Microphones | Musician's Friend

Buy Shure SM58 Mic | Dynamic Microphones | Musician's Friend

The choice is up to you, though.
 

r.a

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Just to hear for my own purposes, or to send a digital file to my sister to give me a "voice lesson" from her city. :) So it can't be so cheap that it doesn't pick up tone/timbre, etc.

the Blue Snowball or the AT-2020USB would work fine. they are in the 100$-150$ range.

any other type of mic would require buying an audio interface, and it seems that it would be a bit impractical for you.

i would go for the Audio-Technica USB mic. the Blue Snowball mic is good in its own right, but the logo seems to block the diaphragm, which troubles me, although it probably does nothing.
 

Alwar

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Get a USB microphone with a filter. The filter is important if you don't want any annoying fuzzy sounds from the background. I use a filtered microphone for making my own songs and had never had any problems.

Is that the same thing that prevents popping sounds whenever you use "P"?
 

Ozz

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You may also need to do some work to prevent your mic from picking up your computer fan and hard drive noise. That's on an as-needed basis through.
 

Laurie

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I don't do voice (song) recording but I do work online and need an appropriate headset. I'm not sure if it would be different for singing, but for what you said you need it for I don't think so. I'm not sure but you might actually want a headset so that you can listen to the music and not have it picked up in your mic.

I use this
http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/w...internet_headsets_phones/devices/223&cl=US,EN

Normally you are going to find that most logitech over $50 are going to be good.

I prefer the audio plugs but some people use usb. Usually if your USB isn't plugged in and you start an application you will need to plug your mic in and restart the application to get your mic working. I had to do that one too many times and switched to just using the audio plugs. I did find that with usb you can use both your speakers (for music) and your USB (for talking) instead of both over usb. (which probably wouldn't be good for recording anyway)

I break headsets all the time, so I get the set at best buy with the 2 year warranty on it. I've replaced it so much that the people at Best Buy say things to me now. "Wow, you need a new headset often" "Didn't I see you in here a month ago?" Heh.
 

Oaky

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Is that the same thing that prevents popping sounds whenever you use "P"?
Why I think it is. Ps have never been a problem for me when I use my mic. Although other factors such as echoes and amp simulation may be the problem.
 

r.a

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You may also need to do some work to prevent your mic from picking up your computer fan and hard drive noise. That's on an as-needed basis through.

a cardioid mic wont pick up computer sounds if you have it aimed at your face

Is that the same thing that prevents popping sounds whenever you use "P"?

its called a pop filter. they are 20-30 bucks.
 

Usehername

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Thanks for the helpful replies, everyone. :)

I got to talking w/ INFP bro, a guitarist, and he's going to ask around to his recording friends, seeing if we can get something cheap that they've outgrown or we'll buy something together and share it.
 

jenocyde

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There are too many options - what is the quality of your voice? Ribbon mics usually sound so luscious on females. What kind of guitar are your recording and is it electric or acoustic? Also, what is your recording space like?
 
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