Condenser or Dynamic Mic for Home Recording?

[cmac3317]

Hi, I'm just wondering what your preference is for home recording, particularly if you have a "studio" space that isn't at all acoustically treated. I'd appreciate hearing your thoughts!

[Rudy4]

The acoustic "treatment" of your recording space is an issue you'll need to address regardless of your chosen microphone.

In almost all cases you'll get better performance using a small diaphragm condenser as opposed to a dynamic, especially a SM57 or 58.

I always recommend an AKG P-170 as a good starter mic. It sells for the same as what you pay for a 57 and it sounds great.

Do be aware you'll need to supply phantom power to most small diaphragm condenser mics, although some like the AKG C-1000 or Rode NT-3 can be used with battery power.

[DukeX]

For a single, all-around mic, I'd select a large diaphragm condenser. They're the most versatile IMO.

I'd also work on some room treatment.

[FrankHudson]

I look forward to what more knowledgeable folks say to your question.

Those who say "treat the room first" have some wisdom to give, but not everyone can do that or knows how to successfully do that. This last part may be underappreciated by those who give that valid advice. In one of my previous lives working with a radio network, which also ran a large music studio back in the days when those were a thing. In that organization room treatment ideally began with construction from the studs out, and their kind of plan B when that wasn't possible still brought in trained acoustic engineers to accomplish things.

I have a studio space which I use sometimes, particularly when I'm recording multiple musicians. When I'm just tracking myself I will use a variety of inexpensive condenser microphones there for guitar and vocals. Audio-Technica AT2305 or Warm Audio WA87 for vocals, my old set of Octavia small diaphragm condensor mic(s) for acoustic. It's not treated as such, but it's a larger room and the stuff in it and the way things are laid out may produce some advantages. However for some stuff my go to vocal mic is a Shure SM7b. I keep the high-pass filter on for that mic, and I get reasonable separation even with small combo amps in the same room. That mic works well with my voice and I'm constantly reminding myself I should use it more often.

However, an increasing amount of recording has been done this year in my "studio B" which is a nightmare as a recording space. It's a small bedroom about 11 foot square that's also my home office and place I write, compose, and avoid doing either by visiting the AGF. Low ceiling. Two computers in the room. No way to optimize mic placement. My "make the best of it" solution? ElectroVoice EV20 vocal mic and the iRig Acoustic Stage soundhole clip-in mic for recording acoustic.

The EV20 is another high quality dynamic mic somewhat like the SM7b. Either is much less likely to pick up background noise. But here's why I use the EV20 in my tiny, untreated room. You can work close with less proximity effect. Those two things together mean that I can record vocals in this bad room without it sounding so much like, well, a bad room.

I use a Cloudlifter when I use either the EV20 or the SM7b as neither has a hot enough signal to be used any of my interfaces. The Cloudlifter fixes that.

The iRig Acoustic Stage is another compromise. It clips in the soundhole and sounds close if not quite as good a SDC mic in my studio space, and it can be sensitive to pick noise (I flat pick). But it doesn't pickup most lower volume room noise and very little room tone. It's inexpensive, and you don't need to find space for a mic stand or arm.

My go to vocal mics aren't dirt cheap, but then the respected vocal condensers used by some here are more expensive. My singing voice is poor, and I'm not a great recording engineer, and yes, a treated room is better, but they help me get better results within my current limitations. I had to wait a year between having enough for any of my better vocal mic purchases, but before I had them I used a 20th century Shure SM58 that I've had since gigging days and made do.

Hope any of this helps, and others may have better advice to follow this.

[jim1960]

We have a master list of all the gear used by the regulars in here. It spans the gamut from inexpensive to "my significant other will kill me." Lots of mics listed there are worth taking a look at. The list is stickied at the top of this subforum page.

[Mbroady]

OP, Not sure what your budget is but from my experience, which is limited, rather then spend big bucks on a high end condenser mic, spend some money on some sound trap type of treatment, and buy a less expensive quality dynamic. You can save loads of money with a DYI job. And you can always add mics in the future but your room will always be an issue with out some minimal sound treatment.

On a side note, much also depends on the shape for your room but that is a whole other issue.

[lkingston]

This Sam Smith video shows a good reason for choosing an SM7B: because it’s recorded in a huge space which I imagine has way too much ambience. Yes, there is reverb on the mic, but they dialed it in to match the look of the room and the mood of the piece.

Note that the backup singers are also using dynamic mics, but there is what looks like a Neumann U87 on the piano. That makes sense because you need a little wider pickup pattern to pick that up.

Also note that in this video, a reason for choosing the SM7B would be that they were tracking a band all at once and wanted just Sam Smith’s vocals on the vocal mic, not bleed from the other musicians, and they wanted to accomplish that without audio baffles between them. At my home, instead of a backup band I have my wife in the other room in her office making phone calls and listening to soft background music. The principle is the same.

Note that I also have a good condenser mic (an AT4050ST) and will use it at times for my YouTube videos. Often the deciding factor is whether or not my wife is home. If she is, I will go for the SM7B. I am also far more careful with things like closing the door to the kitchen (because of the refrigerator noise) and temporarily turning off the heat or AC while I am recording with the condenser.

The end result on close miked vocals is very close.

I prefer the condenser for placing at a distance and picking up both the guitar and vocal at once, but the SM7B excels at picking up just the vocal if I am miking the guitar with something else or using an electric with a guitar amp.

On the Michael Jackson album Thriller, Bruce Swedien used a Shure SM7 (a predecessor to the SM7B) for most of Michael Jackson’s vocals.

The SM7B is a fantastic mic. Just remember to use a CloudLifter or FetHead if you don’t have a fantastic preamp. Otherwise you’ll get hiss because it is such a low gain mic.

https://youtu.be/KPqtlI3aJIE

[KevWind]

Originally Posted by cmac3317

Hi, I'm just wondering what your preference is for home recording, particularly if you have a "studio" space that isn't at all acoustically treated. I'd appreciate hearing your thoughts!

Not trying to be smart aleck or difficult,,,, BUT Honestly,,, you need to answer at least these two these questions first.....

Recording what ?

And

What's you budget range ?

The answers to these questions, will give you "some chance" of getting somewhat relevant and targeted advice Albeit still wide in options.

Trying to answer your question without these qualifiers, is like asking "Which do you prefer for personal use a truck or a car ?

Because the best answer to your questions as stated,, is:
I prefer a Condenser except for when I prefer a Dynamic for home recording,,,, just sayin'

[keith.rogers]

Like KevWind said, the "what" question is the first one to understand/clarify, even if you assume we'll know you mean (perhaps) a good, "all-around" first/only mic to start with. Even then the answer would probably differ if your primary purpose is recording a mic'd electric guitar amp vs. operatic soprano arias.

My simple answer is I'd prefer a mic (or two maybe) that get you started recording [within your budget] and produce results that are good enough to help you learn how to use the mic(s), recording gear and software to their best.

My first recordings (that were actually done with mics, interface and GarageBand at home) were done with a pair of Shure Beta57a mics (bought used, not fake though), recording my singing (aka croaking) and old acoustic guitar in the small untreated (but optimally cluttered ) office area I'm sitting in right now. Sure, today I can use the treated, converted upstairs bedroom and mics costing 5-10x what I spent on that pair), but I can listen to those recordings today and not find a thing I'd really want to do differently.

[CASD57]

My experience... and I just tried a bunch of mic's using one mic for both the singer and an acoustic recorded at about 12in away from the mic's
I was running Direct into a Focusrite 2i2 3gen into OBS using effects within it...Compression-Limiter-Reverb

Two Condensers:
Neat Worker Bee... Great full sound, but placement seems to be in the exact spot or it gets muddy for the vocals, which could be fixed with a mixer but I was running these in straight
I still need to try it turned up and get farther away than 12in


Behringer SB 78A similar to the Worker Bee but less bottom/fullness maybe a bit brighter probably due to the smaller voice coil

Dynamic's: I actually preferred the Dynamic's over the condensers but the gain has to be turned up-up-up.... which could cause trouble in a live setting...

Se V7... Nice full sound/rounded
Se V3... Mid-forward mic nice chime at the top that will help you male vocalist to cut through still has the bottom of the V7 I like this one more then the V7 due to the top end

Lewitt MTP 250DM nice rounded tone. less chime than the Se V3

Beyerdynamics TG V30d.....Need to cut through a mix? this is your mic..very chimney ..But sounds good overall

Shure SM57....You know this isn't a bad mic.. It's a work horse nothing sets apart for the others.. It's just a nice sounding mic that I would use in a pinch

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by cmac3317

Hi, I'm just wondering what your preference is for home recording, particularly if you have a "studio" space that isn't at all acoustically treated. I'd appreciate hearing your thoughts!

Hi cmac-etc.

My preference would first be to get some inexpensive moving blankets, and drape them over furniture in the room and quick-treat-the-room. Just because I cannot fully treat a room doesn't mean I cannot easily amend it.

As for mics, if better audio quality for posting (not just test files for archiving songs), then condenser mics are my preference.

Actually - for on-the-fly room treatment and less emphasis on the ultimate quality, I LOVE my Zoom H4n with the built-in-mics on a tripod 18-20 inches in front of me centered on the guitar (Zoom built-in mics are naturally aimed to either side of the sound-hole).

If I'm singing too, then I elevate it centered, to eyebrow level, and aim it downward to just above the soundhole of the guitar and then adjust it for balance with ear-buds.

[DukeX]

Originally Posted by Mbroady

OP, Not sure what your budget is but from my experience, which is limited, rather then spend big bucks on a high end condenser mic...

You do know that there are a lot of LDCs out there that are very good for between $100-$200.

My Teal 3U Audio CM1 is just one example.

[Mbroady]

Originally Posted by DukeX

You do know that there are a lot of LDCs out there that are very good for between $100-$200.

My Teal 3U Audio CM1 is just one example.

No doubt true but is there any low budget LDC that would have as good/great off axis rejection as say a shure SM7 ($400) or even a Shure 57. There might very well be.

I think the question of budget (and purpose) would help.
Based on my experience, if I had a $1000 to spend, I would spend half on some (DYI) sound traps and the rest on the best suitable mic I can get. (And I would off corse solicit the advice from folks who are much more knowledgeable then I.)

If I had only $100 to spend then some already Owned blankets and a Shure 57.
This assumes a decent pre amp and converter.

[Fran Guidry]

Originally Posted by cmac3317

Hi, I'm just wondering what your preference is for home recording, particularly if you have a "studio" space that isn't at all acoustically treated. I'd appreciate hearing your thoughts!

You may have seen the widely circulated idea that a dynamic mic "picks up less room." I'm pretty sure that this is a fallacy. I believe that folks for some reason place dynamics closer to the source, which does reduce room effect. But I'm not sure why they think they can't position a condenser at the same location, reduce the preamp gain, and treat the proximity effect in post if needed.

Mics work by responding to the pressure waves in the air. They have no way of differentiating between the direct waves from the source and the reflected waves from the room.

The idea that condenser mics are "too sensitive" ignores the fact that the overall sensitivity of the recording chain is equal to mic sensitivity plus preamp gain - if the end result is the same level of signal the overall sensitivity must be the same.

Of course it's highly unlikely that this blurb is going to counteract a widely held belief (grin).

Fran

[Fran Guidry]

Originally Posted by FrankHudson

...
The EV20 is another high quality dynamic mic somewhat like the SM7b. Either is much less likely to pick up background noise. But here's why I use the EV20 in my tiny, untreated room. You can work close with less proximity effect. Those two things together mean that I can record vocals in this bad room without it sounding so much like, well, a bad room.

I use a Cloudlifter when I use either the EV20 or the SM7b as neither has a hot enough signal to be used any of my interfaces. The Cloudlifter fixes that.
...

The RE20 has one feature that makes it much different from the SM7b - EV uses proprietary "Variable-D" tech to offset proximity effect.

The SM7 series are basically SM57s with two important changes - a passive filter that knocks down the SM57 presence peak and placement of the mic diaphragm farther from the business end of the mic. This results in a flatter mic with reduced proximity (and reduced sensitivity).

Fran