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Ask HN: Help me to select a microphone for vocal recordings at home.

1 points by anujkk 14y ago

I'm planning to buy a good microphone for vocal recordings at home. I'll be using it with my laptop and musical keyboard. I have a budget of $100. I don't know much about technical details and I need your help to understand how to select a good microphone for this purpose. In short I'm looking for a buying advice and product recommendations. Is there any vocal artists here who can help me?

sirwitti 14y ago
I'm no vocal artist, but I used to do a lot of audio engineering :) The microphone is just as important as how you get the signal into your computer. Problem is that the built in microphone preamps have big trouble with noise, so I won't recommedning a microphone that simply plugs into your audio in jack as the quality will probably be terrible. there's also the possibility of buying a "usb microphone". the good thing about those is that they have the necessary preamp and sound card built in and they are not too expensive. on the other hand the audio quality won't be as good as with a "real" microphone. Some products i found quickly: http://www.amazon.com/Audio-Technica-ATR2500-USB-Cardioid-Condenser-Microphone/dp/B004QJREXM/ref=sr_1_12?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1346230386&sr=1-12&keywords=usb+microphone http://www.amazon.com/Audio-Technica-ATR2500-USB-Cardioid-Co... the best (but a bit more expensive) way would be to buy a separate microphone and sound card. the shure sm 58 is a standard mic because its good, cheap and almost undestroayable :) other brands to consider: sennheiser, beyer dynamic you can get usb sound cards for $50, probably even less. oh yeah, there's a third option: zoom builds mobile recorders that are commonly used by musicians for recording rehearsals and concerts. they have usb and a built in microphone. the quality is quite ok in my experience (but not as good as the 2nd option). i just saw that the zoom h2 (a wideley used device) is sold on amazon for $200+. in europe its ~130€ when i last checked. hope that helps, martin

1 points by anujkk 14y ago

sirwitti 14y ago

I'm no vocal artist, but I used to do a lot of audio engineering :) The microphone is just as important as how you get the signal into your computer. Problem is that the built in microphone preamps have big trouble with noise, so I won't recommedning a microphone that simply plugs into your audio in jack as the quality will probably be terrible. there's also the possibility of buying a "usb microphone". the good thing about those is that they have the necessary preamp and sound card built in and they are not too expensive. on the other hand the audio quality won't be as good as with a "real" microphone. Some products i found quickly: http://www.amazon.com/Audio-Technica-ATR2500-USB-Cardioid-Condenser-Microphone/dp/B004QJREXM/ref=sr_1_12?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1346230386&sr=1-12&keywords=usb+microphone http://www.amazon.com/Audio-Technica-ATR2500-USB-Cardioid-Co... the best (but a bit more expensive) way would be to buy a separate microphone and sound card. the shure sm 58 is a standard mic because its good, cheap and almost undestroayable :) other brands to consider: sennheiser, beyer dynamic you can get usb sound cards for $50, probably even less. oh yeah, there's a third option: zoom builds mobile recorders that are commonly used by musicians for recording rehearsals and concerts. they have usb and a built in microphone. the quality is quite ok in my experience (but not as good as the 2nd option). i just saw that the zoom h2 (a wideley used device) is sold on amazon for $200+. in europe its ~130€ when i last checked. hope that helps, martin