

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

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.<p>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.<p>Is there any vocal artists here who can help me?
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sirwitti
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-
Co...](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)

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

