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In article writes:

The B.L.U.E. [Blueberry] was actually what everyone
was high on at the store and I also heard Sting uses one of the really
expensive ones with all the bells and whistles. Unfortunatley, it
didn't sound that good with my voice,

This is the most important thing. Voices are different, and different
microphones accentuate different things. I'd suggest that when you go
back to the store, you do it at a time when they're not busy (take a
Tuesday morning off work if necessary) and set up several mics, try
each one with your voice, and - most important - RECORD your
experiments.

Bring in a blank CD. They should be able to set you up with something
that will allow you to make a recording there. Then, listen to the
recording at home. Don't try to make judgements only by listening to
yourself on headphones while you're singing in the store. There are
too many variables. You can't do anything to make the acoustical
environment like what you have at home, but if you keep the mics close
to the center of the room, you should at least reduce the effect of
reflections coming in from the back and sides (which is something you
can also control at home).

If you feel silly singing unaccompanied, bring in a portable music
player and headphones with something that you can sing to. And don't
forget to identify which mic you're singing into. But don't try to
record a mix or a pseudo Karaoke performance. Just record your voice.

Try a few mics that are too expensive. If one doesn't sound as good to
you as something you can afford, it will make you feel better. And if
they all sound better than what you can afford, at least you'll have a
standard of comparison. And don't be afraid to try mics that don't
look big and bulky.

The interface between the microphone and preamp (or mixer, or whatever
you're using for an input device in your home recording setup) makes a
difference too, but just to give everything you try a fair chance, use
something lowish-middle-of-the-road for all the mics. The MARS music
stores used to have a mic demo room with all the mics connected to
Mackie mixers which were less than optimum for most mics, but at least
it was a constant. Something like that would be OK. Using the best mic
preamp in the shop, unless you were prepared to buy it, would be
unfair.

btw, are you familiar with the PreSonus Eureka preamp? I'm not at all
familiar with preamp, so I just went with what the salesman suggested.

It's fairly new, and just hitting the magazine reviews this month.
Presonus usually does a pretty good job, so it's bound to be a fair
deal. Not exotic, but it's not likely to be a deterrent to making a
decent vocal recording. If that's what you have, then use that for
your test recordings. It has a lot of bells and whistles, too, so
bypass those to hear the basic sound of the mic.

--
I'm really Mike Rivers )
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