"Nathan Higgins" -spam wrote in message
...
I am after a 'cheap' mic for recording vocals indoors, i want to play
about
with recording (nothing serious) but would like a mic that is better than
my
£20 job from comet. Budget of £100 - would like a stand for it aswel
(although i could make one), any ideas ?

The Shure SM58 is frequently recommended as a robust 'workhorse' microphone.
Expect to pay around £75 in the UK. For about the same price you paid for
your cheap (and probably fairly nasty!) mic from Comet, you can buy a
Behringer XM8500 mic that's similar to the Shure, but with a slightly better
frequency response at the top end. Check www.allangordon.co.uk for prices.

However, the use to which you will put the microphone will have an influence
on the recommendations - my suggestion supposes you want a reasonable vocal
mic that can also be put to other uses. On your available budget, the
choices are probably limited to low-to-mid range dynamic mics from a few
manufacturers - Shure, Sennheiser, Beyer, A-T ... - but for sheer value for
money, the Behringer is unbeatable IMHO.

In article ,
Nathan Higgins -spam wrote:
Thanks for the replies, i can get a Sennheiser e845 for £70, an SM58 for the
same price, or an XM8500A for £20! Im swaying towards the SM58 but i will
take a couple more opinions on which to go for...

Go to the store, record your voice on all three, and listen to the playback.
Try the SM57, too. And an EV 635A if they have one.
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

I think that a used Electro Voice RE15 purchased from Ebay might fit the bill.

Good luck,
Gord

In Article , "Nathan
Higgins" -spam wrote:
I am after a 'cheap' mic for recording vocals indoors, i want to play about
with recording (nothing serious) but would like a mic that is better than my
#20 job from comet. Budget of #100 - would like a stand for it aswel
(although i could make one), any ideas ?

Thanks,

--
Nathan D Higgins

SM58

Regards,

Ty Ford

For Ty Ford V/O demos, audio services and equipment reviews,
click on http://www.jagunet.com/~tford

In article ,=20
-spam says...
I am after a 'cheap' mic for recording vocals indoors, i want to play abo=
ut
with recording (nothing serious) but would like a mic that is better than=
my
=A320 job from comet. Budget of =A3100 - would like a stand for it aswel
(although i could make one), any ideas ?

Sennheiser E-845=20
Even the E-835 sounds better than a SM-58, for vocals.
But don't take my word for it, try them out yourself.
You hopefully have a different voice than mine

=20
--=20
/ Peter Kaersaa

[ibis]

Nathan Higgins -spam wrote:
Thanks for the replies, i can get a Sennheiser e845 for £70, an SM58 for the
same price, or an XM8500A for £20! Im swaying towards the SM58 but i will
take a couple more opinions on which to go for...


I run an acoustic music event and had to use an XM8500 last night as we were a SM58 short. At soundcheck the vocalist (pro who knows her stuff) preferred the cheap mic to the SM58. She said it had a little more punch at the top end.

We used it as the main vocal mic all night for 3 different acts. They were all happy with it. I couldn't tell it apart from the SM58.

I've just ordered some JTS NX-8 microphones from www.bluearan.co.uk. These cost around £45 delivered and are said to be 'copies' of a Shure Beta SM58A. If all the hype is correct they should blow the XM8500's and SM58's out of the water. Let's hope we've got another bargain.

On Sun, 17 Apr 2005 23:47:50 +0100, ibis
wrote:


Nathan Higgins -spam wrote:-
Thanks for the replies, i can get a Sennheiser e845 for £70, an SM58
for the
same price, or an XM8500A for £20! Im swaying towards the SM58 but i
will
take a couple more opinions on which to go for...-


I run an acoustic music event and had to use an XM8500 last night as we
were a SM58 short. At soundcheck the vocalist (pro who knows her stuff)
preferred the cheap mic to the SM58. She said it had a little more
punch at the top end.

We used it as the main vocal mic all night for 3 different acts. They
were all happy with it. I couldn't tell it apart from the SM58.

I've just ordered some JTS NX-8 microphones from www.bluearan.co.uk.
These cost around £45 delivered and are said to be 'copies' of a Shure
Beta SM58A. If all the hype is correct they should blow the XM8500's
and SM58's out of the water. Let's hope we've got another bargain.

A few bits of second-hand advice:

A recording mic is (usually) not a live stage mic, and vice-versa.

An SM58 is a rugged, reliable and familiar live stage mic. It is
unkind to most female voices. It is rarely used for recording.

Almost anything has more top end than an SM58.

I've heard the JTS NX-8. Actually, I like it better than the Beta58A,
less harsh. It's a decent live vocal mic. I would not use it for
recording.

Among the mics you mentioned, I like the Sennheiser 845 best.

For recording, the quality of the preamp will make a noticeable
difference.

Consider renting a good mic and preamp for a few days to track your
vocals.

Mike T.