Newbie homestudio mic question

[Ovibos]

I know there are some very experienced recording pros hanging out here, so I wanted to pick your brains.

What's a good, inexpensive (<$100?) mic for vocals?

Just for simple messing around homestudio use. Not having recorded much for a decade or so, I woulda just picked up an SM58 - but the interwebs seems to say a large condenser is the way to go.

I'll be running into a Focusrite Scarlett 2i2.

 

[rugerpc]

Paging Lesteban....

 

[sergiodeblanc]

Paging Lesteban....

I'll wait until after he tells you to buy the 58 and be right.

 

[Deleted member 5962]

Or the Sennheiser e835 . But I'm not a recording pro, so I retract my answer. Pardon me, I was just thinking out loud.

 

[Ovibos]

Oh by no means did I mean 'pros only'!

I'm sure many folks here make fine recordings and pay bills in other ways.

Just looking for a way to throw some nice-ish vocals on top of me noodling on my SEs over some Beta Monkey loops.

 

[Alan Manning]

Les is your man. The lord of tonal excellence!!!.

 

[Dusty Chalk]

Shure SM57/58 is by far the go-to mic for anything less than several hundred dollars. (The only difference, if I understand correctly, is the capsule -- take it off, and they're the same mic.)

 

[dmatthews]

You'll no doubt get lots of replies on this. Note that mics can be somewhat subjective like pup suggestions. That being said, Studio Projects have decent budget mics for various purposes.
http://www.studioprojects.com/

It's a start. Have seen these recommended by studio pros for entry level mics. I own one and it has serviced well.

 

[László]

U2's Bono cuts all his vocals with an SM58, if you need a good example of how an SM58 can sound on recorded vocals.

For under a hundred bucks that's what I'd use.

I'm not big on cheap large diaphragm condensers, but by all means try one if that's your thing.

 

[Kazz]

I've liked a lot of stuff I've heard from Studio Projects too, but the ones I can remember were more than $100. Some might fit the budget though.

Condensers are definitely a great option, but many people do still use dynamic mics, even on professional vocal recordings, so I wouldn't write off something like an SM57 or 58 (57 is probably better IMO if you want to use it for other things too).

After a lot of research into mics though, the most important advice I can give you for vocal mics is to try them with the voice you want to record. Some people sound great on cheap mics, some sound not so great on $3k mics.

You can get suggestions and listen to samples online and get an idea of what you might like, but before you settle on one you should really try it, or try several if you can.