Microphone Recommendation Please

Thanks Steve, but I think I'll order through Digital Village and wait, they have a better price deal.

I don't know if this is relevant to your problem, and I don't know if this is true or not, but I heard somewhere that you get less interference when recording if you have a LCD display instead of a regular monitor...
Can someone confirm or deny this?

CRT Monitors are full of magnetic fields - that's the basis of their operation.  Put a dynamic microphone or guitar pickups close to a monitor and you'll get a lovely HUM.

LCD monitors don't use magnetic fields to generate the image, so don't make electrical noise like CRTs.

Interesting to know. I have a TFT monitor.

Did anyone mention the ElectroVoice RE50 dynamic?
This is the one that the low and layed-back jazz and rock DJs made famous in the 60s-70s for it's rich lows.  

Did anyone mention the ElectroVoice RE50 dynamic?
This is the one that the low and layed-back jazz and rock DJs made famous in the 60s-70s for it's rich lows.  

It's an interesting idea. I suppose that if you are doing imaging work for a lot of different clients, and you haven't got a 'signature' sound, then the idea of using different sounding mics for different jobs is quite appealing - and the RE50 certainly sounds different to the AT4040!

With regard to hearing hard disk and other computery noise, it's just worth saying that the level that you speak at depends very much on the acoustic and psychological surroundings.

It's very possible that in a studio environment you project the voice far more than at home. Thus the noises at home will appear much louder than those in some studios.

Similarly, it's not unusual for studios to be designed to have a masking noise level from the air-con which hides the clack of high heels on the floor above as well as the clicks and whirrs of the HD.

Similarly, it's not unusual for studios to be designed to have a masking noise level from the air-con which hides the clack of high heels on the floor above as well as the clicks and whirrs of the HD.

From an acoustician's viewpoint, that's an interesting use of the word 'design'...

I think that I'd want to make a subtle distinction between 'designed' and 'cocked up' in this context - and in the future, this really won't do at all. Even at relatively poor resolutions, Compared to FM, DAB radio has a noise floor that is sufficiently low enough to be extremely revealing of the true acoustic situation in a studio or broadcasting space. The really silly thing is that with the usual studio ventilation systems, it's very easy to get the higher-velocity part of the airflow out of harm's way - certainly in a self-op you have this rather useful piece of furniture in there...

And as for hiding the impulse signature of high heels with a continuous masking noise that inherently doesn't cover the right part of the audio spectrum.... Never heard of carpets? Air-con doesn't really 'mask' high heels at all unless the level is so high that it's going to be a real problem anyway!

It's very possible that in a studio environment you project the voice far more than at home. Thus the noises at home will appear much louder than those in some studios.

I suppose it's possible, but I've never come across this situation in a well-designed home studio space. But the psychological aspects of this are important, certainly - if you know that you've got poor isolation, you are going to attempt to keep the sound levels down, even of the spoken voice. But if you are that worried about the situation, you'll probably do something about it anyway, I think.

Whilst I don't want to argue with an expert, I've certainly known of studios which had a certain level of masking noise planned (if not designed) in. I think we may be thinking of different levels here. These were professionally designed general purpose studios and I believe the idea was to mask distractions rather than noise levels that might be picked up by the mics.

Similarly, I've worked a great deal in a studio which had movable acoustic screens (very absorbent one side, reflective the other). For intimate discussions users would build a small absorbent circle of screens around themselves. Then we would get complaints that the mixing desk was noisy. The truth was that the environment caused the users to speak more and more quietly. Moving the screens cured the problem.

I have been involved with many 'studios' installed in the homes of news reporters. I don't think I would use the word design in relation to these.

I'm in the UK and last week's 'Sunday Times' had some description of this environment from the BBC's lady arts correspondent. I seem to be the only person in my immediate circle who read this piece and picked up the description of the 2-way between the studio presenter and the correspondent at home at 6am in her bedroom with optional pyjamas.

And this is for a programme that the Queen listens to over breakfast!

I'm in the UK and last week's 'Sunday Times' had some description of this environment from the BBC's lady arts correspondent. I seem to be the only person in my immediate circle who read this piece and picked up the description of the 2-way between the studio presenter and the correspondent at home at 6am in her bedroom with optional pyjamas.

During the recent fiasco over the BBC vs The Govt., BBC reporter Andrew Gilligan was shown reporting from home. He was speaking into one of those closed sports commentator's microphones. This would appear to be a last resort solution when reporting from somewhere where the accoustics present problems!


Pictured is John Motson, not Andrew gilligan.

I need some slightly cheaper suggestions to the AT 4040, if possible please.

The website that Steve links you to also offers a whole host of other good bargain mics.  Check out the AKG, Oktava, Groove Tube, Rode and Studio Projects offerings as well.

 

Can you point some out specifically please from this page. And bear in mind that the mic would be used from home for V/O and imaging work.

Thanks.

BFM Posted:
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Can you point some out specifically.......

Sure.
AKG: C1000S, C3000B
Oktava: MK012, MK219, MK319
Groove Tubes: GT55
Rode: NT1, NT1A
Studio Projects: C1, C3 (which has more pattern options).

With the exception of the Studio Projects mics... I own 1 (or more) of all the others listed.  I also own a hideous amount of dynamic mics but will most often reach for the standard Shure SM57 or Sennheiser 421.

Of course another take would be.... for all the money that you spend on a pile of "inexpensive" mics, why not just bite the bullet and buy a $5,000 mic!  Personally, I like the variety.

 

Depends on the voice, of course, but I have use my SM57 for voice work and been very pleased with the results.  I have "better" mics, but the 57 did a fine job.

I've listened to BFM's voice, and I really don't think that a dynamic is going to do it justice, unless it's one specifically designed as a general purpose mic, like a Beyer M201, for instance. SM57s and the like are great stage mics - but they hardly have a smooth response, and generally behave much better with singing than they do with speech.

The mics that I listed are all condenser mics.  I've mentioned before that for my own voice, I usually go with an Electro Voice N/D dynamic mic.  In the dynamic range, I'll usually recommend a SM57 or 58 and the Sennheiser, because they perform well in other areas (micing guitar cabinets, etc).  The EV N/D sounds good on my voice, but isn't (for me anyways) a very good choice for micing amps.