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Hey guys,
here's my situation: im looking for a mic to spice up my productions with some vocals. I'm using Ableton and the soundcard of my Kontrol S4 and been wondering, whether it would be possible to get reasonable audio recordings with it?
Since I'm totally new to recording, what mic would you suggest?
Thanks in advance!
You have to make sure you buy a mic that does not need to be 48V phantom powered. Then, if you did not yet treat your room acustically and especially when living in an area with loud noise coming from outside you should not buy a mic being to sensitive in recording background noise. Probably you will also like not to spend massive amounts of money.
So all things considered, I would hardly recommend the Shure SM58 which is kind of a microphone legend and has been used by almost every famous artist in the world when touring. It is probably the easiest and best way to get vocals recorded without having to take care of thousands of circumstances, it can be plugged directly into the mic in of the S4 and delivers a reasonable sound quality to an affordable price.
In the studio vocals are normally recorded using condensor mics that are a bit more sensitive and record more nuances but then you will have to buy another audio interface, you will have to take care of room acoustics and so on. Therefore: Go the SM58 way ;)
It really depends on what you're willing to invest and how good you want your recordings to be…but more so on what you want out of your recordings. The S4 is probably fine to start, but any production oriented sound card will work better…and there are some very decent ones available for pretty cheap.
Step one: get just about any microphone and learn to record.
Step two: treat your room in some way.
Step three: upgrade the other gear.
Also, studios aren't all about condensers. You end up using dynamics and ribbons about as much. Personally, I kinda like my voice through a ribbon a bit better (M160; R-121) but apparently that's weird.
The mic pre in the S4 isn't good by any stretch of the imagination and it's very limited……but getting better costs money and experience. So, go ahead and start with it. As for Mics……my personal favorite for general voice so far is a C414 (even having used U87s)…C214 is probably close at a more reasonable price. But they all work a little different. You kinda just have to try stuff and see what works.
Beta 58A might be a better choice than a normal SM58…but it probably doesn't matter much. Also, the SM7b works really well with powerful voices but costs more. I assure you that you've heard it…at least on Michael Jackson records if nothing else.
None of them make sound, so it's about what sides of the sound you want to be good, what you're recording, what compromises you're wanting to make, how good your room is, etc. To start with, any basic vocal dynamic will work with what you have, but as soon as you upgrade your sound card (even to the $120 Scarlett 2i2) you'll probably want something different.
"I want to record vocals" doesn't say nearly as much as you think it does.
If we want to talk about what is more advanced stuff, I would throw in the combo I'm planning to buy maybe next year: Rode Nt-2a combined with RME Fireface UC. Quite expensive for the start though.
Btw: Not all the (undoubtedly great) mics mostapha suggested will work with the S4 due to the lack of phantom power... Another sound card will be needed. I don't think this is worth the efforts if the goal is just to throw in some "Put-your-hands-up"-kind of vocals into one's own dance tracks. But it definitely is if one wants to focus more on high-quality vocal recordings for e.g. some vocal+guitar-songs.
Good point. Someone else already mentioned that the S4 doesn't provide phantom power……I assumed that he knew to look at that at some point.
But, yes…all condensers need phantom power (which the S4 doesn't provide) and some Ribbons do as well.
Thanks for the fast answers!
I'm sorry about not making myself clear: As I said, i'm new to recording and wanted a solution for beginners ofc. Therefore the SM58 looks like a good choice for me, since I'm not planning to specially treat my room and just using the S4s Interface.
I'll definitely keep mostapha's post in mind for further upgrades, looks like a comprehensive advice.
Just one more question: I saw, that the Shure mic has got an XLR-jack, so will it be fine to just use a cable with one side XLR and the other fitting into the s4?
Yeah. XLR to 1/4" TRS (not TS).
If you're somewhere guitar centers exist, LiveWire cables are very good for the price. They sound as good as anything and come with a basically no questions asked lifetime warranty. Use them until you can afford Mogami or Canare, and more importantly, justify the expense just for cables that are easier to coil.