KVR Audio

hoomaii · Post by **hoomaii** » Thu May 19, 2022 11:12 pm

A friend of mine wants to record herself, and her budget is limited to one of those options.
Since her laptop sounds like a plane and has 0 room treatment i think it might be a good idea to grab the SM58, but i feel like vocals might sound better with a condenser mic as long as the noise doesn't "bleed" too much into it. What would you guys recommend?

kvotchin · Post by **kvotchin** » Fri May 20, 2022 2:23 am

Where there’s considerable background noise, dynamic and cardioid or a similar pattern would be my suggestion.

poonna · Post by **poonna** » Fri May 20, 2022 2:43 am

When it comes to vocals and dynamic mics, it might be worthwhile to look at modern alternatives to SM58 as well. sE Electronics V7 might be worth checking out.

Bodhisan · Post by **Bodhisan** » Tue May 24, 2022 3:36 pm

Yeah, go for the SM58 (or as poonna suggests, there are "modern" alternatives). I've owned so many darn microphones, expensive, cheap, blah, blah, blah, and the SM58 is very solid. Any kind of persistent noise (or even airplanes flying overhead) will get into your condenser recordings. If I only had one microphone to record vocals and it was the SM58, I'd be quite content.

jamcat · Post by **jamcat** » Wed Jun 01, 2022 6:38 pm

https://youtu.be/Tmhik9YpdGw

freshwatersounds · Post by **freshwatersounds** » Thu Jun 16, 2022 5:05 pm

Is treatment an option? It doesn't have to be overkill but like even some blankets hung up or something. I really like the sound of my voice with an AT2020 and even when my room was still only partially treated I thought it worked well.

Milky-Joe · Post by **Milky-Joe** » Sat Jun 18, 2022 1:02 pm

I went with the AT2020, and I've had no regrets. Like freshwatershound, I really like the "sound" of the vocals it captures. I went with the USB edition, though, as my audio interface apparently has poor gains (I bought it before I was interested in working with vocals).

joemusician · Post by **joemusician** » Wed Jul 06, 2022 6:42 pm

Both the SM58 and AT2020 sound good, but the SM58 is the tank. I can't say I've had a dozen AT2020s that I've dropped, kicked, run over, and had rain on without any problems, but I can say that about the SM58.

thunder1677 · Post by **thunder1677** » Wed Jul 06, 2022 7:17 pm

The SM58 is great at rejecting feedback. The AT2020 rejects noise from the sides. AT2020 cover a larger frequency response. They both could work really well. What kind of source recording is your friend trying to track. The SM58 has midboost on it to help vocals cut through. The AT2020 can capture frequencies up to 20KHZ. The SM58 can only go up to 15KHZ. If you want to capture brighter sounding vocals at the source then go for the condenser. Both microphones are very great though.

The Noodlist · Post by **The Noodlist** » Wed Jul 06, 2022 7:40 pm

Nordell microphone isolation cube works well in less than ideal rooms.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Nordell-microp ... B099S9WB62

No_Use · Post by **No_Use** » Wed Jul 06, 2022 7:47 pm

May consider the Audix OM2 as well.
https://www.thomann.de/gb/audix_om_2.htm
I once made a direct comparison between SM58 and OM2 and I liked the latter better.
Needs less gain, clearer voice (imo), and since it's hyper-cardiod (SM58 is cardiod) picks up less room.

edit:
Intended use was for stage though, not recording.

jens · Post by **jens** » Thu Jul 07, 2022 8:21 pm

poonna wrote: ↑Fri May 20, 2022 2:43 am When it comes to vocals and dynamic mics, it might be worthwhile to look at modern alternatives to SM58 as well. sE Electronics V7 might be worth checking out.

For vocals usually the V3 is recommended rather than the V7...

Logga · Post by **Logga** » Fri Jul 08, 2022 1:14 pm

I didn't know about the SE V7, but I looked it up on Youtube and it sounds really nice. Natural and detailed, with a good frequency range.
The main downside is some handling noise, but it's mostly at low frequencies, so it can be managed.

The SE V3 is IMO clearly worse even for voice and the price is not that much lower.

mixyguy2 · Post by **mixyguy2** » Tue Jul 19, 2022 4:53 pm

thunder1677 wrote: ↑Wed Jul 06, 2022 7:17 pm The AT2020 can capture frequencies up to 20KHZ. The SM58 can only go up to 15KHZ.

Which will be irrelevant about 99% of the time, unless she's making recordings for dogs or bats to listen to. I would not suggest getting too wrapped up in specs (says the guy who did just that when starting out!).

The SM58 is a great live mic but about the last mic I would use to record with. It's rather boxy. If one really wants a dynamic, I'd opt for the choices others have listed here, or a Sennheiser 835.

But IMO the real answer here was treat the room (as another poster suggested, even hanging heavy blankets can make a big diff) and get an LDC (condenser) mic. The AT2020 in that price range can work very well.

If you want more mic discussion, ideas, and info, I suggest heading on over to the Gearslutz site.

mixyguy2 · Post by **mixyguy2** » Tue Jul 19, 2022 4:54 pm

dupe post

What to choose: SM58 or AT2020