Are you using the WRONG Microphone? Dynamic vs. Condensor mics DEMO 

Bianca Bell I’m so glad you liked the video! Please please please check out some others. I’ve been working hard here!

what do u mean phasey?

Is the phasey sound due to the high end in the mic and more noticable through compression? If so I've had this problem with my vocals and drum overheads. I recently added a room mic to my drums and that remedied the problem by smoothing out the high end (killed lots of washy brittle high end). I'm wondering if just using two vocal mics with different characteristics would even out the frequency response of vocal recordings.

I want to buy a mic to record my singing. I have a tenor-mezzo singing range, so I’m normally a bit louder while singing. I’m not really a fan of the deep tones that the dynamic mic gives, but if it is better I will get it. I have been looking at the Blue Snowball mic, do you think that would be ok for me?

@@yourlocaltheatrekid900 People with deep voice are louder in the mix. Well, they're actually louder than people with higher pitched voice since their voice occupy more freq. Our ears are just more reactive to the high pitched ringing sound that people with high singing voice makes when they sing(I'm a tenor myself by the way so I know first hand). You'll probably be better off with a condenser if your room would allow you to use it comfortably.

I was a noobie and I got Rode NT1, trying to record in an untreated room (renting one). Then, I borrowed the condenser to a friend, so I was left out with my old shure sm58 when I wanted to record some ideas - I was blown away on how much easier is it to get better sounding vocals with dynamic mic that way. I guess I probably will record whole album with shure now until I get better treatment in the room. :)

@@kamilchosta5526 rlly?

@@stopmotionproductions4859 Hey, I'm a bad singer so less details are better in my case. I had a proper female vocalist over in my home and tried different mics. The mics were placed next to cloth closet and surrounded by blankets. The best was nt1, and then rode m2, Shure sm58 was fine but lacked definition in highs. So I would not buy Shure sm58 if you are a professional vocalist. For live use the Shure sm58 should be great.

@@stopmotionproductions4859 btw. It's subjective and don't be afraid to try different mics

You’re very welcome! I’m glad I could help.

Ditto! :-)

Cannot agree more. Lots of people who recommend condenser for acoustic/vocal performance fail to take into account the possibility you are in an untreated room. In an untreated room, it's not even a 'could go either way' thing, you GOTTA use dynamic over condenser. I have a Sm57 and Sm58 in an untreated room, and they pair nicely for stereo recordings in my bedroom studio, and I get very satisfying results. Especially for my style, dark tones and soft whisper like vocals.

@@d-rockanomaly9243 I also have the SM57 as well as the SM58, and I concur, they are true powerhouses in small spaces! I also enjoy having the actual waveform that isn't overly compressed out of the gate. For example, many podcasting or speech platforms will not actually want things compressed beyond around -18LUFS, so it doesn't make sense to compress the waveform beyond where you can even use it, plus all the added noise... I'm glad to find others who are into dynamic mics! 😁✌

​@@aaronmiller8685 Yeah for sure. WIth condensers in my small space I had to roll off so much top end just to sound half decent and by that point it's muffled. Maybe I just don't know any better because I've never truly recorded in a professionally treated room, but I love how I can just play loud and close on the sm57/58 and not worry about clipping without touching the input signal, and I also love how responsive the recordings are to plugins. Oh and another plus I must have dropped or knocked the mouth of my 57 a hundred times and it just shrugs it off.

People, since you probably have some knowledge about mics, I'd like to ask you one thing. I'd like to make recordings in an untreated room. Condenser mics provide a lot of quality but catch the reverb from the room. Dynamic mics sound somewhat thin compared to condensers but reject the room reverb nicely. I want to find an excellent balance between the sound richness and rejection capabilities. People always mention two mics to achieve this: SM7B and EV RE20. I'm currently inclined towards EV RE20 as it seems that this mic sounds richer. What would you advise me to achieve that nice balance that I mentioned above?

Yeah if you don't have a vocal booth or a treated room you have to get extremely creative to get good sound from a condenser mic. It is doable though. One option is to just get a huge box big enough to stand in and line it with foam. Another option (one I'm thinking of doing) is to just build a booth. You good do it relatively cheap if you're crafty enough and have access to lots of scrap wood. Gotta do what you gotta do when you don't have the funds. The good thing about that is sometimes you get some extremely good idea. Limitation breeds creativity.

Dynamic Because condenser is for vocals they are too sensitive and can cause a lot of clip and treble

3 years late, but they are almost the same mic in terms of frequency response, but with a different grill and other small hardware differences. The 57 to me sounds a bit flatter, and the 58 has a bit more warmth. 57 for instruments, 58 for vocals, but you can switch it up they're quite similar.

What is your condenser mic? What is your audio interface? Is your recording room properly treated?

+rets mej thank you!!

Jose Miguel Benga get a Scarlett 2i2 and 2 mics to record at the same time, or any audio interface with 2 inputs. You’re gonna need 2 mics if you wanna do a live performance.

How is MXL working? You have any record using that mic?

The Rode Video Mic Go Directional Microphone is excellent

I would recommend looking at ribbon microphones for recording the room

A dynamic. Then raise the gain on your preamp/mixer/receiver/whatever you use so you won't have to speak so loud.

Hey man, just get a SM57 and never look back! Check out my latest video series out now, about recording. In the video about vocals I use a SM57 and it sounds great!

Thanks Lou, I'll check it out! Will my Apogee One with 62dB of gain be good enough or do I need to upgrade to a Duet? Also, what do you think about the RE20? Saw Thom Yorke with it, sounds very clear. I presume I don't need the Eyeball with these dynamic mics? (Sorry for the deluge of questions, you're awesome!)

Sorry I thought you were originally referring to the SM7B (been doing too much research...)

Yes to both. Of course treatment makes it even better, but dynamics are intended to work well at any place.

GREAT question! Yes that technique still applies to a dynamic microphone. Basically that move is supposed to help create an evenly recorded signal, plus not distort the mic on super loud vocal notes.

@@GaragebandandBeyond thank you!

Definitely yes. Recording in an un-treated space (that has excessive natural reverb) with a dynamic, will almost always make your mixing life easier.

Get the SM58! It is a GREAT microphone for the money and it will make your life a lot easier especially at the beginning of your recording career.

Condenser would be best for that. Pop filter, shock mount, and smooth compression most of all, a good preamp, makes all the difference.

I don't think the Meteor USB mic is what most would consider a "condenser mic". A usb mic be it a condenser or dynamic is not going to be ideal for doing voice overs. Certainly not if you are looking to make money at doing it. For youtube or something then ya, it will probably be fine. My guess would be stepping up to any microphone using a seperate pre amp/interface is going to sound better. Doesn't matter if its a dynamic or condenser. It will up your cost by quite a bit though. You are looking at probably 200 bucks or more by the time you get the mic, interface, cables and possibly a stand, mount and filter. Probably cheaper if you go with some cheap chinese thing. I saw a set up on Walmart that came with a stand, filter, interface and mic for like 50 bucks. It was using one of the BM 800's and a cheap interface. Not sure how great that would sound either, but I have heard they don't sound "bad". As for doing voice work it depends on where you are doing it. If its a sound treated room or studio with a very low noise floor then a decent condenser mic and pre amp is what I would go with. And I don't mean like a 500 dollar mic and expensive pre amp. Probably sub 100 dollar mic and a pre amp in the 100-150 dollar range should be fine. Might find a deal on one for less even. If it isn't a studio or treated room, like its just your den or a bedroom with bare walls and stuff with a fan, comptuer, furnace/aircon ect running or you can hear ambient noise from other rooms or outside then a dynamic mic might be the way to go. Then set up a noise gate and stuff to help filter out background noise. Condenser mics sound great and have lots of detail but they will pick up everything around them really well. That is one of their downsides.

Austrian Audio OC818 or Sennheiser MKH 50.

@Ray Angels True, but if you colour each signal enough you can avoid phase issues that are inevitable with unmatched mics. Sometimes with some really good results. Not sure I'd double mic my vox with unmatched mics of different types though :p seems unnecessarily unorthodox.

I don't have any videos on that particular style, but do have mixing vocals videos. The SM7b is a FANTASTIC studio mic, my guess would be that you're not removing enough low end from it in your EQ and possible not adding the right effects. Hissing can be caused by an imbalance in your signal to noise ratio, I do have videos on that as well! Don't give up on it, that is a great mic. I use it a lot in my Music Monday series.

GaragebandandBeyond thank you, can you linnk me to some of them? im pretty new to mixing so i don’t know every terminology lol. btw i use Logic Pro X and a Umc202hd interface if it matters. do you think i can get the “Sad Forever by Lauv” vocal quality?

It depends on what kind of a room you're in really. If it's a space that doesn't have a ton of natural reverb, you should be able to get away with condenser microphones, which would be better at picking up eating sounds. But if your room does have a lot of reverb in it, dynamic mics will work, the eaters just have to stay closer to the mic.

@@GaragebandandBeyond thank you for your quick response. Truly appreciate it. And to answer your questions. We will be in a warehouse space. And I'm thinking about laying down/hanging some blankets all around the room to sound proof it somewhat. My only concern is how close do we have to be to the dynamic mics for it to not lose signals? I do prefer the dynamic mics like Shure SMB7, specially since it's recommended for muti-people podcast. However, I'd like everyone to be able to eat as they would normally at a dining table without having to come close to the mic for it to pick up sound or even just to keep the lvls the same and just carry on a conversation, as couple of people would at a diner table. I'm not like the visuals I'm picturing, everyone having to hunch close to the mic and talk and having to get the mic out of the way to take a bite.

​@@TheTrippleTKA Keep in mind that withe the SM7b you will good preamps to be able to get what you want. They are low gain mics. I have, use and love mine all the time. In a warehouse blankets really won't do much at all, so yes dynamics would be a good choice. The SM58 is also a very good choice for podcasting and a lot less expensive and you won't need any external preamps. It depends on your budget, but they are good option, especially if you're getting started. To answer your question about "how close to mic". If they are turned up properly and have enough gain, you can be about 1-2ft away sand still get the sounds you want. Watch this ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-hzfx55aTWBI.html PLEASE SUBSCRIBE! And thanks for watching!

​@@GaragebandandBeyond by blankets, I meant those thick mover's blanket to sound proof. I learned this trick from youtube. Let me know if you have any other tricks to sound proof the space better. But if I'm deciding on something like the SM7B, would I even need to sound proof? And with SM7B if you're saying it will be good and consistent with 1 feet of distance, then I think it should be okay. There should be enough space between the mouths and the mics to eat without having to readjust with every bite and resuming back to conversation

Also, I'll be pairing the SM7B with Tascam DP-006 recorder. Any thoughts on that?

Shell Zest I think you will be very impressed with how good a good old-fashioned SM 58 sounds!

@@GaragebandandBeyond Thanks for replying so quickly. My only problem is lack of funds. With the SM58, would I need an audio interface or is there cables where you can where you can convert from XLR to usb? I'm pretty new to recording equipment.

@@shellzest2568 I understand. The good news is that there are some great deals on Ebay. I would say buy a used Focusrite 2i2 for around $50 and then a used SM58 for around $60-$80 depending on condition. Monitors can be tough on the wallet, but buying used makes things a lot cheaper! And no, there aren't any cables.

@@GaragebandandBeyond Thanks again for speedy reply. Will keep a look out. I have come across a site where I can buy equipment & pay monthly which would be handy.

+juliano khoshaba trust me on this. The condenser is picking up a lot more of the room and the SM 57. Perhaps try listening to this video with a good set of headphones on and he will hear the difference more dramatically.

+GaragebandandBeyond … The condenser is picking up a lot more of the room than the SM 57...

dynamic

It seems you don’t have a lot of noise control so a dynamic mic would be the way to go.

@@talia5046 thank u dear

I wonder how your smule singing record upgrade after using a new mic.

How's the Sennheiser working for you?

@@yzastamaria it's grittier and takes getting used to, I'm so used to the bright sound of the Rode. It's a different beast, I was able to stand up and move around recording a verse with the Senn, and no background noise was picked up, I think it helped with the performance. Still deciding if its right for my voice.

You're very welcome!

Get a good old Shure SM58 or 57 especially f your screaming!

GaragebandandBeyond Hmm sounds good but I was looking for more of an industry standard vocal mic. Those seem to be geared more towards instruments and live performances. Any other ideas? Possibly the Shure SM7B or a Rhode?

Latitude 16 those are industry standards wayyy more than the sm7b and certainly the rhode. Don’t forget, the SM in SM58 stands for “studio microphone”. And since you’re just getting started with the recording process, I’d say keep it simple until you have some more time under your belt. If you watch my latest mixing series, that recording was fine with only 1, SM57. Trust me in this!

GaragebandandBeyond Alright thank you for the advice! I appreciate your time a lot. I also do more singing-rap stuff rather than ‘screamo’ but I’m definitely a louder person. My style is similar to Trippie Redd’s song Love Scars. I will definitely look into these microphones. Once again, I appreciate it.

GaragebandandBeyond I’ve also been at this for 4 years so I want something more advanced.

Subi Foa The entire point of this video is that you should probably just be using a dynamic microphone inside of your untreated space. So, to answer your question, there isn’t a condenser microphone that I recommend for recording inside of an untreated space.

Rode M2

If your using a condenser microphone I would recommend to get one of those kaotica eyeball things they also have the bootleg version to it’s called Alctron that helps cut down some of that reverb and then make a mini booth on your room and that can help to

The SM 57 and 58 both use the same exact capsule. The only difference is the ball on the end. But Tom Petty used to sing into the SM 57 all the time

TheBlues Ine Go for the SM57. Better than the SM58 for vocals

Yes, they pickup more. That's sort of the point of the entire video!

Thx man :)

Maybe it´s because of cheap audio interface :D I have Focusrite Scarlett 2i2, and shitty dynamic mic plugged in, and it sounds amazing

Štěpán Křikava steinberg ur22 my interface ...

@@suuuuuuu19 Seems normal, maybe try different USB ports in your computer, or different cable for the mic, it happened to me once, also check the gain or pregain. Those also could make a lot of noise :D

@@suuuuuuu19 Make sure the levels are cranked full, there is no "pad" button enabled, not sure if the ur22 has that or not. Make sure recording volumes in mic setting in Windows is full (or however you do that with mac). Also make sure you have the Steinberg drivers and aren't using like, Asio4all or something. Aside from that, maybe you have phantom power on? Which is unnecessary for dynamic mics and may be causing signal noise. I have a cheaper USB interface (behringer umc204) and if I have everything cranked, it records at an acceptable level so as long as I'm not playing whisper quiet and I am close enough to the mic. It's really not ideal recording at maxed out levels all the time, but it works for me and the noise floor stays quite low and my recordings come out nicely. Also I remember I got the behringer because apparently of the 3 cheap options (that, your Steinberg, or the red one) the Behringer had the quietest preamps, apparently. But I mean, it was only a few db or so quieter. Also, using these Shure dynamics on lower budget interfaces sort of pushes the limit between acceptable and too noisy. But you should be able to get well within the acceptable side if everything is set up properly. All I can think of other than that is a bad XLR cable. Or maybe you're picking up background noise like CPU fan? Shouldn't be too bad though with the dynamic... There is so many possible reasons, hopefully not hardware issues. But of anything I bet it's the interface, not the mic.

Do you have cloudlifter if you have your interface crank all the way up that can also make it noisy to

No