Microphone for recording

How should I choose I microphone to record acoustic guitar. I want a sensitive enough one to pick up the intricacies of tone changes and dynamics but I also want reduced background noise. I will be recording in my bedroom. I have a Mac also. I am a beginner at recording.

Reply 1

n.am010.9

You can't really have all three in a single microphone, so I would recommend buying acoustic foam pads to reduce the background noise if it's constantly noisy wear you are. There are also DIY options. Cardioid (unidirectional) microphones are also recommended as they pick up sound, generally from the front of the microphone, and block sound coming from the back, but they won't get rid of all background noise, especially if the noise is coming from all directions.
The three types of pick-up patterns are unidirectional, bidirectional, omnidirectional. Look them up and see which would be best suited for your purposes.
You need to consider if condenser mics or dynamic mics are for you. Generally, condenser mics are used in studio settings for more delicate sounds, and dynamic mics are used for louder sounds, perhaps on stage (they are sturdier and can handle being dropped). This being said, one of the most commonly used mics in the music industry for studio vocals is the Shure SM7B which is a dynamic mic.
Condenser mics require phantom power which is provided by an audio interface. I don't know which model Mac you have so I don't know if you have a USB-A port that is required to plug one in. If not, you would need to buy a port hub. Audio interfaces can also be quite costly if you want to buy a good one. Dynamic mics don't need phantom power but do need an amplifier or an audio interface as their signal is very small, so for both of these options, a port hub or USB-A port is required. Audio interfaces allow for stereo recording (surround-sound effect) as they can allow for more than one mic to be plugged in at once.
USB mics do not require an audio interface as they already have an analog-to-digital converter built into the mic, so a USB condenser mic will not require an audio interface, and a USB dynamic mic will not need an audio interface. Only XLR mics will.
(To sum up, the things you need to consider are XLR vs. USB and Condenser vs. Dynamic).
USB mics are generally more convenient and are used for podcasts/gaming/radio/spoken voice; however, there are some very good ones for recording music (I will link a few below).
At the end of the day, it's best to make an investment and buy a good microphone, rather buying a bad one and having to replace it later anyway with the microphone you could've bought. Brands in this case do matter, and reputable brands include (roughly in order of highest-lowest prices if you look at the prices holistically): Neumann, Shure, Rode, Sennheiser, AKG, Audio-Technica, Beyerdynamic, Aston Mics, Blue (Yeti).
Don't forget that mics can be bought second-hand for a much cheaper price on eBay or Facebook Marketplace.
Condenser XLR:
Audio-Technica AT2020
Sennheiser MKH 8040
Rode M5 pair
Sennheiser MK4
Aston Origin
Dynamic XLR:
Shure SM57
Condenser USB:
Audio-Technica AT2020USB+
Rode NT-USB
Dynamic USB:
Generally used for podcasts/gaming, I'm not familiar with any that are commonly used for recording instruments, but that isn't to say there are some out there.

(edited 3 years ago)

Reply 2

asianism

Original post by n.am010.9

You can't really have all three in a single microphone, so I would recommend buying acoustic foam pads to reduce the background noise if it's constantly noisy wear you are. There are also DIY options. Cardioid (unidirectional) microphones are also recommended as they pick up sound, generally from the front of the microphone, and block sound coming from the back, but they won't get rid of all background noise, especially if the noise is coming from all directions.
The three types of pick-up patterns are unidirectional, bidirectional, omnidirectional. Look them up and see which would be best suited for your purposes.
You need to consider if condenser mics or dynamic mics are for you. Generally, condenser mics are used in studio settings for more delicate sounds, and dynamic mics are used for louder sounds, perhaps on stage (they are sturdier and can handle being dropped). This being said, one of the most commonly used mics in the music industry for studio vocals is the Shure SM7B which is a dynamic mic.
Condenser mics require phantom power which is provided by an audio interface. I don't know which model Mac you have so I don't know if you have a USB-A port that is required to plug one in. If not, you would need to buy a port hub. Audio interfaces can also be quite costly if you want to buy a good one. Dynamic mics don't need phantom power but do need an amplifier or an audio interface as their signal is very small, so for both of these options, a port hub or USB-A port is required. Audio interfaces allow for stereo recording (surround-sound effect) as they can allow for more than one mic to be plugged in at once.
USB mics do not require an audio interface as they already have an analog-to-digital converter built into the mic, so a USB condenser mic will not require an audio interface, and a USB dynamic mic will not need an audio interface. Only XLR mics will.
(To sum up, the things you need to consider are XLR vs. USB and Condenser vs. Dynamic).
USB mics are generally more convenient and are used for podcasts/gaming/radio/spoken voice; however, there are some very good ones for recording music (I will link a few below).
At the end of the day, it's best to make an investment and buy a good microphone, rather buying a bad one and having to replace it later anyway with the microphone you could've bought. Brands in this case do matter, and reputable brands include (roughly in order of highest-lowest prices if you look at the prices hollistically): Neumann, Shure, Rode, Sennheiser, AKG, Audio-Technica, Beyerdynamic, Aston Mics, Blue (Yeti).
Don't forget that mics can be bought second-hand for a much cheaper price on eBay or Facebook Marketplace.
Condenser XLR:
Audio-Technica AT2020
Sennheiser MKH 8040
Rode M5 pair
Sennheiser MK4
Aston Origin
Dynamic XLR:
Shure SM57
Condenser USB:
Audio-Technica AT2020USB+
Rode NT-USB
Dynamic USB:
Generlly used for podcasts/gaming, I'm not familiar with any that are commonly use for recording instruments, but that isn't to say there are some out there.

Thanks!
I have a 1 yr old Mac so its quite new. I've heard Mac mics are already quite good so I don't want to buy a mic that's worse than my Mac one. I only have usb-c so I need a port hub. I think condenser would be good, how would I choose an audio interface?

Reply 3

n.am010.9

How many mics are you planning on buying? For stereo sound (not necessary though), you need at least two (the pair of Rode M5s would be a good idea). This would determine how many inputs the audio interface will have (the more, the more expensive- obviously, as it would make the audio interface bigger). Focusrite makes very good audio interfaces (they come in bundles too, so you could have a look at those). Behringer makes good budget audio interfaces. Again, you get what you pay for, so generally, the more expensive an audio interface is, the lower the latency levels and the better the monitoring.