Condenser Microphones

Steer clear from Behringer! I shouldn't have to say that in this forum. The most important part of your front end, aside from a good mic, are your CONVERTERS. Apogee makes some of the best; also, RME is gaining respect for their converts lately. On the slightly lower end of things, Presonus and M-Audio make some great interfaces for great prices. Their built in preamps are great and the converters aren't too bad either. Don't go any lower than that...Behringer is simply a waste of money, even if it works at first! It's too much of a gamble...
As far as microphones, don't skimp here either! The Sputnik from M-Audio is an great value! A real tube mic with multiple polar patterns and a KILLER sound...it's well worth the money. A little bit cheaper, the Shure KSM mics work great: the 27 and the 33, and even the 44 if you want multiple polar patterns. I wouldn't go any lower if you're looking to make a decent investment in your sound. But like others have said here, there are plenty of other great mics...AKGs, Audio-Technicas, etc...the list goes on. Just don't skimp! You definitely get what you pay for in this arena.

Message was edited by: Amore Alta

hi,
AT 4033a, AT 4040, AT 4047.
best in class.
DR9.

AT 4033 really is a bargain.

Melodyne isn't going to be worth the money you spend on it if you don't have a good sound to work with in the first place. If you start with a less-than-stellar sound (poor mic, pre, converters, etc.), no amount of processing or mixing or anything else can replace what wasn't there in the first place. If you don't have the money, wait. Or you will have wasted money on something you'll have to upgrade soon anyway. I am also a cash strapped college student! But you have to make an investment if you expect a quality return. There is no luck in this game, you only get what you put into it. There are rules; not rules to recording in a creative sense, necessarily, but more like what you put in equals what you get out. With a $100 mic, you'll get "100 dollar recordings," metaphorically speaking.
And remember: your signal is only as good as the weakest link in the chain.

Message was edited by: Amore Alta

Brandon, if other people have had bad experiences with Behringer then in respect to them I cannot "dis them". But I am an electrical engineer and ran a studio in LA back in the 1980's and today I record using "boutique" preamps and Mics. I KNOW what pro sound is. I use my duet only as an A/D for a Presonus ADL600 dual channel tube preamp. I have a $79 Behringer mixer as part of my rig. Although I only use the line ins and not the mixer Mic Preamps as I don't need them and they would add a "weak link" to my high end signal chain. But the mixer itself (line in/out jacks) is part of the chain. They are "clean" mixers.

The Behringer mixers weakness is their Mic preamps. But no mixer in your range is gonna have "great" Pres. Hence the price. But a mixer buys you flexiblity (friends plugging in and multiple instruments/Mics)and quite frankly, the USB interfaces at the $100-$150 range sound like crap and you are limited in your musical input capabilities (no flexibility).

Get the mixer and try the Pres. They may be "good enough". If they are too weak or "thin" then get something like this little preamp ($69) to juice whatever Mic you end up using. <http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com/product/ART-Tube-MP-Project-Series-Tube-M icrophoneInstrument-Preamp?sku=180643>

What folks fail to understand (although well intentioned) is that you have a "hard" budget and are not buying the components of your "dream studio" right now. You just want "good enough" sound so you can start tracking/rocking.

I have a friend who gets pretty darn good recording just singing into his MacBook built in Microphone!!! Yep, you heard me right. He is cash strapped and cannot afford a "good Mic" but between Melodyne and Logic plugs is able to get a pretty darn good vocal sound from what I kid him are "those crappy built-in Mics".

I disagree 100% with the comment about Melodyne not being useful unless you have great gear. My friend is proof that Melodyne works great with a "cheap" signal chain. His vocals (once sweetened by Melodyne) sound pretty darn good.

Keep this in mind. The "purists" always talk in absolutes. The people who just wanna rock and track do so with whatever is available to them at that point in their lives.

First of all, your friend is by no means "proof" that cheap signal chains work. It's your opinion, your personal, subjective opinion, of what you think a "good sound" is. You KNOW what pro sound is? Most all the top engineers and producers would disagree.
I'm not purposing a "dream studio" by any means! Behringer is, over all, a poor company. They make bad products and low prices. I'm speaking in generalizations; I'm sure there are people who have Behringer gear that they are happy with. But most of it doesn't work for long (or at all), and sounds poor. So why take a gamble with your money?
It's a bigger argument about companies that flood the market with crappy product at low prices. People who are uninformed in buying simply purchase the equipment because it is promised to make recordings at a low price...then it breaks or sounds horrible, and they wonder why. They get upset and may eventually even lead to them abandoning their musical aspirations all together.
So if you want to talk about rocking out, tracking, etc. for cheap, remember that bad gear leads (generally) to upset and disheartened musicians.
If you love your music, if you're all about it, you'll put some money and thought and hard work into it, and you'll get a great sound.

No offense Amore, but if you're a "cash strapped college student" as well just how much experience could you possibly have to be such a Ralph Nader. What are basing your statements about Behringer equipment falling apart on? Extensive product testing? Personally I don't own any but I have never heard any complaints from people that do.

Brandon that MXL mic will serve you just fine, All of us have been where you are fact is if I could have all the money back that I have spent on products that I wound up selling and upgrading I could have the most amazing dream studio ever... I imagine that there are lots of us on this forum that could say the same.

Fact is that the equipment you are considering will probably do you well, if you were in fact a world class engineer this equipment would likely stop you from reaching your full potential however it likely wouldn't hinder you from getting better sounds than most of us on here... Equipment + skill = success. At the price you are looking to spend you could start recording, get your feet wet, make some decent sounding recrodings and when you are ready to move up, even if you just trashed that gear it wouldnt be too much of a hit. If I am reading your question correctly you are looking for something that will work decently without hitting the pocket book too hard, you are not looking for gear to get you the engineering grammy while only spending 100 bucks.

I work in full line MI retail. I buy and sell recording gear all day. Where I work, we carry everything from Behringer, Samson, Zoom, Alesis, on up to Universal Audio, GML, Avalon, Focusrite, etc. Behringer comes back broken ALL THE TIME. It falls apart and they offer poor or no support for their products at all! My repair shop doesn't even cover them because they can't get into the pieces and fix them. The internal components are too cheap and weak; even if they could service it, it wouldn't be worth it to cover with our in-store warranty.
Now, I'm not recommending that top of the line stuff either! That is for pro studios, and I understand you're not trying to make money and record other people with this stuff. But for the benefit of YOUR MUSIC: I vote for Presonus and M-Audio as great converters/pres/interfaces that are worth the money. I appeal to TIME TESTED mics like Shure's, Audio-Tech's, etc. Not these Guitar Center/Musicians Friend whore companies that out source everything and ruin our economy and our ability to grow musically with poor design and sound. I do understand being cash strapped! I also understand a little bit of patience and sacrifice. I do not want you to have to upgrade in a few months and have wasted money (this stuff will be worth MUCH LESS when you INEVITABLY go to resell it). I don't want you to get disheartened and upset with recording because your gear simply isn't delivering. Yes, it delivered for these individuals on this forum (subjective opinions). But that really is a gamble with low end gear, and I don't feel like you should gamble with your recording money. You COULD end up with crap is all I'm saying...don't take the chance.

Take a deep breath. This is just a music forum. Don't let your anger get the best of you. Remember, ALL of our posts are "subjective"...

Peace

Brandon I would suggest that you don't buy your Behringer mixer from Maryland because apparently Behringer sends all their flawed equipment there as the phenomenon that Amore is experiencing doesn't seem to happen everywhere else.

That being said when I clicked on the links I didn't notice that these products had usb or firewire interfaces, if they do go ahead and get it ... if not I wouldn't bother with a mixer really I would find an interface with mic pres and phantom power.

This is on sale at musician's friend and is a great buy at this price...
http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com/product/Mackie-Onyx-Satellite-Recording-Int erface?sku=248154

It doesn't have midi... but the mic pres are great ... and the headphone preamps are awesome as ... I actually have the 400F so I am saying this on the assumption it has the same preamps... it is firewire though ... if you must go usb you will have to find something else....

I have heard recordings done with the mxl mic that sounded really good so in the right hands that mic can perform pretty well and will probably suit your needs of the moment.

The Duet has plenty of power, just connect to it with XLR like you said.

I'm also in support of the MXL. I've had good experiences with MXLs, generally the most "bang for your buck" in the low price range.

litesnsirens mentioned this, but make sure you have an interface, not just a mixer. A mixer will provide you with the preamps you need, but an interface is needed to convert your analog signal to digital so you can connect it to your computer. Some mixers also function as interfaces, but it looks like those Behringer mixers do not. You can get an interface that includes both the preamps and A to D conversion you need instead of the mixer. There are interfaces out there in the same price range as those mixers, but I can't personally recommend any of them.

Let me reiterate, having an audio interface in your setup is a necessity, not a recommendation.