Studio Mics Vs Live Mics

What is the difference between a live microphone and a studio microphone? Typically, you are going to use a dynamic mic for a live setting and a condenser mic for studio recordings. Does that mean you only use condenser mics in the studio? No way. Does that mean you only use dynamic mics for live settings? For the most part, yes.

Without getting into the intricacies of how each mic works, just know that the way they reproduce sound is different. And this is why each mic will have different qualities attached to them. 99% of the time when you walk into a vocal booth in a recording studio you will see a condenser mic hanging in there. This is because a good condenser mic will pick up every detail and nuance of what you are recording. When you are tracking vocals you want this type of clarity. For most popular forms of music the vocals are all the listener hears. There are exceptions to every rule. The SM7 dynamic mic is used frequently with hard rock bands for tracking those growls and screams. Bono uses an SM58 for all of his vocals. That's right Hall of Fame band U2 use a $99 mic to record all of their vocals.

For live concerts almost all the mics you want to use are dynamic. The exception would be if you wanted to capture some high end from your cymbals or high hats, you might put a condenser mic on them. Neumann also have a KMS series of condenser hand held mics. If you were to use all dynamic mics for your on stage production, you couldn't go wrong. On the other hand, a good mix a both types of mics will be great in a recording studio.

My recommendation when buying a brand new dynamic mic is don't spend less than $100. The difference in quality between a $50 mic and a $100 is HUGE. You will be throwing away money and getting an awful sound if you go for that $50 mic. What if you don't have enough money yet? Save until you do. If you are buying a mic for vocals go to a Guitar Center or Sam Ash near you and test out the mics for free. Buying an SM58, you can never go wrong, they are the standard for live vocal mics, they sound good and they are very durable. My personal choice would be the EV 767, for an extra $30. But don't take my word for it, try out a few different ones yourself.

Don't spend less than $200 when buying a brand new condenser mic. Before buying a condenser mic for your home studio make sure your mixer or interface has phantom power, usually notated as 48V. I haven't seen any new interfaces without that option, but it's always better to check first. You need the 48V to power the condenser mic, without it you won't be able to use that mic. Testing out these mics at your local music store might be a little more difficult. Go to 3d Audio and you can purchase a cd filled with 49 different mics being used on male and female voices. If you are on a budget, get the Rode NT1A package, its a pretty good mic, and it comes with a pop filter and shockmount. The shockmount is going to be invaluable to you because you need to attach the mic to a mic stand to place in front your singer's face, and this is best way to do it. Beyond this do some research online and find out what engineers in other studios like to use, and what they like to use them on.

This article was submitted by Simple Music Contracts, the largest supplier of music contracts. For more music business articles click on the link below.