General purpose Mic - Guitar/Vocals home recording

NullZer0

Hi all,

I'm not an audio expert by any means but I'm looking for a good general purpose Mic to start with for recording guitar and Vocals using my computer.
I have an acoustic guitar and currently an electric guitar through a VOX VT30

I'm running Ubuntu (preferred) but have Windows / Mac also - any recommended software?

Obviously I've done some googling but I just wanted to get some feedback

boo3000

That's a very very general question, but if your looking for just one mic to cover those three needs, acoustic, electric and vocals, you'll probably be best to go for a large diaphragm condenser mic. There's a ton of different options even for these, ranging from 30 euros up to thousands and thousands:

http://www.thomann.de/ie/the_tbone_sc300.htm

http://www.thomann.de/ie/brauner_vma.htm

A lot depends on what you want to record. If you want to make pro recordings the best mic alone won't do it. You need preamps, digital converters and a good space to record in. If your looking to do decent home demo's you'll probably get something in the 100-200 euro mark that'll do the trick. I don't know what's recommended in that price range these days but i'd say you can't go too far wrong with this:

http://www.thomann.de/ie/se_electronics_se_2200a_limited_edition.htm

Bare in mind tho that you still need to think pre amps and digital converter and if you really want a decent acoustic sound you'll probably also be looking for a different mic for that and another different mic for your guitar amp!

Woodward

You will need an audio interface if you want half decent recordings. Plugging a mic directly into your computer is never going to good quality. I recommend the presonus audiobox or Focusrite Saffire 6 for a beginner. Thomann do good deals if you buy them with a mic, mic stand and cable:

http://www.thomann.de/ie/prod_cbundle_224.html?gk=coaius&cbcid=1328&art=117278

I recommend a LDC as above. It will give you the best results for vocals and acoustic and reasonable results for electric. With an interface you can always plug your guitar directly in and use digital amp modelling. Condenser mics need phantom power so bear that in mind when choosing an interface


This is a good run down of the basics of recording interfaces:
http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1541771


As for software I would recommend Reaper for an amateur studio, it is capable of high quality recordings and is quite cheap for what you get (you can still use it after its trial period has expired, its demo is the full program)

mkegvn

An SM57 would be your best bet. It's something you'll come back to again and again, you'll only get fed up with a poor sounding condenser. This will be able to do any job you want it to.

http://www.thomann.de/ie/shure_sm57_lc.htm

You will need an interface, or a preamp at least. This will be a reasonable starting point. Includes basic Pro Tools software.

http://www.thomann.de/ie/maudio_essential_recording_studio.htm

CrimsonSounds

Agree with almost all of the above, except perhaps the SM57 as a one for all for you. You should ALSO get an SM57 specifically for your guitar amp lol You can pick one of them up on adverts.ie for around 80 quid.

But seriously, budget allowing....

Soundcard/interface :
Get one with a preamp on it and with phantom power switching.
These can be quite cheap, up to very expensive like all audio gear.
If you don't get one with a preamp, then you will need a seperate preamp.
preferably get one with 2 preamps on it so you can record guitar and vocals at the same time if you ever want to.

Mic: I Second something like that SE. Good reliable well regarded entry level mic.
In saying that, there are tonnes of mic's out there in all different price ranges, so research well and choose wisely. The mic is the first point of contact with the sound, and can have a dramatic effect on the capture if it is really crap, or really good. Capturing well will save you scratching your head trying to fix problems when in your DAW application later when it doesn't "sound nice". Some cheap mics can sound brittle and overly bright and harsh at the top end of the spectrum.


Bottom line is what do you want to do with this material ? If you want professional results, you are running into cost - though gearlust is one hell of a pasttime ;p

As for the Ubuntu thing, I've no idea what support for certain cards is like in Linux - though I wouldn't be surprised if there was some sort of ASIO driver support written by the community. Last time I looked (which in fairness was a few years ago), there wasn't a lot of super DAW software for Linux, but that may have changed.