Originally Posted By: rockstar_not
You already have way more mics than I expected. To call the SM 58 and 57 the standard of mediocre means that you are putting way too much hope in a mic making some kind of magic, in my opinion.

Both of those mics are outstanding and very often do way better than more expensive condensers in a home studio situation, where control of reflections is not really well executed for the most part. They are much more forgiving than most cardioid condenser mics because of their better off-axis rejection.

The list of excellent acoustic records made with these mics - and entire albums, is well known. That probably doesn't need to be rehashed.

What does your anti-reflection absorption situation look like in the room? I would concentrate there before buying another mic. Especially on a limited budget.

As for the mid-side mic, you should be able to use a matrix in your DAW to resolve this to pure stereo. https://www.voxengo.com/product/msed/

Those are just my opinions, but I would say you have plenty of mics to work with and tweak - but it does depend somewhat on your room - all the more-so with a less-cardioid patterned condenser.





Okay, maybe mediocre isn't the best description. Maybe medium priced or medium grade would have been better. What I mean is they are likely near the top of the $100 mic catagory. But, for the price range of an SM57/58 there is a lot to chose from. If fact, I prefer a Sennheiser E835 for anything a SM57 or 58 could get used for. But, that's just me. Going just above that price range seems to get significantly better quality. Anyhow, after using SM57/58s off and on for the last 40 years or so I seem to always like other microphones better for what I do. And, considering what I already have, I would buy one at this point since I've got it covered with other mics.

My room itself isn't too, too bad. I have tall book shelves loaded with books and gadgets to the left and right, minimal absorption on the wall behind my station, a 8 x 10 thick carpet covering part of the wall some 6 - 8 feet behind my back, thin carpet on the floor and a thick quilt canopy to stand under for vocal recording. I often use several shower floor mats from the 99 Cents Only store for movable absorption but they mostly just reduce reflections off walls, the ceiling and where the walls and ceiling meet. I think my biggest dislike is the ceiling. I have some ideas for that but haven't got around to it yet.

I currently don't see a need to separate out the mid/side features of that little Sony mic. I would use it for what it does and it seems to do it quite well. But, I know there are some slick techniques for that when needed. I've never experimented with them myself though.

Does the noise in your head bother me ?