+++ HERE +++ is a tutorial about microphone sensitivity you may find useful.

Great article! Most often people get hooked in by salespeople who say "Condenser mics are better so you should get rid of your dynamic" but it all boils down to what you're micing up.

Personally I own more lower output dynamic mics than higher output condensers, since most of what I record is loud - drums, guitar amps, etc.

Good article Jim. Thanks for posting. Learned a lot!

Jeff

Interesting about mics - as a DIY fellow, I tend to stick with what I have and what I can afford

This one about mixing pop vocals is also brilliant, though rather specific when it comes to plugins - https://www.audiotechnology.com/tutorials/mixing-synth-pop-vocals - maybe one day I'll get closer to that :-)

From working with my own vocals I learned that there are plenty of ways to make the vocals work - and even more ways to screw 'em up completely.

I totally agree that if you are into recording the best microphone is (are) the one(s) you have. If you have a laptop with a microphone, you have a microphone. If you have a media recorder or smart phone with a microphone, you have a microphone. If you have a gaming headset, you have a microphone. And so on.

I don't know anyone that started out recording with a $1,000 microphone. Everyone starts with what is available. You learn by doing.

Most people's first instrument is dorky unless they have somebody knowledgeable choosing the instrument for them. That is just the way life flows.

All of my friends did. Oh, they didn't cost that in the late '60s/early '70s when we were graduating from $19 Radio Shack condensers and the like (and made great recordings with 'em, too) but they're worth more than that now on the vintage market—and none of us are selling.

Not all mic pres are created equal and some of the better ones can make the lowest sensitivity ribbons quite useful. My $300 M-Audio Air interface handles mics such as my Shure SM7B and 315 ribbon along with a Beyer M500 with ease—and there are 4 of them.

I have an esoteric tube mic pre and CloudLifters to boost signals but haven't pulled them out in nearly a year. Can't sell them, though, never know when you'll get a client who hears through his/her eyes. Gotta have the Neumann and mic pre that glows when putting on a show.

As a former music shop salesperson, I know a lot of people who started recording with a $1,000 microphone - even when I told them they'd be better served by spending $1000 on a complete package for audio interface, mic, monitors/headphones, DAW, and most importantly acoustic treatment. Ask me how I know from personal experience that a TLM103 will sound like junk in a poor-sounding space through laptop speakers (no it wasn't me that bought the TLM103).



I used to have an Avalon 737SP. It was nice, but I don't really miss it. My home made mic preamps sound just as good.

A good preamp is more important than anything you plug into it.


Regards,

Bob

True. Equally true is that a Mackie mic mixer has an overall better preamp than most boutique mic pres. Of course, that doesn't impress clients paying studio rates. That's what I meant by


SOS — Do Expensive Mic Preamps Make A Difference?

Likewise the current generation of Fast USB 2/USB 3/TB3 interfaces. That new DAC/Mic pre/'phone amp chip is pretty amazing.

Although the marketing departments all have their own names for it, the guts are the same. Most use it as-is though M-Audio adds a gain circuit to handle low-sensitivity mics and Mackie adds built-in effects.