I recently have become involved in some newsgroup discussions regarding digital recording. Inevitably, someone asked “what microphone should I get?”, and received several responses of consumer-oriented dynamic microphones such as the Shure SM-58.
I replied: Although the Shure is a fine microphone for what it is, it’s not by any stretch of the imagination a good vocal mic for a studio setting.
It’ll get you by, though, if you can’t afford better. And it’s a great stage mic. However, the frequency cutoff on it is 15,000Hz, which doesn’t even capture the full sound of a voice in a studio.
A large-diaphragm condenser microphone using Phantom Power will set you back about $150, but the difference between a condenser and a dynamic mic is night and day as far as recording quality. In general, dynamic mics are only used in the studio for instruments with extreme transients (such as drums) or where feedback might be a concern (live performance).
That said, what you pick is up to you. If you go with a condenser, you’re going to need some way of providing phantom power. I use a small mixer, but many I/O interfaces provide their own.
Anyway, if you want really darn good vocal response, don’t use a dynamic mic. They work fine when you are getting started, but their lack of high-end reception starts to wear thin after a while.
I’ve been using a pair of (relatively) cheap condenser microphones for about a year now, and the difference in clarity of my mic-based recordings is astounding. The ironic thing is that, as much as I love the greater “air” in the recording due to using a condenser microphone, it is precisely this “air” which is lost when compressing to my preferred distribution formats of MP3 or OGG.
Of course, inevitably I received the follow-up question, “What is Phantom Power?” I’m fairly certain there are a lot of us in recording who don’t really understand the differences between dynamic and condenser mics (other than “condenser mics sound better”). I know I was fuzzy on it, until I bought one and desired to learn how microphones actually work:
Dynamic mics (the type you usually see for school assemblies, outdoor concerts, and such) function by using a barrier with a magnet attached. The barrier/magnet (generally referred to as a diaphragm) is next to a coil of wire. The movement of the magnet with a wire nearby produces a small electric current. This current is fed into a “preamp”, which makes that tiny signal much louder (bumps it up to what is called “line-level input”), and then you can record or hear it.
Ribbon microphones function by a similar principle. However, rather than a robust circular diaphragm, they use a small ribbon with a magnet on either end. This makes them more sensitive to sound than a traditional dynamic mic, with some pleasant natural compression, but they are also extremely delicate and expensive. That ribbon can break easily. However, they produce very rich vocals, particularly for female vocalists. Generally, it takes much less air pressure to produce motion in the relatively large, flat ribbon. However, the ribbon is also quite sensitive to location; you’ll have a steep decibel dropoff with a singer singing at the side of a ribbon mic.
Now, so far, these microphones require no power to run them. They generate their own current through the movement of the sound waves you’ve created.
Enter the “condenser” microphone.
Essentially, the diaphragm in a condenser microphone is a capacitor. That is, it’s an electrical apparatus which holds a charge. One plate of the capacitor vibrates in response to sound waves. The second plate is steady. The capacitor’s capacitance (farads) changes depending on how far apart the plates are. The plates in most decent quality condenser mics are gold, in order to resist corrosion and provide a longer useful lifetime for the microphone. (Well, they’re actually gold dusted onto a plastic diaphragm). Some of the cheaper ones, like the ones powered by AA batteries that you buy at Radio Shack, use steel or silver instead of gold, and are only useful for a few years before their frequency reponse diminishes.
Savvy so far? A capacitor stores electricity. The amount it can store varies based upon the materials used for the two capacitor plates and the dielectric (the stuff between the metal plates). In the case of microphones, the “dielectric” is just air between the two nearby plates.
The net result of measuring a capacitor’s capacitance changes, versus the small electric current changes created by a moving magnet in a dynamic mic, is that the condenser microphone is far more sensitive to smaller and shorter sound waves. In other words, you can play softer sounds and they’ll be picked up. You can also play higher-freqency sounds which a dynamic mic misses because the sound wave isn’t large or long enough to move the magnet noticeably.
In the case of the condenser mic, the electric charge to the capacitor is provided by a “phantom power” source. Without phantom power, condenser mics simply don’t work, because the capacitor has nothing to charge it. Phantom power is provided right along with the regular signal. It is extremely small, and phase-cancelled if your input is balanced.
Phantom power is only needed for condenser microphones. Turning on phantom power will not harm dynamic or ribbon microphones. However, startup order is important: you will want to turn on your mixer, turn on phantom power, and THEN turn up your master volume level if you value your ears.
Here’s hoping this actually explained it for some of the musicians on our board!
Explained.. but..
Only really on a technical level..
What condenser mic did you get again? Where does one get it..
Do they come with the “phantom power?” – If not, where does one get it.
How do you make sure everything is phased correctly.. (I have a problem just hearing the diff)
I don’t have a mixer.. whats a good way to go..
And.. most importantly.. How much is this all going to cost me?
Maybe you could explain (with costs) your setup – how could I get the same setup you have?
Finally.. my guitars have this thing.. when I put them on the bottom toggle switch, they have a loud hum. Both of them.. on both my amps..
I think its my power source.. but I don’t know how to stop it.. is there something that would do that for me?
In the next year, I hope to revamp my studio.. where do I start?
And what does that have to do with the price of beans?
Hee hee.. remember that old gag?
Beans
That’s too easy. Condenser microphones use a gold dusting over a plastic diaphragm. America was flush with gold in the late 1800’s. A staple of the American gold miner diet was beans.
Given that they literally panned for gold, the price of beans was exhorbitant in mining towns. There you have it.
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Matthew P. Barnson
Info…
I have a pair of “On-Stage Microphones” OSM-800’s. They were about $120 new when I picked them up on sale for half off at $60.00 each last summer. I don’t have shock mounts for them, but I’m on a concrete floor, so they don’t pick up much “boominess” from my two boom stands. I am still using my boom stand from high school, and picked up another one for like $15.00 with my mics.
The OSM-800 retails today for about $90.00. I’m sure you can pick it up on sale for much less. They are cheap Chinese knockoffs, but as long as you don’t worry about the dropoff in response to the sides and back of the mic (not nearly a perfect cardioid pattern; more like an inverse isosceles triangle) they do the job nicely.
That dropoff in response pattern is the only problem I saw.
I’d purchased a mixer — a little 4-channel Phonic MM502 — a year earlier. I’ve been very impressed with how quiet it is. Since my studio rig is for composition, not live recording, I never record more than two channels at once, so it works very well. It has balanced input, XLR mic inputs, headphone feeds, etc. Nice little unit. Realistically, anything that takes balanced and XLR inputs from your mics, provides phantom power (usually via a switch that says “Phantom Pwr”) will do the trick.
You need to purchase one that’s very quiet, if possible. Phonics units seem to be pretty quiet, but I know others are supposed to match it. If all you’re doing is stereo recording (2-channel), you don’t need a massive one with lots of inputs, just 4-channel should do the trick.
Well, if you want to duplicate my setup:
Well, there are several possible causes:
I decided I wanted to revamp my studio two years ago, and started buying bits and pieces piecemeal to make it happen. Started with the mixer, then the mics.
Next up is the PC. That’s one (of many) reasons I ordered a new laptop. It’s due to arrive around April 15, and I plan on doing a very thorough, long review of the whole setup as far as a digital audio workstation goes. So you’ll hear more then 🙂
—
Matthew P. Barnson
double-coil pickups
One thing I meant to say and didn’t: the double-coil pickups are called “humbucker pickups” for a reason. Single-coil pickups hum. A coil of wire under a steel sring acts like an antenna for electromagnetic inteference. I actually used to be able to receive Q107 (a local DC radio station) pretty decently on my old Mako guitar using the distortion pedal and a single-coil pickup. Yeah, I could listen to crappy radio with crappy quality on my crappy amp and crappy guitar 🙂
Double-coil (humbucker) pickups have two coils, and generally two magnets, with opposing polarity. These will amplify the string signal, and cancel the hum. Unfortunately, humbuckers lack the transparent sound of single-coil pickups, so they’re ideal for crunchy lead-guitar stuff, but not so good for clean rhythm playing.
Other factors that can influence your single-coil pickups (if it’s not your cable):
Unfortunately, attempting to yank out this hum using a noise-reduction plugin removes a lot of pitches centering around A and its harmonics. Which leads to a reedy, thin-sounding guitar track. I just accept the electrical hum as an artifact of playing electric guitar, and try to minimize its presence during quiet passages through arrangement.
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Matthew P. Barnson
PP and ribbon mics
Phantom Power can actually harm some ribbon mics, make sure to read your ribbon’s literature before you plug it in.
Great Phantom Power primer, otherwise…
Wow
Hey there! I just read your entry on phantom power and was extremely happy on how you covered it in your entry. You gave a very clear description of what it really is, as well as providing good distinctions between dynamic and condenser mics. I’m an amateur sound person, currently exploring sound beyond basics. I hope to learn more from your site, and so, keep it up!
OSM-800 problems
Hey there, I have the same mic but I cant get it to work. I do have a mixer and other mics without “on/off switches” work just fine. Any ideas what it can be? I dont get any juice out it at all.
Mixer needs phantom power
You need a mixer which provides phantom power. If yours does, and you can’t get any output from the mike when the phantom power is enabled and the mike switch is “on”, you probably just have a bum mike and should return it to the store you bought it from for another.
They are fine little microphones for the price.
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Matthew P. Barnson
Phantom Power
a SHURE SM58 has no powerswitch, neither does the OSM-800, my SM58 works fine thru my mixer but my OSM doesnt… so would that eliminate the possibility of a problem with Phantom Power?
powered
cuz my mixer says “Phantom Power + 48 volts”
Shure mics
I didn’t know that Shure made a condenser mic.
Is the power switch for your Phantom Power +48v engaged? Usually, you have to turn it on manually for it to work.
If it still doesn’t work, then your mixer isn’t providing phantom power (easily confirmed, just hook a multimeter up to the jack leads for a mic), you have your mic plugged into a jack which doesn’t provide phantom power (try other jacks), or your OSM800 is broken. Phantom power can also only be provided through a 3-prong balanced jack. Unbalanced inputs, by definition, and 1/4″ dual-pole plugs can’t run phantom power.
Good luck!
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Matthew P. Barnson
Hey hey!
I got it all figured out, the switch to turn on the phantom power behind my mixer wasnt working. i opened it up and got it working, the mic sounds lovely!
thanks for the help!!!
Steals…
Those OSM mikes are a steal for the quality you get out of them. Sure, they are “cheap Chinese imports”, but for 90% of home musicians, they are more than enough and a huge step up from standard cardioid mikes.
I’m glad you got it working. I hope to hear back from you once you publish a work or two; link to it here or elsewhere so we hear how sweet those cheap mikes sound!
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Matthew P. Barnson