Hi all,
I want to buy a mic as cheap as possible to record my voice (spoken word mostly - to manipulate and insert in my electronic music).
Equipment: ibook g4 1 Ghz 640 mb ram.
Which mic is extremely cheap yet of reasonable quality?
Thanks in advance,
Joost

I have a Beringher B-1 that goes for $99. You didn't mention your price range, but that is a cheap large-diaphragm condenser mic that is versatile for voice and instrument recording. It comes with a case, windscreen (a cheap one), and a shockmont (this lets you attach it to a mic stand). However, as most condenser mics, it requires 48v of phantom power. You must have a pre-amp to power the mic.

Another good vocal mic is a Shure SM58. They go for about the same price, but don't require phantom power. They are considered the industry standard when it come to live sound.

Hope that helps.

100 dollar is very acceptable indeed. Thanks for the advice!

I also have a Behringer B-1 and I like it a lot.
I am not quite sure why everyone assumes that
Behringer sucks because it is lower cost.

Yes, Behringer isn't top of the line, but for
someone who doesn't make any money
creating music the B-1 is a reliable tool and
of relative high quality.

I plan on trying more Behringer products in
the very near future (specifically monitors
and headphones) and I will let others know
what I think of them on the Mac Music forums.

Related Story:
Went to GuitarCenter to check out Mic Cables and
I told the store representative that bought the B-1
and that it cost $100 dollars. He then said "Oh,
you can't record with a hundred dollar mic you need
something that costs at least $500. Let me show you
these models over here." I they replied "I can't
afford to spend $500 on a microphone. Have you
ever used a Behringer B-1?" To which he answered
"No."

How can he tell me the B-1 sucks if he has never used it?
This advice wasn't coming from Pavarotti, it was coming
from the wannabe rock star at Guitar Center.

I have a Samson C01 (I think) that is nice mic for the $$$... I bought for $69 and has nice warm and intimate sound to it. I think they have new version with switchable patterns that is a step up for $99.

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Dude,
I love guitar center, but as you found outsome of the sales ppl can be a little over enthuastic. Basically, the guy was full of crap. I have been in the music business ofr more years then I care to tell, and have used almost every type of mic available. The Berringer that you have is a very good mic!!! I have used Shure M-58's and M-57's for at least 20 years and have produced great recording on both voice and insturments. Don't let some jerk working for commission, put a trip on you abotu what you have and what you need. The bottom line to use what is available to you and make the best recordings you can with that. You can always tweak things a little once you get it into the software.

Hope this helps ease your mind a bit!
Stratman

To echo StratMan, Shure's SM57 and SM58 are excellent mics. While the SM58 is more commonly used for voices the SM57 is great for instrumental and voice, it's considered the "workhorse" of mics. I highly recommend either mics!