deaconblue
Monday 03 December 2007 à 13:14
Nicola,
I agree with Mac Daddy. If you can, I would recommend picking up a good interface so you have ready expansion ability when you get used to the recording process on your Mac and want to branch out. (you most likely will).
However, if you already know that this is all you'll ever need in the way of computer recording and are set on a USB mic, then there are a couple I would recommend:
Samson CO1U and CO3U are both really nice microphones for decent price (between $60 and $110 US). More info can be found on the
Samson web page.
Blue makes some cool mics as well. The
snowball mic is a good sounding mic for acoustic guitar and vocals. But you might need to treat your room a wee bit as it will pick up a lot of the natural reverb and give you a lot of reflections in your final tracks. If you plan on recording the vocals and guitar 'live' this won't matter too much.
Finally, the
Marshall USB series of the MXL mics are really nice for being good condenser USB microphones with decent tone for 'cheap' (about $90 US).
I have tried several, these would be my picks if USB were my way to go. I have actually helped a couple of friends set up both the snowball and both of the Samson mics with really good results. I have tested the MXLs and own a few of their XLR equivalents.
The sound delta between the XLR and the USB are there, but based more on the fact I am running my XLR MXL mics through a good tube mic pre. If I plug them into a standard mic pre on my mixer, then the sound quality delta is nominal. The XLR based MXLs sound a wee bit 'hotter' but I think this is due to the fact that they are getting their phantom power via 48 volts and not the 5v USB power chain (which is shared with your keyboard and trackpad on a portable device and whatever other USB devices you have plugged into your desktop Mac).
Hope that helps. Best of luck with the decision.
peace