When it comes to music equipment, a lot of people believe “if I save up and buy a more expensive microphone, my quality will become WAY better”. Although, sometimes, this is true. Not always though! A lot of reasonably priced microphones can do an absolute fantastic job when it comes to recording music, a podcast, anything! Sure, some mics that are more expensive sound better, but the amount of price difference does not equal the same quality difference. For instance, if you buy a microphone, and then you decide to upgrade to a mic twice the price, that means that you doubled the amount of money you paid… BUT that does not mean your quality is going to automatically become twice as good! Sometimes a mic twice the price, doesn’t even sound as good as a cheaper mic. It is all about what YOU NEED from a microphone.
What I am getting at here, is that it is worth it to do your research! If you talk to a friend and they have an expensive mic that they swear by, and you have a much cheaper mic, it doesn’t mean you should immediately upgrade… Do your research, and find out whether the mic is right for you! Different mics are great on different things and just because it works for someone els doesn’t mean it will work for you, and it also doesn’t mean that you will get an immediate better quality for paying more!
If you record podcasts, or you are a gamer on youtube, and you use a Shure SM58 and then you decide to buy a RODE NT1a… Would there be a sound difference, absolutely. The Sm58 is dynamic, and the NT1a is a condenser mic, so they do have different sounds, BUT THEY ALSO HAVE DIFFERENT USES. A lot of people could argue that the NT1a sounds better, and for certain things, it absolutely does. The nt1a has a geart frequency range, it is very quiet and it runs pretty hot so you don’t have to bump up the pre amp nearly as much. Believe it or not, for a podcaster or gamer, I would argue that you would get a worse result with the more expensive NT1a, than you would the SM58…. There is an easy answer to this: if you are a podcaster that has a lot of room noise, no treatment, or a gamer that makes a lot of keyboard noise, YOU WOULD BE BETTER OFF WITH THE CHEAPER SM58! Due to background noise rejection. If you have the clear crisp NT1a plugged in and you have a reverberant room and you are making some noise in the background, that is going to make the NT1a not sound very good, and it is going to be distracting to your listener. However, the SM58 would cut a lot of those issues out! If you wasnt studio quality singing vocals, and you have a quiet room, I would absolutely recommend the NT1a over the SM58. ALTHOUGH, that comes down to preference!
So it is not always about price = better quality, it is more often that the right microphone for the job = better quality. So don’t be too consumed by getting a more expensive microphone. Just look for what microphone you like the sound of, that has the right features for you. A great option for a mix of two mics is a condenser handheld mic, like the Shure SM86 or the Audio-Technica AT2010. Those will give you background and room rejection, but also have a nice condenser sound to them.
Hopefully this shed some light on a few issues that new audio people run into. So do your research and find out what is right for you! If you need help, you can absolutely contact me! You stay classy Audio Nerds!
Afilliate links of mics mentioned in this Blog:
Shure SM58: https://amzn.to/2ZZwuPb
Rode NT1a: https://amzn.to/2Y79r35
Shure SM86: https://amzn.to/2DS43t0
Audio-Technica AT2010: https://amzn.to/2JjIHrT