Rugged, Good Sounding Mic.....SM58 or Alternative.

[Catoogie]

I have a buddy who has clients tape themselves, he sends them a mini-disc and a mic, they send the stuff back and he does the production. It works out very well for him. In the past he was using a SM58, any other suggestions for this type of situation? Or should he just go with what he knows?

Thanks

[;ivlunsdystf]

I like the sound of your friend! Does he have a website? I am fascinated by correspondence recording. Does he have people record multitrack minidisc or what?

Anyway, maybe he needs a condenser mic.

[cdbabel]

I have a buddy who has clients tape themselves, he sends them a mini-disc and a mic, they send the stuff back and he does the production. It works out very well for him. In the past he was using a SM58, any other suggestions for this type of situation? Or should he just go with what he knows?

Thanks

With a good preamp, the SM58 makes a good, if quite, room mic.

If you want something cheaper, but with surprisingly good results, check out Nady's SP-5. Its about $8 and most say the sound is of the same quality.

Here's a comparison on the forum. http://messageboard.tapeop.com/viewtopi ... hlight=sp5

The only real problem is that the SP-5 has more handling noise.

[8th_note]

Another option is an Audio-Technica MB1K. I had one and ironically, I lent it out and never got it back. I preferred it to an SM58 for most applications. It should be more rugged than the Nady and sells for about $40.00.

[;ivlunsdystf]

Is the mic being mailed hither and yon? This is FASCINATING!

[Catoogie]

He has a boutique advertising agency that specializes in radio. He has one of those aluminum tool/brief cases you get at Lowes and in it is a Minidisc, a mic, cable, tabletop stand and disc. He puts the case in a cardboard box and Fed Ex or UPS's it out to the client. The client reads and records the copy and then sends it back to him, he then produces the commercials. It works out great. He also buys the air time, schedules, writes the copy etc?.

[;ivlunsdystf]

That's pretty cool. There are many interesting human endeavors that we never hear about! Thanks for the overview.

[doc]

I'd agree that a condensor of some sort will probably be to his benefit, but if he wants something that's similar to a 58 but a bit nicer, I can't say enough nice things about the Sennheiser e835. Same price as a 58 but built better, sounds nicer, and looks classier too. I've been using them mainly for live sound at a club I work at, but they've actually gotten a little play in the studio too.

-Doc