recommend to me a good, cheap omnidirectional microphone!

[benton netty]

sounds like this EV mic might be the one to check out, even though i wanted to spend LESS than $40, not more!

my main concern is just getting a mic that i can just set there, and it will be able to pick up me and my acoustic from a couple of feet away without any real need for a gain increase. and i guess i'd like it to have a 1/4 inch jack, but i can just use an adapter, i suppose. i just want to record mono demo mp3's with my soundcard.

i thought this one might be good: http://www.radioshack.com/product.asp?c ... =33%2D3022

but i don't know much about frequencies -- is 30-18,000Hz response good and loud? how does the ev mic stack up to the radio shack one? is that a ridiculous question?

[Disposable]

my main concern is just getting a mic that i can just set there, and it will be able to pick up me and my acoustic from a couple of feet away without any real need for a gain increase. and i guess i'd like it to have a 1/4 inch jack, but i can just use an adapter, i suppose. i just want to record mono demo mp3's with my soundcard.

Sounds like you want my "altered circuit" TapeOp DIY Omni...
I built it for about $10...

It is basically an unbalanced 1/4" output
Version of the infamous TapeOp Omni

[waitingroom]

Ditto! Dynamic, doesn't require external power, and you could probably use it as a hammer without destroying it. I bought mine for $10 on ebay. It's all beat-up and ugly, but it sounds great. You can usually find them for $50 or less.

Funny, I actually call my EV635A the "Hammer." I absolutely love this microphone. I got mine for 30 off of ebay, and use it mainly for electric guitar and some vocals. I heard that Elvis used to use it as a vocal mic some in the 1950's.

[benton netty]

okay, i went and bought the omni from radio shack (couldn't wait), and i plugged it in, and... same problem as before. not enough level on the microphone. i cannot figure this out. i'm totally a newbie when it comes to computer recording, but for the life of me, i cannot figure out how to get more level on this thing. i've turned up every volume control i can find.

do i need a preamp or something? why won't this work, just plugging a mic in? why can't i raise the level?

EDIT: five minutes after writing this, i tried plugging the mic into the line input instead of the mic input. works like a charm, now!