The World’s Best Vocal Recording Microphones You Can Actually Afford!

Great vocal mics are a necessary part of your studio, regardless of its size.

But the home studio might have a smaller budget than the big commercial facility. And therefore, a home studio doesn’t have the luxury to splurge on microphones like their wealthier counterparts.

However, re-mortgaging your house is unnecessary with the following microphones.

A budget of around than $500 is easily enough money for some great vocal microphones, and some of the options below cost even less. Alternatively, if you’re really strapped for cash you might be interested in these 4 Cheap-Ass Condensers for the Frugal Engineer.

1. Rode NT2A Vocal Condenser

When you have a noisy home studio you want a quiet microphone. This one is extremely quiet, has multiple patterns to choose from and a high-pass filter to cut all that rumbling traffic noise.

2. Audio Technica AT2050

Like I’ve said before, The AT2020 is an absolutely stellar budget microphone. The 2050 is more of the same great sound but with a few extra switches.

3. AKG Perception 420

The Perfection series include a plethora of great budget mics. The 420 is the most expensive of their budget mics but it offers the most amount of features such as multiple polar patterns.

4. Neumann TLM 102

This one is a bit pricier than the aforementioned $500, but you can’t go wrong with a Neumann condenser microphone.

5. AKG C214

The little brother of the AKG C-414, the 214 is the perfect substitute for the home recording studio. Buy a microphone but also pay rent. That’s the best of both worlds in the home recording industry.

6. SE Electronics 2200A

The vocals to this song were recorded with the 2200A and they sound pretty good to me. What do you think?

Conclusion

Don’t get infected with a case of analysis paralysis. Choosing a microphone when you’re starting out can be overwhelming. It’s probably not the only microphone you’re going to buy, so you don’t need to worry about buyer’s remorse.

Make a judgment based on price, reviews, brand and most importantly, your gut feeling.

Image by: M. Keefe

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