My favorite mic for foley is the Sure SM81. Very sensitive, and good for everything from sampling a water faucet to crinkling up a plastic bag. It isn''t the best mic for loud sounds, I still use my sm57 for door slams, etc... Only caveat - it''s cardiod, so you''ll have to be relatively close to the source if you don''t want to pick up background noise.

I also use an AKG c1000s; it has a good spl rating (it can handle somewhat loud sounds without clipping) and it has a switchable polar pattern (cardiod or hypercardiod). This is my "beating a bag of potatoes with a bat" mic. It''s also the one I use for micing at a distance, the hypercardiod pattern is decent (but not perfect) for side rejection.

Both of the above use phantom power, but the c1000s let''s you use a 9v battery as an alternative.

SM81 goes for around $300
C1000S goes for as low as $170

BTW - mic selection is VERY subjective, and these are just my personal opinions.

Hi.

I''m part of a voice acting guild on the net, helping voice mods, and I''m trying to get a professional mic (As in a Shure SM58 for example). What other types do you suggest I look for?
Some I''ve just seen on ebay:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1360505539

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=883371744

What do you think?

Well, stay away from the generic "Shure Microphone", and as far as the SM58 - 46 gbp ($68 us dollars) is WAY too much for a used SM58, you should be able to pick up a used one for 30gbp at most.

I personally use my SM57 for vox, but I am NOT a voice actor, and I''d recommend getting something better. At most I do vocoded-computer voice fx, which don''t need a lot of fidelity.

If budget''s a concern, however, you''ll do fine with an sm58. Other than that I''ve used (but don''t own) two other mics for vocal work:

Rode NT1 (120 gpd) - Large Diaphragm condenser; great mic for the price. Very clear and articulate, but not incredibly warm; still 10x better than a shure sm58.

http://www.musiciansnews.com/recording/90/nt1_studio_microphone.shtml

Neumann TLM 103 (450 gpd) - Another Large Diaphragm, a bit expensive, but my god does it sound good. It''ll reproduce everything from a whisper to a scream perfectly, and it handles low frequencies exceptionally well...

http://www.musiciansnews.com/recording/97/tlm103_studio_microphone.shtml

There''s a lot of other large diaphragm condensers out there (the preferred type of mic for vocal work) for under 120gpd; but those are the only two that I''ve used. Look around.

Even if you stick with an SM58, consider getting an outboard preamp/compressor - it''ll make all the difference in the world. You can get a combo preamp/comp for as low as 100gpd used.

I can tell you what I use and works really well.
I use the Shure KSM44 (~$500). It is totally and completely professional (and comes with a swivel mount to remove unwanted mic stand jitters and low frequency rumbles). The SM58 was designed for playing out live with like a rock band or something, not necessarily for studio use. The KSM44 on the other hand is immaculate. Within the next month I may post some samples at my site that you can check out where I used the KSM44 on singing and speaking parts. Also, the Neumann mentioned by Anopo is great too (from what others say) although I haven''t used it myself. happy mic hunting.

FYI, My solar extract site has music/singing samples of me using the KSM44 (recorded in my apartment of all places). My megalith site will have some voice acting samples in the near future.


DRC
Megalith Music
Solar EXtract

Within my budget? Unfortunately not!
I do have loads of money, ready for uni, but the most I really want to spend is £60. I''m still looking around.

my only question here guys is that Trout asked for a mic for folley and sfx, some of the mics that have been suggested wouldn''t be great for walking around the streets with
i''ve been recommended the Audio Technica AT880 i think it is, i always forget... i havent yet purchased a mic but again. i''m in a similar boat, i''m looking for a mic to walk the streets with... it also depends what source ur recording to, for example, i''d be using mini disc for now, and not DAT, so, it''s quite important to me that the mic has a high impedence, and well, fortunately it comes with the XLR to Mini Jack for the mini disc purpose...
saves on expense i guess.?
any comments on this mic?



Purple Hamster
Helped and be helped!

my only question here guys is that Trout asked for a mic for folley and sfx, some of the mics that have been suggested wouldn''t be great for walking around the streets with
i''ve been recommended the Audio Technica AT880 i think it is, i always forget... i havent yet purchased a mic but again. i''m in a similar boat, i''m looking for a mic to walk the streets with... it also depends what source ur recording to, for example, i''d be using mini disc for now, and not DAT, so, it''s quite important to me that the mic has a high impedence, and well, fortunately it comes with the XLR to Mini Jack for the mini disc purpose...
saves on expense i guess.?
any comments on this mic?



Purple Hamster
Helped and be helped!