Microphones

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GeminiRadio

New Member
I am wondering if a microphone like a shure sm58 would be good for internet broadcasting.I have a rode nt1a,which is a condenser,and tends to pick up the laptop fan.Would a dynamic microphone be better,and if so,would the one I mentioned be any good,or could someone suggest a microphone with the quality of the nt1a,but is not a condenser....thank you for reading
 
Hi GeminiRadio,

The 'Shure SM58' is a good microphone and would probably do a good enough job for broadcasting. That being said, in our opinion the 'Rode NT1A' is an even better microphone and probably a lot better suited for radio, especially if it is mounted and has a pop shield. They are generally better for speech / vocals.

The chances are, you could go and get a Shure mic, but this may still pick up your laptop fan, just perhaps not quite as much. Ideally, your current mic should not be near the laptop fan as its inevitable it will pick it up as they are very sensitive microphones.

As your mic is 'Cardioid' you should point this away from the laptop and fan. This will help reduce the fan noise it is picking up. It would also help either buying (or building your own) baffle / reflection filter. If the laptop is behind this it will help a lot, it will also prevent other room reflections. Another option would be to look into either a hardware (or software) compressor which has a noise gate function. Noise gates will only allow a signal to pass if its above a certain level and will remove it if its below the set threshold. These are good for removing background noise.

We hope this helps. :)
 
The Behringer compressors such as MDX2600L have a decent noise gate on them (I use one for this purpose), I have also been testing an old laptop for soundprocessing and there can be anything up to 3 more PC's running at full tilt in my studio/workshop. And other fans too when the weather in England becomes half decent, or I would be roasted alive in here.

Often putting an acoustic screen between the laptop or other distance between it and the microphone isn't as feasible as the screen is being used to display something important and needs to be seen.

The Behringer kit is affordable (I think an MDX2600L is cheaper than an SM58) and less hassle to deal with than software based solutions which are likely to introduce lag into the microphone audio. This would be connected into the FX insert point for the mic channel (assuming you are using a separate mixer which appears to be how the mic you mention would be normally deployed).
 
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