AKG - P120

I’m not an expert. I just recorded my guitar with an AKG percepction 120 that o got used for under $50 and loved the sound. Much more than my sm57. The 57 I don’t like for acoustic guitar rather for amped sounds ( maybe I just suck at it). Anyways it was the best sound I’ve gotten on acoustic guitar Here is the sound in case you are interested in it. https://youtu.be/z0W1AldtJUs?si=47MzYFu69iMHJUQl

I found it worked quite well for acoustic guitars, especially when I wanted a nice bright sound, but for vocals I prefer the AKG P120. It suits my voice better and mixes very well. (I only do home recording, mind you).

I had a p120 for awhile as my first vocal recording mic and it got me through a few albums before I upgraded. I would go with Rode NT1 if you can spend a bit more though. It took a while for me to find a good pre to match with the p120. I ended up with a voice master from focusrite. The on board pres on interfaces are much better than in 08 when I used it though so you may have different results

built in microphones on phones became very good recently, after all their job is to transfer the human voice clearly. but still, they are too small and cheap(5$?) to capture the full frequency of guitar and vocals. I would go for a cheap interface and condenser mic , 100$ each like behringer 202 and akg p120, or similar priced items. total is around 200$ and the result would be 5-10 times better.

I was using P120 with Digidesign Mbox 2 Mini and AT2020 with M-audio M-Track Plus. I preferred the first option, not sure if it's because of the interface or not.

It depends on a few things. If you want a true workhorse you’ll want to buy an analogue microphone. (One with an XLR output), this would require analogue to digital conversion. So would also need to purchase an audio interface to handle that for you. My recommendation for you would be to buy a used mic and then a cheaper budget interface. There are two main types of microphones to look at. 1) condenser 2) dynamic Condensers are great at micro-level detail. They are hyper sensitive and require some level of audio isolation to work properly. These are the best choice over all. Condensers to look for within your budget: Audio Technica AT2020 or 2035, AKG P120, Lewitt LCT140. Dynamics are self powered and are generally a lot less of a “hot” signal microphone type. The diaphragm within the mic only picks up sound when air (your exhaled voice) hits it. This makes dynamics a great choice for noisier environments. They also tend to have a more “colored” tone to them. Often having an extra emphasis on the low end. Most radio and TV talk shows use dynamics as an example. I’d recommend these more to beginners as they are easier to use in more situations than condensers more professional focused attributes. Dynamic within your budget: Shure SM57/58, Behringer XM8500 As far as audio interfaces go, any Focusrite interface goes for very cheap used and are pretty cheap new. The Focusrite Vocaster is their cheapest offering and might be the best suited for you. Behringer and M-Audio also have similar offerings but I’ve heard too many mixed things about them to truly recommend them. Just stick with Focusrite and you should be fine. Hope this crash course was helpful. If you have any questions just ask me. (:

No....just no. It's not the same mdc as the 4040 and above, it's shrill and has a terrible low mid boom. Now, OP, the Line Audio Cm1. The Octava MK012. AKG p120. EV nd76a. Studio Projects B1 ect (all same design) MXL V69M. SM57/58.