You may remember our most recent audio adventure, where we took a closer look at Mic and Jake’s vocal tracks from their terrific podcast. We used an equalizer (EQ) to tweak the audio and it was a lot of fun. (Check out the results, if you haven’t already!) This week, we turn to the microphone itself and investigate the age-old question: should I use a dynamic or condenser mic for podcasting?

We’re going to compare a spoken voice track using two microphones: the industry-standard dynamic Shure SM57 and the condenser Audio-Technica AT3035. This is a lesson clip from our app, “Waay: Music theory that matters” Both samples below are from the exact same take.

Condenser: Audio-Technica AT3035

Dynamic: Shure SM57

There is no EQ, compression, or any of the usual editing on these tracks. They’re completely raw. And here are some observations:

• A condenser is known for its big range—it’s great for picking up a few singers at a time, a whole drumkit, or the sound of a room. In this particular track, I don’t think the condenser is a good fit. Though the voice sounds really natural and clean, the “room sound” makes me sound as though I’m inside a small box. 🙁
• The dynamic mic picks up the vocals with a rich and “present” tone—and without the boxiness! However, it needs much more amplification and so some hissy noise creeps into the track (crank the volume to hear it).

So, who’s the winner? For a tone suitable to a podcast, my vote goes to the dynamic Shure SM57. For a clean signal, the winner is definitely the condenser AT3035. As it stands, we have a tie! What’s next? We’ll look at reducing the noise on the dynamic mic by a) comparing two different dynamic microphones, and b) swapping in a different mic pre-amp!

Want to hear about future audio adventures, plus the latest app and songwriting articles from Ten Kettles? Sign up for our newsletter below. Also feel free to read our audio primer, a tutorial on EQing audio in Reaper, and why you should almost always high-pass your audio tracks!