M-Audio Nova

I'm making music for 16 years and recording for 3 years.
I record on the 788 portastudio 24bit digital recorder from tascam (really great sounding).
I used to record with stage-mic's like the shure sm-58,57.
My first condensatormic sounded great in the store but at home... it was terrible. I only had fantom from a small berhinger mixer and that seems to be the problem so i bought a presonus pretube (with fantom) but still the mic sounded flat. Since 1 year i own a (cheap) NOVA from M audio

The sounds i record with the nova are acoustic guitars, vocals, small windinstruments and spoken words (for theater).

I like the nova a lot! He looks great, sounds clear, warm, and is cheap!!!

For homerecording, he will do the job.

I've been recording music for 6+ years now. I've done the cheap route and the pricey route (duct tape, DIY stuff, and then I bought some real equipment).

I enjoy trying to think outside the box, but at the same time, try to capitalize on techniques that are already tried and proven.

I've done recording into the sound card of a PC, and I've done the Presonus Firepod into a Mac route. I would recommend the second, it's cleaner, and Apple does such a wonderful job with even the low level program of Garage band that it's a no brainer. But i'm here to talk about a mic. ;)

I do bedroom recording right now, as I've not been able to get a real space to record music (welcome to life as a college student). I use a pair of headphones to do the main mixing, and then I'll listen through my computer speakers, then burn the song to a CD and listen through people's car stereos, the home theater system in our front room, etc. I'm looking for what stands out in each of these situations so I know what to tweak and what to let be. It's a rather ghetto setup, but it works better than you'd think and better than I would have guessed.

I got this mic while working at a store that sold these, and someone brought it back in opened, and because it was opened, it was subject to a %75 discount. Yeah, I scooped that up, because I figured "hey, even if this think is junk, $15 for a condensor mic is a great deal!"

The truth of it is, that I would have gladly paid the $100 for this thing. It's very warm, and i've learned that NOT all condensor mics are created equal. The other condensor mic, a chinese rip off of the russion Octavias (or so I believe it to be a rip off, guitar center sells these things for too cheap to be real...) was really thin and tinny. It worked, and it has great high end, but the Nova is full and sounds WONDERFUL.

I've used it to record vocals, acoustic guitar, and guitar cabnets, and they all sound wonderful into this mic. I've only run it into the Firepod directly, and it sounds great. The thing I like about this is that I get a great sound "right out of the box", so to speak, and thus I don't have to do a bunch of post-recording EQing or tweaking to get the sound I like. It gets a simple, great sound from the get go. Do your self a favor if you're not rich (i'm not), and get this mic.

I have been playing for 10 years now and recording for 1.
I'm studying at the conservatoire and love recording and studios!!

I'm recording to 24/96 computer interface and listening by state of art Studio monitors: Kelind Golden Heart Series.

It is a large condenser mic with no polar or pad switch.
It is well built, heavy and seems very safe.

I've been using it for Vocals, Acoustic Guitars and Clarinet.

In the use I've found it very very good, expecially at vocals and clarinet.
It is a quite clear microphone, maybe a bit full o mids but very cool.

I have no preamp but I think that with a tube preamp, It would really be competitive with less cheap microphones.

What I don't like much is that you have no shock mount with it but for the price I think it's obvious!

It's SOOO recommended!!