Is This Condenser Mic Any Good?

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Creativemind
Posts: 4875
Joined: 17 Jan 2015
Location: Stoke-On-Trent, England, UK

18 Feb 2020

Hi All!

The other day I bought this condenser mic:-



The specs are attached in a pic. Judging by those, is it any good?

I'm wanting to primarily use it for vocals in my bedroom too so for that purpose is it any good. My bedroom isn't acoustically treated so will have to leave acoustics out of the equation for now.

Thanks!
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ZINGYOU ZY801 Condenser Mic Specs.JPG
ZINGYOU ZY801 Condenser Mic Specs.JPG (32.17 KiB) Viewed 2380 times
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Reason Studio's 11.3 / Cockos Reaper 6.82 / Cakewalk By Bandlab / Orion 8.6
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Creativemind
Posts: 4875
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Location: Stoke-On-Trent, England, UK

22 Feb 2020

Anybody?
:reason:

Reason Studio's 11.3 / Cockos Reaper 6.82 / Cakewalk By Bandlab / Orion 8.6
http://soundcloud.com/creativemind75/iv ... soul-mix-3

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deigm
Posts: 242
Joined: 10 Oct 2018
Location: Australia

22 Feb 2020

Nothing wrong with those specs, but that doesn't mean the mic sounds any good. Doesn't mean it sounds bad either. Specs don't really paint much of a picture of what a microphone sounds like. What's the make and model of the mic you're looking at?

Yonatan
Posts: 1556
Joined: 18 Jan 2015

22 Feb 2020

For what will you mainly use it?

Signal to noise 78db might not be the most quiet mics out there, but it is probably not any problem in most instances.
As read below, all signal to noise above 74db is good. Often tube mics tend to have not as high s/n ratio than those without, so 78db should work fine for most instances. Dynamic mics can tend to have higher s/n ratio as well and might need a good preamp to get best of use. But works really well for drums, guitar amps and other louder sources.
The more one need to push up the gain on the recording (if having a bit quieter sources, the internal hiss together with preamp hiss, might be too much. the higher signal to noise in both preamps and mics, the lower is the noise level and the more subtile sources can be recorded.
https://mynewmicrophone.com/what-is-a-g ... icrophone/

Other than that I can not judge if it is good for what you will record, if it fits your voice or the instruments you wish to record. Sometimes a frequency diagram comes with the specs and can tell a bit more of how it may fit ones own voice character, but even same mic model can sound slightly different from item to item, so one need to test it. But some things can be adjusted with EQ in the mix. It is more that if you find a mic that really suits your kind of singing voice, it matters not if some say they do not think it is good. Cheap mics can be perfect for a certain task.

I found a ADK 51 cond mic very cheap at a second hand shop a while ago, and I found it to fit my voice better than the Rode I had used too. They are different and good at different, but Rode has more higher frequency, which pick up more noise and siblience. It is very crystal in its pickup, so I found myself having to darken it in the mix. I had a want to get a dynamic mic or Ribbon mic that often rolls off at 15-16kHz. But I found that the ADK51 did pick up a bit similar to as if using a dynamic, capturing less of the whistle spectrum, at least not exaggregated in that field. And that saves me from a bit of work when comes to voices.
Instead I have to roll off a bit of the bass as it lacks a cutoff filter, but that I almost always do anyway when mixes. I rather boost a better balanced higher frequency spectrum than getting it over the top. And ADK51 is not considered a v"wow" mic but I found it to be relaxed and doing a good basic allround job. Especially when recording speach (radio etc), such mic is very handy as it softens the voice. But to another voice character, the RODE NT2A might bring wonders as they might just need that upper lift to bring their voice into best balance. So, testing mics is best way to know, and even if a mic might not work as well as one expected to ones singing, it might be incredible for another voice or some other instruments. So mics is not to be judged too much as good or bad per se.

And with mics as with headphones...the debate on how good they are can be endless. :)

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Creativemind
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Location: Stoke-On-Trent, England, UK

05 Mar 2020

Been recording vocals and guitar through it this evening and both sound awful to be honest. Sounds tinny. My cheap 'Pro Sound' dynamic mic I was using before sounded better and I thought this would be a step up.
:reason:

Reason Studio's 11.3 / Cockos Reaper 6.82 / Cakewalk By Bandlab / Orion 8.6
http://soundcloud.com/creativemind75/iv ... soul-mix-3

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selig
RE Developer
Posts: 11685
Joined: 15 Jan 2015
Location: The NorthWoods, CT, USA

05 Mar 2020

There are some really good sounding Chinese microphones out there - I have a few my GF got when she lived/worked in China, but they were hand picked.
I guess for an under $50 microphone your chances of getting a good one are going to be hit/miss at best.
Used to be a dynamic and condenser at the same price point was going to assure the dynamic was the better sounding of the two. These days it's much closer, mainly due to Chinese (and Russian) offerings in the condenser department.
Selig Audio, LLC

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miscend
Posts: 1955
Joined: 09 Feb 2015

05 Mar 2020

Buying generic Chinese mics is like buying lottery scratch cards. I think you need to spend at least a 100 bucks for a decent vocal mic. Something like an AT2020, SE X1 or Shure SM57/58. Even cheaper bought 2nd hand on eBay.

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