GOOD MICROPHONE

For starters, don’t even THINK about $10-30 mics. They all stink.

The “industry standard” for live performances is generally the veteran Shure SM58 dynamic microphone, which is compatable with practically any piece of equipment on the planet, and retails at about $99. It can routinely be found at a discount as part of package deals, which also include a stand, XLR cable, or more often several microphones with stands, cables and connectors.

For buying gear the best online retailers are Musician’s Friend (musiciansfriend.com), Samash (samash.com) and Sweetwater (google them). They all have price-matching guarantees, so the prices will be more or less constant. The best regular physical stores are the Samash retail outlets (google them too).

Other companies make similar products, like the Electrovoice series, but the Shure SM58 is pretty much the standard. (if the president uses them,so can you!)

Good luck!

TheMusicMan’s advice is very good. Those online stores are excellent. Another good site is zzounds.com, I’ve gotten a lot of gear from them. They have excellent warranties and fast shipping.

@miamigirl613, note that the Shure Beta 87a is a medium-end condensor mic, and requires phantom power which (a) can be supplied only through XLR jacks and (b) is not available on all equipment. Judging by @smartstars other posts, he (she?) or she (he?) is looking for something that can go into the Korg PA500 keyboard’s rear MIC IN TRS jack, which cannot supply phantom power.

The Beta 87s are useful in that they have built in triple layered pop filters, which minimize explosive P and B sounds (that’s why studios always use these large disc-like objects in front of the mic. The discs are large pop filters).

The Betas come in cardioroid (87c) and supercarderoid (87a) models. For live performances (and in particular simchas in small, crowded, reverb-rich halls) the supercarderoid model is preferable, due to the superior side-noise rejection inherent in the supercarderoid pattern. However, due to the lack of phantom power on most keyboards, and (in bands with mixers) the inability to have wireless phantom power, condenser mics are not really used for singers (although specialized models are fantastic for drums).

The main difficulty is the $250 price tag.