In this article I will be attempting to give you a little information regarding dynamic vs condenser mic. Before I start I will give you a little info on why I feel I am qualified to do this. I studied all aspects of guitar at Leeds college of music and then proceeded to complete my musical education at S.A.E. Amsterdam where I was taught about all aspects of music and audio engineering production.

The question of 'dynamic vs condenser mic' usually comes up with guitarists. Obviously it was a question that I needed answered early on in my career bearing my primary instrument ( or weapon of choice if you like ). A lot of the music I have had published involves acoustic guitar - my band have an indie folk feel about them.

Acoustic guitar always starts an argument use of a dynamic vs condenser mic but it's important to realize the finished article must sound good to your ears. What do I mean by this? Always stay true to your music and your vision. Most audio engineers will choose a condenser mic over a dynamic mic every time when recording a acoustic guitar. Why? Well condenser mics are much more responsive to high frequencies.

This is a good thing obviously but there is a down side to this - because condenser mics are more responsive they also pick up other things when in use. A room has it's own sounds going on in it that we fail to pick up on most of the time. These sounds turn into hums and general noise when picked up by a delicate condenser mic. It's important to realize that when you get noise in an audio signal the game is just about up. There are digital ways to reduce the noise but this just ends up coloring the signal.

For my first album I only owned a decent dynamic mic so all acoustic work went through this. The results were excellent and I wouldn't change them for anything. Sometime a lack of high end gives the acoustic guitar an extra rattle that fills a song beautifully.

When it comes to dynamic vs condenser mic in a live situation then this is an no-brainer - dynamic in most if not all situations. Remember that condenser mics are very delicate ( and expensive ) so you do not want to be taking them on the road with you. Dynamic mics are hard wearing and durable and the first choice for live vocals and miking up instruments. I hope this article on a dynamic vs condenser mic has helped make you a decision on which mic to go for when starting your projects.