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Does anybody have any recommendations for a type of microphone that is good for recording voices for computer games. Because right now all I have is a webcam. Does anybody have recommendations of a microphone that could record voices with minimal static. The price should be no more then $60.

uh geez, the good quality ones i know of require a mixer that can handle it.

I dont know of any miniplug or USB ones that go straight into your computer.

http://www.music123.com/Microphones-d175.music

yea so basically your going to have to get a mixer too...

If you're using an on board sound card, it'll never be great quality either. If you have a nice Sound Blaster, that's a good start.

i think a condenser mic can plug into newer SB platinum cards.
A couple friends of mine bought condenser mics and they pick up real clear. But we also had a power mixer and a Mac.

Here's an inexpensive condenser that plugs into your USB.
http://samash.com/catalog/showitem.asp?ItemPos=0&TempID=1&STRID=133648&Method=3&CategoryID=320&BrandID=0&PriceRangeID=0&PageNum=0&DepartmentID=6&pagesize=10&SortMethod=2&SearchPhrase=&Contains=&Search_Type=Department&GroupCode=

they make converters to convert three prong mics to 1/4" mono jack, then you could get a wire that converts 1/4" mono to either rca pin or 1/8" mono, but then theres the issue of pre amping. The sound card mic in should have an amp.

'lo folks, long time!

Coolgames - you're asking a lot for good quality at 60 bucks!

You could try a Shure PG48
http://www.music123.com/music123/Shure-PG48-Vocal-mic-i53663.music
If you're willing to stretch the budget further the Shure SM58 is an 'industry standard' mic.

The mic will also need a preamp to boost the signal. I'd recommed a small mixer for your budget, rather than a dedicated preamp. Something like the Behringer UB502 would suit your (very slim!) budget. This'll need cabling into your soundcard's recording socket. A 'popshield' or 'popper stopper' is also useful to control vocal plosives ('puh' or 'buh' sounds) when you're recording.

Our vocal recording "rig:"

* 2 Shure SM58 dynamic cardioid Microphones
* 2 generic pop filters ($15 at your local neighborhood music shop)
* 1 Mackie DFX-6 6-channel mixer (with RCA outputs)
* RCA jacks on the back of our computers (two of them anyway)
* Cool Edit Pro

With that setup we get clear, crisp vocals when the voice-over actor on the microphone knows about microphone sensitivity. We also get dogs barking and airplanes flying in the background, so recording at night is always optimal. Unless of course you're recording screams and foley work, in which case you'll need to take a million takes (and a million aspirin) during the day, and let your neighbors know what you're doing hehe. I have a lot of audio experience from being a DJ at the local college radio station, and more from being in bands, so if you have questions about mic placement and all of that don't hesitate to ask me.

A couple of pointers if you can afford this setup (I don't think you'll be able to get professional audio on $60, if you can I'd like to know how so I can save money too!):

* Don't put the pop filter directly against the microphone. Some people will suggest that you do this. These people are slow in the head With a dynamic cardioid microphone, or a unidirectional mic, putting the pop filter directly on the microphone will cause scrapping sounds if the filter moves a little, thus ruining your takes. I don't know why people suggest this but trust me, don't waste your time trying it. Put the pop filter 1 to 5 inches from the microphone, depending on the quality of the mic. Ours is always 2 inches away. Try to keep the voice actor about 4-6 inches away from the pop filter, and whatever you do don't let them bump it!

* The room you record in should have three features: Carpet on the floor, no air conditioning or fans, and it should be comfortable. No competent sound engineer in the world will tell you that you can do anything in one take, and on the rare occasions that you DO get it right the first time, it's dumb luck and it rarely happens twice, so make sure your room is comfortable and the person/ people doing voice-over work are comfortable too. Carpet on the floor is a no-brainer: hardwood floors create echo, and I strongly advise that you don't go for special effects with your raw takes... add special effects on later (like the ones you can add using Cool Edit Pro). This goes for your board's EQ as well... don't fumble with it trying to make the actor sound cool, you can do that stuff later No air conditioning/ fans is obvious also... they make noise, and if your microphone is of any quality it'll probably pick that stuff up in the background.

* Always do multiple takes, and never get rid of the takes that you won't use, even if you hate them. At some point in the future, those takes will come in handy, I garauntee it

Anyway, this stuff isn't actual scientific fact, it's just my opinion (before someone says "here we go again"). We've always gotten fantastic-sounding audio this way and I've never made a bad recording with this gear and/ or this setup. Hope it works for you (and whoever else decides to try it out).

sm58's will cost you more than 60 quid. but they are what I would have suggested. If you want sound proofing just get some scrap carpet and make a lil booth, doesn't have to be full height just a head height that you can hook onto your desk to cancel out echoing etc. Any computer mic will sound average but you might be able to tweak it a little with some programs. Though if you ar elooking for QUALITY then yeah I'd get a setup like mat rock's, it's similar to what we use with our productions here. (well audio deck and mic's anyway.)

You can get fine to impressive audio quality if you're just recording voices by using a normal desktop mic. Nothing fancy needed.

My dad has been recording bands live and in studios for 43+ years, every time. He has gotton all of his equipment from full compass (http://www.fullcompass.com/) they got the best stuff, all at the lowest prices you can find for audio stuff. From what little I have read, you are going to get a crappy recording, because they do not have experience like that. I have tried all of these methods that have been previously stated, and have found out that they DO NOT WORK!

Yes, he does do a good job!

Man, anyone know a program that increases sound quality and removes static?

Cool Edit Pro has Pop/Click/Hiss filters, but they're always at the cost of the overall sound quality. If you apply the Noise filter too much, for example, it begins to sound like a really bad VBR MP3 - difficult to explain.

Your best best, as was suggested, is to record at a high quality to start off with. On board sound is definately not the way If not for the general crap quality, then it's highly likely to be unshielded in some way and suffer from hum.

Long gone are the days where a Sound Blaster Pro cost a small fortune - I got a Creative Audigy 2 ZS for about £30 ($45 ish) which is really cheap considering the quality.