How to Choose Microphones for Home Acoustic Guitar and Vocal Recordings

3 min readAug 18, 2024

Also how to record

As I embark on covering songs at home, I’ve decided to upgrade my recording setup by investing in two microphones. Currently, I use my iPhone 12 Pro to record directly. While it does an okay job, the vocal quality is lacking and sounds too low. A friend suggested I look into getting a proper mic, so I did some research. In this article, I’d like to share my findings.

Before diving into the details, I have a few criteria for selecting microphones:

Affordability: The microphones should be budget-friendly.
Functionality: Since I use an acoustic guitar, I need two microphones — one for vocals and one for the guitar.
Aesthetics: The microphones should look elegant and not detract from the recording environment.

I’m not concerned about portability as these microphones will be used solely at home.

With these criteria in mind, I started my research by watching a variety of videos to gain insights. I began with Tiny Desk concerts, as their setup closely mirrors my own and is known for its professional quality. By analyzing these setups and reflecting on my specific needs, I’ve identified key features and options that are ideal for home recordings with an acoustic guitar and vocals. I’ll be sharing more about my findings and the standout microphones in my next update.

Additionally, from another unplugged recording video featured in stories [4], I discovered another excellent setup, which is shown here:

I see that the Recording Engineer is Justin Glasco. I found his website as in [5]. From there I can find the microphone list.

Looks that SOYUZ 013 TUBE PAIR is for the guitar. But it is quite expensive: a pair is more than $2000.

While the high-end options were impressive, they were also out of my budget — until I came across the SHURE SM57. I noticed they had six of them, which made me think they might be more affordable. After checking the price, I found they cost around $100 each. Perfect!

For my final setup, I chose two microphones: the SHURE SM57 for the acoustic guitar and the SHURE SM58 for vocals. Each one costs between $89 and $99. Including the audio interface, I spent about $300, which was much more within my budget.

I am using that to record my first song by using a Mic. This is the last song from The Beatles. I have v1 [9] without Mic and v2 with mic [10]. There is a significant difference.

How to record two mic at the same

See [6]

More mic are similar

How to sync up video with audio?

see [7] or [8]

Some extra devices

[1] Amazon Basics Adjustable Boom Arm Height Microphone Stand with Tripod Base, Up to 85.75 Inches — Black: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B019NY2PKG?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title

[2] Monoprice XLR Male to XLR Female Cable — 25 Feet — Black, 16AWG, Gold Plated, Microphone & Interconnect — Stage Right Series https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002HQQ02W?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title&th=1

[3] M-Audio M-Track Duo — USB Audio Interface for Recording, Streaming and Podcasting with Dual XLR, Line & DI Inputs, plus a Software Suite Included https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08Q1V77NR?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title&th=1