Good mic for singing?

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So my friend's birthday is coming and I want to get him a microphone cause he sings and wants to record himself for friends and family.

Since I know nothing about mics and stuff, I was wondering whats a good and decently priced mic I can get for him? I'm thinking around $50 is good.

I looked around a little already and came upon this...
http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.co...denser-Microphone-with-Shock-Mount?sku=273156

It looks really good, but I'm not sure if I need to buy anything else for it so that he could hook it up to his laptop.
 
Was just about to link an Amazon link to a $50 microphone, then I clicked your link aaaand it was the same exact one.

On Justin.tv, one of the streams I go to has a guy using that microphone. Sounds very nice.
 
Yeah, the one in your link is definitely the best one in that price range. But interestingly enough, AlphaPanda probably should have given you the Amazon link because it's showing up as $49.99...even though it's also shipped from Musician's Friend (your link shows it as $69.99 on their site). I even added it to my cart on Amazon to make sure the price wasn't just old, and yeah...it shows $49.99 + $4.95 shipping. Really nice deal.

http://www.amazon.com/MXL-Condenser...8&s=musical-instruments&qid=1272911433&sr=8-1

Oh, and as for accessories, obviously, this kind of mic needs a mic stand. Any kind will do. And it won't come with a cable either, so he'll need an XLR cable. You said he's wanting to connect it to his laptop. I'm going to assume he doesn't have any kind of separate audio interface, and is just wanting to plug it into the "mic" jack. If that's true, you've got two options. You can get him a basic XLR female to 1/4" male cable like this one:
http://accessories.musiciansfriend....Series-Cable-Female-XLR-to-Male-14?sku=336121
If you did that, he would also need a 1/4" to 1/8" adapter to be able to plug it into his computer though (these can be bought from Radio Shack for about $3). This is the method I used when I was just starting out. It's not "top notch" by any means, but it will get the job done.

OR, you can skip the adapter (which will improve sound quality) and get him an XLR female to 1/8" male cable...which will plug directly from the mic into his laptop, like this one.
http://www.amazon.com/Comprehensive...1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1272912340&sr=8-1
These cables are far less common, so your options will be more limited. I bought one for a lapel mic I own several years ago, and it's much longer than the cable I linked you to. I almost think I bought it off of eBay though. It may have even been a custom cable.

Hope this information helps. I know it's probably a lot to take in for a "non-audio person", but that's basically what you need to know.
 
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Definitely don't go any cheaper than that. I learned the hard way when my bandmate and I picked up some cheap Nady SatrPower mics from Musician's Friend. Note that Musician's Friend is probably the best place to buy musical instruments and related items.

But those mics, man... For drums or an acoustic guitar, they were decent. Hell, you could even sing into them if you let them sit in a mic stand, untouched. But if you moved one of those motherfuckers even an inch or two, the feedback sounded like a baby pterodactyl noise combined with the roar of the almighty Mecha Streisand.
 
[quote name='Matt Young']Definitely don't go any cheaper than that. I learned the hard way when my bandmate and I picked up some cheap Nady SatrPower mics from Musician's Friend. Note that Musician's Friend is probably the best place to buy musical instruments and related items.

But those mics, man... For drums or an acoustic guitar, they were decent. Hell, you could even sing into them if you let them sit in a mic stand, untouched. But if you moved one of those motherfuckers even an inch or two, the feedback sounded like a baby pterodactyl noise combined with the roar of the almighty Mecha Streisand.[/QUOTE]

Ha, I still own 3 Nady Starpower 1's. That's actually what I started with for live performance and simple recording in high school. Not a bad mic for $10. I still actually use them to mic my amp when I record electric guitar. I wouldn't use them for vocals though. I agree that Musician's Friend is generally the best. But don't let that stop you from shopping around. Music123 sometimes has different deals (even though they're owned by the same company), as does SamAsh (again same company).

As for actual separate companies, obviously there's Guitar Center. Another place to look at is www.sweetwater.com. They have free shipping with no minimum purchase. And of course, never forget the almighty Amazon. A lot of times, they'll carry stuff independently of the other music retailers and even at better prices. I picked up two condenser mics recently this way. At worst, Musician's Friend is always competitive, but there still may be the chance to save a few bucks here and there by knowing your options.
 
[quote name='Matt Young']Note that Musician's Friend is probably the best place to buy musical instruments and related items.
[/QUOTE]

Guitar Center is good too. I always surf around there looking at axes I'll never afford. Like the Les Paul Custom Silverburst. ::drools::
 
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