MIcorphones

#1 I don't think that has an easy answer. Try that question on google, the vast amounts of information may help show it's scope.

If you say what you want to record and a budget someone might be more useful than me ;)

#2 No, I am asking personal opinions. Everyone has personal favorites, thats what I am asking.

And I dont mean for music. That to me is not a sound effect.

#3 Hi Robert !

One of the best allround mics i used is the shure sm57.
You can use it for anything,but there are many mics out there
that is good !
buy a mic that cost over 100$ then you can record most things.
but its not only the mic that makes a sound .

-Billy

#4 If you want to record things, make sure you have a good sound card.

It would be best if you had one of the newer ones.

By the way, there's a good freeware sound recorder/editor at http://audacity.sourceforge.net/index.php?lang=en . It's what I use, but I'm by no means any sort of professional. If you plan to do sound effects for a living, you might want to buy a professional sound editing program.

But make sure you can try out a demo before you buy it.

#5 I have audacity, but I am not very impressed with it.

I do like it converts to most formats, but it severely lacks in some areas.

#6 When thinking about recording for a sound effect, there are 'types' of Mics to consider also. (And their Directionality)

The SM57 Billy mentions above is a (Dynamic Mic) and a studio work-horse, a good all rounder for 'loud' sound sources.

For quieter sounds, invest a little more and get a Condenser, but be careful, these need an external power supply (often called Phantom Power, usually provided from a Mixing Desk or such, 48volts). Therefore, for field recordings (where the power supply might be an issue) you might consider an 'Electret', which is similar to the consenser (in its ability to capture the quieter more subtle sounds) but uses a built-in battery for power.

This thread asked for favourites, so for me, anything 'Neumann'.

#7 Bill and Rob are both right about Shure and Electret, both are good mikes. Just another opinion, but for an inexpensive solution for both sound effects and voice recordings I like the Nova from M-Audio used in conjunction with the Studio V3 Tube Amp from ART. It's a nice little pre-amp with built in Phantom Power. Pretty good clarity and it will pick up a pin drop when set correctly. There are better and worse, but I've had good luck with this setup. I also use an M-Audio sound card for input.

For software, Sound Forge from Sony will let you manipulate audio any way you like. Great stuff...

#8 There is a free old version of protools for pc and mac users , the only problem with the pc one is that you need win98 se or winme , for the mac version i dont know.
Othervise nice suggestion of mics Terry and Rob , but you dont throw a condensator mic in the ground so many times compared to a sm57 :):)
I like the BeyerDynamic MCE 83 but still depends on what i recording.

Here is the link to protools Click