Mackie VLZ seris in your case probably a 1202, and a Rode NT1000 or a Rode NTK. Both of those are condensors and tend to sometimes get a little to bright, if you are doing vocals where you want more mids, and less highs go with a good dynamic. I still love my Sennheiser MD421 on male vox, and an EV RE20 is a great investment too. The mackie board has rock solid pre's for that price.

prepare for the onslaught that is to ensue for using pro quality, and $600 in the same sentence.

so does the Mackie mixer hook right up into my computer? like USB or whatever

ok now you can go directly into your most likely crappy computer soundcard (they werent made for good quality recordings). You wont be able to do more than 1 channel at a time. You might want to look into getting something dedicated to recording straight into your computer with much better converters. I would recommend you getting a PreSonus firebox, for that price. It will allow you to record 2 channels both with preamps that dont suck. For a few extra bucks you can get the Firepod (firebox's big brother) that can do 8 channels with 8 preamps. Just my 2 cents though man.

"PRO" is a very subjective term. If you're talking about a professional, world-class studio, you'll start at $1k for a preamp alone, and anywhere from $500 to $5k for the microphone. Then there's the format itself: Tape vs. DAW, PC vs Mac (ProTools, etc.)

If I had a gun held to my head for a good mic sound for only $600, I'd grab a Macke VLZ Pro 1204 (4 mic pre's) and line-in to a computer sound card, OR I'd get an M-Audio, PreSonus, or similar $250 mic pre with phantom power and USB or FW capabilites.

As for the mic, you can find a ton of surprisingly good stuff from MXL, ADK, Studio Projects and even the low-end Audio Technica stuff for anywhere from $90 to $300. Add a popper-stopper for $30, and you'll be good to go.

Then of course there's the talent in front of the mic, and the room around him/her.

you can get a firepod on ebay new with an at2020, and that mic smokes! I love it on guitar cabs!

Maybe try an ART Pro Channel (channel strip pre/EQ/comp) with a Rode NT1-A or Audio-Technica AT4040.

Bear in mind: This suggestion covers only cover mic and preamp. You'll also need a mic stand, cables and a pop filter to achieve baseline vocal recording ability. And we're not even factoring in recording space with some sort of sound control.

Also bear in mind: $600 will not get you a vocal recording set-up comparable to pro-level tool. It will, however, get you started on learning some recording basics and it won't sound too bad.

Good luck.

Maybe, instead of getting a firebox or firepod with a mixer, look into the mackie onyx small mixers. They plug straight into your computer via firewire. there are other small mixers that plug into your computer via firewire or usb nowadays and they allhave recording software. Alesis, Yamaha, and Beheringer have these mixers at prices within your budget, but mackie still has the best preamps, though its pricey. you might also want to check out the new AKG perception mics. These condensers are low cost, reliable, and sound nice for vocls. For your budget and what you seem to want to do, I'd get the alesis multimix usb(comes with cubase software), an AKG perception 200, and a shure SM58. You should also look into getting a tube micpreamp to get that "warm" feeling to your recordings since you are recording digitally.
alesis multimix usb - $150
AKG Perception- $150
Shure SM58- $89(you can always find one used for cheaper online)
ART Tube MP Professional Mic Preamp- $40
Don't forget you are going to need cables, too! Some online stores may sell these products with cables, so do your research!

This is just a suggestion, and if you still are going to start a small project studio on such a small budget you should keep to these or similar items. The "studio" setup i gave you is actually good for doing podcasts.
Really though, you should research all of these products.

"i am looking for a condenser mic and mixer/preamp that will generate pro quality for me on a $600 budget.'

"so does the Mackie mixer hook right up into my computer? like USB or whatever"

" i don't know too much about what i should grab"

Agreed. "Grab" nothing. You don't know enough about this stuff. Information you may get on this or any forum will not help you enough. You're trying to "shortcut" and it won't work for you. Read, visit stores, visit studios if possible, learn, then buy. Until you have the knowledge rent time at a studio to do whatever you need to do. Whatever it costs you will save money in the long run and getting some "studio time" in will help you to learn, as well.

TG

teddy, shut up. i want a decent setup to myself

don't tell me what to do.. i want a recording setup on a $600 budget.

only reply if you got some suggestions as to what i should get

threskrumble wrote: teddy, shut up. i want a decent setup to myself

don't tell me what to do.. i want a recording setup on a $600 budget.

only reply if you got some suggestions as to what i should get

You needn't respond so caustically. He offered some sound advice. You do want to educate more on the tools you want. Your expectations for a $600 pro vocal set-up are a bit unrealistic to put it diplomatically.

ok teddy, sorry for getting mad.. but it's my decision that i want to get my own setup right now.. but i respect what you're saying.. it's just not what i want to do now. i'd rather buy something and get a hands on look at things

chrispick - let me rephrase then. i want as good of a vocal recording setup as i can on a $600 budget

i'm pretty sure i'm gonna go with a Rode NT1-A condenser (i've heard it's pretty sick), and an Alesis multimix 8usb mixer... so with this.. the rode mic is definitely able to fit into the mixer right

threskrumble wrote: i'm pretty sure i'm gonna go with a Rode NT1-A

It's a good mic for the cash. And yeah, it'll go XLR into the Alesis Multimix.