Foo - Recommend a Microphone for audio recording on computer

I know some of you are musicians and singers and am hoping you can help me.

My (almost) teen daughter is very much into performing, and tried to record a song using the built in microphone on our iMac the other day. Of course the results were terrible and she was not happy.

I started to search for microphone recommendations online...and was quickly confused and buried in technical info.

So....anyone? I'd like to keep the cost under $100 if possible. We have an iMac and MPB at home, and would like the mic to be useable with either.

Thanks. Oh...and if there is any particular software for this, please recommend that as well?

There are USB microphones out there but I can't comment on them because I don't use them. I use regular professional microphones (XLR connection) and then use a mixer and usb interface to go into the computer. Once your at the computer you can use Garageband or even iMovie.

You can get inexpensive usb microphones (intended to go into your computer) from Behringer and Samson. These are entry level yet suitable for professional use.

The other option is to get a tiny mixer from Behringer that either has an inbuilt usb interface (Xenyx 302usb) or a small mixer plus a separate usb interface ( Behringer Xenyx 502 or 802 mixer plus UCA202). Then you can use any microphone you like. A Behringer XM8500 is a surprisingly good yet inexpensive microphone. This option may cost a little more by the time you purchase everything but it will be MUCH more flexible for future use and expansion. Having a mixer will allow for multiple sources to be used (microphone and guitar)

Anthony

I have a Behringer Xenyx 802 and UCA202, but I think the 302usb would be a good starting point. I use an M-Audio Nova with it for voiceover work, can't speak for it in terms of singing but I think it would perform admirably. Here's a litle demo of some stuff I've done with this setup.
http://snd.sc/knCZjO

I would suggest getting something like this as an interface: http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/FastTrack.html and then getting a reasonable vocal mic like this to go with it: http://www.shure.com/americas/products/microphones/sm/sm58-vocal-microphone It will probably be closer to 200 for both, but worth the effort.

I would suggest getting something like this as an interface: http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/FastTrack.html and then getting a reasonable vocal mic like this to go with it: http://www.shure.com/americas/products/microphones/sm/sm58-vocal-microphone It will probably be closer to 200 for both, but worth the effort.

I use SM58's and a line mixer with a stepdown plug adapter (1/4-mini adapter).

I am big into finding out what some of the top youtubers use. I've heard that a lot of the top folks use this brand of microphones. http://www.bluemic.com/

I am big into finding out what some of the top youtubers use. I've heard that a lot of the top folks use this brand of microphones. http://www.bluemic.com/

Thanks for the input everyone. I really do need to keep this simple, and under $100 for now. In the future if there's a need for something more that's fine. Could end up just begin a toy.

The Blue Snowball looks like the kind of thing I'm looking for - gets good reviews from B&H customers.