| Hi,
In that price range, I'd consider purchasing a better mic by purchasing used on e-bay.
A trumpet places more dynamic range energy into a microphone than most any other type of input source and most mics will crap out and distort greatly when receiving the full 140db blast of a trumpet at 6."
I'd recommend trying to find a good, used Audio-Technica ATM11 (from their old commercial line), or it's consumer line brother (the Audio-Technica AT-811).
These two mics have been discontinued and the new pro version is the ATM-33 I believe.
Both the mics I've mentioned above sound wonderful AND NATURAL on trumpet and don't easily overload on trumpet either! Best of all, these two mics aren't make like most mics for singers . . . they are actually made and equalized to accurately reproduce accoustic instruments!
Originally the ATM-11 sold for about $150 and the 811 for a little less.
AVOID VOCAL MICS!!!
Tons of trumpeters use the brutally rugged VOCAL mic called the Shure SM-58. Sure (no pun intended), it IS a tough mic that's used in most bar band applications in the world BUT . . . it is equalized to sound natural when the soft human voice sings into it and get lipstick on it at the same time. That close to the mic, if the mic reproduced "naturally" and accurately the sound would be very, very "boomy" (meaning that the bass end of the voice would be greatly accentuated.
To avoid this problem, vocal mics are made with greatly reduced bass response AND they add a mid-range boost to make the voice sound a little breathy. Blow a trumpet into a vocal mic and the horn's sound will be "thin" (due to lack of bottom fundamentals thanks to the rolled off bass response) PLUS sound harsh and brittle thanks to the mid-range boost.
Hope this helps! I was in the audio and sound reinforcement business for quite a few years and experimented with most mics out there on my horns. The Audio-Technicas I wrote about were the best in the sub-$150 price range and I still have several. All still work fine.
Used they should fit into your budget and give you a great sounding trumpet mic at around $40 bucks or so via e-bay.
Good luck!
Tom |