Originally Posted by sasha  ...everyone is always railing about how you can't get decent sound with anything less than a sennheiser mke-300, or with anything under US $250.
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As far as I'm aware, nobody has suggested the Mke-300, especially since the current model is the mke-400. What has been repeated (again, and again, and again) is that there is a massive difference between cheap mics (under $100) and thoseat $200 and over. The $200 Audio Technica At897 (at bhphoto.com) is excellent value for money. The B&H kit for camcorders without xlr inputs costs about $250 and includes a shockmount and the adapter cable.
Audio-Technica | AT897 - Shotgun Microphone Kit | B&H Photo Video
Two things happen in this area of sound recording.
1. Newcomers want a microphone which is cheap but sounds like a $1000 mic and keep asking in the hope that, eventually, someone will tell them that it's okay to buy a $50 chinese mic and
2. Those who work with sound know that there isn't a cheap mic which sounds like a $1k microphone.
The SM58 is a mic designed for singers on stage. It has a weak output compared to a condenser mic and is far from "accurate". Bearing in mid what it's designed for, it will make some voices sound "warm", which is great if you're singing but not so good if you're recording a text where you want each word to be clear. It is meant to be used less than six inches from the mouth and, when you move it away, it doesn't do at all well.
As for the "balanced v unbalanced" debate, it's only when cable runs are in the tens of meters and in a room with all sorts of electrical wiring that balanced cables become a "must". Even then, it's normally your equipment which is causing the hum rather than the cable picking up interference.
I also hate those so-called "purists" who insist that anything less than a Schoeps microphone will sound awful but, to be fair, experience shows that cheap, Chinese microphones under $150 do not deliver a sound quality much better than the camcorder's own $20 in-built microphone. You are far better advised to get a decent lavalier mic or a cheap Audio Technica (made in Japan) and get in close. It's the mic placement which will have the greatest effect on your sound. A Schoeps CMT5U or Sennheiser mkh60 which costs $1500 will still sound sh*t if it's used in the wrong place.
As for moving blankets, duvets and acoustic panels, get the mic in close and a lot of your problems will disappear. If you're doing voice-overs...Get a cool-bag. A cheap soft bag which is used on picnics to keep things cold. A sort of padded box (not the hard ones), Kodak and Fuji also made them to keep film cool. Take off the lid, put a towel inside and your microphone, and there's a bit of soundproofing which will stop a lot of ambient noise. Have a duvet behind your narrator and it will be (almost) as good as a studio recording.
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