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Originally Posted by Singstar
The condenser like you said will have additional costs because of the phantom power source... just one question... because I would like to know for future reference... what is that?
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Well, very basically, a dynamic (passive) microphone doesn't operate with electrical components. It's more about vibrations, magnets and stored energy, to put it very generally. Dynamics don't need a power source. But condensers, on the other hand, do. And their electrical components require a DC voltage. So with phantom power, the power source (usually in a mixer or audio interface with PP) will send the needed DC current to the microphone through the XLR input, and to the microphone.
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And one additional question regarding the Shure SM58... I know that there are two versions, with an on/off switch and without. What is your opinions about that? Is it better to get the one with the switch or without? Is there a bigger possibility of technical malfunctions or similar as time passes by with the one that has the switch? 
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On/off switch is really a matter of convenience. If you're going to be in proximity to your recording device, or if in performance, you have someone to mute/unmute the channel you're on, then it's not really necessary. Conversely, it might come in handy for obvious reasons.
As far as the switching component wearing out, I wouldn't worry too much about that. It's a passive device that simply gates the signal, from what I understand. My dad has had several 58's with switches for years and years, and they all still work. Besides, it's a solid mic. They're built to last.
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And for the recording question... I asked if someone could walk me through the procedure of doing it... both audio and video recording... but especially audio... I mean obviously you record video with a cam... sound with the mic... and you have your headphones through which you hear the backing music/track (instrumental or whatever..) and my idea was that I record a video without the sound while singing... match it with the recorded sound and than add the backing track... is that a good idea or is there an easier way of doing it? I mean can I record the sound directly with the backing track... or something... like I said, I don`t have experience with recording so I don`t know how people who post on YouTube match the video and audio...
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It would depend on whether you want to have the video of you recording yourself, or have a video of you singing like in a music video, where the video and recording were clearly two separate events, but in sync.
Scenario 1:
A vid of you with your headphones on, at the microphone, recording, while the vid plays both the recorded vocals and the instrumental in sync:
- First, you'll plug in your headphones to the headphone port of your audio interface. You'll also plug in your microphone to one of the XLR ports on your audio interface. In your recording program, you should be able to insert a track and assign the microphone port to it. This will be your vocal track. Also, insert another track and drag the .WAV or .MP3 file into it, lined up at 00:00. This will be your instrumental track. They are both separate entities.
- Test to ensure that you can hear yourself through the mic, into the headphones. Also ensure you can hear the instrumental track. Adjust the level of each so that you get a good balance. ENSURE THAT YOUR MICROPHONE LEVEL DOES NOT EXCEED 0DB IN THE METERS.
- Arm your vocal track to be the track that records, then start recording. Your instrumental track should play back, while your vocal track records you singing along to the instrumental. It will all be synced up.
Meanwhile, you have set up a video camera to record you recording the vocal track. The audio on the camera will be trashed. The video is what you want. When you have done a complete take that you're happy with, go ahead and save that. Make any changes to the levels and add any effects on the audio recording, then export as a .WAV.
Also, import the video from your cam to your computer.
Using a video editor (like Windows Movie Maker), import the video to a video track, then import the recording to an audio track. THEY WILL NOT BE IN SYNC YET. You can use the audio from the video to sync the video to the audio recording you made (since it will have picked up your voice when singing). Once it's synced up, ungroup the native audio from the video and delete it. Now the audio recording you made will be the audio track to the video.
When you're satisfied, export the video according to the recommended guidelines for Youtube.
Scenario 2:
A vid of you singing like in a music video, to the recording:
Same steps as above, except first do the audio recording without videorecording it. When you've exported the audio recording, then dress up all pretty, play the recording on speakers, and video tape you singing (or lipsyncing) along with it. Then repeat the video steps above, get rid of the video's audio, and use the audio recording you made.
I can be more specific about certain parts if you need.
Yes. You should. You will have (ear covering) headphones on, and they should be playing the backing track in a comfortable level to your vocals as they come through the headphones.
How to get the vocals to come through the headphones will depend on your audio interface and its software mixer.
btw... you really should let me know what audio interface you're using. I'd be able to help more.