Cheap Vocal Mics?

mboese · Post by **mboese** » Mon Oct 30, 2006 1:10 pm

I have been recording my vocals solely on SM-57s and am tired of the sound I'm getting- hardly present at all to my ears. I have very few mics in my home recording setup. Anyone have any suggestions for an economical vocal mic for a home recording setup? Things to do to tweak the 57 sound I'm getting? I would love to try some more expensive mics but I simply don't have the money.

floid · Post by **floid** » Mon Oct 30, 2006 3:59 pm

that's weird, b/c the 57 is what i always come back to when other mics sound "too much" in some way. As much as it gets slammed by some, the 57 can be very versatile, even on vocals. Vary your distance from the mic, sing across it rather than into it, try different materials for pop filters; then play with compression and eq - i almost always knock off everything below around 150 or 200Hz, which seems to be the first step to finding "presence." Or you might tape your favorite homebrew mic onto it and blend the two signals - taking the earpiece out of an old telephone handset and wiring it up can deliver some interesting results, in a most definitely "colored" manner. The tapeop omni can be fun on occasion, and it's got plenty of other apps as well... one of my attempts (featuring a capsule from an old casio keyboard's sampling circuit) accentuates breath noise in a very pleasant way. I've got an old Shure 55 that's also fun, and you can usu find these for cheap - but it's very hit or miss what your particular find will do...
All that being said, i usually try to mangle my (decidedly tonedeaf) vox in someway or the other, rather than sweetening them in a more radio type of way. Which begs the question, what type of vocal sound are you looking for?

KennyLusk · Post by **KennyLusk** » Mon Oct 30, 2006 4:50 pm

IMO the MC-012 w/omni capsule is great for male vox and the AT3035 is a great bargain vocal/acoustic mic that's inexpensive.

RodC · Post by **RodC** » Mon Oct 30, 2006 6:18 pm

What kind of vox??

Marshall V67G, large diaphram, transformer coupled. Lots of threads about it here.

AGCurry · Post by **AGCurry** » Tue Oct 31, 2006 6:53 am

Some cheap mics I like for vocals:

Electrovoice N/D367 used
Electrovoice PL/80 used
Electrovoice RE15/16/18 used
Electrovoice 635A used
Audix OM5 used
Studio Projects C1
Beyerdynamic M260 used
Beyerdynamic M69 used

junkstar · Post by **junkstar** » Tue Oct 31, 2006 9:12 am

Yeah, I'd say go and buy a cheap (the $90 range) MXL condenser or pick up an AT2020. A nice step forward and something that will make you feel awesome for a few months (and then spoil and inspire you to start spending big bucks on some awesome condensers....).

gracejames · Post by **gracejames** » Tue Oct 31, 2006 5:10 pm

Studio Projects T3
MXL V69ME
ADK Vienna/Hamburg
Shure SM7

These mics work really well imo if you have
a quality neve-type or UA mic-pre.

supersockmonkey · Post by **supersockmonkey** » Wed Nov 01, 2006 12:24 pm

Rode NT1A about $199 list, i havent tried alot of different mics but this sounded fine to me.

Devlarz · Post by **Devlarz** » Wed Nov 01, 2006 1:28 pm

*Useless and disenchanting information* It's my understanding that Bono usually tracks his vocals while holding on to an SM58, but then his voice is amazing so......

riantide · Post by **riantide** » Wed Nov 01, 2006 5:41 pm

www.oktavamod.com

Have him mod a 319 for ya. Do a search for micheal joly mods, people rave about his work.

JWL · Post by **JWL** » Wed Nov 01, 2006 5:52 pm

+1 on the Rode NT1...

But my next condenser will likely be one of Michael Joly's.

the riff · Post by **the riff** » Wed Nov 01, 2006 6:32 pm

The Shure sm7 is great. I would also try an Audio-Technica 4033 or 4047..

thethingwiththestuff · Post by **thethingwiththestuff** » Wed Nov 01, 2006 6:59 pm

how's the room sound?

BeepBeep · Post by **BeepBeep** » Wed Nov 01, 2006 8:04 pm

thethingwiththestuff wrote:how's the room sound?

The above question is key. I love my ADK Hamburg, but it's very sensitive and picks up everything, so I can't use it in the same room as the computer or a fan. On the other hand my AT3035 also sounds great but is not as sensitive so it can handle a noisy room (and I got it used for $100). If you've got more cake check out a Shure sm7 for male vocals.

thethingwiththestuff · Post by **thethingwiththestuff** » Wed Nov 01, 2006 10:20 pm

yeah, there's environmental noise and then there's just untreated rooms with weird narrow-band resonances.

i always hung a blanket on a mic stand behind a singer.. definitely deaden the space behind them so that mid and high reflections from behind dont enter back into the mic.

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Cheap Vocal Mics?

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