darker vocal mic

[Kasey]

I'm trying to decide what direction to take with getting a new vocal mic. I've been using the at4040, and while it is nice, it is a bit bright on my voice specifically. it works great for most instruments though. So I'm trying to find a mic (under $1000) that has presence but isn't overly bright (I like the sounds of the Shure SM7 or a U67... i know those are quite different... but maybe to give a hint of what I'm after). I've considered going tube, ribbon, or maybe an oktavamod, though i don't know much about those.

thanks!
-kasey

[bobg (homestudioguy)]

I'm trying to decide what direction to take with getting a new vocal mic. I've been using the at4040, and while it is nice, it is a bit bright on my voice specifically. it works great for most instruments though. So I'm trying to find a mic (under $1000) that has presence but isn't overly bright (I like the sounds of the Shure SM7 or a U67... i know those are quite different... but maybe to give a hint of what I'm after). I've considered going tube, ribbon, or maybe an oktavamod, though i don't know much about those.
thanks!
-kasey

The SM7 gets good press on a number of forums for this issue as does the Heil Pro 40. There are others as well.

[joel hamilton]

The GT MD1a is amazing for dark, smokey vocals. I have chosen it over U67, SM7, M49, or two U47's and also a FET 47.... I use the GT all the time for smokey female vocals.

The ORIGINAL MD1A... I saw they re-issued it and i dont know anything about the re-issue except that it is a different capsule....

[Kasey]

smokey is a sound term i've yet to come across... but i quite like it.
i think you get what i'm going for, thank you!

[Marc Alan Goodman]

Another vote for the MD1a's (I have a pair and couldn't love them more for some vocals and for drum overheads / stereo room).

Any reason you're not just getting the SM7 if you know it and like the sound? Do you already have one and you're trying to find something to compliment it? Or do you just think you should get something that's more expensive? If that's the case I say screw it and get the SM7!! For some reason it works great almost every time I put it up.

-marc goodman

[klangtone]

I'll put in a vote for the AEA R84.
A good mic for many things.

Roy

[Everybody's X]

I'd second the SM7, fantastic mic and unbelievable for the price, easily my best purchase in years

[Kasey]

i do like some of the qualities of the sm7, but not necessarily all of them. I am certainly considering buying that one though. also, in a fit of my immaturity.. it's a dynamic mic! i want a condenser!

and where can i find these mystical GT MD1A's? ebay is empty tonight.

[beauarts]

i do like some of the qualities of the sm7, but not necessarily all of them. I am certainly considering buying that one though. also, in a fit of my immaturity.. it's a dynamic mic! i want a condenser!

and where can i find these mystical GT MD1A's? ebay is empty tonight.

I usually use the SM7 without the windscreen, it's a lot clearer. If you're not doing that, that could give you the sound you're looking for.

You might want to try the oktavamod mic. That's a dark mic with alot of depth.

[JWL]

For under $1000, you could get a Heil PR40, a Shinybox 46 ribbon, AND an Oktavamod condenser.

Then you'd have a wider palette, and I'd wager your recordings would sound better than if you only had a single $1000 mic.

[Professor]

I like the idea of getting multiple mics to have various options, especially if you are recording more voices than just your own. In the end, that's always going to be the best bet. If you are primarily recording your own voice, then you may want to go with just one mic, at least at first, but you should get yourself somewhere to actually try out some mics. There are plenty of mics that sound dark for certain sources, but they won't necessarily help to deliver something for your voice... especially if you have a voice like mine.
As for mic types to check out, I've got to say that it's been very rare that I've found a ribbon mic to be the right sound for close vocals, especially male vocals. I don't know, maybe other guys have had different experiences, but aside from spoken-word stuff, I've not found ribbons helpful there. Large diaphragm dynamics are a different story, and I've had lots of success with RE-20s, SM-7s, and even kick mics like the Beta 52. On the condenser side, I've found that large diaphragm, edge-terminated capsules tend to hang on the dark side of tone... though oddly enough that's what you have in the AT-4040. But I've liked the Neumann TLM-193 and the AKG C-414 TL-II, both of which can be had for under a grand on the used market. The marketing departments have done a good job convincing everyone that tubes must automatically mean dark or 'warm' sound, but it doesn't do much good to take a bright capsule and just use a tube instead of a transistor. Sure there are some that pull it off, and quite well, but it's worth trying them out first.

-Jeremy

[Justin Foley]

Hey.

This may help.

When recording my band?s record recently, we did a comparison between three different microphones ? the EV RE-20, the Beyer M160 and the Josephson e22s. Each mic was run through a Hamptone JFET pre-amp with enough gain to provide a little bit of distortion to the vocals. This was then sent to a FMR RNC compressor and then straight to tape. The music is aggressive (although a little sparse in this part) and the singer is kind of raggedy.

The first three files are three separate performances on each of the three mics. The last file is a compilation of the previous three ? the RE-20 is used for the first line, the m160 for the second line, the e22s for the third, the Re-20 for the 4th, then the m160, the e22s ? you get the idea. These are 320 kbps mp3 files, each about 1 minute long and 2.4mb.

RE-20
m160
e22s
Compilation

Again, the overdriven sound is intentional and not the fault of the mic. Note that the higher output on the e22s results in more distortion.

We chose the m160 because we like its darker sound for this music. It?s also excellent on guitar amps. Each of the three mics are great, though (although the e22s is just out of your price range).

For what it's worth, the bass guitar that you hear was bi-amped and recorded with the RE-20 (high) and e22s (low). This was a 4th or 5th generation recording of it for test purposes, though, so don't get too hung up on it.

Good luck.

= Justin

Edited to note - You should take my advice with a grain of salt. According to the TapeOp categorization, I'm an "ass engineer". But what I do in my personal time is NONE OF TAPE OP'S BUSINESS.

[???????]

I'll put in a vote for the EV RE-20. Or some kind of old RCA ribbon mic or clone (like AEA). Also, if you can afford one, a Coles 4038 is worth trying.

Check out this page:

http://www.coutant.org/contents.html

[eeldip]

don't forget the beyer m260. you can grab one for $200 or so. its just a great mic... awesome for dark vocals, it also turns cymbals into something special.

[pumadrum]

check out a ribbon