FET FEVER

[trodden]

I've no direct experience with this mic, but I love Roswell's k87 and k67... cool little company making great mics for not so much money...

https://roswellproaudio.com/products/mi ... microphone

I've been intrigued by that companies products for awhile now. Cool to see they have a version for big bottom/high spl as well.

[Antler23]

I've no direct experience with this mic, but I love Roswell's k87 and k67... cool little company making great mics for not so much money...

https://roswellproaudio.com/products/mi ... microphone

I've been intrigued by that companies products for awhile now. Cool to see they have a version for big bottom/high spl as well.

Like I mentioned, I started with the k67, as the U-67 has always been a friend to my nasal vocal tone. The k67 added a bit more mid than I was expecting and thus I swapped it for the k87. I'd still love to grab a k67 again... took a fair bit of pushing and pulling, but the sound I got from it was indeed lovely. I've had a few nice back/forth chats with Matt about mics. I've been doing music and making records for a long time now but am not very "tech." Matt was patient with my not-always-specific questions, and is clearly a man obsessed with making great mics!

[drumsound]

I've no direct experience with this mic, but I love Roswell's k87 and k67... cool little company making great mics for not so much money...

https://roswellproaudio.com/products/mi ... microphone

Yeah, Matt and his team do great work!

Quite! I originally ordered the k67, but found it a little too "NPR" for my voice. Swapped it for the k87 and it's been love ever since.

That's cool that they were flexible with you on that.

[Antler23]

Yeah, Matt and his team do great work!

Quite! I originally ordered the k67, but found it a little too "NPR" for my voice. Swapped it for the k87 and it's been love ever since.

That's cool that they were flexible with you on that.

Their return policy made it easy enough, but my wife and I actually drove the k67 back to the Roswell office, as we had a trip planned in that direction anyway. Otherwise, there'd have been a restocking fee. Meanwhile, I'd already gone ahead and ordered the k87 and had settled in with it. I like their mics and I like the way they run their company. I'm certain I'll end up with more of their gear at some point!

[Recycled_Brains]

Try to find a used Lawson FET47. Incredible mic. I haven't used the Neumann a ton of times, but the Lawson feels pretty much the same to me. So good on vocals, amps, etc. too.

I want to believe that the Warm stuff is cool, but I tried one of their 1073 things once and holy shit did it suck.

[drumsound]

Quite! I originally ordered the k67, but found it a little too "NPR" for my voice. Swapped it for the k87 and it's been love ever since.

That's cool that they were flexible with you on that.

Their return policy made it easy enough, but my wife and I actually drove the k67 back to the Roswell office, as we had a trip planned in that direction anyway. Otherwise, there'd have been a restocking fee. Meanwhile, I'd already gone ahead and ordered the k87 and had settled in with it. I like their mics and I like the way they run their company. I'm certain I'll end up with more of their gear at some point!

These are the companies you want to do business with!

What was it about each mic that was or wasn't working for you?

[Antler23]

That's cool that they were flexible with you on that.

Their return policy made it easy enough, but my wife and I actually drove the k67 back to the Roswell office, as we had a trip planned in that direction anyway. Otherwise, there'd have been a restocking fee. Meanwhile, I'd already gone ahead and ordered the k87 and had settled in with it. I like their mics and I like the way they run their company. I'm certain I'll end up with more of their gear at some point!

These are the companies you want to do business with!

What was it about each mic that was or wasn't working for you?

I've got a funny voice that can - depending on the song and how I'm being recorded - be either annoying or appealing. The U67 is a fav of mine, so I was hopeful the Roswell k67 would bring me a similar instant grat. Turns out it was just a little too bumpy in the lower mids (and that's as tech as I get!). I did like the sound, really, but it took a fair bit of work to tone that bump down. I'd love to end up with another one, cos the one or two vocals I recorded with the k67, after putting the work in, were very useable and did indeed remind me a bit of the way the U67 can reduce the "ugh" and enhance the "Ah!"

The k87 was much more immediately "Yeah, that works!" It was kind to my voice, bringing out the good bits without any yin/yang tradeoff. Rarely sibilant, as well. A thinner sound than the k67, though. I've been doing a lot of vocal tracks for Soundbetter clients in the last year. One guy hired me early last year and then again months later. The first song for him was recorded with the Aston Origin. The second, more recent vocal was with the Roswell. He noted the Roswell track wasn't as warm. He didn't mind, but was just noting this and wondered why. Again, my voice can sound different from one song to another and maybe the key of his first song was different than that of the second? Dunno, but I could hear what he meant. The problem with the Aston, besides it picking up all the tiniest between-word spitletts, is that is adds that warmth - to my voice, anyway - at the expense of clarity. Maybe that's on me and my "non tech" skills as an engineer, but the whole point of my mic quest is to land on something I can plug in and get a right-on result with. The second vocal, with the k87, for that client was a first take and it had a vibe that served the song, so I didn't record it again. My signal chain is very basic - a CL7602 into a dbx160XT. I sent him vocals recorded as-is, knowing he'd do his thing with 'em from that point on. When he sent me the final mix, though, everything sounded fine with my vocal causing no problems! Hoorah!

I'm working on a record now, with my vocals recorded at home with the k67, the k87 and the Aston. I've also got a few songs tracked elsewhere, through a U87. The signal chain w the U87 isn't very far from my own, down to the dbx compressor, so it's curious to hear how all these different-mic'd vocals sit with each other. The Neumann'd songs do everything we expect - they sound simply like "well recorded studio vocals." The Aston tracks I'm using with loads of processing applied... distorted vox etc. The one k67 vocal I've kept sounds really good. I'd re-done that track elsewhere with a U67, but it's the Roswell 67 that's going on the album. The rest of the vocals for the album are all recorded with the k87 and they sound "good, just fine."

Sorry to rant at length, esp with zero FET content, but hopefully my take on the mics mentioned is of use to some peeps!

[drumsound]

Thanks, man!

[trodden]

Try to find a used Lawson FET47. Incredible mic. I haven't used the Neumann a ton of times, but the Lawson feels pretty much the same to me. So good on vocals, amps, etc. too.

I want to believe that the Warm stuff is cool, but I tried one of their 1073 things once and holy shit did it suck.

Hey Ryan,
What was it about the WARM 1073 pre that was a suck? Noisy? Nothing like a real 1073?

[Recycled_Brains]

Try to find a used Lawson FET47. Incredible mic. I haven't used the Neumann a ton of times, but the Lawson feels pretty much the same to me. So good on vocals, amps, etc. too.

I want to believe that the Warm stuff is cool, but I tried one of their 1073 things once and holy shit did it suck.

Hey Ryan,
What was it about the WARM 1073 pre that was a suck? Noisy? Nothing like a real 1073?

It did not sound like a Neve as I remembered (my experience is limited, so grain of salt and all that), or my Coppers, which I have a ton more experience with and have used right next to actual 1073s. I just remember thinking "this thing fuckin sucks" and unpatched it after a few minutes and that any amount of pushing it sounded terrible and cheap. I never consider noise because when an amp is turned up to 9000 decibels, when has that ever mattered? haha.

Also the dude that owned them concurred and quickly sold them, though I don't think he's ever used the real thing, so salt/grain again. I trust his ears though.

[Recycled_Brains]

Anyone use those AML 1073s? Seems like no one ever has anything negative to say about them and judging by cursory research, the design seems very thoughtful and well executed.

[drumsound]

Anyone use those AML 1073s? Seems like no one ever has anything negative to say about them and judging by cursory research, the design seems very thoughtful and well executed.

I haven't, but I've noticed the same thing. Hell, there's a GS guy in London who has a whole API 1608 full of AML modules.

[digitaldrummer]

Anyone use those AML 1073s? Seems like no one ever has anything negative to say about them and judging by cursory research, the design seems very thoughtful and well executed.

I have one of the AML 5003D - it's no longer made, and the EZ1073's seem to be a "simpler" circuit (a lot less components for sure). It has the big ol Carnhills and sounds really nice. you can push it and get a lot of nice harmonics. I have been using it a lot for vocals (into a compressor of some sort) and really been liking it. I used to have a pair but traded one to a buddy. I asked him a couple years ago if he wanted to sell it or trade it back and he said absolutely not...

[digitaldrummer]

btw, if you can time the currency exchange just right, sometimes those AML kits are an incredible deal. thought about getting some but I'm outta control as it is.