Choosing the right vocal mic

general questions, comments and ideas about recording, audio, music, etc.
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Choosing the right vocal mic

Post by gone » Sat Aug 16, 2003 1:10 am

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Last edited by gone on Wed Nov 19, 2003 11:41 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Choosing the right vocal mic

Post by blameshifter » Sat Aug 16, 2003 10:59 am

i have the baby blue bottle, its around that price range, and it is incredible in my opinion. go to GC and give it a try. also, the akg 414 is pretty nice too, although more expensive. the good thing about the 414 is its so versatile. great room mic for drums, good on overheads, awesome on guitars. if you want the mic to do more, try the 414.
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Re: Choosing the right vocal mic

Post by cgarges » Sat Aug 16, 2003 3:32 pm

The key really is experimentation, and then deciding how much give and take you want in a mic that sounds good for your voice vs. a mic that sounds good on lots of things. Only you can make that determination.

For me, a great all-around mic is the Audio Technica 4050. It's pretty hi fi-sounding, is multi-pattern, and will take high SPLs without issue. It sounds great on acoustic guitars, electric guitars (in figure eight), bass amps, snare drums, toms, rooms, and sounds good on lots of vocalists and pianos.

The Audio Tech 4047 sounds better to me on a number of male rock vocalists, with a slighty more vintage tone, but doesn't fare as well for acoustic guitars or snare drums. It's also a cardioid-only mic. The BLUE Baby Bottle has worked well for me for a few vocalists, both male and female, but I haven't really had any luck recording any instruments with it yet. I also bought a Marshall V67 on a recommendation from a friend and although it holds up really well on soprano sax, it's been too bright for me to use as a male vocal mic so far. The AKG 414 is a great studio staple workhorse-type mic, especially for breathy male vocals (ala Sting), although my 4050s get used WAY more regularly than my 414s.

If you go to store and listen to a mic, you may have a tendency to want to pick out a brighter mic, but be aware that this may not really be ideal for you. Make sure that you can check the mic out and return it if it's not right for you. This is where having a good relationship with a local retailer comes in handy, but that's a topic for another post.

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Re: Choosing the right vocal mic

Post by miamidevice » Sat Aug 16, 2003 5:31 pm

I would have to put in another vote for the at4050. It is a really nice, clean sounding mic that you will not outgrow. Even if you end up finding something that you like better on your voice later on, the 4050 will still see steady use on a number of other sources. You might also want to check out a decent ribbon mic and see how your voice agrees with that - something like a beyer might do the trick. Don't limit yourself to an LDC if you don't have to.

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Re: Choosing the right vocal mic

Post by gone » Sun Aug 17, 2003 8:06 am

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Re: Choosing the right vocal mic

Post by cgarges » Sun Aug 17, 2003 9:15 am

sullus wrote: I figure there's a lot I can do to add color and grit if desired (EQ, reamp, put a stomp box in the signal chain), but not much I can do to remove it.
Choosing the right mic is essential, but that's smart thinking if you're looking for a really versatile mic. Good luck!

Chris Garges
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Re: Choosing the right vocal mic

Post by dungeonsound615 » Sun Aug 17, 2003 12:50 pm

this might be out of the price range i dont remember its been awhile to be honest but check out the ksm 32 i love mine for vocals jsut check out a bunch of mics and let us know what you get.
Mike

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Re: Choosing the right vocal mic

Post by gone » Tue Sep 09, 2003 11:43 pm

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Re: Choosing the right vocal mic

Post by Red Rockets Glare » Wed Sep 10, 2003 9:55 am

man, if you can solder, make a Royer-tube mic out of an MXL
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Re: Choosing the right vocal mic

Post by justinf » Wed Sep 10, 2003 10:31 am

second the AT and KSM32 votes, love em both

also check out the Studio Projects C1. . .I got a killer one. They may vary significantly, I don't know. Not for everyone but for my vocal I love it--picked it up for kicks cause I had some store credit and use it al the time.

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Re: Choosing the right vocal mic

Post by Electricide » Wed Sep 10, 2003 11:40 am

if you got the mic for your vocals, to match and all, why are you so concerned about your guitar? You should resing what you sung on that mp3 and post that...that might be a good comparison.

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Re: Choosing the right vocal mic

Post by Professor » Wed Sep 10, 2003 12:08 pm

Listening to the mp3 you put up, I immediately noticed a few things.
1. You are singing really softly. Do you always sing that softly or was that just a soft song for an otherwise thrash metal singer?
2. You are way down at the bottom range of your voice and sometimes struggling.
3. Your range tends to fall in an area where a tube might muddy the sound more than you'd care for.

You have the C-3000 and now the 4050 which are large and medium diaphragm condensers. I would think that going for another similar mic like the Blueberry you mentioned probably won't get you where you want to be, and a tube mic almost certainly would be too thick on your voice, though you might want to try it and see.

I definitely think that singing louder will help you and you may find it improves the sound on the recording - it will almost certainly help you to center pitches easier. And I don't mean screaming loud either, it just sounds like you were almost whispering so as not to be heard by the folks in the next room. I'm sure you were going for an intimate, whispering sound, but you went a little too far.

If I were tracking the session I would have probably pulled a ribbon to try on your voice. I have a little RCA 74 which you can usually find used for the 300-400 range on the eBeast, though the maintenance on them is pricey if it is needed. One of the Oktava ML-52 ribbons might be a good choice and they are cheap at GC and online. You might want to take one home overnight to try out and consider if it should go on your Christmas list. I can't say the ribbon would be absolutely right for you, but I would have tried it if I were tracking. I would probably also try a tube and a dark sounding solid state like a TLM-193.

For now, just try singing a bit louder into the 4050.

-Jeremy

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