€250,- mic for metal vocals

Acierator

Acierator

New member
Hey there,

Yes, I'm a newb and have dared to post directly in the forbidden zone :D
But seriously, I'm looking for a studio mic in the €150 - €250 pricerange. The purpose is to record our singer's clean old school metal vocals. Hear is a dry sample of his voice:
Anywho, I've spotted some mics that are in this pricerange:
SE2200A
AT2035/2050
NT2-A Solution Pack
Can you advise me on a good mic for the job? I'm also looking for proper build quality besides good sound.

Thanks, A.
 
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Acierator said:
I read in the spes the SM-7B requires 60dB phantom power, my VS-100 delivers only 48dB. Wouldn't that result in a noise issue?
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The SM7b is a dynamic mic and requires no phantom power. It will, in fact, ignore phantom power sent to it.
 
SM7b is what you want. 60 db of gain is about all that is needed for it. You will want to pretty much swallow the mic. I'm not seeing a spec for amount of gain your interface delivers tho.
 
The specs of my VS-100 say that the nominal input leves of the mic inputs are -60 to-16 dBu. I've never had to crank the gain up full, but I haven't heard any noise yet. Do you need a popguard for this mic?
 
SM7b comes with two foam filters that are typically used for radio broadcast. They work, but most just take them off and use a pop screen, as do I.
 
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Acierator said:
Thanks for the advise cavedog101, but de SM7B goes for around €369,- around here. That's over my budget. I've put a dry vocal sample online recorded with my Edirol R-09HR eidolondigitaldesigns.nl/music/sample_vox.mp3 . Type www in front of it, link restrictions, just a few more posts :)
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Shop around, check ebay. You should be able to get one for €300, maybe used. You won't regret the extra the €50. Don't make the mistake of being cheap and regretting it in later. I learned the hard way myself, I don't recommend it.
 
I've been reading about the preamps of my VS-100 and the verdict is not that good when they're used with very low-gain mics. Noise becomes an issue apparently according to Sound on Sound. I'm not buying a separate preamp, that would make thing way to expensive. I'm only recording my own band starting with simple demo's and we'll see where it leads. Do you guys have an alternative to the SM7B?
 
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Acierator said:
I read in the spes the SM-7B requires 60dB phantom power, my VS-100 delivers only 48dB. Wouldn't that result in a noise issue?
Click to expand...

You're confusing phantom power voltage with dbs of gain. It requires about 60db of gain. Phantom power isn't measured in dbs ;)
 
I have not had good luck with the couple I have tried in that price range. Both the Rode NT1a and Cad M179 have proven grainy and harsh in the upper mids for rock male vocals with some grit to them. Had to redo every vocal track for a project recently because the tracks were completely unusable using the NT1a. I didn't notice the harshness till the next day. My bad.

Hopefully someone will come up with something else. Or hold out and get the SM7b and a preamp. You may easily throw away money by taking the cheap route. Don't make my mistakes. Buy something you will use forever. Not just right now. :D
 
Heard good about GAP Pre 73. I decided to hold out and save for a Vintech X73. But that's just me.

A cheap way to get more gain at a low price would be to get something like an ART TPSII or Dual MP (the old rack version). I use them still for scratch tracks. These will give you gain with a bit of noise, but not character that a good pre will. $600 is pretty much recommended minimum for a pre you will really like. I'm holding out for a pre I will use forever.
 
jimmys69 said:
Heard good about GAP Pre 73. I decided to hold out and save for a Vintech X73. But that's just me.

A cheap way to get more gain at a low price would be to get something like an ART TPSII or Dual MP (the old rack version). I use them still for scratch tracks. These will give you gain with a bit of noise, but not character that a good pre will. $600 is pretty much recommended minimum for a pre you will really like. I'm holding out for a pre I will use forever.
Click to expand...

SOS a.o. is very positive about the GAP and it has 80dB of gain. It sells for €299 over here, that's quite a bargain. I'm gonna sleep on it ;)
 
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