Good mic for high pitched voice

B

BillyCTwinstiq

New member
Hello, not sure if this is really a good spot for this or not, and I'm truly sorry if it isn't, but I have been doing some podcast work as well as video reviews and previews and such for a few years now. I've been using the Blue Yeti microphone for most of that time, but it's time for an upgrade before I launch my podcast on iTunes.

You can find the site I work for in my profile (don't want to link anything and get in trouble), but if you want to check out our youtube page and see an example video then you'll see that my voice is naturally higher pitched. I was hoping anyone knew of a good microphone for podcasting that would sound good with a higher pitched voice.

Anything sub $400 is a good suggestion, but if it's closer to $400 I'd need a very good reason for buying it.

Thank you all in advance, and again I'm sorry if this was the wrong place for this.

*EDIT*
Added link to YouTube video as well as to dropbox for raw .wav file for a sample.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3loRuFhsaU
https://www.dropbox.com/s/czun6mcwp1j9jfa/BillyCTwinstiq_RAW.wav?dl=0
 
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Hi Billy.
I've moved this into the microphone section for you - Hopefully you'll get quicker answers in here.

Please feel free to add a link to a voice clip or youtube video. You're obviously not here to gather hits.
Thanks for being considerate. :)
 
I think it's impossible to choose to a mic based on the "pitch" of a singer.

Sting, Axel Rose, and Joan Baez all have high-pitched voices. That doesn't mean they're all going to sound good through the same mic. "Timbre", and "tone" are a lot different than "pitch". Someone can have a high-pitched voice which is considered thin, someone else can have a high-pitched voice that's considered thick. Finding the right mic for your voice has little to do with how high you sing.
 
Whoever said, RE20, I agree.
But that's just because I haven't found an instrument that it doesn't work on.
Kick, bass, guitar, voice, whatever.
 
Oops...I see that it's a Blue Yeti. I'm not sure that, for under $400, you'll get enough of a boost to make it cost effective. You might try boosting the bass a bit in EQ. A plugin like Waves Renaissance Bass or MaxxBass will give the impression of more bass in your voice. You might want to look at a few Youtube demonstrations of the Cascade Fathead ribbon mic (about $150, but it will need a preamp). It will definitely give your voice some bass.
 
Ok, first of all thank you all for your responses. My hope was to get a more clean sound with less background noise picked up by the mic. In addition my plosives pop like mad, even with a pop filter. I think it's due to the way I'm speaking directly into the Yeti at a close distance. I could go for a greater distance, but with the gain turned up my worry is that it'd just pick up more background noise. As to editing the audio afterward, I'll be honest I need to look up a video series on that. I have used equalization, as well as normalization, but not with any real understanding of what they are doing. Just kinda trying presets. I need to get more into the post production side of things, but I'd hate to spend most of my time lowering plosive pops and removing background noise if a better mic (for the job) would fix that before post.
 
Under your $400 limit is the Heil PR40 dynamic mic. It is a favorite of podcasters. You can get it with the shock mount and an effective metal pop filter for about $370. It is a very quiet mic (while the Blue Yeti is notoriously sensitive and prone to pick up unwanted noise in my house).
 
BillyCTwinstiq said:
Ok, first of all thank you all for your responses. My hope was to get a more clean sound with less background noise picked up by the mic. In addition my plosives pop like mad, even with a pop filter. I think it's due to the way I'm speaking directly into the Yeti at a close distance. I could go for a greater distance, but with the gain turned up my worry is that it'd just pick up more background noise. As to editing the audio afterward, I'll be honest I need to look up a video series on that. I have used equalization, as well as normalization, but not with any real understanding of what they are doing. Just kinda trying presets. I need to get more into the post production side of things, but I'd hate to spend most of my time lowering plosive pops and removing background noise if a better mic (for the job) would fix that before post.
Click to expand...

First things first. A lot of suggestions in this thread were made on assumption.
An sm7b/re20/pr40 is not a magic fix for generic problems. It's the opposite.




Now, blue yeti... not 'pro'. So that's USB, right?
Any mic suggested here is going to need an audio interface. NOT a preamp. Had you thought of that?
What's the max you're prepared to spend on these two items?

If background noise is an issue you want a dynamic mic and you want to be very close to it (you've learned this bit yourself).
but cheap interfaces = low gain + high noise. Dynamic mics = low output and need high gain.

On the other hand your video did not suck so maybe you could do a few things.
Figure out if the noise is coming from stuff in the room or not. Fans, computers, etc.
If it is, we can do something about it.

Also, tilt the mic slightly so you're speaking into it a little off-axis. Point it past your mouth, rather than at it.
This will help a little with plosives. Make sure to use a pop filter and have it closer to your mouth than it is to the mic.

I'm going to listen to the raw wav file in a few minutes because the video didn't sound bad at all, to me.
 
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OK I listened to the raw.
Plosives are not a problem at all. :)

Background noise is audible if you're looking for it, but not intrusive.
If it's coming from something in the room, we can fix it.

If it's not, a budget interface and dynamic mic may be just as bad or worse. It all depends on the preamps.

Personally I'd learn how to use a gate very subtly and carry on. :)
You speak with a good, clear, consistent tone so you're good candidate.

I do hear a little room ambience. If that bothers you we can do stuff about that too. Let us know.

If you need any help with basic processing, hit me up. There's no need to go nuts.
A simple eq (if necessary) gate and limiter should be all you need.
 
my answer that i originally wrote doesn't apply because you were talking about speaking, not singing. Never mind.
 
Note that there's a difference between a voice that is high pitched, and one that has high frequency overtones. The first is about the primary frequency, whether we're talking about basso profundo or a coloratura soprano. This applies to voiceovers just as much as to singing. The second, sometimes called timbre, refers to how the primary tone is affected by secondary and tertiary overtones or harmonics. In the simplest terms, it's like the EQ or tone control of the voice. For example, Joni Mitchell is an alto. She sings in a range that *I* can sing in. But- her voice is "bright", (or was, before half a million cartons of cigarettes), which makes her *sound* high pitched. If you are trying to scrub the highs off a voice that is in a relatively middle of the road range, there are multiple solutions:

1. Use good quality EQ to attenuate annoying high frequencies. Note that cheap EQ will also scrub off lots of stuff you didn't want to get rid of.
2. Use a mic that is "dark", one that simply captures less high-end frequency detail. For this, I like Oktava MK319, Shure SM7b, or even AKG D112, often used as a kick drum mic. This is exactly what the SM7 did for Michael Jackson, a guy with a high-pitched voice, *and* high frequency overtones.
3. Put (2) pop filters in front of the mic, the nylon type, not steel. They actually scrub off a fair amount of highs all by themselves. This can be a problem, but sometimes can work to your advantage.

If the primary frequency of the voice really is high, it's more difficult, and the primary solution is better mic technique. Get close to the mic, assuming that it is directional, to make use of proximity effect (bass boost when very close to the mic). More importantly, within certain limits, we can all raise and lower the primary frequency (pitch) of our voices. When we get excited, and when we get louder, the pitch tends to go up. It may sound looney, but the real answer is to relax, and lower the pitch of your voice. Will it make you James Earl Jones? No. But it can make your voice easier to listen to for extended periods of time. Think- reading the weather report, as opposed to a sports announcer (SCOOOOOORE!!!)
 
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