Most natural sounding mic?

JakeyMort

New member
hey all, so ive used several different large diaphragm condensers into several interfaces and with all of them I feel like it colours/warms my voice too much, I want it to sound more like I actually sound if that makes sense? ive tried eq'ing but I don't find that really changes the actual sound rather it just cleans up the sound you have

with that being said would a small diaphragm mic be better for me? ive heard peple say theyre more "natural" sounding

any suggestions?

P.s before anyone mentions it, yes i know sdc arnt normally used for vocals and ldc are meant to be more "pleasing" for vocals but i dont like it and as i said i have tried multiple
 
I think most microphones will have a recognisable characteristic, but some more so than others.
I always found the mk219 quite natural in that it doesn't seem to grossly accentuate high end like some other capacitor microphones might.

Anything intended for measurement or calibration should be pretty neutral by design.

SM81s are often talked about as being accurate and quite natural sounding, but I've never used one on voice.

Have you experimented with distance? The closer you are to a cardioid microphone, the bassier it will sound.
Moving back even a few inches can make a huge difference but, of course, the farther away you get the more influence your environment is going to have.
That may be good or bad.
 
If you want natural, you're definitely better off with an SDC pencil mic. And if your room allows it, an omni...
 
My most natural sounding mic, I own 6 of them, is my old Sennheiser ME80. Put them on a source and they just sound natural. Don't make them anymore replaced by I think the ME66. A lot of TV stations use the old ME80 or the ME66 for outside interviews and film work.

Alan.
 
I'm wondering if there is something else? Have you actually heard your voice recorded in a way that sounds 'right'? Is it possible that what you are hearing is actually what your voice really sounds like? My experience suggests few people know what they sound like, and what they hear through their ears and head is what is coloured. I find this with singers and brass players who never hear what they really sound like either. It could be that the mics are doing an excellent job, and you don't like it because it's not what you think you sound like. Have you asked other people how 'you' it sounds? This could be why you can't find the elusive mic that captures you naturally, when they all are doing it pretty well.
 
I'm wondering if there is something else? Have you actually heard your voice recorded in a way that sounds 'right'? Is it possible that what you are hearing is actually what your voice really sounds like? My experience suggests few people know what they sound like, and what they hear through their ears and head is what is coloured. I find this with singers and brass players who never hear what they really sound like either. It could be that the mics are doing an excellent job, and you don't like it because it's not what you think you sound like. Have you asked other people how 'you' it sounds? This could be why you can't find the elusive mic that captures you naturally, when they all are doing it pretty well.

+1! I am old enough to remember the first OR tape machines, 3:3/4ips 5" reels and a "crystal" mic*. "That's never ME!" people said because, as Rob says, they had never heard their voice in isolation and with room colour (go walkabout with phone recording yourself about the house and garden. On playback you will hear quite distinctly the different room qualities. YOU don't hear them yourself because the ear/brain system auto-corrects. Same thing happens for Colour Temp').

So, record SOMEBODY ELSE! If you find a mic that does justice to friend, sig' other di-da, you have found an accurate microphone and it will grab the same fidelity off you as others.

The "recording scene" has gone "artificial". We no longer compare recordings to Real Things. For instance people talk endlessly about how monitors sound with various genres of music. NEVER how they convey the human voice or a bunch of keys!

*yes, they were crap but for speech not really that bad. Omidirectional and of decent sensitivity and a natural bass cut.

Dave.
 
hey all, so ive used several different large diaphragm condensers into several interfaces and with all of them I feel like it colours/warms my voice too much, I want it to sound more like I actually sound if that makes sense? ive tried eq'ing but I don't find that really changes the actual sound rather it just cleans up the sound you have

with that being said would a small diaphragm mic be better for me? ive heard peple say theyre more "natural" sounding

any suggestions?

P.s before anyone mentions it, yes i know sdc arnt normally used for vocals and ldc are meant to be more "pleasing" for vocals but i dont like it and as i said i have tried multiple

How do you compare your singing? How can you possibly know how you "actually sound". When you sing, your ears are above your mouth and chest and below your head. Those that listen to you sing are meters out in front of you. Those two listening positions are quite different.
 
How do you compare your singing? How can you possibly know how you "actually sound". When you sing, your ears are above your mouth and chest and below your head. Those that listen to you sing are meters out in front of you. Those two listening positions are quite different.

I suspect a big reason for the difference is bone conduction.
 
How do you compare your singing? How can you possibly know how you "actually sound". When you sing, your ears are above your mouth and chest and below your head. Those that listen to you sing are meters out in front of you. Those two listening positions are quite different.

This and almost everything -including questions for the OP..
Paging Jakey.."
 
How do you compare your singing? How can you possibly know how you "actually sound". When you sing, your ears are above your mouth and chest and below your head. Those that listen to you sing are meters out in front of you. Those two listening positions are quite different.

Indeed. The whole 'crooner' mic technique is grossly artificial anyway. Look at opera singers, when recorded mics are WAY out in front of and above them. Even for large, televised events (the 3 Tenors e.g.) the mics are a good mtr away and down at chest/waist height. Even when you look at very old dance band footage, singers such as Ella Fitz' are usually way back from the mic. The first few rows of the audience did not need her 'reinforced'.

This is a situation chasing its own tail. You want "natural" results from an UNnatural technique!

Dave.
 
Why do people join a forum, ask a question and never have the decency to come back to see our time they have wasted! Sure - you can be ill, or on holiday - but usually they've got a problem, then discover the answer themselves, or read the responses and don't like them, so wander off in disgust. It happens so often mowadays, I wonder why we bother sometimes!
 
Why do people join a forum, ask a question and never have the decency to come back to see our time they have wasted! Sure - you can be ill, or on holiday - but usually they've got a problem, then discover the answer themselves, or read the responses and don't like them, so wander off in disgust. It happens so often mowadays, I wonder why we bother sometimes!

Rob, mate, you have clearly not spent 40 odd years of your working life dealing with Joe and Jill Public!

Nothing much surprises me these days (although I am often surprised at the short fuse some of our colonial friends have!)

Dave.
 
I actually have discovered I have an American full brother - had my birth records unsealed (that's a story in itself). My dad was an American airman based in the UK. I tracked him down and sadly he died a few years back. Cannot find my brother, but I did find one of his sons. I'm 90% certain it is him, as birth marriage and other searches kept bringing back the same person and his wife - both Doctors, in the US. I plucked up the courage to phone him, and got the phone slammed down on me!

Even if he wasn't my nephew, would it really have been more civil to explain. One family I thought were relatives in California turned out not to be, but I now get regular updates on their kids, who are not relatives at all. I'm quite used to the US short fuse, and cease and desist requests. Apparently, it's quite common. My sister is adopted like me and got exactly the same response from her real mother - an official attorney's letter from her law firm, informing her NOT to approach her again. I'd like too think us Brits would be somewhat nicer if the situation was reversed.
 
This mic is a reasonably priced classic. It's not warm. It's very clean and clear. If anything it could be a tiny bit bright, but it works. All that means is I roll off a little less bass.

AKG C414 XLII
 
You cannot get to a mic'd situation that the OP referred to as 'natural' without considering all the factors involved. An anechoic chamber sounds horrible for music. In a recording chain, the mic is more than not often the lowest rung on the ladder as far as purity. It cannot be otherwise.
 
Nobody ever really seems to want the most natural sounding mic for vocals, they want euphonic, 'flattering'. Start with mics that are good for voiceover, Heil PR40, CAD E100S (or maybe even the E60 with a wind guard, it's a neat sleeper). I think you may be surprised by some low priced dynamics, especially some omnis. EV 635a/631b are fun. Not necessarily your idea of natural, but could work.

Sorry I can't be more specific, experimenting can be very rewarding though.
 
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