Need a new mic for male Vocals

WERNER 1

WERNER 1

Member
After some of the input from you all in another thread I started recently,... I' ve decided that it's time I buck up for a better vocal mic..

Of the mic's I have now....which are rather limited (SPB1's, SPB3, SPC1, Beta 58's, Beta 57, SM58...) I find my self using the Beta 58 for live vocals and the SPB1 for my studio vocals ...yeah, the B1 instead of the B3 or C1 ...too much high end for my taste in those two...

I think the price point is somewhere between 500 to 800 bucks..... I've been trying to do as much research and thread searching as I can,...but nothing's ever cut and dry to me :( ....

The SM7B has sparked my interest as well as the AKG C414 and AT 4050 .... But I've never used any of those before...

I know this is and every day request around here,...but given the mic's that I like to use now live and in the studio,...that might help narrow the margins a bit (??)

Thanks in advance,
Rick
 
Yup, I like the big three you've chosen. I'm a sucker for the SM7 but the other two get good press as well. A Studio Project T3 is a nice choice too but it may be a little bright on occasion whereas the SM 7 will never disappoint.
 
I have all three of them (my C414 is the B-ULS model), and they are all good swiss army knife type mics. For a vocal mic, though, I'd pick the SM7 - it seems to work the best on the most voices. The others are nice because they are both multi-pattern, which is certainly handy. And there certainly are some voices on which they sound really good. Personally though, I find the C414 to be the fussiest of the 3 with respect to fitting voices - it has a tricky proximity effect and, I think, ultimately works better on instruments than voices. FWIW, the current C414 models may be better, but I don't know. I use that mic the least of the 3. I like and use the AT-4050 a lot. A relatively flat mic with good presence, but again it gets used more on instruments than vocals for me. I have two and they are pretty decent for overheads. As I've noted on other threads, and at the risk of repeating myself (what risk, I am repeating myself) somehow, the SM7 gets chosen for vocals more often than any other mic I own -- by a long shot.

Finally, if you can't try them out to see how they work on your voice or whoever is the primary beneficiary of your purchase (which is the best way to make these decisions), I'd say that the SM7 is the best and safest choice. As Big Kenny says - will never disappoint.
 
I have a 4050. I'm in the process of selling it because I don't like it on my voice. My voice is a little thin, and since I picked up an RE20 I haven't used the 4050 once to record my voice. Like countless others have posted, however, the 4050 sounds darned good on a whole load of sources, and I've had luck with it on other voices. So, I guess my suggestion would be to try out a nice dynamic like the SM7 if you're only looking for something for vocals.
 
I like the c414 but then again only get to use it at school and dont have any of these mics so you might want to go with someone elses opinion.
 
I tried that link several times, but nothing shows up (??) ...

I'm leaning pretty heavily towards the SM7 as I can pick that up new for around 250.00 ( :D ) ... and I like the thought of "Smoothness" .... I think that combined with my SP B1 would make for some good lead vocal tracks

Thanks for all the input guys!!

Rick
 
WERNER 1 said:
After some of the input from you all in another thread I started recently,... I' ve decided that it's time I buck up for a better vocal mic..

Of the mic's I have now....which are rather limited (SPB1's, SPB3, SPC1, Beta 58's, Beta 57, SM58...) I find my self using the Beta 58 for live vocals and the SPB1 for my studio vocals ...yeah, the B1 instead of the B3 or C1 ...too much high end for my taste in those two...

I think the price point is somewhere between 500 to 800 bucks..... I've been trying to do as much research and thread searching as I can,...but nothing's ever cut and dry to me :( ....

The SM7B has sparked my interest as well as the AKG C414 and AT 4050 .... But I've never used any of those before...

I know this is and every day request around here,...but given the mic's that I like to use now live and in the studio,...that might help narrow the margins a bit (??)

Thanks in advance,
Rick
Click to expand...

Hey Rick!

Look at rhe SM7B really hard. Great all around mic. Personally I like the Rode
K2 on my voice. The C414 is great on a lot of voices (not all though) Any of the AT40 series mics would be something to look at. I like the 4033 on some vox. The 4050 on most, and the 4060 is my personal fav of the 40 series but unfortunaltly I don't have one.

Good to see ya 'round.
 
I just purchased a Rode NT2A as a male vocal mic. I had read and heard several good things about the NT2A (as a vocal mic) and I was able to buy one that was only 1 year old and had only been used a couple of times (this was a back-up mic for a bluegrass group and had only been used a couple times) for $300 (they go $400 new)

I am truely surprised at how full my voice sounds (I've tried several mics for vocals including: Shure KSM32, AT4047, MXLV67, Cad M179 and some others I don't even recall. (I use either a Presonus MP20 or a Focusright Platinum Voicemaster for a pre). My voice always sounded just a little too thin. I'm a decent live rock/R&B raspy type singer (depending on the song I sound somewhat like either Springsteen, Joe Cocker or Rod Stewart) - but in the studio, the limitations of my voice become obvious.

The 4047 seemed to work fairly well for my voice (and it works really well with other more gifted vocalists) - but the NT2A sounds much better than any other mic I've tried (well maybe not as good as a U87 I used in another studio - but I can't afford one of those). Using the NT2A I actually like the recorded sound of my voice (which may be a first).

Your budget certainly can afford something more expensive than a NT2A - and certainly there are better mics - but I think the NT2A can be a very good mic for male vocals.

I have not yet had a chance to try it on any of the vocalists I use (although I'm sure it will sound very good) - and I don't have anything mixed that I can share - but you may want to at least think about an NT2A.
 
Well that's what happens when you take a part time gig at Guitar Center :D

Every body used to really knock the GC stores...including me,..but our store inperticular has some of the most knowledgable guys in each dept.....except guitars :( ....they come back to ProAudio / Recording and get me when they need help with an amp our guitar :)

Anyway,...it's got some really REALLY good perks!

Rick
 
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