tlm103, KSM44 and ?

tkingen

Djembes Rock
I'm thinking about getting a new LDC. With my wife's voice the KSM44 works well in a dense mix. The tlm103, with it's extra thickness works well in an acoustic guitar with voice type of song. But it seems that with the 103 we tend to boost a little bit at 4K to bring the voice forward a little more.
Can anyone name a mid priced mic that already has a bit of 4k added to it? I'm afraid of adding sibilance if the boost extends too high in the 5k - 8k areas.
Btw, I was just checking out the Neumann forum. Another tlm103 user commented that he was boosting 4k on vocal recordings, also. This validated my experience a bit!

Thanks,
Terry
 
I actually think the AKG C-414 tends to have a somewhat forward character right around that 4K range. The Bluebird from Blue is another one that seems to have that general characteristic. But offhand, I really can't think of many higher-end mics that have a severe bump or spike at 4k.
 
After re reading your post please disregard my suggestion of a U195. For whatever reason I thought you wanted to smooth out the 4k boost. I'm not sure what you call mid priced but the Lawson L-47MP seems to have that 4K boost you're looking for. They sell for $1995 direct from Lawson but I've seen them go for a lot less on ebay. Here's a link for the L-47MP. Good luck.

http://www.lawsonmicrophones.com/
 
Thanks guys for your suggestions. The Lawson is out of my budget but the C414, Bluebird and U195 are doable.
ljmaxx - the U195 does look interesting. The frequency chart (for whatever it's worth) does have a slight bump around 4k, a slight dip in the sibilant range, and then back up for the "air" frequencies. That just might work!
Chess, sounds like you may have experience with the C414 and Bluebird. I used to have a Baby Bottle but it was a little too dark for our purposes. Is the Bluebird more lively?
 
tkingen said:
I used to have a Baby Bottle but it was a little too dark for our purposes. Is the Bluebird more lively?

The Baby Bottle is really dark when compared to just about all of their other mics.
 
Chess and Richard,
Both you guys were right. The C414 is great!
The wife and I walked into GC today to try out the Oktava MLK2500 "blowout" mics. Luckily they have a room that is fairly isolated with a ProTools setup routed through a Presonus Central Station into a pair of Mackie HR624's. Very similar to my home setup.
Anyway, we tried out three different MLK2500's and none of them sounded like each other! We weren't drawn to any of them. So they brought out their other tube mics - NTK and GT66. Mucho sibilance on her voice. I didn't even want to try the Cactus as it's way out of the budget.
Then I thought of the advice from you guys and plugged in an AKG C414B-XLS. Nice, full bodied natural tone with present but smooth highs. We brought it home!
A cool thing - they beat a package deal from musciansadvocate.com. The C414B-XLS, plus a Mogami Gold cable, plus a heavy duty boom stand. And, there is a rebate going on until the 31st for a free pair of K171 headphones. A lot of stuff for 795.00.
Anyway, I just wanted to thank you guys for bringing this mic to my attention. I appreciate the input from you more experienced guys!

Muchos Gracias,
Terry
 
If you live near a Sam Ash, see if you can find one of their coupons they sent out in the mail for 15% any purchase over $129.99. Since GC price matches coupons that are effective 30 days before or after your purchases, it's an easy way to get $110 back on the mic. Or if you'd like I could scan if for you. Using this method is how I got a brand new KSM32 for $220 : )
 
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