Vocal microphone upgrade

E

ex351d

Member
I got the basic microphone setup to record my band and now I am looking to upgrade the vocal microphone. At the moment I have the following microphones:

Shure SM57
Shure SM58
AKG D112
sE X1
Oktava mk012 (x2)
Sennheiser e604 (x2)

I was looking at the following microphones:
Shure SM7b / Blue Bluebird / Blue Baby Bottle / Rode K2 or the Neumann TLM102. I am looking to upgrade the LDC from the sE X1 particularly for vocals. ( I know that the SM7b is a dynamic mic but it is a nice mic and that the K2 is a dual capsule tube mic which is not a direct comparison to the other mics.) More suggestions would be welome too.
 
The TLM 102 and Bluebird have about the same mission at different price points. They are very good versatile instrument mics, not unlike AKG C414, but if you are going to sing into one, you need to be very good. Freddy Mercury- yes. Johnny Rotten-not so much. Consider Rode NTK. For vocals, you don't need multiple polar patterns, and NTK works for a lot of people. SM7b is very good, as long as you can give it enough clean gain. The Baby Bottle is a better choice for most vocals than the Bluebird. I also like Marshall Electronics MXL V67, which works rather well for a cheap condenser, and is optimized for vocals. The discontinued AKG C2000B is also a versatile favorite of mine. You can find them on ebay for about $150, and they are good for vocals, and lots of other stuff, especially cabs.
 
How much is your budget? I have an NTK and a Sputnik, both decent mics but I prefer mixing the Sputnik.
 
Richard monroe, so out of the bunch I listed you would suggest getting the baby bottle? The MXL is so cheap that I could get it too with another microphone.

Raz Klinghoffer, the ADK custom TT mic is too expensive for my budget.

ido1957, my budget is around 500 euro but I would stretch it of a great mic.

Also I was looking at the AKG C214 but I forgot to mention it.
 
ido1957, here the C214 is a third the price of the C414 XLII from the previews I've heard, the C214 is quite bright. Is it worth the investment or I would be better off with another microphone?

BTyre2013, what I fear from the SM7b is the low output. If I crank it up would I be also making some mic noise and hum noticable?
 
Yes I've read some unflattering reviews about the C214 - my friend has a C414XLS but that is darker than the C414XLII and I prefer a bright mic like my Sputnik. The guy who mastered my CD's suggested the Sputnik (didn't like working with the NTK) and I bought it. I sent him a track without telling him it was the new mic and he was like "what did you do to your vocals - they sound so much better, less hiss and cleaner."
You can check out the MP3 links in my sig - Make My Dreams Come True is Sputnik, the rest are NTK. But there's processing on them to make them sound the same for the CD so the difference is audibly subtle..
The problem with buying a mic is that there are too many models and you cannot try them out.
 
ex351d said:
ido1957, here the C214 is a third the price of the C414 XLII from the previews I've heard, the C214 is quite bright. Is it worth the investment or I would be better off with another microphone?

BTyre2013, what I fear from the SM7b is the low output. If I crank it up would I be also making some mic noise and hum noticable?
Click to expand...

the cloudlifter cl-1 will solve the low output issues, it boosts the signal by 20dB and you'll get a much cleaner sound
 
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