Best Mic For Home Recording

I do a pretty good amount of VO and some occasional vocal performance tweaking here with a SM7b going into what I would typically consider a "meh" preamp (a 14-ish year old MOTU Traveler). It's not like driving a ribbon or something...
 
Out of curiosity, what pre did you use with those big dynamics.
Preference is preference and maybe you're not a fan, but I didn't think much of my sm7b when I used a digi 003.
In fact, I was really disappointed.

Shortly afterwards I got some broadcast console preamps and things changed.
I don't just mean that it was quiet with the 003. It didn't sound very good, to me, in general.

Like Massive, it's the one mic I'd have to replace, now.

I used the Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 and MXL 2006 condenser mic.
 
Answered in your other thread.
Btw, quit double posting. That will just get people annoyed with you real fast.
:D

OK I didn't realized that I was double posting. I gotta go and find the other post. Thanks for pointing that out lol. I am new to this site and trying to get the hang of it.
 
I do a pretty good amount of VO and some occasional vocal performance tweaking here with a SM7b going into what I would typically consider a "meh" preamp (a 14-ish year old MOTU Traveler). It's not like driving a ribbon or something...

Yeah, I'm not talking about driving or loading (at least, not intentionally) or gain or mystery preamp magic mojo.
I just found the 003 preamps really dull and lifeless, and an SM7b, as my first big dynamic mic, really threw a spotlight on that.

At the time I figured I didn't like the 7b. In time I realised I didn't like the digi preamps.
 
Yes I did! That's why I asked hearing the raw [vocal] tracks, vs. what was posted.

I'm not attuned to vocalists, but if I'm picking a mic for a specific instrument, I like to hear the actual instrument in the room where I'll be recording. Kind of the same thing. Hearing a natural voice, and knowing how it was recorded might suggest something to folks that have a lot of experience recording vocallists. If hear something with a lot of effects and I don't know how it was recorded, and someone says "What would you do?" I'm kind of stuck.

I just uploaded an acapella. I used a snippet of one of my Hip Hop songs. On this song I am rapping and singing. Near the end of the song where I sing a Jamaican type chant you will hear air and distortion for a few seconds in my recording. I corrected that later in the final mix. I used the Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 and the MXL 2006 Mic. Acapella Hip Hop Song Test by J-lon | J Lon | Free Listening on SoundCloud
 
I notice that SM7s for broadcast rarely ever need the flash preamp treatment - which is surprising.
Broadcast consoles are not cheap and normally don't have budget preamps built in. It's not really about character, it's about being actually transparent, not what we tend to think 'clean' and 'transparent' sound like.

I've had experience with the Lexicon and the X32 preamps, and I found them both to be a little thin sounding. Not terrible, but they tend not to sound as 'solid' as a more upscale transparent preamp does.
 
I quite like the X32 sound, there's not bags of gain of course, but they sound pleasant enough. The preamps in my old Sonifex radio mixer were just like I like preamps to be - neutral. Never tried a dynamic on the Soundcraft that followed it?
 
I like the way it sounded as well, but compared to my high end, non-character preamps, the mixer seemed like it wasn't capturing everything. The highs and upper mids were Crystal clear, but the lower mids and lows weren't represented as much.

I was certainly able to make the x32 work. It might be just preference, since I rely on capturing a lot of low end for the productions I tended to do.
 
I just uploaded an acapella. I used a snippet of one of my Hip Hop songs. ....
Acapella Hip Hop Song Test by J-lon | J Lon | Free Listening on SoundCloud
Been away (4+ hours of recording & 14 different acts to sift through so this week was heck).

Nothing there as far as I can tell. Thought it might be a private link, which can usually be seen when quoting the message, but this one looks like it was deleted. Thread seems to have diverged slightly in the mean time!

Camping weekend (100 degrees, woohoo!) and then next week is video to parse. Hoping my ears have cleared by then at least.
 
I can't even imagine not having a SM7b... One of the greatest vocal mics ever designed at any price. That said - No one mic does everything... You need to match the mic with the source with how it's going to fit into that source.

or a RE20...

when I heard "rap" I think of Gangster Paradise...which then takes me to the original Pastime Paradise...Stevie Wonder and theres the U87, U67, and the RE20.

the latter being the only one affordable for most HR.

SM7....RE20...those are great mics, with respect and all the proof to offer confidence. Mics that will be worth their weight forever...built like tanks which is why I like Shure mics.
 
Been away (4+ hours of recording & 14 different acts to sift through so this week was heck).

Nothing there as far as I can tell. Thought it might be a private link, which can usually be seen when quoting the message, but this one looks like it was deleted. Thread seems to have diverged slightly in the mean time!

Camping weekend (100 degrees, woohoo!) and then next week is video to parse. Hoping my ears have cleared by then at least.

Peace, I left it up for a couple of days waiting for your response but I deleted it after I received no feedback. I didn't know you were away.
 
or a RE20...

when I heard "rap" I think of Gangster Paradise...which then takes me to the original Pastime Paradise...Stevie Wonder and theres the U87, U67, and the RE20.

the latter being the only one affordable for most HR.

SM7....RE20...those are great mics, with respect and all the proof to offer confidence. Mics that will be worth their weight forever...built like tanks which is why I like Shure mics.

Word to the peeps. I have a "FrankeNeumann" U87 (the modified guts of a U87 stuffed inside of a "more robust" and tweaky case) which - as wonderful as it sounds - collects dust more than most other mics I have.

It's amazingly decent at picking up exactly what's in front of it. But realistically, how often do we actually *want* that? An acoustic guitar? A flute perhaps? An opera singer in a fantastic space? Sure. But some dude screaming into the mic in some 12x15 half-dead and otherwise "meh" sounding stoarage closet? No way. I want a mic that actually flatters that dude. The RE20 and SM7b are both spectacular vocal performance mics. Staples in every studio I've ever worked in.

Oh - And the RE27ND... I have to admit, with some stuff, that little bit of air can be pretty cool.
 
I'm a singer, writer, rapper and producer. I add my vocals to tracks for other artist and producers. My question is, I use a microphone called MXL 2006 I get a pretty good sound after I mix down my vocals with VST plugins but is there any other mic that has a good sound without shelving out hundreds of dollars? You can hear my vocals on my website. Get the link from my page on this site. I used the MXL on most of the songs.

On The Grind Productions

The sm7b that has been mentioned is the real deal for me too, but it is a low output mic. I used to use a Focusrite 2i2 as well, and I had to buy a Cloudlifter CL-1 to get real nice clean gain for the sm7b. I record in a small room as well, and the sm7b, cloudlifter, and 2i2 can sound real good together.
 
The sm7b that has been mentioned is the real deal for me too, but it is a low output mic. I used to use a Focusrite 2i2 as well, and I had to buy a Cloudlifter CL-1 to get real nice clean gain for the sm7b. I record in a small room as well, and the sm7b, cloudlifter, and 2i2 can sound real good together.

Good info, I may purchase those additional pieces for a better sound. Thanks.
 
Another vote for the Cloudlifter in combination with a SM7b. I have a vintage Avalon mic pre that I use with that combination. Great for louder vocals.
 
Best mic and home recording. Thinking about this, I'm now wondering if either of these make any sense. We've got responses from SM57 to a tweaked esoteric and somewhat audiophile FrankenNeumann. Home recording worries me - as in somebody wants a bit better than having their iPhone propped up in the corner while the strum (badly) a guitar and make noises that they think are singing, or a professional grade expensive studio that happens to be in a home? It's just too wide. Best microphone under 50$ for a cheap interface and a big standard laptop connected to a TV soundbar, or best under $3000 for the protools studio with a full manual control desk for it, and kick-arse real studio monitors. Each one of us has a 'best' for our circumstances, but how many of us would use this 'best' mic if an aged relative left us a pile of money in a will when they died? All we're doing is passing on our favourites. I bought a pair of monitor speakers ten years ago from a friend who produced good music and I tried them just once and went right back to my old ones. His best was my worst!
 
I’ll add to the love for re20. I use it with a 610b and I can’t get a better rock vocal. It works well on bass too. I’d like to try the sm7b some time, I expect it’s pretty similar.
 
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