Looking For A New Mic (Strictly Vocals)

[kaotic]

i decided that the at4040 and blue bluebird are not right for my voice and i am selling both (you can make offers if you wish)

my voice is naturally a lil thick so i found the bluebird to be overkill with the smooth boxy thickness and i found the at4040 to be too transparent and not enough color/flavor for my voice

so now i'm debating between the neumann tlm 103, adk tc, and adk vienna (listed in order of price)

i will be running it through a grace 101 preamp and i'm wondering what each combination would offer me.

from my understanding, the adk tc is the brightest and the neumann would be slightly less bright but have a fuller mid range?

correct me if im wrong and share your opinions please.

[MadHatterTCM]

an AKG 414 is a little brighter than the TLM103 but definitely warmer than the 4040.

Also, your grace is a reallllyyyy clean pre. I have one as well. A warmer pre may also help with what you're looking for. Maybe along the lines of a UA solo tube.

[kaotic]

do you think the grace 101 is too clean of a preamp to be paired with a neumann tlm103/adk tc/adk vienna? would i be better off matching one of those mics with a preamp with slightly more color like the RNP?

[MadHatterTCM]

Well, you said that the mics weren't right for you (the 4040/bluebird) which are both a little bright. You were looking for a more colored sound, but had a bright mic and a clean pre. This is why I made a comment about the grace.

Personally, on most tracking I'd want a slightly brighter tone if I was tracking a really throaty or deep male voice.. for clarity sake. going too warm may get muddy in the mix.

But that's me..

So I'm going to ignore what your voice sounds like if you say you don't like that..

I don't know what the ADK TC or Vienna sound like. I know that the tlm103 is slightly warm though as far I can remember. The grace may work really well with it. But if you track your voice with that mic, and it's still too "transparent" or doesn't give you the edge you're still looking for, you probably are looking for a different preamp.

[kaotic]

i had no problem with the brightness of the blue (i actually enjoyed the smooth top end) and the at4040 was too transparent and didn't have enough character just grainy mids/highs

by the way, my voice isn't very deep or low, it's just thick.

i'm looking for a fairly bright mic with a good midrange response and a smooth top end (not shrill or cheap sounding like the at4040)

[MadHatterTCM]

this may help you very little ..
I suggested a 414, and I think you might be happy with that. I really love it. Unfortunately I don't have any samples with a 414 on a grace.

but here's two samples in an mp3 below

http://isitvivid.com/test.mp3

sample 1
414 straight into a firepod.
The vocalist is somewhat an airy singer in tonality
but full

sample 2
SM7b (another fairly warm but dynamic mic) through a grace 101
vocalist is a really dry singer

[kaotic]

both samples sound great, good work.

i'm afraid the 414 would be too bright and clean (especially paired with a grace 101) plus i'm doing hip hop vocals (and some of the songs can get aggressive and i'm afraid of too much sibilance from the 414)

[MadHatterTCM]

hip hop. a SM7 could possibly do well. It has a warm tone, but surprisingly has a good high end if needed. Definitely a really clear mic when running through the grace and can take high SPL when given.

I wouldn't be too worried about the 414 being too bright.

Ever consider or read much into an RE20?

[kaotic]

yes, i'm actually strongly considering the re-20 over all the condensers i listed.

i'm neutral about my grace... i like the crisp clear larger than life sound however i find it to be too clean/transparent and most importantly too honest (it exposes all the flaws)

i'm not dying to upgrade it but i feel like slightly more color would be a step in the right direction (within the same price range) what would suit me better for hip hop - the RNP or the P-Solo? (or any other mentions)

i'm gonna see how the re-20 sounds through the grace first and hopefully i won't feel the need to change preamps but i asked just in case

[Daisy]

You need to try out a bunch of different mics and pick the one you like best.

A bunch of yahoos on a message board aren't going to be able to do much more than throw out wild guesses.



Have a nice day.

[kaotic]

my 2 choices for a new pre are either the p-solo or the blue robbie

paired with an re-20/adk vienna

can anyone comment on the blue robbie?

[kaotic]

is there any difference between the new re-20 and vintage re-20?