Could Use a Little Help with Female Vocal Mic Choice...

R

RecoDino

New member
Right now I have 2 mics, a Shure SM7B which I like a whole lot for just about everything with the exception of recording my wife's vocals. It tends to lack "airiness" and clarity in the higher notes. It feels a little "squashed" to me on her vocals.

The second mic is a Studio Projects C1 which I really don't like at all LOL. It's OK for some acoustic guitar. I find the high end to be thin, tinny and overall unpleasant.

I'm looking for something for female vocals in the $500 price range. Right now the leaders in my eyes are the AKG c214 and the Blue Baby Bottle.

My wife's voice is Mezzo Soprano, think sort of like Loreena McKennitt or on the rock side think someone like Sharon den Adel(within temptation).

Any suggestions or thoughts on the two mics I listed?
 
I'd check out the Cad M9 (amazing for female pop vocals - sounds mixed during tracking... if you're not sure about it's tone in first use, just try mixing a song with it's vocal track).

blue spark. it's inexpensive, sexy looking, and imho sounds better on lead vocals, both male and female, than the other affordable blue mics. but the baby bottle IS a better mic - costs a lot more too.

one of the best female handheld or mounted live stage mics, used for classical sopranos and altos often and also one of my favorite female vocal studio mics as well, is the akg c535eb. check it out. it's phenomenal. quite flat, works great on almost all women's voices, takes eq really well, and has a really fast transient response and very low distortion while having a very small amount of vibe which is perfect for many situations. works great on instruments too, especially strings and woodwinds.

the rode k2 is fantastic and can work really well on female vocals. many other great vocal mics really dont' work so well on a lot of women's voices and I totally understand the trouble you're having.

it's easy to get a very flat-response mic to work with any female vocal, but it lacks vibe or anything magical. you can of course EQ a mic like that in mixdown to be quite incredible sounding if you're an experienced engineer or just take the time to experiment and have a good ear for that kind of thing. but to find a mic that isn't unduly sibilant on females and yet adds some magic at the same time is a real challenge.

my first recommendation is my highest - cad m9. cheap too. ugly also imho LoL.
 
dkelley said:
I'd check out the Cad M9 (amazing for female pop vocals - sounds mixed during tracking... if you're not sure about it's tone in first use, just try mixing a song with it's vocal track).

blue spark. it's inexpensive, sexy looking, and imho sounds better on lead vocals, both male and female, than the other affordable blue mics. but the baby bottle IS a better mic - costs a lot more too.

one of the best female handheld or mounted live stage mics, used for classical sopranos and altos often and also one of my favorite female vocal studio mics as well, is the akg c535eb. check it out. it's phenomenal. quite flat, works great on almost all women's voices, takes eq really well, and has a really fast transient response and very low distortion while having a very small amount of vibe which is perfect for many situations. works great on instruments too, especially strings and woodwinds.

the rode k2 is fantastic and can work really well on female vocals. many other great vocal mics really dont' work so well on a lot of women's voices and I totally understand the trouble you're having.

it's easy to get a very flat-response mic to work with any female vocal, but it lacks vibe or anything magical. you can of course EQ a mic like that in mixdown to be quite incredible sounding if you're an experienced engineer or just take the time to experiment and have a good ear for that kind of thing. but to find a mic that isn't unduly sibilant on females and yet adds some magic at the same time is a real challenge.
my first recommendation is my highest - cad m9. cheap too. ugly also imho LoL.
Click to expand...



And is that with the stock tube?
If not what has replaced it.
 
stock tube. if this was a crappy mic with an incorrectly designed gain structure like the apex 460 then swapping a tube for a lower gain model would be very beneficial since it clips internally with the stock tube. but in the cad it's not a problem and the tube is plenty good enough. the m9 is very affordable but, like with the m179 and m177, plenty good enough to get regular use in real recording studios.
 
The title was a bit truncated, so I saw "Could Use a Little Help with Female Vocal Mic..."

And I'm thinking, vocal mics have a specific gender?:confused:
 
I was in a band for years with my wife, and the best vocal recordings were done using a Audio Technica AT3525. They are not around anymore but I would expect a AT4033, or 4050 to sound great on female vocal. If you don't have the budget try a AT2035 or 2050, which are the cheaper range.

On stage she used a shure Beta 58.

Cheers
Alan.
 
The AT4033 should favor a female voice. Assuming a decent room, as that one picks up EVERYTHING.

If you like the SM7b, you might give the EV RE-20 a try on her. I think it has a better high end relative to the SM7b. Not that I've used either yet. Or the EV RE-27 which has an exaggerated high end, relative to the RE-20. Or try the SM7b without the foam cover(s). Although with pop filter and such. Foam and fake fur tend to deaden the top end. Or compensate with EQ in post.
 
memory might be failing, but I have a feeling the re-20 was good enough for tina turner. not that most women sound like her, but a good example if I'm right. crappy example if I'm wrong though LoL

those at recommendations are spot on too. I'm not a 4033 fan but it does work on women (not really on much else imho) but it's got a huge pickup pattern so needs a really good room (or really dead room).
 
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