Birthday present for my girlfriend - help?

Littlebrother

New member
Hello

Strange title - first time poster.

Essencially my question is;
Wich of the following mic's is best for my application? (as every other thread in this section, duh)

Background;
My girlfriend is a (female) vocalist. A singer. A good one, been doing musicals, rock-cover bands etc. She has a Blue-something something mic today, and it won't handle her tops (screaming / belting) and it won't record her bottoms (whispers).

A quick google, and everything seems to point to Neumann U47. That doesn't mean I'm restricted, only to this kind of mic.
Anyway, she's turning 30 years in 1,5 months, and I'd like to give her a new mic for birthday present. I'm fairly good with the soldering iron, and I have some experience in making my own stuff.

My budget is (kind of) limited to $1000. If there isn't much difference between a $500 mic and a $1000 mic, I'd like to throw in a USB-soundcard there as well.

She is using Audient iD4 with a Blue Baby Bottle mic today.

Options i've found;
Warm Audio WA-47 $1000
DIY Micandmod U47 replica $599
DIY vintagemicrophonepcbkit $1000
DIY Groupidly (an array of different builds) $500-1000

So what is your experience?
 
Hi there,
We've had a few gift-suggestion signs ups here over the years. :D

It can be tricky suggesting specific gear as a gift but your description of the problem caught my attention.
"it won't handle her tops (screaming / belting) and it won't record her bottoms (whispers)"

Honestly, that's probably not a problem with the microphone/type of microphone.
If a recorded signal is distorting for any reason, and there are numerous possible reasons, it's up to the engineer to make changes to microphone position, pads, gain, etc to find the right balance.
Say, for argument's sake, someone does that, she's then going to have even bigger problems with her whispers because the whole signal path has been taken down a few notches.

For particularly loud singers sometimes a dynamic microphone is often chosen because they can generally tolerate much higher sound pressure levels,
but that leaves the same problem at the other extreme...the whispered stuff.

That brings us neatly to the most important variable : The singer.
Good microphone technique is particularly important with dynamic singers - Singers who are very loud one minute and very quiet the next.
If you watch studio videos or even live performances of real professionals with big range, you'll see them 'work the mic'. They pull back for loud swells and move in tight for soft whispers.
Freddie is a good example of this.

This isn't strictly what you asked for but, based on your description, I could see a new microphone giving you a nicer/different sounding recording but with the same problems.

Maybe there's an experience you could set up for her, as a gift? Maybe enrolling her in some course or pre-paying some time with a studio-aware vocal coach?
Maybe there's even a local reputable studio where you could book X sessions but explain to them in advance it's for studio vocal experience and training?
Just some thoughts. Hope something there helps. :)
 
Hey Littlebrother......welcome. Listen.......what you describe about her current mic not handling the "tops" and "bottoms" can be and is likely to be more about her approach to the mic when singing than any major weakness in the mic she is using. As such....you need to be aware that even a U47 may not cure those issues. No one here is likely to tell you that the U47 is not better than the mic she currently has.........but that doesn't mean much. Before you go off and spend that kind of money.......go online and check out a few videos that talk about the mic "proximity effect" and how to avoid it.

A U47 would be a great birthday gift for sure..........but your budget might be wiser used.
 
That brings us neatly to the most important variable : The singer.
Good microphone technique is particularly important with dynamic singers - Singers who are very loud one minute and very quiet the next.
If you watch studio videos or even live performances of real professionals with big range, you'll see them 'work the mic'. They pull back for loud swells and move in tight for soft whispers.
Freddie is a good example of this.

Thank you for your answer!

I'm quite confident she knows how to work the mic, but since she's recording in home environment, the echoes or resonance becomes very very articulate and obvious, if she turns her head and/or tilts back.

Since I love her, maybe the simplest solution is to build her a descent studio ? ;)
 

The whispering part though - is it controlled more with gains of her soundcard (iD4) or the mic?
The Blue mic have a version (dynamic?) With a gain switch on the side?

I've also seen singers use dual mic's, where one is set on lower/higher gain level, so that she can switch input channel (mic) in Garage Band when the "sensitive" mic starts to dist..?
 
I'm quite confident she knows how to work the mic, but since she's recording in home environment, the echoes or resonance becomes very very articulate and obvious, if she turns her head and/or tilts back.

Since I love her, maybe the simplest solution is to build her a descent studio �� ;)

That makes sense.
Doesn't really explain having trouble with the whispered sections,
although it's not uncommon to have to volume automate after recording, for extreme low-level parts.

As long as the loudest parts don't distort and the quietest parts aren't masked by hiss or noise, then you've got a healthy recording.
There shouldn't be any need to tinker with gain on the fly or experiment with dual mics.

Hard to say without knowing the environment but a reflection filter might be enough to tame the room and give her some freedom to move.
The next step up would be room treatment with dense rockwool panels and that kind of thing.
There are lots of studio-build threads on here you could reference.

I'd certainly rather have an sm58 in a great room than a u47 in a bad room.
That said, a shiny new mic is much easier to buy! :confused:
 
That makes sense.

I'd certainly rather have an sm58 in a great room than a u47 in a bad room.
That said, a shiny new mic is much easier to buy! :confused:

When objectively looking at hear gear, it seems to be good "bang for the buck", so the problem might not be in the gear.

Then again, more fun to be given a new mic than two inch thick foam around the room.
 
My girlfriend is a (female) vocalist. A singer. A good one, been doing musicals, rock-cover bands etc. She has a Blue-something something mic today, and it won't handle her tops (screaming / belting) and it won't record her bottoms (whispers).
Don't worry about me, I'm a nosey so and so, but I'm curious.
What's your lady's position on all this ? Has she found that mics in general don't seem to handle her range or did none of this present itself as a problem in the places she performed in musicals or situations in which she sang with cover bands ? What sort of stuff is she recording at home ? Does she play any instruments, record over backing tracks etc ? Is she competing with other instruments that can get loud ? Does she have any suggestions as to how to overcome the problem ?
 
Whispers too quiet and screams too loud sounds like a job for compression.
Just curious, does she do a lot of gigs? A cool present might be a Neumann KMS 104/105 - a really nice (condenser) stage mic for vocalists. I have one and I love it. Round $600.
 
Whispers too quiet and screams too loud sounds like a job for compression.
Just curious, does she do a lot of gigs? A cool present might be a Neumann KMS 104/105 - a really nice (condenser) stage mic for vocalists. I have one and I love it. Round $600.

Yes, a dedicated vocal capacitor mic is a good suggestion and there are several about now.
The Blue Bottle has a max SPL of 134dB so I doubt that is being overloaded, it is however a pretty hot microphone at nearly 40mV/Pa and the ID-4 mic pre can only handle +12dBu so that could be sailing close to clipping? A compressor will not help if the mic pre's output is already clipping.

The vocal capacitors have much lower sensitivites, around 5mV/Pa.

But, assuming the lady is recording 24 bits and absolute peaks stay a dB of so under 0dBfs? The whispered passages, should not be lost in noise but of what use is the recording to be put? No medium will put out a vocal track with a 50dB+ (say) dynamic range.

Then there is the big issue of how well the mic suites the voice. I understand this is a paricularly hard problem with female voices?

Dave.
 
Well, OP has not been back, but I'd suggest that if the upper limit is a concern, use a site like Sweetwater where you can filter for max SPL, and then work within the price range and read reviews.

Audio Test Kitchen is a site to compare many different mics.

The AKG C414s are well thought of and will hold up to high SPL.

As others have suggested, and probably not heard, it's not likely the mic that's the problem, but gain settings and mic technique.

That budget would barely scratch the surface of building a studio that would do justice to any decent mic, including the mentioned, venerable SM58 (IMO/IME). I spent a good chunk of that on homemade treatments, alone. But, maybe some treatment, an interface and monitors, and learn to work the mics she already has, would be a better place to start than buying another mic.
 
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