Am I using the right mic for my voice?

[AshX]

I have a pretty loud voice (a decibel meter I used once read it peaked at 103 dB) and I use the SM7b. I don't really know how I can "test out" other microphones without going to a studio, so I was hoping based on the clips below you guys could help identify a decent condenser or other type of mic that might be beneficial to have in addition to my SM7b which handles loud vocals pretty well. Obviously, I can't afford a Neumann!

Thanks so much!

 

[Justsomeguy]

I had a very quick listen on my laptop speakers so will have a proper listen tomorrow on my monitors but my initial reaction is both yes and no. The screamed vocals on the first track sounded fine. The melodic vocals on the second track seemed ok. However the melodic vocals on the first and third track sound slightly muddy/murky/dull. A different mic would probably make a difference but, then again, as was said in the other thread a combination of room treatment and different EQ may just do the trick.

Depending on where you live it's shouldn't be impossible to visit some local music stores and try different mics, although sometimes that is very difficult when the music stores are miles away and they only stock a limited selection of mics. If there are any local studios near you it may be worth just asking them nicely if you could pop by and try some mics (or, at the worst, pay for a couple of hours and try every mic they own ). Although it's far from perfect there are plenty of audio samples of different mics around the internets, although these really need to be taken with a pinch of salt. Otherwise, it's sometimes not a bad idea to buy a mic, try it, and if you don't get on with it bung it on ebay and make a slight loss and then reinvest that money on a new mic. It may seem expensive but as another member on these boards once said he saw the "slight loss" as an "audition fee".

In the lower price range there are a lot of usual suspects, but from the list that usually appears i'd initially suggest looking at;

Blue Bluebird
sE X1
MXL V67i (with the warm and bright switch)
Rode NTK (more expensive but it is a tube mic and very versatile)

As i said i will have a proper listen again tomorrow but i figure it at least gives you some stuff to look in to

 

[AshX]

I had a very quick listen on my laptop speakers so will have a proper listen tomorrow on my monitors but my initial reaction is both yes and no. The screamed vocals on the first track sounded fine. The melodic vocals on the second track seemed ok. However the melodic vocals on the first and third track sound slightly muddy/murky/dull. A different mic would probably make a difference but, then again, as was said in the other thread a combination of room treatment and different EQ may just do the trick.

Depending on where you live it's shouldn't be impossible to visit some local music stores and try different mics, although sometimes that is very difficult when the music stores are miles away and they only stock a limited selection of mics. If there are any local studios near you it may be worth just asking them nicely if you could pop by and try some mics (or, at the worst, pay for a couple of hours and try every mic they own ). Although it's far from perfect there are plenty of audio samples of different mics around the internets, although these really need to be taken with a pinch of salt. Otherwise, it's sometimes not a bad idea to buy a mic, try it, and if you don't get on with it bung it on ebay and make a slight loss and then reinvest that money on a new mic. It may seem expensive but as another member on these boards once said he saw the "slight loss" as an "audition fee".

In the lower price range there are a lot of usual suspects, but from the list that usually appears i'd initially suggest looking at;

Blue Bluebird
sE X1
MXL V67i (with the warm and bright switch)
Rode NTK (more expensive but it is a tube mic and very versatile)

As i said i will have a proper listen again tomorrow but i figure it at least gives you some stuff to look in to

Thank you so much for the feedback! In my original post I also failed to remember that the third track was recorded using a Blue USB Mic, so it's not a great example of the SM7b but I guess just my voice. I went to Guitar Center and asked to try out a mic and they were like, "Huh?" but it could have been who was working that day, I guess, but I've never seen a room you could go to actually try individual microphones.

Looking forward to your thoughts tomorrow!