AKG perception 220 or AudioTechnica AT4040?

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D40-Oz

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hey , i own a at4040, i love the quality it gives me, but its tooo much quality, to sharp .... and no matter how i mix my vocals it dont sit in the mix very well, ive used an discontinued AKG perception 200 and it was wicked for my vocals, im doing rap but very hype yelling rap and my vocals are more ruff sorta like DMX ,
anyone think it would be a good idiea to sell my AT4040 to buy a AKG 220??
or is there any other vocal mics that would suite a voice like mine and DMX?
 
Yo Oz! There's 2 things going on here. The first thing is that The Perception has a pretty good mid-range boost (some would say "hyped"), which is characteristic of Chinese mics. In the beginning, we often make the mistake of hearing that hype as being "clear", because it cuts through a mix. What we learn later is that we can add that boost with EQ if we want to, but if we try to take it away, we wind up taking away other things we didn't want to, and it messes with the sound. I think most folks here would agree that the AT4040 is a *much* better mic in general than anything in the Perception series.

On the other hand, there is also the fact that certain mics work for certain voices, and it may just be that your voice benefits from a little mid-range bump. That's OK. If that's true, you're in luck, because it means a lot of cheap mics will work for you. My best advice- *don't* sell that 4040. I bet you'll come to regret it a year or so down the road, as your ears become better trained, and you learn just how fakey that Chinese mic sound can be. In the meantime, you like the mic? Get your butt on ebay and buy one. It'll likely be good for recording something or somebody. Here's a used one with the shock mount for $88:

AKG PERCEPTION 220 MICROPHONE WITH SHOCK MOUNT | eBay

There's no need to sell a 4040 to come up with that. No problem.-Richie
 
Richard Monroe said:
Yo Oz! There's 2 things going on here. The first thing is that The Perception has a pretty good mid-range boost (some would say "hyped"), which is characteristic of Chinese mics. In the beginning, we often make the mistake of hearing that hype as being "clear", because it cuts through a mix. What we learn later is that we can add that boost with EQ if we want to, but if we try to take it away, we wind up taking away other things we didn't want to, and it messes with the sound. I think most folks here would agree that the AT4040 is a *much* better mic in general than anything in the Perception series.

On the other hand, there is also the fact that certain mics work for certain voices, and it may just be that your voice benefits from a little mid-range bump. That's OK. If that's true, you're in luck, because it means a lot of cheap mics will work for you. My best advice- *don't* sell that 4040. I bet you'll come to regret it a year or so down the road, as your ears become better trained, and you learn just how fakey that Chinese mic sound can be. In the meantime, you like the mic? Get your butt on ebay and buy one. It'll likely be good for recording something or somebody. Here's a used one with the shock mount for $88:

AKG PERCEPTION 220 MICROPHONE WITH SHOCK MOUNT | eBay

There's no need to sell a 4040 to come up with that. No problem.-Richie
Click to expand...


And with that said .... it's why I like them live, but not in the studio for vocal groups in a X/Y configuration.
I think they sounded good a few times in the studio as drum over heads. Haven't found a use for them anywhere else.
 
hey thanks alot!i will be trying this out
im doing home recording with a tascam 122 , but ive got alot of my own little ways of mixing, im not a hundred percent sure where the mid range is on the EQ , is the mid range the very middle of the graph or is it the middle more to the right or left?? , i do notice that ive i turn up the middle-right of the graph it will make it more sharp and bring out alot of harshness in my voice, so should i be turning up a bit of the midrange closer to the left of the graph?? sorry if i confuse you ive only ever done my own mixing with out anyone giving me tips in my life , but check out my music and let me know how it sounds and if theres a way you know of that could make my recordings sound more real and warm sounding let me know
SoundClick artist: D40-Oz - Sippin on the 40's Underground, Hip Hop, Horror Rap, Metal/Rap
 
Just google up a 31 band eq. frequencies and note that the vocals fall mainly in the 200 to 7000 Hz range and anything that you do there will effect the recording of the vocals. Just fool around and experiment a bit and you'll be in the know before you know it.
 
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