Are there patterns in mic brands?

[Richard Monroe]

This is something I've been thinking about for a while, but I really don't know. It seems to me that design teams have preferences about what they want to hear, particularly with vocal mics. It seems like my voice sounds good through a wide selection of AKG mics, from cheap dynamics (D690, D770,D880) to a bunch of condensers, especially C2000B and Solid Tube. I'm afraid C1000S and C3000B are exceptions to this.
On the other hand, I sound like shit through almost any Shure mic, including SM57, SM58, 57 and 58 Beta, SM7B, KSM32, KSM44.
I sound just fine through almost any B.L.U.E mic, including Kiwi, Baby Bottle, and Dragonfly.
Now don't get me wrong. The Shure mics listed above are perfectly good mics with a wide variety of applications, including vocals, and I own several of them. SM7B in particular, is one of my go-to mics for backing vocals (not me).
The question is this- do any of you hear patterns of frequency response among very different mics made by the same manufacturer? In other words, is there an "AKG" sound?, a "Shure" sound?, an "Oktava" sound?, or is this all coincedence and hallucination? I'm curious about other people's experiences. I can tell you, I think there is a "Shure" sound, and it doesn't work on my voice, but the "AKG" sound does. Whadda y'all think?-Richie

 

[chessparov]

There's definitely a "family sound" to many makes.

Unless a C2000B might work, I've pretty much given up on the AKG's
as they sound so bright on the top end to me.

The Beyer's, on the other hand, like the M88, M400, and X1N,
work like a charm, and they all have the Beyer "warmth" to them.
The classic EV line is also cool when you want a non-hyped top.
Oktava MC-012's can sound good too, but love to "pop"!

Shure's are hit and miss. Fan of the SM57, but dislike the Beta
dynamics' sound for a (mildly) sibilant singer like myself.
The only Neodymium vocal microphone that sound good on me
so far is the Peavey PVM 520i.

I think the "B" series and "C" series from Studio Projects sound
radically different. (though both "good")

Chris

 

[Richard Monroe]

Chessparov, it's interesting that most of the mics you seem to favor are dynamics. Regarding Studio Projects, I can sing through C-3 OK, I tracked one song on the current project with it, because the B.L.U.E. Kiwi was just too smooth for the material at hand. I use Rode NTK for some material, especially in combo with Joemeek twinQ. Interestingly, the NTK doesn't get along very well with my Avalon, it makes the NTK sound rough on the high end.
There also seem to be families of voices. My two favorite vocal partners (both women) have nearly identical vibrato to mine, and we all sound better on AKG dynamics than Shures, and invariably, we sound better on dynamics intended as instrument mics than those intended for vocals. In other words, we sound better on D690's and D770's, than say, a D880. We universally suck on SM58. Now I know the Shures are good mics, because they sound good on plenty of other singers. And you know the AKG's are good mics, they seemed to work rather well for The Beatles, and many other singers of note.
Interestingly, I definitely cant get good sound out of a Studio Projects B-1, although I consider it a worthy mic for guitars, as a spaced stereo pair, or as an overhead. I haven't had a chance to sing through the higher-end Sennheiser dynamics, but the 421 and 441 are both on my hit list.
I'm not surprised you find the high-end of the AKG's an issue, at least the dynamics. This does not apply to Solidtube, which is a whole different animal. One mic I strongly recommend that you try out sometime, if you haven't is AKG D770. That's actually pretty close to my best all-purpose cheap dynamic. I think this mic family thing is partly the quality of your voice, but also your hearing. I use D690's and D770's in preference to SM57 on snare, because I simply prefer the sound. I do, however, use SM7B for a cab mic. Another thing I would recommend you try is (no kidding) singing into an AKG D112. Got a problem with the highs? I don't think you'll get too much of that from a D112! Who knows, you might like it.-Richie

 

[chessparov]

Biased towards dynamics partly because I'm very sensitive to the
sound quality (or lack thereof) in a room.
Spoiled because one of the two acapella chapters I sing in gets
to use a church to hold its meetings.
As you know, condensers have a way of acquainting you with the
negative ambient aspects of a home setting.
With better acoustics, I'd get into condensers more.

Expecting to explore some ribbons, like the Beyer's, in the future.
If I could musically justify it, as in a serious commercial project,
the AEA R84 ribbon would be extremely tempting.

For whatever reason, the B1 is technically simpler to use on my voice
than the C1.

Chris

 

[DJL]

"Are there patterns in mic brands?"

I don't know, maybe a little.... but I don't really think so. For example.... take any manufacture and listen to the different models in one of their series of mic's, and they sound different from each other even tho they're all made by the same manufacture. So, I think if there is a pattern,...... it's pretty small or hard to detect. I mean, how many of us can just listen to any singer and know for sure what make of mic they were using?