For vocals, what the best mic and pre mic-amp. ?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Gabriel Sousa
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Gabriel Sousa

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Hello, i would like to know whats the best mic for vocals, and the best mic pre-amp for vocals too.

Thanks
 
Sorry my friend, but there's no such thing. There are great mics in the world, the trick is matching the right mic to a particular voice and also mic preamp. I can throw some names out. What's your budget?
 
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the trick is matching the right mic to a particular mic and also mic preamp

...and the source that it is used for.

Is that $5K US, Euro, or local currency?
 
Your question is kind of like asking "For dessert, what's the best ice cream & sauce?"
But I'll go ahead and chime in with my opinion - but it's just an opinion, there are no absolutes in this crazy business of recording -

Since the U67 is no longer being made, that's really opening a can of worms. Try one of the Soundeluxe soundalikes (99? 195? I can never remember their model #s). Or a Brauner Valvet Voice, or even a Neumann M149. As far as mic pre, I'd have to vote for the Groove Tubes Vipre as the best for vocals (and a whole lot of other stuff). I think everthing I mentioned is available at www.mercenary.com so you can go check them out and get detailed info. Another place to look is www.atlasproaudio.com .

Scott
 
Yo Sousa: [you don't write music for marches do you?]

Mic Pres:

1. Good choice; reasonable, but not cheap; GRACE DESIGN 101

2. Up even a bit higher are two units made by Martinsound.

You can get both on the net and read their promos and specs.

I'm planning on getting the Grace Design 101 when I get the right deal. Street price is around 599 USA pezzutos. Selling price is, of course, a few pezzutos less.

With your budget, you can do some good stuff but don't leap until you see how deep the sound waters are for your ears.

Green Hornet


:D :p :p :cool: :cool: :cool:
 
Nuemann U87 $2700
Brent Averill model 1272 $1089
Great sounding vocalist and experienced engineer...priceless
 
Sjoco, You are going to want to kill me, but I could have had that Lawson mic for 400.00 about a year ago. I spotted it in a pawn shop.
 
darrin_h2000 said:
Sjoco, You are going to want to kill me, but I could have had that Lawson mic for 400.00 about a year ago. I spotted it in a pawn shop.
Why didn't you get it?


Don
 
darrin_h2000 said:
Sjoco, You are going to want to kill me, but I could have had that Lawson mic for 400.00 about a year ago. I spotted it in a pawn shop.

Considering that the Lawson 251 only became available just under 2 years ago, and that the dia alone is worth more than that, you should be shot, hung, drawn, quartered for not walking out of that store and robbing the first granny.

Couple of other things, in my opinion (and having tried them side-by-side) the Lawson, both the 47 and Elam copies, leave the S'delux equivalents dead in the water.

The Neumann 149 was mentioned above as well. Now that is one impressive looking mic! If you like impressive looking mics, that's the one for you. If you use the mics as well ..... different story. This mic does NOT sound good, it sounds completely dead, like a piece of cardboard.
 
darrin_h2000 said:
Sjoco, You are going to want to kill me, but I could have had that Lawson mic for 400.00 about a year ago. I spotted it in a pawn shop.

Actually, to be more accurate, you should want to kill yourself...

Sjoko, I'm another huge Gene Lawson fan. As a matter of fact, I bought my Lawson L47mp because I thought it sounded as good as the M149, but at the time, was half the price. But that certainly doesn't imply that I thought the M149 sounded like shit.

It's entirely possible you heard a bad one. I've heard some that sound quite nice, not like you describe at all. I had a similar experience with a bad BLUE Mouse...
 
I've tried 2 of them, both direct from Neumann, 'tries' which were followed by an interesting communication with the director of design of Neumann in Europe.
In the end I did some samples with the 149, a Lawson, Brauner, a MagMic, a tube converted U87 (which in my opinion is the mic Neumann should have made..), and a C12.

Still stuck with my opinion, that the 149 is a beautifully engineered an built mic, with an excellent pattern configuration (even if I prefer the continually adjustable ones), and without question a client pleaser, 'coz it looks cool.
However, compared to all the other mics mentioned, I can only describe its sound as stone-dead. It does not shine or sparkle, and came out worse compared to the others.
 
Well, certainly sounds like you gave them a fair shot. A few of my local colleagues have them and love them, so who knows? I've only had limited experience with them.

As I said, I ended up with the L47mp and never felt the need to grab the 149 as a result. At least we agree on the Lawson...
 
I love the different characters of the 47, as well as the switch for cardioid, makes it into one of the most versatile mics around.
Have you tried the 251?
 
Gabriel, how about paying for a few hours at a local studio,
and then renting various microphone and mic pre's to hear which
ones you like? Another idea would be to see if a dealer would allow
you to try some out at the studio since it's a big sale for them.

Chris
 
Nice idea

chessparov said:
Gabriel, how about paying for a few hours at a local studio,
and then renting various microphone and mic pre's to hear which
ones you like? Another idea would be to see if a dealer would allow
you to try some out at the studio since it's a big sale for them.

Chris

Nice idea
 
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