Help me get a new vocal mic

  • Thread starter Thread starter thebigcheese
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thebigcheese

thebigcheese

"Hi, I'm in Delaware."
I know, I know, everyone asks for help... anyway, I got an MXL 990 a while ago, actually 2 of the 990/991 sets, thinking I could use them for drums and guitar and vocals and EVERYTHING, but it turns out they actually kinda suck for vocals. It works nice on my amp, but... ugh. I went back to a 57 for vocals. Anyway, I'm not looking to spend a whole lot, maybe $100 or so. It looks like I can get a Studio Projects B1, an Audio-technica AT2020, AT3525, or AT3035, or an Audix CX-111 for about that price (some of them used, obviously). Here are the things I know about my needs:

-The 990 is way too crisp. Something about the way the highs come through just doesn't work for me for vocals
-I will be using it, at least for the time being, almost exclusively with one vocalist, who you can hear by clicking on the link in my signature (My Band). In the music player on the side, "Shells" was recorded with a U87, I think, when I had access to my school's gear. "Now That We're Home" was recorded with my SM57 as a rough track.

Suggestions? The last three are somewhat time sensitive, I think.
 
$100 is a good price for an AT3035, and even if you don't like it for your vocals (it will definitely be a lot better than the 990), it will have uses.

Haven't followed the link yet -- but you said it was time sensitive :D
 
There's also a couple of MXL mics in that range, but I'm still a little hesitant to try more of those given how poorly the 990 sounds for vocals...
 
At 2020

I have just put an AT2020 through it's paces as a vocal microphone , and to my surprise , this little mic is a charmer , very flat sounding and accurate . most natural and slightly warm sound . my daughter has been recording in this studio for a few years on and off and i could never get a mic to suit her voice , I've changed every preamp available to me , and have always settled on a dynamic mic for her....She even sounds like the pits on my u87 .... but on the AT she sounds great . so i decided to have a sing myself and it suited me also .....I then grabbed my acoustic and give it a small run. this little mic is a devil .

I would recommend this mic to anyone .to use as an entry level mic right up to pro .In fact it was recommended to me buy another studio as a great workhorse ....I personally think that the sm57 will stay in the cupboard a lot.as well some other mics ....suddenly i have AT mics on my brain and will be doing some cupboard cleaning .
 
I ended up getting the MXL v67g. They had a good deal on it on Amazon ($90) and I'd heard great things about it, so I thought I might as well. So far, I find it to be a much more pleasant mic than the 990. I always felt like the 990 was missing some frequencies or something, but the v67g seems to get everything in there. I think I'll have to tweak EQ a bit most of the time, but when don't you do that? I like the basic sound it produces much better than what I was working with.
 
Then I'd say, for $90--you win! Have fun recording. :D
 
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