Help With Mic Choice

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Big Kenny

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I am looking into a new mic acquiisition for male voice, loud at times, tenor range, singing gospel and gospel rock. currently using rode ntk and blue baby bottle. I've saved up $1,500
Iappreciate your opinion and expertise
In HIs Name
Big Kenny
 
Big Kenny said:
I am looking into a new mic acquiisition for male voice, loud at times, tenor range, singing gospel and gospel rock. currently using rode ntk and blue baby bottle. I've saved up $1,500
Iappreciate your opinion and expertise
In HIs Name
Big Kenny
Click to expand...

I hear the Studio Projects B1 ia a nice flat neutral mic that is great on vocals. I have and use the Neumann TLM103 and love it with the right pre-amp. Another great mic is the Audio Technica 4050. I use this mic alot also.

Good Luck with all.
 
Im sure there are alot of mic's out there that fit what your looking for, anywhere from the Shure KSM44(fet)($699) to a
Lawson L47C(tube) which is $1700 new and is pretty amazing. There is the Audio-Technica 4060(tube) for $1495.
All of these I think would be a great investment and huge improvement for your mic locker.


SoMm
 
We got a chance to use the SOUNDELUX ifet7 yesterday... and I thought it was a wounderful mic.
 
Big Kenny said:
I am looking into a new mic acquiisition for male voice, loud at times, tenor range, singing gospel and gospel rock. currently using rode ntk and blue baby bottle. I've saved up $1,500
Iappreciate your opinion and expertise.
Click to expand...

What do you like / dislike about the Rode and the Baby Bottle? And what are you looking for that they aren't currently giving you?
 
baby not punchy enough...not bad tho
ntk is pretty nice....a little middy but can be eq'd to sound great
i'm looking to improve and "sweeten" it up a little
i'm looking for the next step in my studio.....i think it's a mic, might just be practice
Later
In His name
Big Kenny
 
Hey Kenny,

What kind of preamps do you have? What kind of acoustic design have you done on your room? It may be possible that the mics you already have are hiding some really nice qualities that you won't really appreciate until you use them in the right environment. My thought here, is that you might get a better improvement spending the cash elsewhere....
 
Big Kenny said:
baby not punchy enough...not bad tho
ntk is pretty nice....a little middy but can be eq'd to sound great
i'm looking to improve and "sweeten" it up a little
i'm looking for the next step in my studio.....
Click to expand...

Well, "punchy" has more to do with dynamics processing, so you might be looking or a compressor. :D I don't know. You really couldn't have two more different mics than the Baby Bottle and the NTK. The NTK is a tailored (as djl puts it) and flattering mic, while the BB is very much on the neutral side. Which of these do you like better, and why?

There's just so many good options at the $1,500 area, it's hard to give recommendations without knowing more specifically what you're looking for.
 
I run these thru either a focusrite vmp or toft atc-2, both have nice compression and eq. The rode is doing a great job and I'm not complainin' chess, maybe I'm being a gear hound but I can't help think if there's a better mic out there, Id like to try it
In His Name
BK
 
Kenny, be sure to try out the Electro-Voice RE20, Stevie Wonder's
vocal mic in his 70's heyday. Also the Electro-Voice RE15
(or RE16 which has foam pop screen), which Elvis (RE16) used for live performances/recording and studio (RE15).

Another (vastly underated) EV vocal microphone is the EV 635a
omni dynamic, always worth a try. Make sure to get one that
hasn't been dropped, as they can lose their high end then.

All four of these choices are easier to use in terms of microphone technique due to the 635a being an omni, and the others use
EV's patented "variable-D" design to minimize proximity effect.

The other dynamic "classics" like SM7, M88, 441, and 421 (records up to a vocal trio BTW), can sound great too, but the M88 and
441 in particular, demand a higher level of microphone technique
from a vocalist compared to the EV's listed here.

Per Fletcher, that Toft has excellent EQ, and you can take more advantage of it by adding some good dynamic microphones to your arsenal, as they tend to be more forgiving of tweaking than
condensers IMHO.

Chris

P.S. How are you enjoying the Toft vs. the Focusrite?
 
Well, if you like the sound of the Rode, and that's the general direction it seems like you want to go, then maybe you should focus on some of the more colorful/flattering tube mics in that price range. Something in the same ballpark as an NTK, only a step or two upwards in quality and price.

As far as quality tube condensers in the $1,500 and under price range, here's a few I can think of that would be worth a gander:

* Microtech Gefell M930 (around $1K or so from Mercenary) : Might not be as hyped or midrangy as the NTK.

* Groove Tubes GT66 (sells for around a grand). Colorful/flattering like your NTK, but better quality build, components, etc.

* Audio Technica 4060 (about $1,100). This might be what you're looking for. I've never used one, but it's talked about all the time by folks I trust . . . and I've never heard a 40 series mic I didn't like a lot.


If you're in to flattering mics without the tube, then you might look around at some of the other Blue mics like the Mouse or the Kiwi. Should definitely be a step up from the Baby Bottle, and more flattering lke your NTK.
 
I'm going to stick my neck out and recommend 2 mics, one of which is not well received here, but might be perfect for what you do. One is a B.L.U.E. Dragonfly deluxe. You can talk GC down to about a grand. A beautiful all purpose LD mic. With the other $400-$500, spook around on ebay and pick up an AKG Solidtube. Rip the stupid internal foam pop filter right out of it, and then yell at it! It absolutely rocks on R&B/blues. It originally was planned as a $1200 not-quite-flagship tube mic, but it lost in the price wars against the likes of NTK and SP T-3. In 4 years or so, it has gone from being an overated $1000 mic to being an underated $500 mic. When you rip the foam screen out of it, it opens up, and becomes a very nice tube mic, especially for loud vox. They built it to withstand high SPL's, and you have to yell at it a little to get its tube to kick in. But when it does, it's a much better mic than people give it credit for. Another option would be Brauner Phantom-C. There goes your $1500.-Richie
 
Richard makes some great suggestions I haven't thought of. Beware of the Dragonfly, as that one is kinda' picky in regards to what it sounds good with, but on the right voice, it's pretty stunning.
 
chessparov said:
Another valid contender for about a grand is the AEA R84 ribbon.
Click to expand...

Leave it to Chris to suggest ribbons and dynamics. :D

Big Kenny,
Tell us a bit more about your setup. I'm aware that you're using a Focusrite or Toft for your pre and EQ. What do you record on? (Hard disk, digital or analog tape) If you record onto a computer, what soundcard do you use? Let us know, because that may be where you need to add some improvement in addition to or in place of your mic upgrade.
 
True.
He's definitely missing one (or two) of the main food groups!

Especially as he has two nice condensers already.:)

Chris
 
I am going into a Korg d1600
I also use a deq624(presonus), focusrite tone factory and,although less and less, a sonic maximize.
I love the toft, its pre is great to my burned out dock and roll ear, the comp works nice and the eq is Fletcher approved
The learning curve on the korg wasn't immense but I am just now, after 8 months turning out fairly listenable product.
My other consideratio was a digidesign 002 with protools, but I am very wary of another set back in the learning of a completely new format, language and set of variables
Thanks again gentleman
In His Name
Big Kenny
 
I'm kinda surprised noone mentioned the akg 414, I'm giving that one and the lawson 47 serious consideration (along with the other 10 mics we talked about).
So many toys, so little time
In HIs Name
Big Kenny
 
Yo Kenny, here's why I didn't mention the 414. It's a *great* mic for many things, but for male Gospel and R&B vox, I think it would suck. I use it on acoustic guitar, piano, harp, mandolin, banjo, toms, almost any acoustic instrument, and an occasional alto voice. I just don't think it's a vocal mic.-Richie
 
Big difference between 414's BTW.

The 414 EB was used as the lead vocal mic for Brad Delp's vocals
on the debut "Boston" album.

Chris
 
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