I need help. Is the Samson VR88 right for me

[GaryB]

Hi all,
I'm new to the forum, and appreciate any input you might have.

I'm in the market for a new studio vocal mic, and have been doing some research on the new Samson VR88 Ribbon mic. I love the logistics of it since I don't need any power to get a strong signal, however I'm concerned about certain reviewers talking about it's less than perfect vocal performance. Of course I've also found those that say it's the best studio mic in it's price range.

Although I will use whatever mic I buy for the occasional acoustic guitar track, it will be used primarily for rock vocals. Similar to the vein of Journey, Boston, etc.


Thanks in advance for your help

 

[analog aaron]

I don't know about that particular mic, I've never owned or used one. One thing I can say about Samson though.... People rag on them constantly. I currently own a couple of Samson products and I've never had any problem with them, whatsoever. At our rehearsal space we use a few Samson R-11 mics and they are great "throw around" mics. Sound great too! Don't let the "popular opinion" that Samson products suck turn you off from potentially buying a perfectly good piece of gear. Check it out! Also, check Harmony Central for reviews. That's helped me tons when buying new gear. I've never been disappointed in gear I've bought from reading reviews to make a decision.

 

[GaryB]

From what i understand, it's a new and limited edition mic (for whatever that's worth), so there's not much i can find as far as reviews.

Maybe i should rephrase the question to... What the best vocal mic out there for 500.00 bucks. I've looked at various condensors, and a few ribbons, but i simply don't have much experience with the ribbons.

 

[prestomation]

Being a new, limited mic, you probably won't hear much about this specific mic here. You may just have to go for it, it looks nice

 

[pohaku]

Mics for vocals are a tricky thing. A mic that works well for one voice may not work well on another voice. While there are some generalizations that can be made (better on women than men, etc), ultimately the best thing to do is to try them out - hence the laborious shoot out process when picking a mic for recording. Some mics work pretty well, if not perfectly, on a lot of voices (e.g., SM-7, KSM-44, AT-4050), while others seem to work a narrower niche - but when they are right, they are really right (e.g., Blue mics).

Personally, if I wasn't able to actually try out and compare a mic, I'd go for one with an established track record and that appears to have broad application to a lot of voices, rather than chance it on a new and largely unreviewed mic (but then I'm also not a technology early adopter) There are a lot of very good and well tested mics available in the $500 bracket (especially if you buy used) and IMHO at this point it would be less chancy going with one of them than the Samson if you can't try them out. My 2 cents.