MA-200 & isa 220

Mr. ROUSH

Mr. ROUSH

Active member
Anyone have experience with this pair? I'm in love with the MA200 for vocals on everyone but myself.. the others I record have deeper voices tha me is the only conclusion I'm able to draw.. my question is where is the fix here? I know trying it out is the best way, but I don't have that luxury.. I've been told though maybe overrated that the u87 would likely be a good fix whereas it has increased low end presence.. is that really what I'm looking for? I roll off usualy between 50-80hz, so I'm wondering how this would solve my problem where simply not rolling off doesn't fix it.. why would an increased low end presence do anything if I'm just rolling it off anyway?

I would really appreciate your thoughts! Thanks in advance!
 
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chessparov said:
IMHO a good parametric EQ, along with good monitoring ought to go far with the MA-200...

Chris
Click to expand...

Thanks for the feedback.. I would absolutely agree with what your saying here with only one exception that I just can't seem to apply that with my own vocal takes.. I get great results with the MA on everyone else with appropriate EQ techniques.. I think that it just does not pair well with my vocals.. Do you think the u87 would be applicable here?
 
I have a friend that uses the MA200 extensively in his studio. It's a great mic and works well on many voices. But to my ear sometimes it's a little too "breathy" sounding on some quiet singers.

Vocal mics are so personal to the particular voice that making recommendations is tough. If at all possible you need to get somewhere and try a few of them on your voice. If the Mojave doesn't work for your voice, it may be an unexpected mic that does. And you may not have to spend Neumann type money to get a good match.

This thread has a lot of discussion that may help:

https://homerecording.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=283374
 
omtayslick said:
I have a friend that uses the MA200 extensively in his studio. It's a great mic and works well on many voices. But to my ear sometimes it's a little too "breathy" sounding on some quiet singers.

Vocal mics are so personal to the particular voice that making recommendations is tough. If at all possible you need to get somewhere and try a few of them on your voice. If the Mojave doesn't work for your voice, it may be an unexpected mic that does. And you may not have to spend Neumann type money to get a good match.

This thread has a lot of discussion that may help:

https://homerecording.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=283374
Click to expand...

Hey, thanks very much, I will check that thread out. I hear ya about testing them out.. I was going to go to sweetwater and use their demo room to a to b some mics but the mics I'm wanting to test are special order only, so that wouldn't work.. I do have an instructor that I'm doing PT course work with and I'm supposed to go to his commercial studio to test out some things, but I won't likely be able to get time there for some time. He also lacked a couple of the mics I was interested in. My SW rep keeps telling me the manley refmic is where it's at, but I keep reading that it lacks the oomph in the low end.. So at any rate, thanks again for the feedback.. have a good one!
 
omtayslick said:
I have a friend that uses the MA200 extensively in his studio. It's a great mic and works well on many voices. But to my ear sometimes it's a little too "breathy" sounding on some quiet singers.
Click to expand...

I've owned an MA-200 for a few years now...it's a fantastic vocal mic, but I think the above critique is completely accurate. It can be just a little top heavy on some voices, but that's why I've got other mics. No one mic is perfect for everything. The MA-200 is frickin' *magical* on acoustic guitar and as a drum OH.

Frank
 
Roush, please excuse the delay...

My understanding is that the U87 is well known to work well on pretty much ANY vocalist-
if the AE is up to the task.

FWIW some "other" choices that could do the same for you are the 'umble SM57 (or 58),
and the SM7 (its big brother).

Chris

P.S. At a party recently I met an AE who was recording Paul Rodgers (Free/Bad Co.), and
he confirmed that the SM57 still won shoot-outs over uber-LDC's for Paul's vocals.
 
chessparov said:
Roush, please excuse the delay...

My understanding is that the U87 is well known to work well on pretty much ANY vocalist-
if the AE is up to the task.

FWIW some "other" choices that could do the same for you are the 'umble SM57 (or 58),
and the SM7 (its big brother).

Chris

P.S. At a party recently I met an AE who was recording Paul Rodgers (Free/Bad Co.), and
he confirmed that the SM57 still won shoot-outs over uber-LDC's for Paul's vocals.
Click to expand...


Thanks very much for all of the advice.. I have decided to get a U87. I've had the sm7 and sm57 on my list as well, I will at least be picking up a couple 57's also. Thanks to everyone who provided feedback.. I'll let you all know how it turns out!
 
Thanks, all the best with the U87. IMHO it's a fine vocal microphone.

BTW the MA-200 is reputed to quite U67ish in tone.

Chris
 
chessparov said:
Thanks, all the best with the U87. IMHO it's a fine vocal microphone.

BTW the MA-200 is reputed to quite U67ish in tone.

Chris
Click to expand...

I've heard that quite a bit about the MA sounding much like the 67.. I have to say the MA is an impressive mic.. it really makes life much easier for me in the mix and eliminates a lot of the old more extreme eq curves I used to use on vocalists. I would highly recommend this mic to anyone, it's probably a steal at less than $1000.. props to Royer.
 
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