must have vocal mics for a commercial studio?

[postalblue]

btw, do you really think the c3000 sounds good on female voice? i've used on my own voice, and even though i'm a baritone, it kind of thins out my voice. i wonder it would do even worse to a female voice?

 

[Beezoboy]

I think it has a nice high end on it. Your C3 probably sounds a lot nicer than your C3000b mic I would think though. I haven't actually gotten to listen to a C3 yet. I have heard they are nice though. I haven't heard vocals with a 4033 yet either so I couldn't tell you about it with vocals either. I would keep the C3000b around though. It is a very versatile mic IMO. I think a couple tlm103's would do you very nice. They are a little pricey though. Get the C414 for sure. My friend picked one up used on e-bay for like $450. It sounds great. The RE20 is an awesome voiceover mic and I think it sounds great on kick too. I personally have a Peavey 520i for kick though. Kick mics aren't too expensive, so you might want to have 2 or 3. I got 2 of each ECM8000s and the 603s as well. Great overhead sound. Maybe could use them for a choir or symphony too? I agree about the 57s. Get at least 4 of them.

For vocals between the TLM 103, the C414, C3, and a couple more, you would be set IMO. Sounds like you have the drums covered too. Get the 57's so you could mic a guitar cab and for versatility. Oh yeah, and since you are a baritone, try your voice throuh an RE20 or a Sennheiser MD420. You'll probably like the results. For fun try it through that atpro25 and see how it sounds too. You don't HAVE to do vocals through an LD condenser.

With a couple more vocal mics I think you'll be set.
Good Luck!! (especially on finding that much money)

Beezoboy

 

[safarisound]

Go for the 414. Sounds great, it's multipattern, and has one hundred and one uses. By the way...sounds killer on percussion instruments like congas and bongos!

 

[trebles]

geez guys what about the new mics on the block the 797 studio projects line and the marshall line thought everyone was in love with these o well

ok so not to repeat whats already been said a few that have not been mentioned i think are

beyer m260n
beyer m88
atm 4050
atm25
crown or realistic pzm
akg c330 bt

 

[postalblue]

here's a post by harvey gerst on rec.audio.pro i just copied from another thread in this forum-

If I had to start from scratch, I'd probably go with these first:

A Marshall MXL V67G Condensor for vocals and as a room mic.
2 Marshall MXL 603S Condensors for overheads, guitars, and perc.
2 Audix TR-40 Omni Condensors for overheads, guitars, and perc.
About 4 or 5 Shure SM-57 Dynamics for snare, toms, guitars, etc.
3 or 4 Sennheiser MD 504-D or 604 Drum Mount Cardioids for toms
An AudioTechnica ATM-25 for kick
A Beyer M-201 for snare and various things
A Shure SM-7 Dynamic for an alternate main vocal mic
A Sennheiser MD 421 for floor tom and other stuff (including vocals)

Those mics would cover about 99% of anything that I normally record, and
I could get by pretty easily with just the above mics for a long time.

Then, when I had some more money, I'd add a Neumann TLM-103, some ribbon
mics, and a few more other flavors.

Harvey Gerst
Indian Trail Recording Studio
http://www.ITRstudio.com/

i'm glad to report that i do already have a similar mic collection
1 studio projects c3 (instead of the v67)
2 mxl 603s
2 behringer ecm8000 (instead of the audix tr-40)
no sm57
4 sennheiser 604
1 audio technica atpro25
1 akg d3700 (instead of the beyer m201)

so i'm very few mics away from harvey's initial setup. gives me hope.

 

[Kelly Dueck]

If you want to sell studio time, you must have the industry standard mics "that professional studios have" ie. U87, 414, sm-57, RE-20, KM184, 451, 421, D112. But that's purely a marketing thing. Also get one of those giant blue dual-tube CAD mics -- looks impressive as hell (only you'll need a small crane to keep it from tipping the mic stand over and damaging the concrete floor in your studio)

If you want to produce good sounding recordings, the list that Harvey orignally developed -- and reproduced above -- will do just fine.

I would bet that very few people in the world could pick the exact mics that were used on any three top 40 records recorded by 3 different engineers -- especially by the time they were mixed by another three different mix engineers and mastered by three different mastering engineers.

Truth is, I've heard some very good recordings on this board and I've heard major label stuff that's so compressed and harshly EQ'd that in the final analysis the mic selection was rendered meaningless anyway.

There's also something to be said for sounding original -- and that often starts with originality in mic selection.

 

[postalblue]

one of the dilemmas i'm facing is either having a small studio with a $50k investment and a $30 hourly rate or investing $100k to add another $10 to the rates. i don't really think it's worth it, and i don't think 99% percent of my clients will notice the difference in sound quality.

 

[timspong]

Can't think why no one has mentioned Blue mics, they are definately the Buzz of the industry right now.

I have a Blue Kiwi and it knocks the socks off a 414TLII

Several people have said that it sounds very close to a 70's U87.

 

[postalblue]

nobody mentioned them because we're all a bunch of cheapstakes, as chessrock remarked.