MXL V67 vs. crappy Shure SM48?

  • Thread starter Thread starter bradsucks
  • Start date Start date
SteveE9C6 said:
Well geez! Why didn't you just get the other color then? ;)
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Well, my defense is that it looked cool in the pictures. I only realized once I got it home how not awesome it looked. I decided returning it over my issues with its appearance would be a bit silly. The people at the music store already tease me for so much, I don't want to add microphone vanity to the list.

"I'd like to return this microphone because it's ugly."
"You're not exactly all that either, you know."
"*runs out of the room crying*"
 
Middleman said:
Could be your preamps. They respond differently with different mics. I use an NTK and a V67 through a Voicemaster Pro. The V67 wins everytime. Switch both mics over to my DMP3 and the NTK wins everytime.

Could be the Shure just matches better with the Mackie.
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I'm way off topic here Middleman, but what differences are there between the Voicemaster Pro and the DMP3 as far as preamps are concerned? Is one better than the other, or are they just different?
Thanks.
 
Brad, my understanding is that an SM48 is almost the same as the
SM58, however, it doesn't quite match capsule design tolerances
quite as well. A SM57 will sound clearer than either of them due
to the lack of a "basket"/foam pop filter. There is a $10 or so foam
add-on from Shure for the '57 to use it for live use.

There's a slew of pictures over the last 30 or so years of singers
with this set-up if you check out group or solo shots, including
CSN&Y.

Chris
 
Compare and Contrast the DMP3 and the Focusrite Voicemaster Pro? I'd love to.

DMP3 - Clean to slightly warm sound, very cool looking meters, transient response is good but occasionally wild on the high end. When I want sounds that are clean and accurate I go to this device. $179 most places. Downside, occasionally harsh with neutral sounding mics.

VM Pro - Clean to fat sounding, has that pro sound, fills out the voice and has a nice musical quality. Sounds more expensive than it is. As good as the RNP in my book. Excellent on ballad and voice centered songs. Transient response is smooth across the spectrum. Downside, if the mic is too warm i.e. tube mics, the sound can get too fat if the gain is set too high. $550

VM Pro is my gold channel for voice and bass. DMP3 seems to work better for background vocals and layered vocals.

VM Pro also has alot of other features such as compression, EQ, tube saturation, de-esser, expander, latency mixing for monitoring.
 
SteveE9C6 said:
I, and some folks with impeccable ears (look for Harvey Gerst) find the V67 to be a very nice vocal mic. I don't think it is overrated at all. It works quite well and has a place in my studio. I used this mic last week for a female duo and it produced superb results. I am doing another female vocalist session tonight and will probably use this or the V69Tube. Your preamp can make a big difference in the sound you achieve as well as the recording medium you are using. The sm57 has been used in the studio in the past by some pretty heavy hitters with good results. I suspect this will really date me, but I seem to recall that the lead singer, Paul Rodgers, from "Bad Company" ( a seventies rock act) use to use a 57 on his album tracks with sterling results. The 57 is a dependable, multi-use mic which I use in the studio for micing instruments and live for micing amps. Microphones are flavored, sorta like ice cream... some folks just don't like a particular flavor, while other rave about it. Different flavors are good! The best of luck with your recordings.
God Bless,
Steve Stallings
Brazos Audio
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Got my V67G yesterday,
I haven't gotten real deep with it yet because I was tweeking some digital stuff,, but I did unplug the ADK51 that I last used and had my partner clown on it for a minute,, and I was like Damn,, Huge difference !!
Those Vox were strong, It's should work really well with Hip hop and R&B. I think I will order a Studio Projects next. I need one for female vox now,, just to get more flexibility out of my mic library.

It seems well worth the $150.00,, Aluminum case, shockmount and Pop filter. I love the little shiny case.

Thanks Harvey for your reviews on this mic.

Malcolm
 
To come back to the original topic, the choice of mic not only depends on the voice but also on the song and arrangement. I mostly use a chinese T.bone (=Superlux, Tenlux) tube LD on my own voice, but sometimes the SP B1 is better, especially on louder tracks. The other day I recorded scratch vocals using my (cheapo) Beyer M300, because it's such a convenient mic. When I did a rough mix I was surprised at the sound quality. I did use some EQ, but not much. The tracks really sounded killer. I suppose I'd use it more often if mine didn't have an issue with handling noises. Sometimes that cheap dynamic is just the perfect mic.

But it's also true what others said: singing into a studio condenser mic takes a different technique than singing into a Shure SM58 and the like. Which is why some well known singers such as Bono or Björk prefer a hand held dynamic: their performance is better when they use what they always use on stage. And when it comes to sound vs. performance you will always prefer a good vocal performance over a well recorded so-so performance. Yet, provided you have a decent pre, many dynamics sound surprisingly good.
 
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