Please Help Me Choose A Mike

D

demto

New member
Can anybody out there help, I would appreciate your advice.

My voice is 'darkish' , not as dark as Johnny Cash but probably best described as baritone.

My existing mike is an Octava MK319 which has been fully modified as per Michael Joly's recommendations. The mods have vastly improved the mike but I still find it slightly dark, rich, full. Thats the nature of this mike and is the best description I can give.

The problem is that my voice/mike combination is not the sound I am looking for and the overall sound is too dark. I can't change my voice so perhaps a change of mike would do the trick.

What I am looking for is a mike with a clean, crisp, light, open, airy sound, but not overly harsh or overly treble orientated.

My budget.... below $400 if possible!

Any help would be appreciated but PLEASE only recommend a mike if you
have actually used that mike yourself and know its characteristics.
 
I also have a low "dark" voice like you and wanted to "brighten up" my vocal. I started with the Studio Projects C-1, perfect, except a little harsh. Tried the Rode NTK, no good for my voice, tried the SE5600A, better but for the price I said no. Tried the Gefell M930, a very nice mic, but like the SE, did not enhance my voice enough, so I sold that one to. Then on a recomendation, tried a used Studio Projects T-3 I bought from someone on this board, and my search has ended. Smooth, rich and not dark.

Often times guys with lower voices like us do not do well with mic's that the majority of people like. I did a search for "dark mics", and then stayed away from them. Hope this helps.
 
CNIC tanks for your reply.

I managed to find your own post in which you ask a similar question to mine.

One of the other recommended mikes was an AT 4050 and I just wonder if you
managed to try it out in comparison with the T-3. If so I would be very interested
in what the differences were.
 
I faced much the same question and chose a MXL V93 (aka 2003). it worked but later I decided that I would rather be using the bari qualities of my voice and am now using a ribbon mostly.
 
I did not try the AT 4050, but many people like the AT mics. Once the T-3 became available at such a low price, I jumped and have not looked back.
 
demto said:
Can anybody out there help, I would appreciate your advice.

My voice is 'darkish' , not as dark as Johnny Cash but probably best described as baritone.

My existing mike is an Octava MK319 which has been fully modified as per Michael Joly's recommendations. The mods have vastly improved the mike but I still find it slightly dark, rich, full. Thats the nature of this mike and is the best description I can give.

The problem is that my voice/mike combination is not the sound I am looking for and the overall sound is too dark. I can't change my voice so perhaps a change of mike would do the trick.

What I am looking for is a mike with a clean, crisp, light, open, airy sound, but not overly harsh or overly treble orientated.

My budget.... below $400 if possible!

Any help would be appreciated but PLEASE only recommend a mike if you
have actually used that mike yourself and know its characteristics.
Click to expand...

Did you try the sE Electronics Z3300A?
It is a 3 pattern mic and fairly bright.
I too am a baritone and it works well for me.
 
demto said:
What I am looking for is a mike with a clean, crisp, light, open, airy sound, but not overly harsh or overly treble orientated.

My budget.... below $400 if possible!
Click to expand...


KSM-32 or KSM 44?
 
Hi. I didn't want to start another annoying thread but can I ask a question or two. I'm thinking of buying a Behringer C1 for recording on a Tascam 424. I know there are several editions of this recorder, but do any of them support the Behringer C1 without need of a phantom power supply?
 
Last edited:
no, without a power supply a condensor cannot work. Most require phantom power, but you could try a tube mic with your setup because they come with seperate power supplies
 
Innovations, Homestudioguy, Supercreep

Thanks for your suggestions. I will do my best to check these mics out. I think the
Shure mics will be more than I can afford [£499 and £703 here in the UK]
 
every_second_da said:
Hi. I didn't want to start another annoying thread but can I ask a question or two. I'm thinking of buying a Behringer C1 for recording on a Tascam 424. I know there are several editions of this recorder, but do any of them support the Behringer C1 without need of a phantom power supply?
Click to expand...
Hijacking someone else's thread is more annoying than starting your own thread. Asking a question is not annoying - expecially if you've already used the search function to try to find your answer.
 
Demto!
Another mic came to mind. :o
How about the CAD M9?
They run about $299 US.
Single pattern Tube LDC.
Very nice for voice and and also does a real nice job of acoustic guitar. :cool:
 
Homestudioguy

I've been away for a few days hence the delay in thanking you for you for suggesting the CAD M9.
The problem is that here in the UK the prices of mics are much higher than in the USA. For example the CAD M9 is priced at the the equivalent of $800, the SE Z3300A at $550 and so on. Unfortunately these mics are beyond my budget.

I've done a bit of research and a couple of other mics that might be suit my voice are the Audio Technica AT4050 and AT4040. I would prefer the AT4050 but at the equivalent of $800 it is also a non runner. I don't need the 3 position polar alternatives
but other characteristics of this mic do appeal to me. However, forget it!.

The AT4040 could be the answer. Most reports say its clean, slightly bright, and has an 'airy' quality to the treble. At the equivalent of $390 the price is OK but I have not
actually tried it out, and will not be able to if I order via the Internet.

If you, or anybody else reading this post has actual experience of AT4040 the AT4040 then I
would be very interested in your opinions. If you also have used the AT4050 then it
would be great to know how they compare to each other, and what the differences are.
 
Yes, I probably can try the SE Electronics mini. Its advertised as being in stock at
a store about 10 miles from me. I have it in mind to make a very, very short list of mics
that seem promising and which they have on demo and then try each of them out before deciding. Will also take my existing mic as a reference.
 
Great!
I'd really like to know what you find out about it and your personal opinion of it (sE MINI).
I am tempted to pick one up even though I have the Z3300A among others.
Best of luck in your search!

Also!
Use the forum search function here for more AT4040 info. :D
 
Will check the SE mini out, but it will probably not be for a few weeks at least. I will
email you at Mysite when I do.

Have searched forum for AT4040 but cannot get a clear, detailed opinion of it's good
and maybe not so good points. A lot of contributors say things like " a good mic" , 'sounds good' , 'OK, but I preferred mic xxxxxx' , but without actually saying WHY.
I will keep trying. In the meantime thank you very much for your help.
 
hey i too say go with the adk hamburg and if not with a $100 dollars more you can get the adk a51tc for $500 at proaudiotoys.com.....both good mics, i've heard the hamburg on male/female and it sounds beautiful and expert/owner of proaudiotoys said the hamburg is dark, so maybe its what your looking for and its less then $400...hey and one of my buddies own the at4040 and he uses it with the mbox2 and let me say it is kind of bright...hey im not being biased but i own the adk a51tc and i LOVE how it SOUNDS......gl with your choice
 
I think the main thing here is, if there is any way possible to try these mics out before you buy, it is highly recommended.
If there is a shop nearby that sells an assortment of mics whether they are within your budget or not, I'd suggest you try as many as you possibly can and write down your thoughts on all of them. When you find 4 or so that you really like, no matter the cost, A/B them with each other and write down what you really like about each.
If your favorite 2 are way out of line price-wise, see what lower cost mics have similar written comments to the most favorite mics and then A/B the low cost with the high cost and see which low cost mic comes closest to characteristics you like to the high-cost mic.
 
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