Pop screen overrated??

I can only go by what I hear, and what I hear is more highs in the sound. Now lets keep in mind my set up. Shure KSM 27 mic running direct into the Korg d1600 pre's. That's right, no external pre amp. I have a crap pre amp, so I chose to do without it rather than it sounding like shit for the sake of a pre amp. The d1600 pre's are also very quiet and they yielded a very clean track with little noise. But, that's making me run the trim a bit hotter. It's also pulling me in closer to the mic, but not eating it. I'd say 6-8 inches away. I had to get this recording done and could not wait until I bought a pre amp. Ultimately, I will be getting a good pre amp, which will change my whole way of tracking vocal. Then I'm sure having the pop in line will be less of an issue, in fact, I agree it may help. And the issue of getting spit in the mic is a very real concern as I don't have the bucks for a new one just like that. But, the way it sounds best now, I mean A/B'd there is truely a marked difference, is no pop in line. I'll be interested to see an analysis philboyd. By the way, this vocal is for a country tune mid tempo, not a screamer.
 
By the way sound diagnosis, make sure one of your sound sources, in fact the deciding one, is YOUR voice. Various high frequency noises would be the last thing I'd be checking. If you can't hear a difference then I think you should stick with the pop screen. I go case by case; what's going to get me an optimal sounding track and this time it was no pop. Go figure!
 
Before this thread came up there's been something bothering me in the course of the last year and the thousand or so vocal tracks I've recorded. For some reason with everything being the same in the recording chain, a vocal will come out thinner and more distant. I never considered placement or use of a pop screen as a factor, but now I think it is. Gotta look into this further.
 
Just finished making a test of three vocal passages; one with the pop screen, 2 without, and 3, way off axis with the hoop in the way. In Sound Forge I normalized them (peak @ 97%) and ran them into spectrum analysis. The graphs are pretty cool and they print out.

Bottom line? No measurable difference between one and two.

So what I get from this is that future vocal recordings will be with the pop screen but placing it very close to the mic and singing into the mic at about 15 degrees off axis.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top