Vocal mic around $400

  • Thread starter Thread starter Nico Zottos
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Nico Zottos

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Hey guys! I'm currently working on a project and the vocal mic I'm using has been bothering me lately. I'm using the Blue Spark and I just feel it's time for an upgrade. I am only looking to spend around $400 (trust me, i'd love to get a high price microphone but I just don't have the money and won't in the foreseeable future). I know there is a lot out there and I'm not very familiar with all the microphones so if I could have some input, it would be greatly appreciated. I'm working on folk/rock type vocals if that helps at all.

Thanks!

Nico
 
Hmmm well for $400 you could actually get a pretty nice mic if you buy used!
 
Post up a clip here of your vocals on sound cloud and that would help immensely on which microphone(s) to suggest.

A1+ with the suggestion to purchase used by Guitaristic. :thumbs up::thumbs up:
 
It is actually hearing 'your' voice that would help to give a recommendation for a mic.
 
Having a listen to the youtube clip it's a tough one. My gut instinct would be to suggest either a ribbon mic or a smoother sounding LDC, but i'd also be tempted to suggest getting the blue spark modded. The modded spark would be awesome, but, then again, more mics in a collection offers more versatility overall.

Having a quick google for mumford and sons the only pictures/stuff i can find for the vocal recording is either a U87 for some sessions and an old RCA ribbon for others. This isn't that surprising. The only big downfalls for ribbon mics are you need a decent preamp and they don't suit every voice (but, then again, no one mic does), but they do take to EQ soooooo well and they sound sooooo smooth and natural.

Anyway, that aside, i'd say have a look at;

MXL R144
sE X1R
Golden Age Project ribbons (one of them gets awesome reviews but i can't remember which one)
Avantone CK7 or CV12
Gauge ECM-87 or ECM-47
Neumann TLM102 (although you may have to look second hand to get in your price bracket)

Unfortunately as a UK based kid i have no idea of the $ conversion (apart from the Gauge stuff as they're a US brand) but i think they should be in your price bracket.
 
Jimmy...I'm not quite sure what you mean by "my" voice. The microphone is for recording the person in the video I posted, not myself.

Justsomeguy, thanks so much for the input! I will start researching the mics you listed.
 
Ah, my bad. I was in the middle of something and didn't check the vid, and misread your post.

Justsomeguy has great advice. :)
 
Second to going down the second hand route!!! Some great deals out there on ebay etc...
 
Shock said:
Second to going down the second hand route!!! Some great deals out there on ebay etc...
Click to expand...

Tomm Williams make a post every few days here in the microphone forum with *deals of the day* that he finds out there on the web for used microphones.
Some are insanely great deals at least half off or cheaper!
 
Right now I'm thinking about going with a Rodes NT2-A....thoughts?
 
Yeah, a bit 'brittle' in the upper mids for my taste, but if you like 'crispy', then go for it. :)
 
For vocals, I've had great results with the AKGc214. Don't really know what your voice sounds like, what frequencies it's lacking/has a lot of, etc.
 
AT 4047 should be a safe choice for a lot of voices. It is about $400 used in eBay.
 
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