Vocal mic for "thin" voice

  • Thread starter Thread starter WagTheDog
  • Start date Start date
Wade,
You mean it would take more than a U87 to "fix" his voice? ;)
 
WagTheDog said:
You mean it would take more than a U87 to "fix" his voice? ;)
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i think the phrase "pearls before swine" comes to mind there. :D

seriously, though, we tried a lot of considerably more expensive mics (senn 865, shure beta57, beta58, etc) on his voice before discovering that the $25 EV357 that the pawnshop had was the best fit. it's a classic example of "the most expensive mic is not always the right one".

of course, the best way to "fix" his vocals would be to not give him a mic in the first place. :D i have a suspicion that if we did that, though, he'd "talk to the crowd" via his green bullet through his amp, and we'd be screwed either way. :eek:

let's just say that when we multitrack record the band's practices, we run his vocals through a separate channel from the lead vocals and we occasionally suffer from the "what? oh, i'm sorry, i was soloing things and my finger must've slipped and hit mute when i un-solo'd the channel...." syndrome. ;)


cheers,
wade
 
ermghoti said:
A ribbon may be just the ticket. I have one of the chinese cheepies, and while it is not dark, and is arguably a little bright, it generates creamy, flute-like highs, not piercing or abrasive highs.
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Which model ribbon do you have?
 
Another ribbon you could try would be a Beyer M500. Designed as a ribbon mic for vocals. Works really well on some voices. Available used only (discontinued) @$250 or so on e-bay, although sometimes bargains occur (I've picked up a couple for @$130 or so).

The suggestion of a Sennheiser MD421 or MD441, or a Shure SM7 is good, although I think the M88 has more proximity effect than any of those, if that is the desired feature. The RE-20 suggestion is a good one as well - if you run accross one you might try one of the older RE-15, RE-16 or RE-18 mics. Similar design and sound, quite a bit cheaper. Less proximity effect than the M88, but you can get right on top of them for a slightly more intimate sound. The SM7 will need a pretty good preamp if you decide to check that out.

Ideally you should try any of the suggested mics out before buying since you realy won't know if any of these mics will really work for you until you try them. There are quite a few of all of the above mics around (they are all pretty common) so you may be able to try/borrow one to check it out.
 
pohaku said:
Another ribbon you could try would be a Beyer M500. Designed as a ribbon mic for vocals. Works really well on some voices.
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How's the proximity effect of the M500?
Does the M88 have more prox effect?
 
The M500 does have some proximity effect. The M88 has more. I'll try and get mine out this evening and see if I can give you a more meaningful comparison. I also picked up a Chinese double ribbon the other day and I'll throw that into the mix as well (Avant CR-14). I'd do the RE-20 as well, but mine's loaned out at the moment.
 
Brackish said:
Which model ribbon do you have?
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One of the group buy jobbies, Alctron HRM-10. I think it is the same as one of the Nadys, cyndrical, with the slotted body around the ribbon, instead of a basket.
 
ermghoti said:
One of the group buy jobbies, Alctron HRM-10. I think it is the same as one of the Nadys, cyndrical, with the slotted body around the ribbon, instead of a basket.
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Thanks, ermghoti. Do you have any idea how the
sibilance is on that ribbon?
 
WagTheDog said:
I've never used a ribbon mic.....did a search on Google.......if someone is using a ribbon and accidently flips the phantom power switch, does the mic meltdown? ;)

From my reading, sounds like the output is kinda weak....true? I will be plugging into a MOTU 828mkII.....also have a Mackie VLZ mixer if I need further gain....
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I am using one of the chinese ribbons from the last group buy on my preamp I had to change the setting from about a 7 to 8 if the dial was numbered. You definitly want to have a pop filter and perhaps an off-center placement. An accidental phantom power will not zorch the thing unless there is a short in the cable or connection, quite unlikely. Actually any figure 8 pattern will get you a lot of proximity effect. What the ribbon itself adds is a lot of smoothness.
 
Innovations said:
Actually any figure 8 pattern will get you a lot of proximity effect. What the ribbon itself adds is a lot of smoothness.
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Even the chinese ribbons are smooth?
How are they for a sibilant vocalist?
 
My wife is very sibilant, her ssss's are pretty bad, and she knows it. She has gotten a little better, but still they are there. Our shiny box 23 did help, but it didn't stop the sss's eniterly, still using a dessser plug in on her, but with far less agresive sttings then when oh say we were using an AT3035 on her. So yes not perfect, but better.
 
I record a variety of vocalists and it seems I have
more of the females who are sibilant than the
guys.
I have used a de-esser plug-in but have not
been real happy with it overall; by the time you
get the essing down, it starts hitting on the
other highs, making it kind of flat sounding.
I'm sure you probably know what I'm
talking about.
The pre-set for the de-esser is at 5000Hz I think
but when I hunt for the proper frequency
with particular vocalists I have mostly found
it in the 9000 to 10,000 range.
I listened to a couple samples of the
KEL HM-1 and that sounded like it would
help quite a bit to keep the essing in check.
 
Brackish said:
Thanks, ermghoti. Do you have any idea how the
sibilance is on that ribbon?
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I've found that any ribbon mic will help in taming sibilance.
 
A bunch of great advice, thanks! I'm researched some of these and will look into the rest.
 
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