Vocal Mic Recommendations

[Bob's Mods]

I'm interested in what floats yer collective boats regarding mics used for vocals only please. Sure, it's been probably been asked a zillion times and heres a zill + 1!

My experience so far is my modified CAD M177 mic works good but I used to own a Rode NT1000 that I now realize was the best (in hind sight) I ever owned. The NT1000 really captured the voice to a T. I did not like anything else I tried to record with it however. Now that my monitoring is much improved I realize how good it was at capturing vocal.

I also a own a modified CAD M9 and modded Oktava Mk-319 but they don't seem to measure up as well for vocals that is.

Please chime in on your fav vocal (only) mic and why if you got the time. Any price range should make this very interesting.

Bob

 

[baekgaard]

The NT1000 really captured the voice to a T. I did not like anything else I tried to record with it however. Now that my monitoring is much improved I realize how good it was at capturing vocal.

You're right, this has been covered a million times before. You may get a multitude of replies, but the general trend will be that "it depends on your voice" and "it depends on the price range".

But anyway, just wanted to chime in and say that maybe the NT1000 is the most overlooked Røde. It is a quite OK mic for the price. Some find it a bit harsh, but with a darkish preamp it actually shounds quite nice. I found it more tamed than the SP mics, which was a bit surprising to me -- but they are also quite OK.

Amongst Røde vocal mics the NTK and the K2 gets mentioned more often (tube mics).

Others that has a good reputation here seems to be SP B1, C1 and T3 (in 3 different price ranges). MXL V67G (and the V69 or V77 tube mics) are also recommended. So are the CAD 177 and 179. In a slightly higher price range, of course the TLM103 pops up as a strong contender. Others like the Blue mics, etc... but since I know the Røde and SP mics best, I'll refrain from too many other comments and let others chime in.


Rgds,


-- Per.

 

[chessrock]

I'm going to go way waaaayy out on a limb here and suggest a Rode NT-1000 for your purposes.

I know, it's a pretty bold suggestion and all.

 

[Teacher]

the CAD m9 works pretty well for me.

With some eqing int he mix, very well YMMV

And what did you do to Mod you M9?

 

[Bob's Mods]

Teach,

I changed the plate cap (in the mic) to a Black Gate. I changed various low voltage caps in the power supply to Black Gates. I also changed the plate coupling cap (in the mic) to an Audio Theta polypropylene cap. Additional coupling caps in the mic were changed to Black Gates and the cascaded caps removed. The op amp in the mic was changed to a B-B OPA2134. All high end stuff.
It records my amps very well, acoustic and vocals it records what I would call OK. Others might well be delighted with it as a vocal or an acoustic mic. I'm very happy with it.
For such a low cost tube mic, a few changes really perk it up.

Bob

 

[Bob's Mods]

I was wondering if anyone has tried the Groove Tubes GT-55 mic for vocals?
I think its only sold in GC.

Bob

 

[unclebeans73]

If you like Rode mics then try the NTK. It will make your vocals sit better in the mix than anything else i've tried. It has just the right combination of warmth and sparkle. Will also sound incredible on acoustic guitar.

 

[Monsoon]

Since we seem to be getting some Rode responses on this thread, what do people think of the Rode NT1A?

 

[PinkStrat]

One of the absolute BEST vocal microphones I've ever heard is the Milab LSR-2000. WOW and then some!

 

[Big Kenny]

Found the milab very noisy, MMMV

 

[stringking]

Ive found the rode k2 to be great for vocals , for my voice wich is more mid range setting the pattern a little past cardioid twoards figure 8 , that being said theres no single great mic for everyone so i wouldent take this for gospel but the thing about the k2 i like the most is being able to adjust the pattern and of all the mics i use if i had to have just one it would be that k2 . oh its also awsome for recording old tube amps and getting that classic 70's sound.

 

[revamp]

the sp b1 is really harsh, especially when you say "s" "Sh" or "t".not good at all.

 

[night'schild]

I think the question was, "what is the best vocal mic you have?" Well my fav is the Brauner Phantom C. It is amazing. I have the newly voiced version and it has charactersitics like a tube mic even though it is not. The best thing about this mic is that the quality in the signal is maintained so meticulosly I can't tell if I am listening to the person live or if I am listening to tape. The best mic I have heard on male vocals.

 

[In Tune Audio]

I am going to say thing as chessrock, if the NT1000 sounded great on your voice, get another!

I have a K2 and I like it a lot. Works well on a variety of different voices.

 

[chessrock]

Alright, kids, listen up and take notes . . .

For the newbs: Most of these mics we're talking about have these bumps in their frequency response that help a voice sound airier, more articulate, or just to cut through a dense mix. Kind of like a built-in EQ. You can get a general idea of the basic character a mic will exhibit by whether it has either a 6K bump or a 12K bump.

For guys, the 6K bump helps with articulation and cutting through a mix (particularly guitar-heavy ones), and the 12K bump helps sweeten things a bit.

For the ladies, the 6K bump isn't always necessary. On some voices, male or female, it can be quite edgy, in fact. Again, depending on the voice.

Either of these bumps can cause sibilance.

Audio Technicas and Shures all tend to have very aggressive 6K bumps (helps a voice poke through a rock mix). Rodes and most Chines condensers tend to have very aggressive 12K bumps (gives a voice a little pixie dust; good for pop/R&B).

The NT-1000 and NTK have both, interestingly enough (may help explain why some people love them while others hate them). The AKG C414, most CAD models, and some of the Chinese tube condensers have both, only much more subdued. Most of the Electrovoice models are flat all the way out (might explain why they're so versatile). BLUEs are all over the board, depending on the model.

This is why I believe that if you're going to record other people, that you should have something that falls under each category in order to cover all your bases. A really well-rounded mic arsenal will include something with the 6K bump (Shure/AT) . . . something with a 12K bump (Neumann/Rode/SP/BLUE), and hopefully something fairly flat like an Electrovoice, or mildly bumply like the AKG or CAD.

Now the reason I'm focusing mostly on the high end is because we're talking now, mostly, about Large Diaphragm vocal mics. Just about all of them, accross the board, will exhibit some amount of midrange scoop to varying degrees. And their bass response will be affected much more by their positioning and how you leverage proximity effect than any published curves.

Speaking of which . . . people who try to tell you that the published specs and the frequency plots don't mean anything are basically misinforming you. Now I mean no disrespect to these people; some of them are accomplished and knowlegable. I just think they're trying to encourage people to audition them and stressing that importance -- something I whole-heartedly agree with. But if you want to get an idea of a mic's basic character, learn to read the graphs. They can't tell you how good they'll sound, or much about their texture, but they can indicate a mic's basic character and help point you in the right direction.

 

[AGCurry]

Can't pin it down to ONE. For recording voices, favorites that I own are

AEA R84
Electrovoice RE20
Shure 330

I have a Rode NT1000. I might use it on dark male voices, but never on females.

 

[sdelsolray]

For the newbs: Most of these mics we're talking about have these bumps in their frequency response that help a voice sound airier, more articulate, or just to cut through a dense mix. Kind of like a built-in EQ. You can get a general idea of the basic character a mic will exhibit by whether it has either a 6K bump or a 12K bump.

For guys, the 6K bump helps with articulation and cutting through a mix (particularly guitar-heavy ones), and the 12K bump helps sweeten things a bit.

For the ladies, the 6K bump isn't always necessary. On some voices, male or female, it can be quite edgy, in fact. Again, depending on the voice.

Either of these bumps can cause sibilance.

Audio Technicas and Shures all tend to have very aggressive 6K bumps (helps a voice poke through a rock mix). Rodes and most Chines condensers tend to have very aggressive 12K bumps (gives a voice a little pixie dust; good for pop/R&B).

The NT-1000 and NTK have both, interestingly enough (may help explain why some people love them while others hate them). The AKG C414, most CAD models, and some of the Chinese tube condensers have both, only much more subdued. Most of the Electrovoice models are flat all the way out (might explain why they're so versatile). BLUEs are all over the board, depending on the model.

This is why I believe that if you're going to record other people, that you should have something that falls under each category in order to cover all your bases. A really well-rounded mic arsenal will include something with the 6K bump (Shure/AT) . . . something with a 12K bump (Neumann/Rode/SP/BLUE), and hopefully something fairly flat like an Electrovoice, or mildly bumply like the AKG or CAD.

Now the reason I'm focusing mostly on the high end is because we're talking now, mostly, about Large Diaphragm vocal mics. Just about all of them, accross the board, will exhibit some amount of midrange scoop to varying degrees. And their bass response will be affected much more by their positioning and how you leverage proximity effect than any published curves.

Speaking of which . . . people who try to tell you that the published specs and the frequency plots don't mean anything are basically misinforming you. Now I mean no disrespect to these people; some of them are accomplished and knowlegable. I just think they're trying to encourage people to audition them and stressing that importance -- something I whole-heartedly agree with. But if you want to get an idea of a mic's basic character, learn to read the graphs. They can't tell you how good they'll sound, or much about their texture, but they can indicate a mic's basic character and help point you in the right direction.

That's a great post Chessrock. It should be placed up with the stickies somewhere. The 6k and 12k bump discussion is particularly informative.

I have noticed that many mics do not necessarily follow the 6k/12k bump model. Take, for example, a few of the LD Neumann mics, the TLM103, TLM193, U87ai and U89i. Studying the frequency repsonse graphs published at neumannusa.com, there's a big difference between even these four mics.

 

[slobbermonster]

I like the Blue Bottle. Basicly you just pick the capsule that sounds best for the voice. b-0 and b-7 are my favorite on vox

 

[chessrock]

Yea, I probably left out another category that would be more of a smooth, flat rise from 7k on up, which is where the U-87 would fall. Obviously my categorizations are pretty general.

 

[JohnnyMan]

Thanks for that post Chessrock.

I am an "old" newbie looking to expand my mic collection and reading this type of info helps out a lot.

After reading many posts here about mics and understanding that the best way to evaluate which mic is best for me is to personally demo the mic, it is helpful to have a good understanding on where to start since there are so many mic manufactures out there, each with many different models of mics.

John