Vocal mic with mid boost?

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joshw

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I love my AKG C414s, but I find myself always needing to add a decent amount of mid freqs (around 700ish hz, sometimes up to 6db) and a tiny bit of high to get the sound I want for vocals. Does anyone have any recommendations for a mic that matches this curve out of the box?

I'm guessing a dynamic would give that mid punch, but I still want the detail on the highs, and a minimum of noise. My SM57 just sounds flat on the high end, and is hissier than I want.
 
An at4033 can be very up front, though I'm thinking it's probably more pronounced in the high mids than where you'd want it to be.
 
ljmaxx said:
Listen to a Shure SM7B which has a mid boost that should do what you're looking for. Although it is a dynamic mic it works well for vox. Check it out here. http://shure.com/microphones/models/sm7.asp
Good luck.

My friend had one of these, and while the mid hump was nice and pronounced, it was comically noisy. Even through my Aphex 1100 pre, which is dead silent, the hiss on this was unbearable. It may have been a dud mic, but I'd be surprised about that coming from Shure.
 
I'd check out an SM7B that isn't your friends. I've got one and it doesn't have a hiss problem at all. I've used it with my Avalaon 737sp, Symetrix 528E, and Presonus VXP with good results. It is possible your friends SM7 has been damaged or wasn't up to par to start with.
 
joshw said:
I love my AKG C414s, but I find myself always needing to add a decent amount of mid freqs (around 700ish hz, sometimes up to 6db) and a tiny bit of high to get the sound I want for vocals. Does anyone have any recommendations for a mic that matches this curve out of the box?

I'm guessing a dynamic would give that mid punch, but I still want the detail on the highs, and a minimum of noise. My SM57 just sounds flat on the high end, and is hissier than I want.

What happens if you try getting a little closer to the C414? Playing around with the proximity effect may boost the mids a bit.
 
an at 4050 kinda has a mid kick, maby worth trying out.
 
I'm afraid that what you're looking for probably doesn't exist, exactly as you describe it.

Something that might get you in the general ballpark, though, would be the Blue Baby Bottle. You'd probably like that mic, I'm guessing.

.
 
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