What do you all think?

[RecordingFIEND]

Here's the scenario:

My school has a recording club which I am the president of. We might be getting some money from the school to get some new equipment and I'm pretty sure I can authorize $200 for a vocal mic (not a dime more though). The other thing is that the school only wants new stuff because they told me they don't "trust" used items (I think they're morons, but that's another story).

We need a mic that will work well with many different vocal types and styles and is fairly easy to use (can get a good sound without a whole lot of experimenting). Of the mics I put in the poll, which you do you guys think would be the best. And feel free to suggest anything else as long as it's less than or equal to $200.




Ok, apparently the poll didn't work, so here's the mics I had in mind:


Rode NT1A
Audio Technica AT3035
AKG C2000B
Studio Projects C1
CAD M179
MAudio Luna
JoeMeek JM47


P.S. I've been lurking for a while and just wanted to say that this place rocks!

 

[chessrock]

If this is going to be regularly / heavily used by students, then I think you should go for something durable and built like a tank. If it's anything you plan on having around for a while, that is. You gotta' realize kids are going to be blowing and spitting on it, horsing around, etc. Just get a couple good, durable dynamic mics. Maybe a coupla' SM-57's or something along those lines.

 

[RecordingFIEND]

We have SM57's but we need a better vocal mic. Last semester we put out a compilation cd of various artists on campus and they came out pretty well except that the vocals sounded really dull and didn't sit well in the mix. Plus this is a recording club so all the students involved are interested in recording and are likely to treat a new condenser mic like a baby.

We've been doing all we can with the SM57's and 58's that the school has lying around, we need another sound. Thank you for the advice though. Does anyone else have any input?

 

[H2oskiphil]

I think you'd be really happy with the CAD or the AT.

The C1 is a nice mic on some voices, but on others it's just OK.

The AKG is a spectacular doorstop...but I'd never record anything with it...

Not a lot of press on the Luna...I think I've seen one thread where someone got some spectacular room mic results with it.

I have no real experience with the Rode or the Meek, so I can't comment on them.

 

[Enchilada]

Check out the MXL V67g. I've had mine for a couple of weeks and it sounds great on any voice I put in front of it. Sounds best to me when its high and angled down

 

[Milkbomb]

C2000b

My C2000b does a good job on vocals, as well as pretty much anything I stick in front of it. At $199 it falls right in your range.

 

[Big Kenny]

Audio Technica, as far up the chain as you can get

 

[Markd102]

My C2000b does a good job on vocals, as well as pretty much anything I stick in front of it. At $199 it falls right in your range.

Sorry, but the C2000b is the LEAST versatile mic on that list. You'll find very few people in the know who will recommend them. But man, if it really does suit your voice, then fantastic.
But if it is your only mic and you have nothing to compare it to, then I challenge you to beg, borrow or steal something else to try. I think you'll be surprised.


I'll endorse the Audio Technica on that list.

 

[steveanthony]

What's your source of Phantom power for the mic? Will you need to also buy a power source or preamp along with the mic? If you have to purchase a preamp, too, will you have additional budget for that item or will that money come out of the mic budget?

As far as mics, I've used :
Rode NT1A - nice but it is bright.
MXL V67G - Warm

Both are excellent for the price.

And one I'm very high on, which runs about $80, the CAD Global Audio GXL2400.

 

[RecordingFIEND]

Thanks for all the input everyone.

steveanthony - as far as preamps go we have the ones in our Yamaha MG12/4 mixer and in our Digi001 (although we may be replacing it with an MBox). I was thinking of getting a DMP3 in addition, but I think the Yamaha and Digidesign preamps are enough for what we're doing. And besides, we need to save money where we can.

So so far it looks like the Audio Technica is the way to go. How does this look for the beginings of a mic closet?:

Rode NT5 small diaphram's (we got them last year)
Shure SM57's
Shure SM58's
Audio Technica ATM25 (hopefully going to buy one soon)
Audio Technica 3035 (hopefully get this soon too)

I think all these mics seem pretty versitile and durable and they all have pretty good reps.

 

[chessparov]

Cheap mixers like your Yamaha (or Mackie/Behringer/etc.) are notorious for their pre's not "loading" a Shure SM57 or SM58 properly.

Another idea is to simply use the microphones you have and get a voice channel that has a good mic pre, like the Joe Meek 3Q.
After placing the microphone well, then the EQ and compression sections can further tweak the sound if applicable.

The SM57 is somewhat clearer in tone than a SM58, and when properly placed/EQ'd it will always deliver a good quality sound commercial level sound on any singer-assuming the singer CAN sing!

And if you don't believe me, just ask a world class AE like Bob Ohlsson what he thinks about the SM57 for vocals.

If you feel the need to get another microphone, also include the Electro-Voice
RE16 in the short list. At www.adorama.com they're selling them for about $173.00 IIRC. The RE16 was used for many lead vocalists at RCA Studios,
including Elvis ("Elvis" 1968 Comeback Special), over the Telefunken 251's,
U47's, RCA 77's, etc. in their studio mic cabinet.
Dolly Parton used its fraternal twin the RE15 for her hits at RCA too.

One benefit of the RE16 is that mic placement is MUCH easier than other cardiod microphones due to EV's patented "Variable-D" feature which minimizes proximity effect. It also isn't as sensitive to the pre's in a cheap mixer or an 001.

Another excellent Electro-Voice vocal microphone is the EV 635a BTW.
It's an omni that you can "eat" up front and is very easy to use also.
Was supposedly used on some early Elvis hits, I suspect "I want you, I need you" might have been one of them.

Chris

P.S. There are a number of "refurbished" RE16's on ebay right now
for about $120.
As they are among the most robust mics ever made, they should
be a pretty safe bet vs. brand new mic IMHO.

 

[Milkbomb]

I have a blueberry as well in the studio, which does (obviously) sound a million times better on vocals. Maybe I should be more clear, I only record MY voice and acoustic/electric guitar, while occasionally recording demos for other people. My c2000b sounds good on MY voice when I want to lay something down quick at home. I know the many people don't like em.

 

[steveanthony]

Gotta go with Chessparov on the EV635a - probably the most durable, rock solid mic out there.

 

[RecordingFIEND]

Are the new focusrite preamps in the MBox any good? If they're much better than the ones in the Digi001 then I'll push to get that...we need the new plugins and software updates anyways.

 

[DJL]

Here's the scenario:

My school has a recording club which I am the president of. We might be getting some money from the school to get some new equipment and I'm pretty sure I can authorize $200 for a vocal mic (not a dime more though). The other thing is that the school only wants new stuff because they told me they don't "trust" used items (I think they're morons, but that's another story).

We need a mic that will work well with many different vocal types and styles and is fairly easy to use (can get a good sound without a whole lot of experimenting). Of the mics I put in the poll, which you do you guys think would be the best. And feel free to suggest anything else as long as it's less than or equal to $200.




Ok, apparently the poll didn't work, so here's the mics I had in mind:


Rode NT1A
Audio Technica AT3035
AKG C2000B
Studio Projects C1
CAD M179
MAudio Luna
JoeMeek JM47


P.S. I've been lurking for a while and just wanted to say that this place rocks!

IMO, you should spend the money wisely by auditioning the mics before buying.

 

[Markd102]

Are the new focusrite preamps in the MBox any good? If they're much better than the ones in the Digi001 then I'll push to get that...we need the new plugins and software updates anyways.

They are an improvement, but not a huge improvement. They're only Focusrite's low-end platinum series. So not really good enough to make an SM57 shine.
A better mic would be a bigger step up in quality.

 

[RecordingFIEND]

But this mic will be used by many different students and probably even more after I graduate. How would I audition mics for many different people? As far as I understand it, different mics sound better for different voices, so if I audition the mic and like it, there's no garantee that it will sound good on anyone elses. I was hoping to get input from the members of this board so I could find a flexible mic that would sound good on many different voices.

 

[chessparov]

Fiend, the key issue is audio engineering skill, NOT the microphone,
once you get past any issue(s) with the talent.

You could hand George Massenburg a Radio Shack "Highball" low-Z $30 vocal microphone and he'll dust any of the members here at this BBS.

If you had more of a budget by maybe selling off some mics you have,
or defraying other purchases, another excellent choice is the Electro-Voice
RE20. It has a bit more top end than the RE16, so it's somewhat easier to
"dial in" on a very wide range of vocalists (no pun intended).
BTW the RE20 was Stevie Wonder's choice in his 70's heyday FWIW.

While different microphones will sound better on a given singer,
the options I gave you will all produce high quality sound.

And you can check them out on various million+ selling recordings for yourself.
Including the SM57!

Best of luck,

Chris

 

[DJL]

But this mic will be used by many different students and probably even more after I graduate. How would I audition mics for many different people? As far as I understand it, different mics sound better for different voices, so if I audition the mic and like it, there's no garantee that it will sound good on anyone elses.

Audition the mics with your friends and etc.

I was hoping to get input from the members of this board so I could find a flexible mic that would sound good on many different voices.

Ok, then put the Shure SM-7 on your list of mics to audition.

 

[Big Kenny]

Agreed, or the SM7