Whats a good vocal mic?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Timmy
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The "good sounding" vocal microphones are the ones that emphasize your
strengths and minimize what needs improvement in order to get the
"sound" you want. The needs of a folk singer, for example, will be totally
different from an AC/DC tribute band. Your budget limit will tend to narrow
down the choices typically also as some microphones sell for thousands
of dollars, although many times less expensive ones can work better on
a given singer's voice and material.
Do you have a local dealer who'll let you try some microphones out so
you learn what you like on your voice? Do you want to use the same
microphone for live performance, as well as in your home studio?

Chris
 
Ditto what Chessparov said, but if your only looking at live stuff (and not recording), we could be more specific and say a Shure SM58 or (my personal favourite) a Sennheiser e845.

When you get into the studio however, these ones are not what you would want to use for a 'professional' sound.
 
Well, im looking for a mic that will stay pretty much just in the studio, and has a wide range of musical styles... Any ideas on some good mics that would work?
 
some dynamics

here are some useful mics... vocals recorded on these mics are found on very expensively produced records, and they are pretty cheap:


beyer m88
sennheiser md441
shure sm7


also they are very forgiving mics in terms of recording technique.
 
no such thing as a shockmount mic really

shockmounts are fancy ways to attach the mic to a stand. nothing inherent to the mic.

very useful however. gets rid of LF rumble and other resonances that you probably dont want.
 
Re: some dynamics

eeldip said:
here are some useful mics... vocals recorded on these mics are found on very expensively produced records, and they are pretty cheap:


beyer m88
sennheiser md441
shure sm7


also they are very forgiving mics in terms of recording technique.
Click to expand...

Were you intending to type "SM7" or "SM57"?

I'm more familiar with the latter than the former, is all.
 
Re: Re: some dynamics

Aussieladdie said:
Were you intending to type "SM7" or "SM57"?

I'm more familiar with the latter than the former, is all.
Click to expand...
I'm sure he meant SM7.
Great vocal mic!!!
I have 2 of them. :p
 
In answer to your question about the KSM 32, it's a very nice mic. It's very uncolored/flat. This makes it very good for a lot of different things, but I frankly found that it was a little boring on vocals. I prefer something with a little more color for vocals. The Rode NTK, SP C1, and the Marshall V67 are some nice color mics for vocals at reasonable prices. If you want a do it mic, though, the KSM is hard to beat.
 
Re: Re: Re: some dynamics

Michael Jones said:
I'm sure he meant SM7.
Great vocal mic!!!
I have 2 of them. :p
Click to expand...


yep. sm7. easy, so easy to record rock vocals with. much less spitty, poppy, sssessesy. full of meat with a smooth top.
 
I've been thinking about getting an SM7 for my vocals too. I have a KSM27, which I like on other people but not me. The bass response is very tight, but not particularly generous. So I've used the 27 and a 58 together and blended in a small amount of the 58 to get the growl I so desperately crave.

Anyway, my question is does anybody like the SM7 on kick drum? I don't have a kick mic, I've seen that the SM7 is used on bass cabs, so I thought maybe I could use for both.

Yes? No?
 
I would say you build a mic cabinet over time. For cheap, I would start with Marshall MXL V67B and Oktava MK319, which are basically $100 mics. I like Studio Projects C-3 a lot, and it's good for vocals and many other things as well, about $350. You haven't stated a budget, but I'm guessing you're not looking at $2000+ vocal mics. If the budget is tight, start with one of the mics above, then later, add a good dynamic, like Shure SM7B or Sennheiser 424. These are $350-$500 or so mics. Then you add a tube mic like Rode NTK, another $500 and you're good to go. It takes time and money to build a studio. Best of luck.-Richie

And Ms. hilarious, I have an SM7, but I've never tried it on kick. AKG D112 sorta just goes there, but I may have a chance to try it soon, I'll let you know. I don't like it as much for vocals as some folks, but I like it on cabs.
 
Audio-technica at-4033 if they are to be had are supposed to be great for the price. I Want one. I can say for my self I have a
at-3035 and I am very happy with it($200.00 with mount), the other lower priced ones people seem to like are the studio projects c-1 and the marshall V67. I would love to try a v67 but I was a little scared of what to expect for that price, and with my vocal tone the at-3035 charts looked very good.
 
Timmy, I have to support AT4033 also, it's a good multipurpose condenser.-Richie
 
Timmy said:
Whats a good professional sounding vocal mic?
Click to expand...

Any and all mic's that are used to make money are professional sounding vocal mic's and there are way too many pro mic's to list.
 
GregMan said:
I've had really good results with an Oktava MK219...
Click to expand...

Just so you know, most people would NOT agree that the 219 is a very good vocal mic, even compared to others in its price range. I'm not denying that it sounds good on Greg's voice, but if you're not Greg, you're taking your chances...

(And I'd even like to know from Greg what other mics he compared to the 219?)
 
Who knows, Littledog? With Oktava's past spotty record on quality control, there may be one out there as good as yours is bad. But I agree, the 319 is a better buit mic, and is worth the extra $20 or so. And some of them are very good mics.-Richie
 
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