Which Vocal Mic to get?

  • Thread starter Thread starter mitchar19
  • Start date Start date
M

mitchar19

New member
If you had around 500 dollars to spend on one condensor mic, solely for vocals, which would you choose?
 
I'm assuming you have a decent mic pre.

ADK Hamburg & a Shure SM7b. I know you said condenser but since $500 is your budget you'd be close if not a little over. With those 2 mics you could cover a lot of ground. Good luck. :)
 
Depends on the voice.

On my voice, a Hamburg sounds harsh and brittle. My voice mics very well with a Lundahl-upgraded Nady RSM-2, though some of the newer ribbon designs would probably sound much better because of less mesh, less body resonance problems, etc.

I also really liked the CAD M9 (a nice two-stage tube/FET design) and the ADK Generis GT-2, though the latter is pretty dark.

You really can't ask for a great vocal mic in a generic sense. What is flattering for a bass can sound awful on a soprano. Heck, what sounds good on a baritone can sound harsh on a tenor. Each voice range has its individual character and benefts from EQ boosts in different places, and to a lesser degree, each individual voice has similar variation.
 
Big Kenny said:
Shure sm 7, you will always use it on something
Click to expand...

I was going to say the same, but mitchar19 asked for a condensor. The SM7 is a dynamic mic.

Mitchar19, if you do get an SM7b, make sure your mic pre has enough gain.
 
This may be off but have you ever tried the Antares mic modeling plugin? It really does make a difference especially for a cheap mic.
 
Is this one mic to be used to mainly record one voice (yours for instance), or is it for recording various unforseen clients?
 
@Big Kenny Don't knock it till you've tried it. When you can't afford a bunch of expensive mics, it works great in a pinch. A good preamp is excellent as well. I Have a dedicated Avalon 737sp and U87 but not everyone can afford that. I just bought a Behringer mic800 to play around with and that may be a good alternative to a bunch of mics. I tried a ksm44 with it and had good results.
 
bodaddy said:
When you can't afford a bunch of expensive mics, it works great in a pinch.
Click to expand...


I used to play around with it when I first started recording. I'm actually going to defend you on this one ... in the sense that I think it's a great thing to learn on for a beginner who doesn't know how to use EQ yet. Kind of like training wheels on a bicycle -- you'll outgrow it eventually, but in the meantime, you can sort of learn what different mics sound like.

.
 
The common response to AMM is that it doesn't do anything you can't do with EQ. True to a point, although that needs to be qualified with -sophisticated EQ, and by a seasoned veteran AE with an encyclopedic knowledge of the characteristics of the dozens of high end mics that AMM emulates. I don't think it's a crap product, it's just a bit hard to rationalize the purchase price vs spending the same money on a real mic.
 
Might look at an AT 4050. Pretty versitile mic (multi pattern) new for under $500.
I like the AT mics quite a bit my self.




F.S.
 
@Chessrock and Robert D. Thanks for the defense. I totally agree with you. I have been in this business for a long time, like I'm sure most of you have too, but I still can't EQ a crappy mic into a U87. Maybe I should take your cue and learn to huh?lol. I will work on my EQ. But your right, I do think it works great for the beginner but I think you just taught me a lesson to learn instead of growing dependant on the easy way. Thanks for the lesson and I mean that.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top