Yes, another VOCAL MIC thread...

  • Thread starter Thread starter Myriad_Rocker
  • Start date Start date
"Something that sounds good on nearly everyone that is in front of it....assuming the person can sing."


Let's see. FWIW, of your listed mics I've a couple 4050s and a U87 (not ai). I also have a couple Gefells - an M71,a M582h and MT71s, a GT MD1a and MD3, an AEA R84, a couple Beyer M500s, and a couple Beyer M834s. All ostensibly vocal recording mics of some repute.

However, the mic I have that sounds good on nearly eveyone is my Shure SM7.

While the others may sound better on a given voice, none of them seem to sound consistently good on as many different voices as the SM7. The RE-20 does come closest.
 
pohaku said:
"Something that sounds good on nearly everyone that is in front of it....assuming the person can sing."


Let's see. FWIW, of your listed mics I've a couple 4050s and a U87 (not ai). I also have a couple Gefells - an M71,a M582h and MT71s, a GT MD1a and MD3, an AEA R84, a couple Beyer M500s, and a couple Beyer M834s. All ostensibly vocal recording mics of some repute.

However, the mic I have that sounds good on nearly eveyone is my Shure SM7.

While the others may sound better on a given voice, none of them seem to sound consistently good on as many different voices as the SM7. The RE-20 does come closest.
Click to expand...
Well, my results on that mic are in my post.
 
billisa said:
By all accounts, you're right. And if you weren't, you'd probably want to dump the vocalist.
Click to expand...
Because the microphone didn't do him justice? If we did that every time just because the vocalist didn't sound good on an SM7, we wouldn't have a lot of great singers out there.
 
somewhere along the way the sm7 seems to have gone from the mic that sounds acceptable to good on nearly everyone to being the greatest vocal microphone ever invented. :rolleyes:
geez, all those neumann u-47/67, telefunken 251, akg c-12 owners out there must feel pretty foolish.
 
The 251, the U67, and the C12 sound fabulous on some voices, but not all voices. The U47 also sounds fantastic - for some voices. But all these mics are very expensive, usually $5,000 plus.

The SM7 has long been known (and used) as a mic to try when the above mics weren't right for the singers or the song. It was most common in Nashville and L.A., but the pros have always gone to it when it was the best choice.

There's less snobbery among engineers than most people imagine when it comes to choice of equipment for vocalists.
 
Harvey Gerst said:
The 251, the U67, and the C12 sound fabulous on some voices, but not all voices. The U47 also sounds fantastic - for some voices. But all these mics are very expensive, usually $5,000 plus.

The SM7 has long been known (and used) as a mic to try when the above mics weren't right for the singers or the song. It was most common in Nashville and L.A., but the pros have always gone to it when it was the best choice.

There's less snobbery among engineers than most people imagine when it comes to choice of equipment for vocalists.
Click to expand...
Harvey, if that's in response to my post, I certainly get it and that's not what I was trying to get across. I know that they're great mics that work when others don't, as will SM-57/58's, Sennheiser 421/441's, EV RE-20's and others-- all of which have been used for lead vocals on many famous albums. I also understand fully that they will sometimes be better choices than far more expensive mics. My point is that they are not the end all be all perfect choice in every situation, which some people make them out to be. There will be few times when an SM-7 won't work and conversely there may be few times when a more esoteric and expensive mic will fit the source, but I would think (based on my experience with more expensive mics-- though I have never used a U-47) there will be times when a more esoteric mic, like a U-47 will sound markedly better than an SM-7 on that source.
 
Myriad_Rocker said:
Because the microphone didn't do him justice? If we did that every time just because the vocalist didn't sound good on an SM7, we wouldn't have a lot of great singers out there.
Click to expand...

The last major studio I recorded in for broadcast had an SM7 permanently mounted in the main vocal booth because it was so versatile on an enormous range of voices.

But let's assume that the SM7b is totally unsuited to the vocalist currently in question.

Just assuming that to be true, how in the world can anyone say what then would be suitable given that, to my knowledge, no one on this forum has heard this most challenging voice that's at the center of this discussion?

How can people possibly know what to suggest with a level of precision worth investing good money on?
 
billisa said:
The last major studio I recorded in for broadcast had an SM7 permanently mounted in the main vocal booth because it was so versatile on an enormous range of voices.
Click to expand...
Was it a studio room dedicated to broadcast and voiceover work?
That seems kind of odd otherwise.
 
billisa said:
Just assuming that to be true, how in the world can anyone say what then would be suitable given that, to my knowledge, no one on this forum has heard this most challenging voice that's at the center of this discussion?

How can people possibly know what to suggest with a level of precision worth investing good money on?
Click to expand...
I thought I had posted this in this thread. But that was another thread now that I think about it. Here's the vocalist in question: http://www.myspace.com/blackleafclover
 
Harvey Gerst said:
I"m not hearing any problem on "Haven" or "Step Aside". On the other songs, I might try an MXL V69 or an MXL 960, and bring the vocals a little more forward. Were all the songs recorded using the same mic?
Click to expand...
Those songs have been recorded for a while. I didn't record them. U87ai on all of them. I can't afford one of those.

I have it narrowed down to a Pearlman TM-2, a used Soundelux U195, or a used TLM 49. I'm leaning toward the TM-2 or TLM 49, though.
 
Myriad_Rocker said:
Those songs have been recorded for a while. I didn't record them. U87ai on all of them. I can't afford one of those.

I have it narrowed down to a Pearlman TM-2, a used Soundelux U195, or a used TLM 49. I'm leaning toward the TM-2 or TLM 49, though.
Click to expand...
He sounds a lot like Matt Slider of "The Feds". You can hear their stuff at:

http://www.myspace.com/thefeds

We used MXL's (V69, 990, 992) on Matt's vocals and they came out pretty well.
 
Harvey Gerst said:
He sounds a lot like Matt Slider of "The Feds". You can hear their stuff at:

http://www.myspace.com/thefeds

We used MXL's (V69, 990, 992) on Matt's vocals and they came out pretty well.
Click to expand...
Funny thing...I've seen the Feds several times live. Haha....They're friends with another band who I know...Upside. They actually just broke up, though.

On topic, though...IMHO, they're pretty different. Somewhat similar vocal style, maybe...but overall, different.
 
kojdogg said:
Was it a studio room dedicated to broadcast and voiceover work?
That seems kind of odd otherwise.
Click to expand...

YES!! It was heavily used for voiceover, although it came into play for other uses as well.
 
Myriad_Rocker said:
Funny thing...I've seen the Feds several times live. Haha....They're friends with another band who I know...Upside. They actually just broke up, though.

On topic, though...IMHO, they're pretty different. Somewhat similar vocal style, maybe...but overall, different.
Click to expand...
I was sorry to see Upside break up. A lot of Upside's friends have recorded with us.

Yes, I was simply pointing out that the lead singers vocal styles were similar, and this is what we used.
 
Harvey Gerst said:
I was sorry to see Upside break up. A lot of Upside's friends have recorded with us.

Yes, I was simply pointing out that the lead singers vocal styles were similar, and this is what we used.
Click to expand...
Well, I've been the MXL route and I didn't really care for the mics, to be honest. They just sounded odd to me. Funky high end. They didn't seem to have a lot of body.
 
billisa said:
I would think the Shure SM7b does most of what you want already, no?

As an aside, what's your view of the Cascade Fathead, especially on vocals?
Click to expand...

what does the SM7 not do for you? Are you just looking to spend some dough?

The AKG414 is fav of mine (after the SM7)
 
I'll second the MXL's being kinda funky. My problem wasn't that they sound bad, I just found them to be inconsistent. Pick up three 990's, and you'll have three different sounds (though all with a little unnatural high end bump).

I'll third the 414 as my fave mic. It's extremely versatile, and sounds really good on a wide variety of voices.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top