JPF Home Page Forums Musician Gear and Techniques General Technical Forum Favorite vocal microphone

I was attempting to record my own vocals the other day, and I was disappointed to find that, of my meager mic collection (which includes some condenser types), the one that gave me the best sound on my crummy voice turned out to be one of my SM57's. "Best" is, in this case, not necessarily great, so I guess I'm in the market for a new microphone. What's your favorites for vocals, and why? Nothing too expensive, now



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Later,

Pat

The Audio Technica 4033 is an industry standard and can be had for around $300. It's a good all-around vocal mic and can be used nicely on acoustic guitar, too.

There are a lot of mics out now with the chinese capsules (Studio Projects, Marshall, and Rode come to mind).

I just think you'll have a better resale value on the A/T than the other mics should you ever want to sell it. They all sound a little different, so just try it at the store before you buy it (although it's really hard to tell in the store - too many variables).

BTW, did you know that George Benson's "This Masquerade" was recorded with an SM58?

Like most things, it all depends on the voice. My own voice seems to really dislike most condensers, though at one point I did have a pretty good sound with an Audio Technica 4047. I've tried a few others, like the Rode NT2, NT3 and an AKG C1000S... but I usually came away with a fairly disagreeable vocal track.

The problem seems to be that I have a good amount of "texture" in my voice (read as rasp or junk.. ) and the more detailed the mic, the more the roughness of my voice comes to the front in a very distracting way.

I've had the most luck with an SM57-- it's a shame that I had to buy a few condensers to find that out, but at least wherever I go, the studio is bound to have my mic in the cabinet.

Apparently Peter Gabriel is in the same situation-- he tends to go with the 57 in the studio too...

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Shandy Lawson

http://www.shandylawson.com

[This message has been edited by Shandy (edited 02-03-2002).]

Yeah, I have the opposite problem - I don't have much rasp so the upper-midrange peak of the SM57 seems to give my voice more "soul". But it doesn't have enough "air" in the high end. My voice is quirky; when I've used nice condensers at other people's studios, I hear its imperfections too clearly. (sigh) It is a Holy Grail that I seek

I read that Madonna has an old, beat-up SM57 that she insists on using to record her vocals.



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Later,

Pat

I've heard that John Lennon and Bono recorded/record with 57's. I really like my Rode NT1. I find it has a larger "sweet spot" than the 4033's I've tried (the axis was less critical on flat-top guitars...watch out for that "evil axis" LOL.) For one client, I ended up using an old AKG D1000E. It even beat out my old 57.

I've got a buddy with over a dozen gold records and a few platinums who uses the older model Groove Tubes.

I did assume you wanted a mic in the "under $500 category.

I also own a Neumann TLM103 and an AGK 414B-ULS, which are in the $700-900 range. Between those two mics (which sound VERY different from each other), one will be an obvious better choice for that vocalist and song. 80-90% of the time, I end up using the Neumann.

I don't think you necessarily HAVE to spend that much on a mic to get a really good vocal recording. I've heard nothing but positive things about the Studio Projects mics which are under $500.

Another thing to consider is getting a better preamp. This can really make a difference - especially in the smoothness of the top end. Cheaper preamps can often sound "spitty" or brittle on the high end (and boomy or thin on the low end) - but that's another thread...

A 57 through a classy preamp will sound VERY good. Just some other food for thought...




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Larry

Hi Pat

You’ve got bags of good advice here, but as you can see there is no easy answer. Larry’s point about a decent pre-amp is an important one. If you don’t already possess a vocal pre-amp I would recommend exploring this avenue first, because if you get a decent one there will always be a place for it in your rack, whatever mic you use.

Just for info I use an SM58 for electric guitar and some vocals and an AKG C3000 for acoustic guitar and vocals. On the odd occasion I may use a Radio Shack PZM (what great value for money these are!). The AKG definitely gives more air and clarity. My main pre-amp is a TL AUDIO 5051.

Cheers

Nige

I'm going to suggest heading down to a pro-audio shop that has several mics all lined up so you can hear them. Mic choices are personal, so you need to try a bunch out.

I personally use the Groove Tubes MD1a, it kick major butt for the things I do. I also have a SM57 beta, but it's been a long time since I've used it for vocals.

Jody
www.jodywhitesides.com

Heya Patrick:

I have a few mics that I lean on heavily for vocals, my favorite being the good old SM58. I broke down and bought a Nady SCM1000 large diaphram mic last fall for short dough, about $180.00, and its a fine mic for vocals, as well as acoustic guitar.

I have found that sometimes placement of the mic can make worlds of difference, too. Lately Im doing this thing where I have the SCM1000 mounted high about 4 feet away, and singing direct into the 58, I like what this captures. Got to experiment, so we can get the best sound out of the gear we have! Good luck with it.

Pat

I have a very smooth buttery laid back kind of voice and the Rode NT1 does a pretty nice job for me. A real deal. I have also enjoyed the results it gave me on sax and acoustic guitar. I have recorded two female vocalists on a CAD E-200 with excellent results. One was a powerful mid range packing country crossover vocalist and the other was a very sultry jazz flavored siren. Another mic you might want to look into is the Russian made Oktava 012 condenser. I have one on order and have heard nothing but rave reviews.

My favorite mic in my collection is my RODE NTK. It's a large-diaphragm tube microphone that's silky smooth and warm, yet still crisp and clear. It's comparable to the TLM103, but has a slight edge in overall sound, in my humble opinion.
Of course, different mic's vary in sound from voice to voice. I would use my AKG C3000 on a smooth, baritone voice... but NEVER on a female voice, unless the female is gruff and low, like blues singer Koko Taylor.
No serious recording studio should have less than 5 or 6 different high-quality vocal mics to work with. You can never have too many options when it comes to vocal mics.

Buck

[This message has been edited by Buck62 (edited 02-20-2002).]

I have a $30 Mexico made SM58 copy (sort of - let's just say the screen is ball shaped...)

One of these days I might be able to afford to get a good mic like the A/T, but this will have to do for now. Surprisingly, it doesn't do a bad job!

'Course I have to use a microphone simulator, EQ, compression.... But at least these effects are built into the Roland VS so I didn't have to buy a lot of "extras".

Whew.

hobes

Hey patrick!

I have used, in the past, an sm58 to record vocals and achieved very good results! However, a friend of mine has given me permanent custody of his AKG 414c in exchange for producing the vocals on his "stuff".

Since this is the best mic I have used to date, I still have Neumman (sp) dreams, I have made the most of it. It has a nice variable pattern switch as well as a -10 & -20 db switch and a frequency switch. (I've found one setting for my voice and have not changed it in about 2 years!)

We, The Wendels, process the living bejezus out of the vocals once recorded (compression, compression, compression!) so the besthing to listen for is the clarity of the recording, can ya hear and understand all the words?, and the warmth of the sound.

Well that's about it!


Good luck with your recording!

Skip Wendel

I have an AT4033, which is a pretty nice mic, but it appears to me to have a pretty narrow sweet spot. It has been pretty difficult to do a fair evaluation since the system I have been using is digital with pretty poor resolution - everything you record sounds pretty brittle. The AT4033 has been used for loads of big time recordings and, man, it can really sound incredibly good - rich, full, present - but there are so many things that factor into the sound besides just the mic you are using. I also have a few dynamic mics including an SM57 which is pretty much a standard live music I think. I know that some terrific recordings have been made with it. I think I would like to get a Rode NTK next. Can somebody give me a ballpark figure and what those cost? thanks, BDK

The NTK is about 4 & 1/2 hundred dollars I think. I know at least one singer/songwriter here who thinks it's great. I've read some good things about the AT4033 over the years; I need to find a way to try one out, I guess.

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Later,

Pat

Ah the double edged sword of high-end gear. In the studio I use the Neumann TLM and it runs through an Avalon pre-amp. The problem is that it's really accurate. If my singing sucks it's gonna sound that way. A warmer, darker mic (RODE) can kinda obscure some of my vocal nastiness. When I'm singing well I'd rather have the Neumann because you can always EQ later for warmth or whatever. I noticed the RODE (I forget which model) was very proximity sensitive. If I moved just a tiny bit from the original position while trying to punch a section you could hear the tonal difference (i.e the punch).
At home I use the AT4033 and I'm happy with the results for $300. I have a cheap $200 mic preamp/compressor that is adequate for working mixes. The problem I have is that I use my PC and Cakewalk and all the reverb plugins I have sound like I'm in a huge plastic bucket. I demo'd one from TimeWorks and loved it. That'll be the next $200 I spend.

Frank (I admit it. I'm a gear junkie)

Well, I just got a Shure KSM 27 and it really sounds good with my voice! It also does a nice job with my acoustic guitar. The price was right---and I'm quite happy with it.

God bless,
Gina

I love the TLM103.

It's a good mic choice for someone with dynamic range. I found it very hard to find a mic that could handle my voice (mid hi's to whistle tones esp.) and finally lucked into discovering this one.

Most Neumann tube mics are good as long as the compression on the vox going to tape is right on (not too much, not too little). It's about finding the balance tho that allows the singer to explore range, power etc and not be worried about the mic blasting or being overly condensed and compressed. I like the TLM103 because I can go from whispery soft to power and it really gets the sound in it's truest form.

For live shows the Shure SM58 Wireless is my best buddy. Nothing gives me a better live sound than this mic. It is a little tricky to get the whistle tones as smooth sounding as the TLM does without pulling back and using a little more air in the delivery, but the rest of the mics I have used in the past just couldn't handle them at all.


Hve you guys heard about Antares new Microphone Modeler plug-in? It allows you to record vocals on any mic and then convert it to the same EQ as any popular mic you can think of? It's dynamite!!

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I'm Just Plain Me

[This message has been edited by rnbluvva (edited 05-05-2002).]

I have an AT4033 that I've really enjoyed using - $199 demo model. I've been running it through an Art Tube Preamp - $79 demo model. I run straight from there into my SBLive sound card and use Cool Edit Pro or N-track for recording.

The Freeverb plugin works fine with this combo, and even just the reverb built into Cool Edit has suited me well on occassion.

Mind you, I dont' really do any high end recording...just demos of my stuff.

Paul