Vocal mic for recording. Recommendations please.

octatonic

hotpickups said:

I might be in the market for a recording mic to in the near future so I’ll be watching this thread. One thing I won’t be doing though is buying a used one with Covid around. Just think of all the filth and bacteria in a used one of them. I’ve always thought it safer to buy new mic and only use my own. It’s the only time I’d insist on buying new  

COVID dies after a few days.
You can just clean them.

Most mics get very light use too, most of my mirophones were bought used and most of them looked as though they had hardly been used.

hotpickups

octatonic said:

hotpickups said:

I might be in the market for a recording mic to in the near future so I’ll be watching this thread. One thing I won’t be doing though is buying a used one with Covid around. Just think of all the filth and bacteria in a used one of them. I’ve always thought it safer to buy new mic and only use my own. It’s the only time I’d insist on buying new  

COVID dies after a few days.
You can just clean them.

Most mics get very light use too, most of my mirophones were bought used and most of them looked as though they had hardly been used.

How does one clean them without damaging them @octatonic ;

octatonic

This is what DPA have to say about cleaning their (very expensive) microphones:

https://www.dpamicrophones.com/mic-university/proper-mic-hygiene

Mics really don't spend a whole lot of time being sung into- even professional studios where you might have 20+ vocal mics you don't tend to use the same mic day in day out. 
And most studios have been closed for months.
The actual amount of recent use, where you could potentially have sort of infection, is really low. 
Remember Covid doesn't live indefinitely on surfaces- a few days if indoors.

If you bought a used mic and left it for 72 hours (or even a week) then the chance of catching it from the package or the mix is virtually zero.

If this isn't low enough then I'd argue that you could just as easily catch it from a new mic, if the person packaging it or delivering it has Covid.
I've bought four microphones during lockdown- I'm just been careful about how anything is introduced into the studio.

I wouldn't buy a used SM58 that has been used at a rehearsal studio of course, but mostly because I don't like SM58's.

fretmeister

I doubt covid could get into a rehearsal SM58

It would have to get past a 20 year coating of cannabis smoke and rotting kebab spit first.

No chance.

(I always took cheap enough to be disposable mic sponges with me, just to put a barrier between me and the mic grill)

fretmeister

I might try the NT-1 and see how I get on with that.

octatonic

fretmeister said:

I might try the NT-1 and see how I get on with that.

Look at the NT1 and the NT1A.
NT1A has a bit more of a modern sound, a bit brighter to the NT1.

roberty

I auditioned a bunch of mics at a local studio and ended up with a 414. It was not on my radar at all but it just happened to suit my voice. You never really know until you try. I didn't go used because if it was damaged and didn't sound right I probably wouldn't notice until it was too late to address with the seller

robinbowes

@fretmeister If you were to consider a 414, I have one I would sell. It's a lovely mic, and I'd only sell so I could buy a matched stereo pair.

I have it on here: https://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/146060/fs-akg-c-414-b-uls

As you can see, I'm in no rush to sell it

R.

John_A

fretmeister said:

I might try the NT-1 and see how I get on with that.

Cant go wrong IMO, you have to spend a load more to get any improvement, I've had mine 10 years and it's still in use today

fretmeister

John_A said:

fretmeister said:

I might try the NT-1 and see how I get on with that.

Cant go wrong IMO, you have to spend a load more to get any improvement, I've had mine 10 years and it's still in use today

If I read the specs right - it will work on 24V and 48V?

octatonic

Yes anywhere in the 24-48v range.

WiresDreamDisasters

I have a Rode NT2000a which I like quite a bit. Audix i5 is a darker+fuller sounding choice too. Not tried the SM7b myself, but they're used a lot for rock and metal.

Jalapeno

fretmeister said:

I doubt covid could get into a rehearsal SM58

It would have to get past a 20 year coating of cannabis smoke and rotting kebab spit first.

No chance.

(I always took cheap enough to be disposable mic sponges with me, just to put a barrier between me and the mic grill)

Place we used to rehearse in Watford - The Basement (pre Sanctuary) - is what convinced me to always take my own mic - the SM58s & SM57s always smelled like they'd been stored up someone's arse, and really strongly too.

Think I'd be looking for a budget Thomann TBone diaphragm, and a Rode NT1A in your position, maybe treat myself to an Oktava condensor (as well).

Cirrus

The nice thing about the SM7b is that it's got the advantages of the SM series - low handling noise, sensible plosive protection, decent off-axis rejection, sturdy design, great SPL handling - but has a much flatter frequency response and reasonable transient response. That's not to say it doesn't have a sound, I'd characterise it as controlled and not particularly big or flattering sounding, but it means it's a relatively neutral mic and will probably do a reasonable job on a lot of voices.

There are other mics for similar budgets that will probably be more flattering on your voice, but the rub is that you've got to go looking for them. And when mics have a particular character it can work both ways. So, I had an SM7b and an RE20, and prefer the RE20 for my voice because it tames some upper mid hardness in my voice when I sing loud and high, and has a bigger, softer lower midrange and a smooth low end extension that the SM7b doesn't have which takes EQ boosts nicely, and a more vintage sounding treble which sounds airy and open and again, is very kind to high shelf boosts.

But, I recorded several different singers regularly and the SM7b was a better choice over the RE20 in about 75% of situations.

Luckily, I dropped the RE20 precisely 45cm onto a carpet and that was enough to break it. 


The thing with condenser mics is that they're a lot more complicated - both electronically, and because by their nature they have more midrange resonances that need to be designed out. So a decent dynamic mic will be the best actualisation of that way of capturing sound, whereas an equivalently priced condenser will be a compromised version of that way of doing things. Those compromises might not matter, might hurt, or might even help in some situations. But you're taking a leap in the dark until you try it.

Stuckfast

Hmmmm... that's what people on Gearslutz always say about the SM7B, but I am not very convinced. I don't think it's particularly special either from the point of view of handling noise or off-axis rejection, and I don't think its frequency response is all that different from a bog-standard SM57. (Reputedly they have the same capsule.) That's not to say it's a bad mic, but I think its main attractions are (a) that it looks cool, and (b) that it's completely idiot-proof and easy to sing into.

Cirrus

Stuckfast said:

Hmmmm... that's what people on Gearslutz always say about the SM7B, but I am not very convinced. I don't think it's particularly special either from the point of view of handling noise or off-axis rejection, and I don't think its frequency response is all that different from a bog-standard SM57. (Reputedly they have the same capsule.) That's not to say it's a bad mic, but I think its main attractions are (a) that it looks cool, and (b) that it's completely idiot-proof and easy to sing into.

It's my experience of it, using it often in noisy environments where spill is a fact of life. I can't vouch for the people at the purple palace. Any time I sing with it, I hold it in my hands and have never had any handling noise.

Honestly, the idea that it's just an SM57 in a fancy case is fairly common but very unfair. The capsules share design elements, but since the diaphragm is different, they are mounted differently, and one goes into a cheap transformer while another goes into a humbucking coil and filter circuit... they are not the same.

Go and look at the respective frequency plots. Those, too, are not the same. Plus, there's the way the SM7 was originally spec'd for lower impedence inputs than is the norm in these days of high impedence interface preamps. In some cases, people aren't giving it a fair fight.


But I mean, don't get me wrong. I've already said it's often not the best option, I don't think it's the pinnacle of mic choices. And actually there are sources (guitar, and some voices) where I think an SM57 is a better choice because of its bigger mid-hump, faster high end roll off, and scrunchy transient response at high SPLs. But... at the end of the day, it's nice to have options.

fretmeister

Jalapeno said:

fretmeister said:

I doubt covid could get into a rehearsal SM58

It would have to get past a 20 year coating of cannabis smoke and rotting kebab spit first.

No chance.

(I always took cheap enough to be disposable mic sponges with me, just to put a barrier between me and the mic grill)

Place we used to rehearse in Watford - The Basement (pre Sanctuary) - is what convinced me to always take my own mic - the SM58s & SM57s always smelled like they'd been stored up someone's arse, and really strongly too.

Think I'd be looking for a budget Thomann TBone diaphragm, and a Rode NT1A in your position, maybe treat myself to an Oktava condensor (as well).

It takes a special effort to get a mic so skinky.
They do have some odd smells though.

fretmeister

After reading more and being cheap I've ordered the NT-1A

I reckon I've got a good year of getting the tracks down and vocal practice before I record final vocal takes so I'm sure it will do the job for now and possibly for the final takes too.

I need to be able to distance myself from my noisy PC more than anything.

hotpickups

Just out of interest recording mics have to be condenser mics is that correct ?

Danny1969

hotpickups said:

Just out of interest recording mics have to be condenser mics is that correct ?

No, SM7B is one of the most popular and that's a dynamic moving coil mic. There are a lot of popular condenser mic's though as these tend to have very flat frequency responses. For a male vocal though a good dynamic is fine