Justin Ulysses Morse
November 14th 03, 08:40 AM
I've mentioned before that I think the MXL V57M is a surprisingly great
microphone for such a silly little price, but that I never end up using
it because something else in my collection always beats it.
I had some friends over the other night to try out a bunch of
microphones for their female singer. They were trying to decide what
to buy for making demos in their basement. It only took about an hour,
so they paid me in beer and pizza. Those of you trying to make similar
decisions should take a similar approach. An hour in a local studio
could save you a bundle in purchasing mistakes.
They had recently bought a pair of Oktava MC-012s for $100 at Guitar
Center, and they're very happy with them. They brought one over to use
for comparison since they knew what she sounded like through it. They
planned on using them for other things and buying something else for
her vocals, but in the meantime they had used one of these on her voice
a few times so they were familiar with it.
I put up a bunch of different microphones to see what we all liked on
her voice. I started with an RCA BK-5B, a Beyer M500, an EV RE20,
Neumann U89, my custom modified Thiele M1, and their Oktava MC-012.
They weren't all going through the same preamps, we used a Great River
MP-2NV on the ribbons, some APIs on the LDCs, and 7th Circle N72s on
the RE20 and the MC012. Not entirely scientific. Once I got the gains
matched across all of them, I had her sing a single song into each
microphone (with the others muted, of course). Though I generally
prefer ribbons on vocals, we all agreed neither the RCA nor the M500
worked on this particularly lush female voice. She really could sing
and had a great voice. The Thiele sounded pretty good on her. It has
a very hyped upper midrange. It sounds like what I suppose a U47
sounds like, though certainly different. Her voice didn't mind the
hype, but didn't really need it either. We all agreed that the RE20,
the U89, and the MC012 sounded the best. So I took down the ribbon
mikes and put up a Sennheiser MD421 and an MXL V57M. The 421 failed
pretty quickly. It sounded like she was singing through a PA vocal
microphone. It had that "SM57" quality (with different tonal emphasis,
of course) that I like on some voices but sounded cheap on her. But
the V57M sounded great. It didn't sound as wide and clear as the
Neumann, but it sounded more smooth and it sounded natural. I
personally felt that the RE20 was the winner, and if I were recording
them I would have used it on her voice. But theyliked the V57M. Maybe
it was the price tags talking. They got up and ordered a couple of
V57M's from Musician's Friend for $49 apiece. I think I convinced them
they should eventually buy an RE20 as well, and probably an MD421 as
well to go with their V57Ms, MC012s, and SM57. But I'm amazed at what
a useful collection of 5 microphones they already have for a total of
$280. There's an overwhelming pile of crap available through mailorder
nowadays, but it's getting to be some very good, very inexpensive crap.
ulysses
microphone for such a silly little price, but that I never end up using
it because something else in my collection always beats it.
I had some friends over the other night to try out a bunch of
microphones for their female singer. They were trying to decide what
to buy for making demos in their basement. It only took about an hour,
so they paid me in beer and pizza. Those of you trying to make similar
decisions should take a similar approach. An hour in a local studio
could save you a bundle in purchasing mistakes.
They had recently bought a pair of Oktava MC-012s for $100 at Guitar
Center, and they're very happy with them. They brought one over to use
for comparison since they knew what she sounded like through it. They
planned on using them for other things and buying something else for
her vocals, but in the meantime they had used one of these on her voice
a few times so they were familiar with it.
I put up a bunch of different microphones to see what we all liked on
her voice. I started with an RCA BK-5B, a Beyer M500, an EV RE20,
Neumann U89, my custom modified Thiele M1, and their Oktava MC-012.
They weren't all going through the same preamps, we used a Great River
MP-2NV on the ribbons, some APIs on the LDCs, and 7th Circle N72s on
the RE20 and the MC012. Not entirely scientific. Once I got the gains
matched across all of them, I had her sing a single song into each
microphone (with the others muted, of course). Though I generally
prefer ribbons on vocals, we all agreed neither the RCA nor the M500
worked on this particularly lush female voice. She really could sing
and had a great voice. The Thiele sounded pretty good on her. It has
a very hyped upper midrange. It sounds like what I suppose a U47
sounds like, though certainly different. Her voice didn't mind the
hype, but didn't really need it either. We all agreed that the RE20,
the U89, and the MC012 sounded the best. So I took down the ribbon
mikes and put up a Sennheiser MD421 and an MXL V57M. The 421 failed
pretty quickly. It sounded like she was singing through a PA vocal
microphone. It had that "SM57" quality (with different tonal emphasis,
of course) that I like on some voices but sounded cheap on her. But
the V57M sounded great. It didn't sound as wide and clear as the
Neumann, but it sounded more smooth and it sounded natural. I
personally felt that the RE20 was the winner, and if I were recording
them I would have used it on her voice. But theyliked the V57M. Maybe
it was the price tags talking. They got up and ordered a couple of
V57M's from Musician's Friend for $49 apiece. I think I convinced them
they should eventually buy an RE20 as well, and probably an MD421 as
well to go with their V57Ms, MC012s, and SM57. But I'm amazed at what
a useful collection of 5 microphones they already have for a total of
$280. There's an overwhelming pile of crap available through mailorder
nowadays, but it's getting to be some very good, very inexpensive crap.
ulysses