Neumann KMS 105 for Studio use?

[Andy]

Dear all,

I need a decent live vocal mic and I as well need a mic to record some
acoustic instruments (e.g. classical guitar) and vocals at home.

Now my first idea was to get two mics, a good dynamic mic for the live
purpose and a reasonably priced condenser for the studio.

However, I now stumbled across the Neumann KMS 105 in the www and now
would like to have your opinion whether this mic could fulfill both
purposes.

What do you think? Should I better spend the money on one dynamic and
one condensor mic or should I go for the KMS 105? At the moment, I have
a slight tendency for the second option.

Many thanks!

Andy

[Scott Dorsey]

Andy > wrote:
>
>I need a decent live vocal mic and I as well need a mic to record some
>acoustic instruments (e.g. classical guitar) and vocals at home.
>
>Now my first idea was to get two mics, a good dynamic mic for the live
>purpose and a reasonably priced condenser for the studio.
>
>However, I now stumbled across the Neumann KMS 105 in the www and now
>would like to have your opinion whether this mic could fulfill both
>purposes.

I use it in the studio a lot, because the very tight pattern gives me
good rejection. When folks are all performing together in the studio,
I can still get clean vocals.

The KMS105 sounds sort of like a U87 on-axis, with that pitched-up top
end. However, you don't have the freedom to move the sound source around
to get different tones like you can with the U87... get off-axis with the
KMS105 and the sound disappears.

>What do you think? Should I better spend the money on one dynamic and
>one condensor mic or should I go for the KMS 105? At the moment, I have
>a slight tendency for the second option.

That depends what you're recording and what you want it to sound like.
Because the KMS105 is a very strongly colored mike, it can be very
dramatic on some vocals, but on the other hand it can be terrible on
some voices as well. I'd tend to grab it on altos and tenors long before
I'd try it on a soprano, and the "airy" top end can exaggerate tonsil noise
on some people too.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

[Wika]

On Jan 29, 8:55 pm, Andy > wrote:
> Dear all,
>
> I need a decent live vocal mic and I as well need a mic to record some
> acoustic instruments (e.g. classical guitar) and vocals at home.

Lately I used this mic on a acoustic guitar for a of latin jazz album.
I was very surprised of the quality and presence without the
aggressively or harshness in the hight. Though I used it coupled with
a 414 and a room mic it did stand very well on its own. I really liked
the result and it is now one of my fav for this kind of job.

my 2ct.

Mike

[Thomas Bishop]

"Andy" > wrote in message
> What do you think? Should I better spend the money on one dynamic and one
> condensor mic or should I go for the KMS 105? At the moment, I have a
> slight tendency for the second option.

I have the 105 and love it for live use. It also sounds great in the studio
on vocals, guitars, anywhere you'd point a condensor. There are many
options at this price level for live/studio vocal condensors, but they are
all equally as "good" as the next. If this is a mic for yourself then I
would STRONGLY recommend going somewhere to listen to YOUR voice through
some different mics. Any high end audio store should have them and
shouldn't have a problem with you testing them out first (you are dropping
$600 on a microphone). If this is a mic for anything that walks through the
door then buy it. You can't go wrong, just "different."

Some more to think about:
Audix VX10
Audio Technica AE5400
Shure KSM9 (never tried it but it's supposed to be fantastic)
Sennheiser e865
Earthworks sr69, now the sr20 - My favorite for all-around transparent mic,
but didn't work well with my voice (but I blame myself, not the mic).

[Andy]

Thomas, Wika, Scott,

thank you all for the quick and very helpful responses! Great newsgroup,
though I have to admit that I'm not as 'pro' as me posting in
rec.audio.pro might suggest :-)

Since I will mainly use the mic for myself and my guitar (and my
bandoneon, which unfortunately I can't really play), I will follow
Thomas' advice and test it at my local music store. And I will test some
alternatives as well.
However I'm quite sure now that I will buy one good dual purpose
(live/studio) condenser instead of two seperate, cheaper priced, mics.

Thanks a lot and have a nice evening!

Andy



Thomas Bishop wrote:
> "Andy" > wrote in message
>
>>What do you think? Should I better spend the money on one dynamic and one
>>condensor mic or should I go for the KMS 105? At the moment, I have a
>>slight tendency for the second option.
>
>
> I have the 105 and love it for live use. It also sounds great in the studio
> on vocals, guitars, anywhere you'd point a condensor. There are many
> options at this price level for live/studio vocal condensors, but they are
> all equally as "good" as the next. If this is a mic for yourself then I
> would STRONGLY recommend going somewhere to listen to YOUR voice through
> some different mics. Any high end audio store should have them and
> shouldn't have a problem with you testing them out first (you are dropping
> $600 on a microphone). If this is a mic for anything that walks through the
> door then buy it. You can't go wrong, just "different."
>
> Some more to think about:
> Audix VX10
> Audio Technica AE5400
> Shure KSM9 (never tried it but it's supposed to be fantastic)
> Sennheiser e865
> Earthworks sr69, now the sr20 - My favorite for all-around transparent mic,
> but didn't work well with my voice (but I blame myself, not the mic).
>
>

[Tim Padrick]

"Andy" > wrote in message
...
> Thomas, Wika, Scott,
>
> thank you all for the quick and very helpful responses! Great newsgroup,
> though I have to admit that I'm not as 'pro' as me posting in
> rec.audio.pro might suggest :-)
>
> Since I will mainly use the mic for myself and my guitar (and my
> bandoneon, which unfortunately I can't really play), I will follow Thomas'
> advice and test it at my local music store. And I will test some
> alternatives as well.
> However I'm quite sure now that I will buy one good dual purpose
> (live/studio) condenser instead of two seperate, cheaper priced, mics.
>
> Thanks a lot and have a nice evening!
>
> Andy
>
>
>
> Thomas Bishop wrote:
>> "Andy" > wrote in message
>>
>>>What do you think? Should I better spend the money on one dynamic and one
>>>condensor mic or should I go for the KMS 105? At the moment, I have a
>>>slight tendency for the second option.
>>
>>
>> I have the 105 and love it for live use. It also sounds great in the
>> studio on vocals, guitars, anywhere you'd point a condensor. There are
>> many options at this price level for live/studio vocal condensors, but
>> they are all equally as "good" as the next. If this is a mic for
>> yourself then I would STRONGLY recommend going somewhere to listen to
>> YOUR voice through some different mics. Any high end audio store should
>> have them and shouldn't have a problem with you testing them out first
>> (you are dropping $600 on a microphone). If this is a mic for anything
>> that walks through the door then buy it. You can't go wrong, just
>> "different."
>>
>> Some more to think about:
>> Audix VX10
>> Audio Technica AE5400
>> Shure KSM9 (never tried it but it's supposed to be fantastic)
>> Sennheiser e865
>> Earthworks sr69, now the sr20 - My favorite for all-around transparent
>> mic, but didn't work well with my voice (but I blame myself, not the
>> mic).

If you don't care about handheld, the AT4050 sounds very good indeed - MUCH
better than the KMS105 and VX10 IME. I've never used an SR69, but a system
designer told me it was his favorite live vocal mic (which would indicate
success.

[Scott Dorsey]

Tim Padrick > wrote:
>If you don't care about handheld, the AT4050 sounds very good indeed - MUCH
>better than the KMS105 and VX10 IME.

Yes, but the pattern control isn't good enough for live use. I suspect
that the 4033 will give you less of a feedback problem than the 4050.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."