TELL US about YOUR MICROPHONE

Thomas C. Gass · Posted: Wed Jan 10, 2007, 22:05 (GMT) Post subject:

I know...

I told a friend of mine, who owns one of the mayor studios in town, about the NT-2. He didn't know it but was interested in, so I took my NT-2 to his studio and we made a "blind test": He mounted about 12 different mics on stands and I went from mic to mic to speak exactly the same sentences. He then had all his sound engineers listen to the recordings and guess what: bingo, 4 out of 5 choose the NT-2 on place one!

Thomas

Robert Jadah · Posted: Thu Jan 11, 2007, 18:28 (GMT) Post subject: My friend Mike

Gang and gangsters:
Now, you guys are talking way over my boom here.
In 15 years, I've never noticed what mics I've mumbled into.
Even tech-thicks like me, however, notice that nobody here has mentioned my dear old Audio-Technica ...now what's it say here?....AT3035 Cardioid Capacitor.
To me, it picks up those nice low growly tones I love to wallow in and does a sound sound job.
Is my tech dimness costing me a better sound? Am I working the adult world with a Fisher-Price?
Thanks for your knowledge and recommendations...
Robert Jadah

Joe Whistler · Posted: Thu Jan 11, 2007, 19:35 (GMT) Post subject:

If it works for you, and nobody's been complaining, then I'd say it's a GREAT mic!

Bill Carroll · Posted: Thu Jan 11, 2007, 20:14 (GMT) Post subject: Re: My friend Mike

Pierre Maubouche · Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2007, 11:33 (GMT) Post subject:

Over here on the other side of the pond (UK) the Neumann U87i is the norm in all the professional voiceover studios. This is also the mic I own as it suits my voice just great - another amazing mic for my voice is the U47, which is not in production anymore, a very rare and mythical mic...
Which brings me to something that hasn't been mentionned in this thread: the fact that different mics are differently suited to different voices - and different applications.
For instance, radio broadcast kills low frequency so a U89 is better suited than a U87 as its relative lack of deep oomph is irrelevant there and it has a bit more medium which is good for radio.
For instance part 2, a U87 works wonders on my voice, but might not be the best mic for a medium voice, or a female voice. And so on...
Last I worked on a Rode I found it a bit 'hollow' compared to a U87 but I'm not sure it was an NT-2 so will try this one again at my local friendly gear heaven!
I've worked on thousands (almost litteraly!) of different mics and I never found anything better for me than the U87 (appart from the U47 of course) putting aside the application issue.
But the preamp is also very important as a great mic with a crap preamp will sound worse than an OK mic with a great preamp...
Oh, the beauty of being a geek!!!

Mike Kuhlman · Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2007, 23:59 (GMT) Post subject:

I use an Audio-Technica AT-825, a stereo (X-Y) mic that I originally purchased for video production, for recording ambience and effects. But it sounds great as a mono mic as well; I just talk into one of the two X-Y mics. 30-20,000 hz frequency response, really low noise.

Bill Oxley · Posted: Mon Jan 15, 2007, 02:03 (GMT) Post subject: Mics

I use the Neumann TLM 103 with the Symetrix 528e...into a Mackie...sent to a Digital Audio Labs CDX-1 sound card inside my Sony VAIO, which records to Sony SoundForge 8.0...in a sound dead room. The equipment is so sensitive, you can listen to a hair growing, if you want to. Seriously, the 528e allows for flexibility in colorizing the voice to adapt to any audition's requirements. Great fun to use.

Mike McElwrath · Posted: Tue Jan 16, 2007, 01:48 (GMT) Post subject:

I have used old shure mics, Sennheiser 421md and EV RE 20 and RE 27. I am currently using an RE 20. I bought it off ebay with shock mount for under 400.00. I am also a big fan of the Sennheiser 421md.

Alan Bainbridge · Posted: Wed Jan 17, 2007, 11:07 (GMT) Post subject:

After a few years of using a vintage dynamic, the AKG D202, I bought a Rode NT1a last year for £110 (about $220 USD) and heard tones and characteristics in my voice I never knew were there. A great mic that didn't break the bank, though I hear that it works well for some voices but not others,

Phyllis K. Day

Nikki Saco

The Shure SM7B is what I use. It wasn't too pricey, around $300. I love it. I find it's a very true mic for my voice, and I don't get shrilly, tinny recordings when I go into higher ranges.

Phyllis, to minimize effects of plosive and sibilance, mic placement may help more or as much as changing out your mic. I had a problem with that myself and started experimenting with mic placement in the last month with much better results. I now have my mic at eye level pointed down towards my mouth. Also, I still use a pop filter, even with the excellent Shure windshield. When I record, I keep my head level; I don't tilt it up towards the mic, which would eventually cause neck strain and defeats the purpose of keeping it out of my wind stream.

I'd love to experiment with other mics, especially the Rode but as you all said, the right mic is the one that works for you. This one is delivering for my voice, and besides I just dropped some money on a new Mac Pro, so I'll have to experiment with mics some other time.

Phyllis K. Day

Nikki Saco · Posted: Thu Jan 18, 2007, 05:38 (GMT) Post subject:

The Shure SM7B is a dynamic mic and doesn't need phantom power. I still use a preamp because it's integrated in the portable mixer (Behringer UB1002FX) I use to interface with my sound card. Even if I don't have the phantom power engaged, the mixer is likely boosting the mic signal and so technically it's a preamp. The mixer goes straight to my sound card through the PC and into Adobe Audition. That's it. No frills. I'm not saying other components won't improve the product, but this has worked for me. I would definitely try the least costly studio set up first.

And frankly, there's a practical reason I don't like to use a lot of hardware to produce the sound; I do get contacted weeks later for an additional prompt to an old project or a revision to a spot. I want to be able to produce the same sound even weeks later. The more hardware you have the more fluctuation you may get; plus it's harder to diagnose a hardware problem when you have more components.

Thank you for your kind comments. Really. I can't believe you like my headshot. I think my face comes on too strong even for voice overs. Wink