Re: What is your favorite microphone?

Lumpy <lumpy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

http://www.transom.org/tools/recording_interviewing/200508.mic_shootout.html

Three of my favorite mics were included in the shootout.

The simple SM-58s and SM-57s, and the Electrovoice RE-20.

I like 58s for starting points with fem vox.
If a chick singer has so-so dynamic control I find
I can leave it right there. If they have good control
AND they have a lot of good sounding fricatives that I want
to emphasize, I use a Beta 87A.

Male voices with good resonance I give an SM-57 to start.
If their voice is a little weak below 200Hz, I give them
a 58. The 57 has a little lower bass response point but
it becomes flat a little later than the 58. To me, that
means that if the voice is strong enough, I'd rather the
VOICE take care of the gain instead of the mic.

Really powerful singers, male or fem, I like the
Beta 87A at about 8 inches (farther than the 58s).
The condenser Beta is more sensitive than the dynamic
57s and 58s. If you've got it in you, the Beta will
pick it up. If you don't have it in you, there isn't
much benefit th the Beta, and likely some liability.

Males and fems both sound pretty good with the Beta 87A,
but a lesser trained singer that moves the mic a lot tends
to wander around the field of the mic pattern. With the
tighter pattern beta (super cardioid) that means they may
wander out of the field.

The Beta 87A was not in the shootout.

My all time favorite mic in the world, for MY voice
is the Electrovoice RE-20. It's a large capsule dynamic
with essentially NO proximity effect. It doesn't sound
good with thin sounding voices. But if you can move a lot
of air and use your chest to resonate, it is totally
like buttah. I used the poop out of RE-20s doing voice overs
and it still sounds good even with my now reduced range
as my voice has gotten older and more brittle. Chicks with
deep voices and especially those with accents (Latin, Brit,
Middle Eastern) sound absolutely boner producing through
an RE-20.

Overall, if I were to suggest a mic to anyone, any gender,
any music style, it would be a simple SM-58. You may never
need anything else, live or recorded.


Lumpy



Lumpy - I am not sure if these are as good as SM's
but I have PG57 for recording guitar cabs and PG58 for vocals.
They seem to sound much like the SM57 and SM58 but they do
not feel quite as 'solid' or heavy. They also have On/Off
switch on them (which may or may not be a good thing).
The only minor thing is that the PG57 seems to get a little
more side drift noise than the SM57 so I just make sure that
the PG57 mic is right at the speaker with no room for
lots of noise coming in from around the sides of the mic.
I guess maybe it is not quite as 'cardoid' as the SM57 (??).
Also - another nice thing is that the PG57 doesn't get any
'rumble' from mic'ing up the guitar cabs - seems like it
rejects (which is good) any vibration noise that might
come from the mini-stand it sits on (of course it is also
mounted within a soft foam rubber mount anti-vibration thing).
It also handles dynamics real well. From low volume to
super loud/gained up. It doesn't seem to have any break up
sound to it or send flubby sounding signals. I have a lot
more work to do with it and experiment a bit - I'm just starting
to use the recording equipment and I only can listen through
headphones now (the little studio monitors will be working
soon once I get proper RCA/ 1/4 inch cabling for them)

The PG58 so far seems to be nice and even when I really
try to make Sssss sounds or other sibilants(?) the mic doesn't
seem to overdo it or make it overly noticeable -
but - I have never personally
used a SM58 so I can't make any comparisons here.
The other thing is that with the PG58 you can hear a marked
difference when you move to much to the side of the mic
or move it further or closer away from you. For me it works
best when I stand in a zone so that I am about 6 inches away
from the center of the mic. I am just learning about all this
so I can say I am not the voice of experience with mics or recording.
Anyways - just wanted to share what I have learned so far about PG57 and PG58.
I am not pro singer so I can't really comment on what it sounds
like with a big vocal tonal or octave range or
dynamics (I haven't screamed into the mic or really whispered sang).
But at least they do work and so far for amateur recorder and player
they are a sweet deal. I am young and do not have as much money
right now to spend - so these "PG" series mics were a great deal to me.
.

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