PLEASE, I beg of you, no lectures and/or instruction about the importance of having a properly treated room/booth.
What do you consider the best mic for male vocals to use in a room that has acoustic/sound-proof treatment that could only be described as make-shift, sub-par, rig-job, or total SHITE?
Best Vocal Mic for a Poorly Treated Room: Best Room Rejection!!
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- KVRist
- 168 posts since 6 Jun, 2017 from Germany
Try a dynamic mic, like the Shure SM7B. This one needs a lot of gain though.
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Constructed Identity Constructed Identity https://www.kvraudio.com/forum/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=288890 - KVRian
- 1347 posts since 29 Sep, 2012 from Minnesota
I use a Shure 565sd for a few reasons-
With a dynamic mic you need to provide your own power with your voice and that is a good thing because phantom power/amplification will only highlight your room’s inadequacies. Getting a large diaphragm vocal mic is actually a bad idea in a poor space because of their sensitivity to the nuances ie. reverb. Proximity effect is your friend. The closer you are to the mic, the less percentage of reflections will be picked up.
It may be counterintuitive that a cheaper mic is better, but it is in these cases and think about it- stage mics were designed for poor acoustics.
With a dynamic mic you need to provide your own power with your voice and that is a good thing because phantom power/amplification will only highlight your room’s inadequacies. Getting a large diaphragm vocal mic is actually a bad idea in a poor space because of their sensitivity to the nuances ie. reverb. Proximity effect is your friend. The closer you are to the mic, the less percentage of reflections will be picked up.
It may be counterintuitive that a cheaper mic is better, but it is in these cases and think about it- stage mics were designed for poor acoustics.
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- KVRian
- Topic Starter
- 1095 posts since 12 Jan, 2011
Where'd I put my old SM58? I think I used it to build an addition on my house. LOL! I hear what you're saying Constructed ID . . . shoot me some more ideas!!!
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- KVRAF
- 12242 posts since 7 Sep, 2006 from Roseville, CA
+1 for SM7B. I use mine with a Fethead to boost the gain and an Aston Halo to minimize room coloration.
Dynamic mics generally do a good job of rejecting (or not picking up) background noise, especially compared to condenser mics. My condensers (e.g., AKG C414, Mojave MA-200) pick up almost every detail, including the ticking of the wall clock, any sound coming out of the vents if the furnace or A/C is running, my wife is watching TV in the living room (even with the studio door closed). It's easy enough to gate it out and the SNR is low enough that it's masked by the vocals I'm recording, but they definitely are not as good at rejecting background noise as my SM7B.
Dynamic mics generally do a good job of rejecting (or not picking up) background noise, especially compared to condenser mics. My condensers (e.g., AKG C414, Mojave MA-200) pick up almost every detail, including the ticking of the wall clock, any sound coming out of the vents if the furnace or A/C is running, my wife is watching TV in the living room (even with the studio door closed). It's easy enough to gate it out and the SNR is low enough that it's masked by the vocals I'm recording, but they definitely are not as good at rejecting background noise as my SM7B.
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Constructed Identity Constructed Identity https://www.kvraudio.com/forum/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=288890
- KVRian
- 1347 posts since 29 Sep, 2012 from Minnesota
Hypercartoid is a mic pickup pattern that is only in front of the mic and is the best for blocking out unwanted noise. Although in a reasonably quiet room it doesn’t make a real difference. I sold my sm58 because it wasn’t sensitive enough - I don’t want to always yell. I read that experienced vocalists will self-modulate volume by moving further away during louder passages to keep the output consistent. I haven’t mastered this technique myself. I mostly just vocode.
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- KVRAF
- 13140 posts since 7 May, 2006 from Southern California
When I want condenser mic sensitivity without picking up as much background noise I often use a passive ribbon mic, like my Se VR1. You'll want to use a shockmount, if you will be standing in front of it, because it will still pick up vibrations through the mic stand. But it's figure-8 pickup pattern will reject sound from the sides.
I've also used shotgun mics and hypercardioid mics in situations where I didn't have control over background noise or early reflections. In those cases, you have to be pretty good at staying in the same position in front of the mic. Because these kinds of mics are designed to reject off-axis sound sources, if you move side to side in front of the mic, it will change the volume and the frequency response.
I've also used shotgun mics and hypercardioid mics in situations where I didn't have control over background noise or early reflections. In those cases, you have to be pretty good at staying in the same position in front of the mic. Because these kinds of mics are designed to reject off-axis sound sources, if you move side to side in front of the mic, it will change the volume and the frequency response.