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Originally Posted by JJAM  I'm afraid that I often don't get the chain threads that pop up. What makes a certain singer's vocal sound so good is...their voice. I've recorded great singers with crap mics and they still sound good. I've recorded really bad singers with great mics and they still sound dreadful. |
There are some very very good congers who sound absolutely rubbish though certain mics as they rob them of that essential character other mics pick up.
Sinatra had a tremendous voice but lets get it right, many of today's rock singers would have sounded well strange through a 1950s radio set. His voice was, perfectly suited to the media of the day.
it's always made me quietly laugh when a guitarist is allowed to spend umpteen hours getting the sound just right, then when the vocals are up for a take, the engineer just slaps a U87 up and expects that to be right and if it's not it's the singers fault.
Some mics are made for certain voices, not that they were intended that way, they just do. I've found, over the years that, the U47FET gives far more of a workable presence, with higher pitched voices, than a U87, which, to my ears, tips into bark rather than bite with those sort of voices.
Same with compressors, the LA2a, on my voice, makes it sound too polite, the LA£A, adds bite but tips into top end sibilance at times, the 1176 gives it shove. bite and presence without it sounding artificial.
Voices are even more individual than guitars, but, for some reason, they tend to be lumped together. Yeah EVH would sound great on a plank with 6 rubber bands, but he don;t record with one, does he?
Just because a mic cost a fortune, doesn't mean it's the right one for any particular voice, no matter how good, technically, a singer they are.