Live Vocal Mic Recommendation

[Lek]

Looking for more sensitivity/presence/cut than my sm58. I don't sound good when I sing loudly so to sing over my rock band I used to eat the mic, but my voice is naturally dark so I would come out woolly and muddy/boomy(eq helping a bit). If I backed off a bit to lower the proximity effect the vocals were not loud enough.

Overall, I always sound boomy when singing live, not nearly as good as when I record in the studio.

My Soundelux E250 works well with my voice in the studio, is there any way to get this live? The Shure beta 87 at the studio I rehearse at sounds better than an SM58 but still looking for more suggestions to get a big present/condenser like sound for live work.

[mmyohane]

Maybe AKG C535 would do the trick? It might have too much bleed for rock live recording though.

[transfiguration]

Beyerdynamic M88 - a bit dark.. .hot output. .nice bottom...not peaky present

Neumann KMS-105 - phantom powered..transparent sound

Avenson supposedly is coming out with a condenser tube mic for live vocal use in February of 2006.... MSRP of $1k..could be what your looking for?


Handheld vocal mic for live use? Alternatives to SM58

Vocal stage mic - good for live recordings

[frixion]

The Neumann KMS-105 is really nice for live-vocals, but I've seen various Live-Mixers that were even ruining the vocal sound with this mic.
Has anyone tried a Shure SM-7 as live-mic?

Phil

[Jonathan Starr]

Audio technica Artist Elite series AE5400 large diaphragm cardiod condenser handheld performance mic.

Great sounding mic; it has the same diaphragm element as the 4050. Bigger sounding than the Beta 87 and less expensive than the KM105.

Full compass might still have some demo units left from the Grammys.

[john caldwell]

A vote for the KSM105 here. Consider that you can actually use it as a cardioid sdc in the studio too.

John=

[SparkyCanada]

I use a KMS 105 on stage - sounds great!

SparkyCanada

[Jim vanBergen]

KMS 105 or 150 is wonderful. Second choices: AKG 535, Shure 87A, Audix OM7, OM10.

Other notes: Don't eat the mic, get a decent compressor and channel EQ, and make sure you have a mixer who knows how to mix.

[Sebastian]

My vote goes for the AT 5400. I sold my KMS105 when I heard the 5400 on my voice. Very clear. Before the Neumann I had a Beta 58. The 5400 is one of the best gear purchases I've made in years.

I shot out a lot of mics: KMS105, KMS 150, Beta 87, Beta 57, Beyer 88, MD431, 835, and some others that I can't remember. I never tried any of the Audix. Out of all of them I liked the 5400, even better than the 150 and 431. But see if you can demo/borrow one because voices are so idiosyncratic.

[AlexLakis]

The KMS 105 is a good choice, it is pretty transparent, but to me, it sounds a little dark...used it to mic a ride cymbal once and it was black as night.

[aussie_techie]

everone here seems to forget about the live environment. where are you playing?
unless you have control of your sound enviroment and have time to tune the system for your mics then forget everything but Shure Dynamics. Beta 57a and Beta 58a are the only way to go. they are much better than an sm58 but are still easy to control and no messing around with phantom

[Lek]

Thanks for the starters guys. I will try to shoot out as many as I can...

The live environment obviously changes- usually small clubs. I do have a little Stewart phantom power box (though it would have to be plugged in). I could always bring one of the condensers along with my sm58 or one of the betas just in case.

[Jeff16years]

i used to love my neumann 105 until i tried the shure sm86. it is a reletively new mic and sounds amazing. it is much better that a beta 87 and tons cheaper that the 105


but i agree with the above posting, if you have little control over your environment and do not have you own guy mixing that is familiar with you and your mics you should go with a sm58 or if your not happy with it, try a beta57.

[txgator]

Audix OM6 or 7

[DHD]

Hi there gp71 - I've tried a few mics out recently for live rock vocals. The Shure Sm58 or 57 just don't do justice for some people and just leave out the detail and charm in that persons voice. We settled on a Sennheiser 935. This dynamic mic sound a great deal more natural and polished than the 58 has more output and is even less prone to feedback than a 58. I'm very pleased with it and you can use it on any gig where you'd see an SM because it's less prone to feedback! Oh I'm repeating myself now!

Only from reviews in mags and advice from certain people have I learned that the flatest and least prone to feed back of the new hand held condensors mic is the new AKG. The Neumann KMS 105 is far too sensative for a rock band context as it picks up too much of the on stage environment. The Rode S1 is a cheap hand held condenser but has too much bass roll off and has some kind of peak that you might not like. I prefered the Senn 935 over it by quite a way when we did a shootout last month.

Hope this helps ya. Oh and I believe the Senn 945 has an even tighter polar pattern so this might be even better than the 935! For cheap the Senn 835 has almost as good a sound. I mention this as it was one of the mics in the shootout and came a close second. And to put a long story to bed, I'm in 2 bands and in one band the singer is using the Senn 935 and the other the 835. The sound has improved a lot in both situations.

Peace,
DHD

[blueman]

Check out the Sennheiser MD 431. It's clear and open and it's a high end live vocal mic.
Be carefull because there's several better sounding mics on live vocals than a 58, but as aussie techie says some of them are going to give you a lot more problems than a 58 in not controled environments (feedback, ...)

[Lek]

Originally Posted by DHD

The Shure Sm58 or 57 just don't do justice for some people and just leave out the detail and charm in that persons voice.

Ah, you've summarized it perfectly for me - I could replace what I said in the opening thread with this line.

I will be using this mic for both a small acoustic set (myself and another person), as well as in an entire rock band. I do not have my own mixing guy, and I'm sure this is part of the problem. Still I've definitely realized the sm58 just doesn't do justice to my voice.

All the other mics you guys recommended - anyone use them often in a rock band / loud situation with any problems? (Neumann, AT, Senn's, etc) If I have to, I'll use different mics for the acoustic and electric set.

[jajjguy]

If you're struggling with different clubs' equipment and sound and want more control, maybe bringing a small portable mic preamp to your gigs would be a help. Find an appropriate gain setting for your mic & voice and give the house a line level signal.

Instrumentalists will often bring an instrument preamp or DI to shows, why not vocalists? Anyone ever try this approach, or mix someone who has?

[SparkyCanada]

Instrumentalists will often bring an instrument preamp or DI to shows, why not vocalists? Anyone ever try this approach, or mix someone who has?

I have a road rack that I take with me from the studio.

It has my Great River pre amp in it - that I use for my live vocal...

SparkyCanada

[Pohaku]

I like the Audix VX-10 quite a bit. It is their high end performing condensor that competes with the Neumann KMS-105. The Audio Technica AE5400 is in the same ballpark (and a bit cheaper). You might want to try these three and see if any of them for it for you. For dynamics, the Audix OM-6 and OM-7 are worth trying. If you can find a used AT-4054 or 4055, they would be worth checking out. They are the previous model of the AE5400. Same capsule as the AT-4050. The 4054 is rolled off, the 4055 is not. The AE5400 has a roll off switch. The 4054 and 4055 can be had pretty cheap on E-Bay (@$150). I have a couple 4054s and they are great mics.

[krazykho]

excuse me... i heard that the neumann kms 105 is hard to mix and set the eq?
and how to set the eq for kms 105 when live?
thanks...

[bishopthomas]

Originally Posted by krazykho

and how to set the eq for kms 105 when live?

By listening.

[Remoteness]

Originally Posted by krazykho

excuse me... i heard that the neumann kms 105 is hard to mix and set the eq?
and how to set the eq for kms 105 when live?
thanks...

Hard to mix? In what respect?
I really don't find that the case.

[mmyohane]

Originally Posted by Remoteness

Hard to mix? In what respect?
I really don't find that the case.

Me neither. The KMS104 usually works without any EQ, or with very small adjustments..

---
Marko Myöhänen
Finland

[aussie_techie]

Originally Posted by krazykho

excuse me... i heard that the neumann kms 105 is hard to mix and set the eq?
and how to set the eq for kms 105 when live?
thanks...

if you have decent equipment and something is hard to mix it is because of 1 of 2 things (or maybe both)
1) you arnt using the right mics for the source (or bad positioning) or 2) the source isnt very good in the first place.

the few times ive used kms series mics they have been easy to work with and get a good sound from with little or even no eq except probably a hpf. that said in all cases there were being used because they suited the voices that were in front of them. not that i be running out to get a kms anytime soon either. its all about using the right tools for the right job.

[Velvetfreddy]

As far as I can tell, the KMS104 is cardioid and the KMS105 is supercardioid. Just wanted to see if anyone has had experience with these and compared the two.

[foxyloxy]

Originally Posted by Velvetfreddy

As far as I can tell, the KMS104 is cardioid and the KMS105 is supercardioid. Just wanted to see if anyone has had experience with these and compared the two.

Yes. Tried them as an alternative to the Shure KSM9 which was too bright for the female singer of the band I am with. (See the thread further down). The KSM9 is a great mic, and very natural sounding like the Neumann mics but just not the right one for her.
I had both the 105 and 104 to try out over the past week, and found that there was very little difference between the two. To my ears, the 104 was slightly more 'present' in the upper mids, so I'm probably going to go for the 105. The other difference is that the 104 has a foam pop shield inside the head, as opposed to a steel gauze one on the 105. I found the 105 with the 104's head worked better for me.

One thing I haven't tried yet, but will do this weekend if I get to keep the two mics for a little longer, is which one will fare better when the wedges get loud - she won't be on in-ears as we're going to Nigeria, and without our monitor engineer......

Hope this helps, so far.

Keith

[geeek]

I regularly work in live sound in addition to studio work.

I have a few 58's, but only really use them as a last resort, or on a drummer's vox.. as the off axis response is terrible.. and they never seem to cut through on critical vocals.

I use the Sennheiser e935's on all critical vox.. they need much less gain than the 58's, much more sensitive, have a great off axis response, take e.q very well and really cut through the mix.
I'm often working with pretty loud indie bands.

I've also had great experience with the neumann stage dynamics for live vox, but mainly in quieter backline jazz/solo stuff.

[anguswoodhead]

Originally Posted by Lek

Looking for more sensitivity/presence/cut than my sm58. I don't sound good when I sing loudly so to sing over my rock band I used to eat the mic, but my voice is naturally dark so I would come out woolly and muddy/boomy(eq helping a bit). If I backed off a bit to lower the proximity effect the vocals were not loud enough.

Overall, I always sound boomy when singing live, not nearly as good as when I record in the studio.

My Soundelux E250 works well with my voice in the studio, is there any way to get this live? The Shure beta 87 at the studio I rehearse at sounds better than an SM58 but still looking for more suggestions to get a big present/condenser like sound for live work.

BETA 87

[geeek]

Actually yehh I forgot.. the beta range always seem pretty nice for me..

I'm a particular fan of the beta 57a on female vox.. Beta 58 is nice and forward.. but imo prone to sibilance..

I've found this is many venue's I've worked in.. some places even have de-essers.. no joke.

Nice mics tho..

My personal choices are those e935's tho.. lovely sounding.