Live vocal mic for male singer w/sibilance

[MichaelT]

I was wondering what live vocal mic people would recommend for a male singer with a bit of sibilance. Vocal tone and style in the ballpark of John Mayer, Goo Goo Dolls, things like that.

Also, besides the mic, what deessers (preferably cheap) are live sound folk having success with?

In terms of budget for the mic, it'd be nice to hear options no higher than the $300-$350 range...less is always welcome, but I'm also willing to spend what's necessary.

The idea is basically so I can have a vocal mic to take with me to gigs and not have sibilance be a distraction, yet still retaining good clarity.

Any advice is greatly appreciated...thanks!

-Mike

[dryout]

maybe dynamics md421 re20?
Blur's/Gorillaz's Damon Albarn has pretty sharp ssss . Does anybody know his tricks?

[seaneldon]

have him get his teeth filed down for a couple hundred bucks and don't buy any more microphones.

[MichaelT]

Thanks for the suggestions so far...bump for some more opinions.

[Thumper]

What have you tried so far that isn't working out for you?

I just demod the new Shure KSM-9 at a live show. Amazing... alas, it's also quite a bit more than $300.

As far as a de-esser goes, just sidechain an eq into a compressor. Still get full bandwidth compression when you need it, but also on the 'esses'.

Audix vocal mics are cool, but they feel a little weird in the hand... Try out an OM-6.

[carival]

some people have pretty good luck with a sure sm58.

[shanabit]

Sennheiser e835 is a good dynamic mic that will have less feedback
issues than the Sure SM58. Its not a sibilant mic at all.
i do all my scratch tracks with it.

[Arsene]

Originally Posted by MichaelT

Vocal tone and style in the ballpark of John Mayer, Goo Goo Dolls, things like that.


-Mike

John Mayer just used a Neumann u47 on his latest album.

[Thumper]

Originally Posted by Arsene

John Mayer just used a Neumann u47 on his latest album.

Who the fvck cares?!?!? This isn't a thread about fvcking studio vocal mics!!! LIVE VOCALS MICS IS THE QUESTION!!!

I would let your "addition" to this thread go, but the thing is 3 fvcking months old!!! READ the shit, look at the DATE when it was last posted on!!!!

If you plan on bringing a 47 on the road for live vocals, you must have, like 13 of them, right? Cause they sure aren't the most sturdy of mics... You don't need 13 of them. You only need twelve, so send me one bitch!!!

Not only is it not 'rugged' enough for live stage use, but you're in for a BIG suprise when you open the channel up for the first time. Feedback up the arse, that's what you'll hear.

You're either ******** because you can't read what the fvcking thread is about... OR you're fvcking ******** because "the 47 is the best microphone ever!!! I even use it for live vocals!!!!"

How the hell did you find this thread anyway? Were you so bored that you read back to page 73? Get a freakin life... Or at least work on your wonderful studio tan a bit...

Do some work that doesn't involve gearslutz sometime!!!!

Damn......

So with this old thread did you find the mic you needed, or have you gotten the singer to learn to have control yet? (serious question, not smartass...)

[shuamark]

I'm new to this forum but I've used a number of different mics ranging from Neumann to AT to sm58, 57's, beta58, and many more. My 'go to' mic is AT's ae5400. No complaints there for someone that needs a little more in the midrange without killing the desired clarity in the highs.
As for John Mayer, I read that he used a ks105 or ks104, (can't remember which). But those are pricey.
Recently, I used my friend's Audix VX5 ($250 ebay price-range) and I was very impressed. He was using it with a bit of compression, nothing too crazy, and my voice shimmered. Now I usually like to have something just a bit deeper, but it doesn't seem like 'deeper' is what you're looking for. You might want to demo one of those vx5's and see if it fits.

[choinga]

If you watch Mayer's latest DVD - Where The Light Is...

Guess what, he's using a Shure Beta 58.

Personally, I've used an Audix OM-7 for most of my live work. You need a decent board (preamps) to push it, but the damn thing sounds amazing and you literally have to drop it into the speaker cone to get it to feedback. Singers with piss-poor mic skills probably won't like it but it's, IMHO, the best bang for the buck out there in that price range.

[Jim vanBergen]

I love answers to a thread that are 2 years old...

[choinga]

LOL - didn't even notice...was just responding to what I saw on the first page of the forum...

[Remoteness]

No worries, just wipe off the dust and start typing...

It's all good here in Remoteville.

[Jim vanBergen]

Originally Posted by Remoteness

No worries, just wipe off the dust and start typing...

It's all good here in Remoteville.

OK- wipe, wipe, wipe...

Beyer M88!

[J Watson]

Sennheiser evolution965 (released in '08, their answer to the great AT AE5400, same features and similar design except super-cardioid as option) is, exactly that, evolution... supposedly the best livemic that money can buy, and one that holds its own when compared to some of the more serious studiomics as well, I would look nowhere else. It retailed at $1000 when introduced, but prices has gone down considerably since then.

But the KMS series from Neumann is different and may be better on some voices. Generally, perhaps a little more articulate (hence, sibilance), but that is a feature only desireable with respect to a select few rather exceptional vocalists for live use, anyhow, IMO. But then again, Sennheiser is behind the development of the KMS series as well, taking over Neumann in '91, so it seems rather unlikely that the aim was to knock out the KMS-series, but rather introduce an even better alternative to the AE5400.

Bottom line, if you're on a budget, go for the AE5400, else get the e965. Yes, I know this is an old thread, but there might be others out there who would appreciate a comment that at least should prove to be a little informative...

Apparently the more expensive of the Beyerdynamic TG series consist of some very fine mics as well, could be it for some people. For some reason these microphones get overlooked by the large majority of people.

The above mentioned I believe are the best choices for live and home recording, but by all means, if you have the opportunity to test the Shure KSM9 or Audix VX-10, do so. But I would go with the Sennheiser.

[jasonraboin]

I know this thread is old, but if I had a male singer with a sibilance problem, I would first reach for a Shure SM58 with the TAB/Funkenwerks transformer mod.

[mixedupsteve]

Originally Posted by jasonraboin

I know this thread is old, but if I had a male singer with a sibilance problem, I would first reach for a Shure SM58 with the TAB/Funkenwerks transformer mod.

Those are sweet!. I would consider a SM7 or a Heil PR35 too.