EV RE20 mic for female vocals?

[triez]

I have been recording a powerful and highly trained, but peaky female singer, and even the best condensers often don't handle it too well. I am wondering about buying the venerable Electrovoice RE20 to try out with her, I have a feeling it may be more sympathetic for the job. Has anyone used one for female vocals and had a good result?

[HudHudson]

I have not used the RE20 myself but have read that it's Bonnie Raitt's studio mic of choice, FWIW. Maybe you can demo one without having to buy it first.

[NIGHT'SCHILD]

It may not be a problem of what mic you are using but how you are using it. Have you tried different placement techniques, different settings on your compressor or have you had the vocalist stand further away from the mic? Which mic are you using now? Is the vocalist very high pitched? Let us know more.

[chessparov]

The RE20 is certainly a classic mic, however, the RE15 (and RE16) are also well worth a try too.
You can pick them up used for around a 1/3 of the price vs. the RE20.

RCA cut many hit vocals with the latter two, including most of Elvis' and Dolly Parton's
(mainly RE15 on both BTW).

The RE15/16 have a "cloudier" top end
and that can be useful vs. the RE20.
The mid-range of the RE15 sounds similar to a U87 IMHO.

In my humble home studio this helps with the project studio level gear, especially reverb
(TC M300), or a bright voice (like mine).

Whichever of these EV's you choose, the Variable-D feature will make placement simpler.

Chris

[triez]

Originally posted by NIGHT'SCHILD
It may not be a problem of what mic you are using but how you are using it. Have you tried different placement techniques, different settings on your compressor or have you had the vocalist stand further away from the mic? Which mic are you using now? Is the vocalist very high pitched? Let us know more.

Thanks for your responses guys. To answer NIGHT'SCHILD, we have used plenty of different mic pre's, both tube and solid state, I normally compress with either a Urei 1176LN, an ADR Vocal Sresser, or more usually a Tubetech recording channel. Mics I have used at various times with her include a 414, C12, Rode Classic and NTK, and Oktava ribbon. We experiment with placement too.

She sounds lush on any mic when using a chest voice, but as she is an operatically trained singer doing rock songs, when she decides to belt, the needles on the meters move to the right so fast the console moves sideways I think that a dynamic may be a little rounder and less hyped for her voice. Building in a presence peak seems to be epidemic among condenser mic designers.

I am so used to using condensers for vocals except for the occasional Beta 58 that I thought a good dynamic might open up some new ground, and the RE20 seems the best, and good for lots of other stuff to boot. It certainly doesn't seem like a risky mic to buy, I'm sure it will see lots of use.

I should add that I am looking at this mic for recording hard belt female vox parts, not softer chest passages.

[Jules]

I spent a 2 year period using an RE20 on almost ALL vocals.

The chain I liked

RE 20
TLA EQ1 (grey series) mic pre / eq (add sizzle eq)
Focusrite 215 eq (remove elephone 'shrillness)
Urei 1176 compressor
Focusrite 215 eq (remove more shrillness & add warm low end + add HF "sheen")
Dbx 902 de esser

Recorder

I dont have one in my studio....

I want one....

[chessparov]

Another worthy alternative besides the SM7 would be the Sennheiser 441.

Sometimes you can score a Beyer Soundstar MKII for under $100 used. This was Beyer's answer to the SM7, with quite similar tone.
A bit more presense peak than a SM7 set "flat". More neutral coloration than a M88, and also can be used hand held.

Chris

[Verbs R Us]

I rarely use an RE20 for session work except on drums. Most clients are gear slutz and want the BIG mike, however on my wife's personal tracks when the "closed" sign is up, I use the RE20 all the time. It has a "sound" and I would agree with the "demo if you can" philosophy. In most situations it is close enough to the BIG mike that I find it a relief not to have to worry as much about bleed, distortion, limiting, etc.. The pattern is really tight and is a plus for vocalists who know how to work a mike. These puppies have been around a long, long time for a reason. The only hassle you have to deal with is it requires pumping up the preamp volume so you got to be clean.

Best of luck, mike shootouts drive me nutzzz... so you have my condolescences.

[topcreek]

Elam 250

[AllAboutTone]

I could not get into the re20, its sounded best on clean guitar amps for jazz etc, sounded the worse on kick drum, not enough low end for me.

[PRobb]

Originally Posted by triez

She sounds lush on any mic when using a chest voice, but as she is an operatically trained singer doing rock songs, when she decides to belt, the needles on the meters move to the right so fast the console moves sideways I think that a dynamic may be a little rounder and less hyped for her voice. Building in a presence peak seems to be epidemic among condenser mic designers.

That is really a mic technique problem. She needs to learn to take a step back when she opens up. That will solve a world of problems on whatever mic you use.

Watch live singers with great dynamic range. They hold the mic close when they're soft, and move it away when they get loud. Same thing.

[Hammer Mark]

Originally Posted by triez

She sounds lush on any mic when using a chest voice, but as she is an operatically trained singer doing rock songs, when she decides to belt, the needles on the meters move to the right so fast the console moves sideways

If the issue is only the wild dynamic swings, you could anticipate these and ride the pre-amp gain accordingly.

[aof21]

RE20 Can sound really nice on vocals especially when paired with a nice pre... I've often used it the same situation you are describing, where I can't get a condensor to work because it's too sensitive. try it out and let us know what you find!