Please help: Which mic for female R&B vocals?

[Babe Records]

Hello,

I'm tired of my shitty AKG C3000B, and I need a much better microphone to record female vocals for R&B and club stuff (house, dance, etc.).

I'm dreamin about the Sony C800G but... hey, i have around 1300USD to spend on it, so...

Anyway, my current preamps include:
- OSA MP1-C
- OSA MP1-L
- Chandler TG2
- SPL GoldMike
- and the modded preamps from my Soundcraft 200 delta

Actually, i'm considering buyin an AKG C414B TLII ($650) for the detail and air, and a Blue Baby Bottle (around $500) for the warmth and roundness. I guess it might be a flexible combo, and recording takes from both mics simultaneously would allow me to to shape a well balanced tone at mixdown time.

I'd like to know what you think about this, but any other suggestion is welcome. Also, if anybody has great deals on the soundelux U95, please PM me!

[WunderBro Flo]

TLII would not be the best choice, AT4060 better, but I am really into the Blue mouse, lollipop and blueberry for a modern, airy R&B sound. they are all in that pricerange. if you want to get a cheap one get the rode nt2a or nt2000 or K2, they also deliver this type of sound.

if you want to sound like old soul however (darker), i would lean towards the adk mics.

rock on!
Pat

[michaelhoddy]

Odd, the 4060 seems a lot less "airy" to me than the TLII. A good sound, but not way bright.

In the sub-$1000 category, I'd probably also pick the TLII, or whatever the new version is called.

I have absolutely no experience with Blue mics at all.

[picksail]

AEA R84

[WunderBro Flo]

I do not like any AKG for soft vocals, they all have way too much proximity effect for my taste, they need low and high shelf whenever I used them for that type of music. I remember the AT4060 to have a more usable sound in the lows...

the blue´s sound all different, the dragonfly for example has a similar response as the TLII but the mouse, lollipop and blueberry sound more like a manley cardioid, solid and bright at the same time, check them out, i love ´em!

[NIGHT'SCHILD]

for $1k the blue blueberry is awesome for r&b female vocals. it seems very true sounding and open. i would recommend a tube pre with this mic for a little added warmth.

[toledo3]

I love the R84, but not sure how good it would be for your tasks- for old schoool r&b- sure... but house seems to call for a little brighter sound. The U95 probably would be a good choice....

I am not crazy about TLII's, but it is a definite recognizable sound, that you hear on a great deal of modern R&B.... buying one of those and an SM7, would give you a pretty wide range of sounds... and you would be right within your price range.

[thethrillfactor]

Forget buying so-so mics and use the money towards rentals.

You have much better choices and an expensive mic won't just be sitting around not making you anything.

[Babe Records]

Thanx for all advises, please keep em coming!

Well, actually, i wanna be able to choose between a modern airy R&B sound and a classic warm soul sound, hence the idea of a combo (TLII+baby bottle for example).

My "mixmate" is really into the TLII, i guess he loves that sound, so i have to find a second mic to complement the TLII... i first thought about the Baby Bottle, as it seems to be a "classic" mic that one can keep for a lifetime... but i also considered the GT 66 ; do you think TLII+GT 66 would be a better choice than TLII+Baby Bottle?

Also, i'd like to get mics that would complement my pres... which mic will sound the best for R&B with OSA MP1-C, OSA MP1-L, Gold Mike and/or Chandler TG2 pres?

WildCowboys, which ADK mics would you recommend for a classic warm sound?

Any thoughts on the soundelux U195? Any places with super-amazing-deals on this mic?

Thanx again, guys!

[Babe Records]

Originally posted by thethrillfactor
Forget buying so-so mics and use the money towards rentals.

You have much better choices and an expensive mic won't just be sitting around not making you anything.

I understand, and you're right, but the point is: we have lots of time but not much money.

I mean, we have classic and jazz background, we've been writing songs and playin in different pop/rock bands for a while, and we've just started producing stuff.

We have a project studio, and we spend a lot of time in it, composing, recording and mixing. But we are new at this, so we need time to learn and to experiment things and, as you probably know, when you're a newcomer, it takes a longer to get things sound the way you want.

So, renting expensive mics for long periods would be much more expensive for us than buying a good one around $1300 (at least any significant improvement over our current C3000B would be appreciated!) so that we can play with it as long as we want to.

[NeoVXR]

hi, why not...
..rent 5 mics for one day, test them around, do some recording.
if you are not sure which one to buy, do all your weeks long of experimenting, arranging and tracking with a cheaper one, or the old one, and then in the end, rent again the best mic available, or two, and re-track the lead vocals in a few days.

[kudzu]

AKG C12vr....green and gold ones....You'll find them on e-bay for $1,000...great female vocal mic.

[jspartz]

I would suggest trying a Shure SM-7 into your OSA MP1-L.

Jason

[picksail]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by djui5
[B]Only if rap's involved too


Damn, I thought the shelf life on this one had expired.

[RKrizman]

Originally posted by toledo3

I am not crazy about TLII's, but it is a definite recognizable sound, that you hear on a great deal of modern R&B.... b

really? that mic's used on a lot of Rnb vocals?

-R

[Phunkeman]

NADY AT1050 and or GT 66

[michaelhoddy]

I've been wondering about the U195 for this app, but I haven't tried it with mine yet. Gonna have to.

[Sage]

We just completed a month-long mic shoot-out to get the right mic for my wife. We rented vintage mics, had the whole Soundelux line sent to us, a vetran engineer brought over his vocal favorites: U87, AKG 414, Rode Classic. All-in-all, we tested over 20 mics.

The winner for us was the Soundelux U99. Get the best price from http://www.tidepoolaudio.com/

Good luck!

Sage

[Babe Records]

Ok, thanx everyone!

Any thought about Lawson mics for this application too? Like the Lawson FET 251?