I’m about to buy a mic for recording my girlfriend’s vocals at home. I’ve learned that different mics suit different voices. How do I figure out which mic to buy?

Is it just trial and error, i.e. buy a mic, if doesn’t sound good, buy another one, and so on? Or do music stores normally let you bring a couple of mics home with you to help you decide which one you wanna purchase later? Do you perhaps test them out in the store?

Or is there some other way of figuring out which mic would fit my girlfriend’s voice best? Will you guys be able to tell right off the bat if I upload a sample of her singing into an iPhone?

Any advice on this would be highly appreciated.

(Yes, I’m new to this.)

You do some research, then you go buy one. Just by asking this question on this site, you've started research. Now you just need to take the suggestions you'll get, and go look at reviews, videos, etc. But in order to get suggestions, you need to give enough information to go on. So its a female vocalist, so then...

1. What's your budget?
2. Do you have a computer to record on?
3. Do you have an interface to plug your mic into so that you can use it with your computer? If not, are you willing to buy one or do you want to go directly from mic to computer? (ie: A mic with a USB output.
4. Do you have a DAW?

I have a Focusrite Scarlett Solo 2nd Gen and an iMac with Pro Tools. My budget is $100-150 for the mic. After doing some research I’ve found that SM57 seems like a solid all round mic for people with a tight budget. Any thoughts on that one for a female vocalist?

No no no the SM57 would be a terrible choice, it's far from a definite "all-rounder" unless you're putting it on guitar cabs or snare drums.

Look at the Audio Technica AT2020, I've worked with budget artists who've recorded on it for vocals. Great mic and it's 100 bucks

Thanks for the tip. However, I should say that I intend to record vocals in my apartment, which has no acoustic treatment whatsoever. From what I understand a condenser mic pics up more of the room sound than a dynamic mic. Isn’t a dynamic mic better in an untreated environment?

Getting a mic to fit a persons voice requires every trick in the book. You use first hand experience, trial and error and checking the specs to narrow things down and even when you think you have the best match you may not even be close.

You also have to consider the persons skill levels. If they haven't spent much time on stage then they likely haven't developed their own voice yet and are still imitating others which can make it even more difficult because you voice has no personality of its own. At least when you take lessons singing you're taught how to sing using your own voice and you can use that as your target, not who they are trying to imitate.

The good news is a beginners voice is still changing and so long as the mic is relatively good its going to sound great to them whereas an experienced singer is going to want specific sound to sing their best. So long as the beginner things its a great mic they wont be handicapped by any psychological shortcomings either. if you were to swap the guts of an MXL with a Neumann then tell the singer that Neumann is used by every great recording artist out there the excuse of blaming their skill on the gear disappears. They may in fact sound better through that mic then they do the Neumann with the MXL covers. It takes an experienced ear to know if its the mic or the singer that's not sounding right and because people hear half of their voice through the vibrations in their skull it really takes a second set of experienced ears to tell them what sounds the most natural.

I've worked with at least a dozen female vocalists over the years. You could say I'm a specialist at it given the number of shows and recordings I've done. With the latest singer she wasn't very good when I first started working with her. I started her off using an SM58 at first and got her live voice sounding better. Then I tried her out recording with large diaphragm condensers. Not real expensive but decent. The recordings were OK but nothing that would knock your shoes off and the transition between singing live and studio simply didn't connect.

Next I switched her over to a Sennheiser MD421 which was a good all around dynamic for live and studio especially with its roll off filter which helped me get a better bottom end. From there she started singing more hard rock stuff so I got her to use a Shure Beta 87C condenser which brought out the top end. She sounded equally good on my EV PL84 hand held condensers. They both have the top end that will get the vocals above the drum cymbals.

Recording live are condensers but they have the same proximity effects as a dynamic mic does because of the shape of the head basket. You can use them up close with minimal breath noises and pop which allows you to run them at lower gain levels and therefore pick up less room reflections. A large diaphragm on the other hand is open on both sides and you'd typically record 6~9" away from it which means higher gains and more room noise. The hand held condensers will "Help" minimize the room noise simply because you can get very close to them without distorting the diaphragm. There are no mics that are going to eliminate the need for room treatment, even if its only blankets thumb tacked to the walls and ceiling, you follow the problems to source and take what action is needed.

As far as the best match for your female singer, if you haven't got the experience to hear whether she sounds best through a particular mic then rent some ears that can zoom in om what she needs. Good mics are expensive and fighting the wrong mic can cause allot of wasted time and frustration. That's the only good advice I can give you without hearing her sing live using my ears in the same room unfiltered by any audio gear.

As long as you aren't recording in a tiled room or a cement walled room, or a room that's completely empty of furniture and wall hangings, you'll be fine.

You don't need a full treated room, I often record vocals in the middle of a large room that isn't really treated. If there are things in the room such as bookshelves or wall shelves that are stocked, couches, carpets or rugs, other furniture, wall hangings, these all provide treatment of the "diffusion" nature.

Plus, you would only run into problems if you record with the mic gain hot. The best sound you'll get will likely come from a LDC, in that price range. There are great dynamic vocal mics at the 200-300 dollar range, but you still may be sacrificing some of the top end LDCs can pick up. Sonically, I'd assess you'd prefer the outcomes of an LDC more than the results of a 100 dollar dynamic, especially the SM57.

What you're talking about with "picking up too much" in the room is phantom power. The mic recieves 48v phantom power for the capsule to work. Simply having this doesn't make the mic pick up everything in the room. You have to apply gain.

Your interface likely provides 50db of gain. So that starts at 0db of gain, which should pick up almost no sound, or very little. Then as you boost the input's gain, the mic picks up more. I recommend you record at a gain level where the recorded vocal signal only peaks at -10db or thereabouts. You'll still have plenty of vocal signal so that you'll pick up the tiny details you may want, but the quiet parts in between the words will be more quiet as a result of the lower gain input. From there you take the track and mix it with the music by applying compression (mostly to re-gain the signal), you can also apply a soft gate to further quiet the in-between parts.

The recording of vocals, the raw track, is rarely superclean of any external noise unless they're singing in a massively treated booth. This isn't even necessary for amateur recording. Just get a mic, mic stand, pop filter, and cable, and you're good to go in just about any room.

I don't recommend you record in corners, or in closets or small spaces. You could crowd up the modes and get unwanted presence in room resonances by crowding the space they inhabit. Untreated rooms sound worse when resonances are amplified by a lack of diffusion, and a small closet has little opportunity to diffuse that trapped sound. Recording in the largest, most furniture-occupied room, at a low gain, is your best bet.

That's a popular misconception - but a misconception nonetheless. "Room sound" is nothing more than direct sound bouncing off the walls and bouncing back into the microphone. The only thing that affects this balance is the polar pattern of the microphone (along with: the position of the mic relative to the walls and, of course, the acoustic properties of the room) - NOT whether the mic is dynamic or condenser.

An SM57, as others have mentioned, is absolutely NOT the ideal mic for female vocals - or, really, any other vocal, unless you're going for a low-fi mid-rangey sound.

That is the million dollar question and you are not alone in this. Everyone at one time (usually more) is confronted with this question/dilemma.
There is some guess work in this and you need to be aware of the marketing aspect of it. Do not get fooled into the hype and do not pick the prettiest and shiny one.

If possible, buy a mic form a store that accepts returns for mics. Some might charge a fee for restocking, but i find that fair. But go ahead and buy the mic your gut tells you to buy and try it in your studio. Try it in different spots to get a feel for how it sounds and see if you like the results with your sound sources.

If you have a voice like Bono or Springsteen's Nebraska, then the SM57 is for you. they both used them for their vocals.

Audio Technica AT2020 is a great choice for what you are doing.

As for room treatment foam, you just don't want outside noise, and treatment foam had nothing to do with that. And unless you're singing in a bathroom, the vocalists mouth is 8" from the mic, so you won't get any reverb. I think it was Steven Tyler (or some rocker) recorded an entire album with a SM58 in his living room. Room treatment is over-rated....

totally absolutely wrong.

get an SM58 and call it done. All around most common live vocal mic for a reason.

The Sure beta 87 is not a bad choice either for female vocals. That mic is VERY directional. Not as easy to use.

If you want a good one that is very forgiving on mic technique, KSM8. But those are $500.

Even if true, the answer isn't "I have an untreated room so I should use a dynamic mic." It's TREAT YOUR ROOM. PS this doesn't necessarily mean spending silly amounts of money on fancy sound-absorbing partitions and going crazy with it. Even something as simple as hanging some heavy blankets can make a big diff.

The first advice you got here was the best: do the research. Learn the basics about mics and go from there. Read up on room treatment. etc.


Maybe. But IMO that's the wrong approach to take. Failing to treat a room is IMO one of the most common home studio mistakes by far. Many a newcomer has scratched their head about why they can't get a good sound from their highly recommended mics and AIs while recording in a room with no treatment.
None of this is necessarily true, though it might be. It depends on the singer, the genre, etc. And generally speaking, I think you can get more bang for your buck from a less expensive dynamic than a similarly priced LDC. i.e. the quality of dynamics in the low end range is generally better than the LDCs..but that's a very general statement. There are some fine mics of both types even at the lower end. And while I'm not a fan of the SM57 or 58 for recording vocals, the idea that they're a terrible choice is well off the mark.

As for specific mics, for dynamics I'd recommend a Sennheiser 835 or if you want to stretch to $150, give the SM58 beta a look...known for being more sensitive than most dynamics yet quieter...sort of the best of both worlds between dynamics and LDCs. For LDCs, IMO you cannot beat the bang for the buck value of an MXL-67, only $60 and beats most LDCs in the $100-150 range. The Behringer C-1 is similarly priced and a fine mic IMO.

Except this isn't for live performances, it's for recording. Also the 58 is good but one of the most overrated mics ever IMO (unless you love a boxy sound).

With a budget of 150, what do you think will be more reliable, easy to use, and work for recording vocals?

? "Easy to use?" I've yet to meet a mic that was hard to use. As for suggestions, I've already made several. For recording, the 58 would be one of the last mics I'd buy. To each their own!

Either a....
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/det...ser-microphone (actually an SDC sized diaphragm)
AKG Acoustics P120 | RecordingHacks.com
or......
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/det...ser-microphone
AKG Acoustics P220 | RecordingHacks.com

My own preference would be the P220. It has a transformer coupled output which I tend to favor for vocals. The P120 would be OK as well if it eases the budget a bit. You'll need a pop filter also and mic stand if you don't already have one. The P220 includes the shockmount, the P120 only a stand adapter.

Keeping fairly close to a mic will allow for less gain on the interface which may minimize the influence of the room, but not too close to bring on proximity effect.

I do have an older AKG P200 in my collection of mics. It's a decent mic that can give a decent recording.

Found this Youtube video. An AKG P120 was used
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8-FIoOgf1o

CAD M179
M179 | CAD AUDIO - The Brand Used by Professionals

Every possible pattern available and any in between even.
= to suite any situation at hand. ('tight controlled room bleed, wider and 'forgiving etc etc etc

Fairly neutral. I.e. as in not particularly hyped or stylized' as to not paint you into a corner tone wise.

Add a foam booty if needed for closer mic positioning.

= The way any mic reduces the how much room bleed / ambiance pickup. $30

Price is right.

The other approach is as mentioned the ball/screened vocal mic.
Upside = voiced to work up close to reduce room bleed.
Downside = often can sound like crap because... you're right up on the mic silly! :>)
Breath and pop sounds.. ick.
Voiced to work up close... again.. Well, that means thin everywhere else.

Choose you poisons.

Done? :>)

TRY, TRY, TRY, and TRY!
Never buy a mic based on another person's advice! NEVER!
Just because a mic is working for someone else, doesn't mean it's gonna work for you! i can't think of one mic that didn't get mixed reviews on this forum. It all boils down to whether the mic SUITS the artist. i'll say that again, the MIC should SUIT the ARTIST. END OF STORY.
Decide on a budget, find out the mics you're interested in by listening to audio samples of them (you'll find plenty here), then try to demo them at a store, or buy them from a store that has a return policy, or try to find someone here on the forum who owns the mic and who happens to live near you.
You cannot describe someone's voice or vocal register to us and expect to us to give you a mic that suits it. Well, unless you wanna spend your money on mics that won't work for you only to end up selling them for less than you bought them or not able to sell them at all (depends on the mic.)

All fine and good. Except for the catch 22's.
"Just because a mic is working for someone else, doesn't mean it's gonna work for you! "
Which in addition to these on line sample -on someone else's voice... also NOT having the context of your mix -or any mix often.
Context being that other half of what and how a particular mic 'fits.

And as someone mentioned early in this thread - you won't know (to listen for) until some many hours in this game.


This.. 'find someone [snip..here on the forum] who owns [the] mic[s] and who happens to live near you' ..is spot on. We so often forget this!
I did :>)

The P220 wouldn't be terrible. I find it's a little grainy when I've sang backups in a pinch, but it would certainly sound better than a 57 or 58 (imo).

Yes, yea, yes. Context, context, context. A dark vintage microphone and a modern in-your-face microphone could both work for you, but which one fits your music best?! Absolutely.

I just miss the good old days, you go into a studio, you try different mics, until you, along with the help of the house engineer, decide on one that fits the artist and the song best. And the artist doesn’t need to worry about anything but their music. Home studios sometimes feel like a deterrent to an artist rather than an aid.

I understand everything you say about the importance of room treatment. But if I have no choice but to record in an untreated environment, surely a mic that absorbs as little room sound as possible would be preferable?

Perhaps my question should've been "What's the best mic for recording in an untreated environment?"

Anyway, I found this video. Some people here are saying that SM57 is a crazy choice for vocals. I think it sounds just a good as the SM7B when this guy is singing: https://youtu.be/Bb_IcAGQmKM

If I may ask, why do you have no choice? You can't even throw up some blankets/etc?

Some people are wrong. But as stated earlier, don't buy/not buy based on what any of us say; do the research and if possible try some out. It's the only way to really know...

In your price range one mic to consider is the CAD M179 ($199). It's a large diaphragm mic with a continuously variable polar pattern and a generally flat response.

Obviously, no one can know whether it would suit your GFs voice or not, but with the variable polar patterns you can have a lot to experiment with -- the polar pattern effects the frequency response, especially off axis, and as mentioned previously, it changes how the room sounds in the recording.

Here's a test to perform on your room. Clap your hands. If you can hear an echo with rising pitch, that's flutter and you will need to do something to address it.

Here's a thread with an audio example of flutter:
Flutter Echo Demonstration | recording hacks

For your budget, I would just get the AT2020. As you gain more experience you may want to upgrade at some point, but for the price it's a great mic for vocals.

Grins...
Post 17

Your reply is 100% nonsense. You can use close mic'ing to remove room condition issues. Once again, your is advice/comment is worthless.

Room treatment is 100% worthless nonsense? Well folks, that settles it then. Let me be the first to personally thank you very much for graciously sharing your exceptional wisdom with us all. You have just saved each and every one of us countless hours of frustration and thousands upon thousands of dollars!