Vocal Microphones, what are you using?

[fleabag]

I have 3 - a Shure  ( in photo )  a  Sennheiser and an EV, but it's the Shure i use

 

 

 

 

[Oopsdabassist]

Another Sennheiser user here, just an E840, that I bought about 12 years back cos the singer in the band I was in told me to, I had absolutely no idea what I was doing, but to be honest its been bullet proof, and seems to suit my style of shouting at the mic so I'm happy 😎

[moley6knipe]

Sennheiser E935 all the way for vocal mics. A noticeable improvement over the SM58s! Guitard in one of my bands uses a Behringer £20 jobby coz “it sounds better than a Shure”. Err, no. It sounds like a sock drawer. 

[Chienmortbb]

On 13/09/2023 at 16:00, Rosie C said:

 

Thanks! That looks very similar the the Sennheiser ones. I'm amazed the SM57/58 is that old, I thought they were a relic from the 1980s.

 

No like me a relic of the 50s.

[Chienmortbb]

18 hours ago, moley6knipe said:

Sennheiser E935 all the way for vocal mics. A noticeable improvement over the SM58s! Guitard in one of my bands uses a Behringer £20 jobby coz “it sounds better than a Shure”. Err, no. It sounds like a sock drawer. 

If it is am XM8500,IMHO they are better than an SM58 the 1800 is a pile of pants.

[Rosie C]

On 13/09/2023 at 14:43, Phil Starr said:

It's not surprising, the SM57 and 58 were designed in 1962 and it says volumes that people still use them but better materials and magnets have come along and they are long since overtaken. I still love Shure though not least for longevity I still have an even older Unidyne B that still works. Everyone else had to respond to how tough the SM58 was and microphones just don't go wrong unless you are very unlucky.

 

I prefer this style of clip, just measure up first and check but I think this will fit your mics, K&M are a top brand  but for £3.99??? 

 

 

I definitely owe you a beer if we ever meet, as your recommendation is perfect, and a fraction of the cost 

 

 

 

Edited November 12 by Rosie C

[tauzero]

2 hours ago, Chienmortbb said:

If it is am XM8500,IMHO they are better than an SM58 the 1800 is a pile of pants.

 

Our guitarist gets the 1800 until he buys his own.

[Phil Starr]

15 hours ago, Rosie C said:

 

I definitely owe you a beer if we ever meet, as your recommendation is perfect, and a fraction of the cost 

 

 

Careful, the price of beer nowadays could cost you more than a mic clip

 

[Phil Starr]

12 hours ago, tauzero said:

 

Our guitarist gets the 1800 until he buys his own.

Quite right too

[T-Bay]

On 14/09/2023 at 23:41, moley6knipe said:

Sennheiser E935 all the way for vocal mics. A noticeable improvement over the SM58s! Guitard in one of my bands uses a Behringer £20 jobby coz “it sounds better than a Shure”. Err, no. It sounds like a sock drawer. 

I have a behringer and we did loads of back to back tests against an SM58 when I first got it, no one could pic any difference between the two. We took it to our local nerd at the recording studio and he claimed the behringer was slightly more ‘warm’ but I’m not convinced. I didn’t see much point in forking out more for something used for very occasional backing vocals.

 

Perhaps your mate has a dodgy one but I was amazed by how good this one is for less than £20 with a hard case. Not suggesting this in your case, but there is so much snobbery against cheaper kit where in reality the differences can be much smaller than most would care to admit.

[Phil Starr]

Years ago I wrote a brief article for another website comparing cheap mics. We had a Sampson (Q7?), Behringer XN8500, a Studiospares SM58 copy and an SM58. We found very little differences between the other three, they were all super-cardioids and all a little brighter than the Shure with slightly worse handling noise. We all slightly preferred the more open sound of the 'copies' but there was precious little in it. Even the cheapies were surprisingly robust though I had to repair the Behringer which had been wired with one of the leads too short, the only problem I've ever had with anything Behringer.

 

I didn't sing at the time and I've since started doing a fair bit of bv's and come to appreciate the forgiving nature of the SM58. I'd never buy one, you can buy something so much better nowadays for a lot less, but I can see why people hang on to them. It's a bit like driving a Morris Traveller or an original VW Beetle.

 

If you want something cheap I'd go AKG D5, much better than the Behringer and well worth the extra but if you only sing one song in the set or need something cheap for the rehearsal room then the Behringer will do a job for you.

[Chienmortbb]

14 hours ago, tauzero said:

 

Our guitarist gets the 1800 until he buys his own.

You are far too lenient Sir,

[casapete]

About 20 years ago me and my guitarist mate bought a couple of SM58 Beta mics each. They

were on a deal from Thomann at the time, and we are both still using them. I always look after mine

everywhere I go, and both mics are still in excellent condition even after thousands of gigs. 

I get the grilles cleaned and foam re-done every couple of years, and NEVER let anybody

use it. ( For me a mic is a personal thing, don’t want anyone else dropping it or spitting into

it thanks.) They both still sound good, led me to wondering if mics actually wear out or

deteriorate at all?

 

I always carry a spare - on my main gigs it’s a Prodipe TT1. A sound tech recommended it to me and it’s

really good. Only cost around £40 too, think they’re even cheaper now. On other gigs I take two old

Peavey PVI mics, black SM58 look a likes with an off switch. Ridiculously good for £20 some years ago,

and keep one as my spare and the other for anyone else who needs a mic for speeches / announcements

etc ( for which the switch comes in very handy.) Never needed to use my spare mics as the Beta58’s have

proved so reliable, but I carry spares of pretty much everything as there’s always a first time.
 

 

[mike257]

Got a few favourites, most of them have had a mention here!

 

The Beta58a is a reliable standard that works just about everywhere - it's not sexy but it does the job and you know what you'll get. 

 

My go-to all rounder in my own kit was the AKG D5 until very recently. I've got about 8 of them and they're ace, tight pattern and great sound, and very affordable too. Work on most singers I've thrown them at. 

 

I've recently been sent a batch of SE V7 to test drive though, and they've definitely jumped to the front of the queue for me. I'd tried them briefly a couple of years ago and they very much didn't suit the singer I was working with at the time, so I'd steered clear, but I took a bunch of the wireless capsules on a tour for a bunch of rappers earlier this year and they were head and shoulders above the Sennheiser 845 caps I'd had on previously. Currently using the regular wired ones for lead and BVs with an indie rock band on a tour I'm looking after and they sound great. Comparatively cheap too!

[Stub Mandrel]

For someone who rarely sings I have a fair mic collection.  Although I now have an SM58 (more than adequate for my basic BVs) I still tend to use my ~30 year old Proel copy of one. Have various others, including two cheap but excellent Behringer condenser mikes, a half decent Sanyo SM58 clone, some real old cheapos and some much better cheap but usable ones from Thomann. Also a snare mike and a couple of cheap kick drum mikes (one with a replacement capsule). I also have an old AKG mike meant for general recording that is very nice. In the loft is sn old crystal mike I may fit into a new housing for harmonica (just in case). I have two of those USB condenser mikes you can use with phantom power for passable results. I also have the bits to upgrade one of them with a large diaphragm capsule and a super clean single FET amp.

 

So lots of microphones but not doing too much, although the new band will see four vocals and  a miked up kit and guitars...

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

On 15/09/2023 at 13:28, Chienmortbb said:

No like me a relic of the 50s.

I bought my first SM58s in 1973. I doubt they were around much before that. They were an updated version of the 565. They were the first low impedance mics I owned, before that it was all high impedance, with 1/4" plugs. Mixers as we know them today hadn't been invented yet. The only mixers that could use low impedance mics were recording and radio broadcast mixers. I had to add another gain stage to the first generation Shure Vocal Master we were using to get it to work with the 58s. 

[casapete]

According to their website, the SM58 debuted in 1966 with the Beta series following on in 1989.

I also didn’t know that ‘SM’ stands for ‘studio microphone’

 

http://shure.com

[Jack]

Ironic that they have become the quintessential stage microphone and often overshadowed in the studio.

[Chienmortbb]

8 hours ago, Bill Fitzmaurice said:

I had to add another gain stage to the first generation Shure Vocal Master we were using to get it to work with the 58s. 

Was the Vocal Master the one with the frequency shift anti feedback feature?

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

It had four notch filters for feedback control. Their frequencies weren't adjustable so they weren't very effective.

[BCH]

On 11/09/2023 at 22:45, LLOYDWT said:

I'm a bit of a mic addict, so I have/have had loads.

 

I always carry, and usually use, a Shure KSM8; it's a brilliant mic to work with, it's very easy to EQ, and it seems to sound great with any singer and is very forgiving of imperfect mic technique. I often use a Neumann KMS105 too; I rarely use it if I'm not doing the sound as it requires phantom power, and I don't like to give the engineer anything else to think about; but again, it's a really easy mic to work with and you can score a really quality vocal with very limited EQing or effects. I also always carry a Lewitt MTP540 in my spares bag; it's a lot cheaper mic than the Shure or the Neumann, so I'm a little less protective of it (if I'm forced to loan a mic, it's  usually this one) but I still find it to be a great mic, it sounds not dissimilar to an SM58, but a little less harsh, and it's definitely easier for me to dial in a sound I'm happy with.

 

I also own, but rarely gig with, a Shure Super 55 and an MXL CR77; I used to use these a lot with a couple of function bands I played with where a more vintage aesthetic was desired. I bought the MXL because I wasn't the biggest fan of the Super 55 (it has the same harshness that I find in the SM58 and struggle to EQ out).

 

When I'm engineering, I usually carry a couple of beaten up Heil PR 22s, as they're close enough sounding to 58s to satisfy most people, but have less handling noise and are easier for me to dial in.

I've only Just discovered Lewitt & blown away. I've had many mics but for the last 10 years using Earthworks SR40V (now the spare) with a shure KMS9HS as spare (now selling) but the Lewitt MTP W950, is much  better on all comparisons & very forgiving, our sound eng says its quick to set with only slight - EQ for the room. I have tested with different male & female vocalists, with great results.

 https://www.soundonsound.com/news/mtp-w950-handheld-mic-lewitt

I use with a SQ5 digital desk & KV2 FoH cabs (they have improved the band sound but thats another story)...Fabulous sound.

[LLOYDWT]

3 minutes ago, BCH said:

...the Lewitt MTP W950, is much  better on all comparisons & very forgiving...

 

I've yet to use the W950, but I've heard great things. I've got a few Lewitt instrument mics and a kick drum mic as well as my 540, and they've all been excellent. I imagine the W950 would keep up with the heavyweights of the condenser vocal mic world.

[wateroftyne]

I like the SE Electronics V7. Amazing bang for the buck.

 

https://seelectronics.com/products/v7/

Edited September 23, 2023 by wateroftyne

[BCH]

1 hour ago, LLOYDWT said:

 

I've yet to use the W950, but I've heard great things. I've got a few Lewitt instrument mics and a kick drum mic as well as my 540, and they've all been excellent. I imagine the W950 would keep up with the heavyweights of the condenser vocal mic world.

Definitely, I've gigged it in various venues from Theatres to out doors & its natural breathy reproduction makes me sound better than I am!!!

 

[Chienmortbb]

On 15/09/2023 at 21:16, tauzero said:

 

Our guitarist gets the 1800 until he buys his own.

He deserves nothing more!