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Author Topic: Upgrade live vocal mics - £150 per mic  (Read 14017 times)

Richard Penrose

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Re: Upgrade live vocal mics - £150 per mic
« Reply #10 on: September 30, 2014, 01:55:32 AM »

Thought I'd post a quick update. I've picked up a secondhand Beyer M69 and SE Electronics condenser. I'm hoping to try these out towards the end of the week. I'll be trying these mics out alongside :-

Beyer M69
JZ Microphones HH1
SE Electronics H1
EV n/d767a
Audix OM3
Sennheiser E838
AKG D5

I'm hoping to borrow the Sennheiser E945, E935 and Shure Beta 58 aswell.

I had a chance to try the Heil PR22 and Rode M2. I found the Heil had pretty high handling noise and was way more susceptible to plosives than any other mic I've tried. I found it was too boomy on the male vocalists present. On female vocals the Heil did sound very nice indeed but sadly the popping and handling noise put me off this mic. The Rode M2 was ok but not anything special compared to what I already own.

There are a few other mics I'm curious about which are :-

EV n/d767
Lewitt MTP840
AKG D7

Has anyone had any experience with these compared to any of the other mics listed?
I'm really liking the JZ HH1 and EV n/d767a along with the Sennheiser E935 and E945 that a couple of the vocalists I work with own.
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Scott Holtzman

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Re: Upgrade live vocal mics - £150 per mic
« Reply #11 on: September 30, 2014, 02:11:37 AM »

If you are doing live sound I tend to agree with everyone else.  Build your 58's and 57 inventory first.  They make you money day in and day out.  I think anything else is really an ego stroke and not a business or sonic decision. 

You would have to be one helluva sound guy with a great rig, tuned for the room and be working for great talent to tell the difference.

If you were those things you would be posting in the schlub room with us.




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Scott AKA "Skyking" Holtzman

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Steve M Smith

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Re: Upgrade live vocal mics - £150 per mic
« Reply #12 on: September 30, 2014, 02:49:24 AM »

Thought I'd post a quick update. I've picked up a secondhand Beyer M69

I do like Beyerdynamic mics.  I used to use them quite a lot many years ago.
I recently used some old M300s which a friend has.  They were quite good too.
 
Steve.
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Richard Penrose

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Re: Upgrade live vocal mics - £150 per mic
« Reply #13 on: September 30, 2014, 03:35:13 AM »

I already have access to a case full of SM57's and 58's which I can borrow should I want to. However, I'm not going to be going out as a pa rental company so I don't have to deal with riders for various artistes. I am trying to put together a basic reasonable system for local gigs with mics that offer the best performance (clarity, handling noise, feedback rejection, plosive reduction) within my budget.
I have been using 57's and 58's for at least 20 years and whilst they both are very useable and reliable, I would be seriously worried if I couldn't hear the difference between these and the mics I've mentioned in this thread so far.
Whilst I may not be using an L'Acoustics/D&B Technik/Meyer rig etc I am using a nice KV2 audio rig and a Yamaha DXR rig every week. On either of these systems the differences between most of these mics is clear to hear.
I had to do sound in a large metal walled converted warehouse at the weekend and the room sounded quite boomy and reverberant. There were some 58's at this venue so I tried these first on the 2 vocalists. Both vocalists had fairly soft voices, one was a female and the other was a male with quite a deep voice. During the soundcheck I found that the male's voice was very boomy and muddy so before I tried EQ'ing etc I swapped the 58 for an EV n/d767a and instantly his vocal had a lot more presence and clarity without the muddiness of the 58. The EV had a lot more output so I had to turn the gain down on the desk. The female vocalist's voice didn't sound terrible on the 58 but it lacked definition and clarity. I swapped here 58 for the JZ HH1 and again there was a big difference in clarity and definition. I've found that both of these mics are less prone to feedback in loud environments and don't have quite as much bleed from other sources on stage.
Maybe if I spent some time eq'ing the 58 I could get similar results but to be honest I find most of the mics I've mentioned here work better for me straight out the box. Also, quite a few have even better feedback rejection and some have lower handling noise or better plosive rejection.


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Scott Holtzman

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Re: Upgrade live vocal mics - £150 per mic
« Reply #14 on: September 30, 2014, 03:48:43 AM »

I didn't doubt you had decent gear or your ability to mix.  I think we all have high opinions of ourselves.  If you found the difference that profound perhaps I need to expand my horizons. 

My approach was just another opinion, a very pragmatic one.  Rarely am I given the opportunity to experiment with different microphones, I also don't have any clients that will pay me more for adding that additional inventory.  What do you do if you send your B rig to a client with another engineer and that kit doesn't have the wiz bang mic you used on the last gig.

Lowest common denominator, consistent process, minimal inventory.  That's what works for me.

If I was the only guy running one rig I am sure I would do things different.

Anyway, no offense intended.   I wish I had the time to try out more than just the basic Sennheiser and Shure stuff I am used to.  I will say that the 945 is a great mic and I have both wired and wireless (EW500) and it is the best vocal microphone in my inventory.




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Scott AKA "Skyking" Holtzman

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Richard Penrose

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Re: Upgrade live vocal mics - £150 per mic
« Reply #15 on: September 30, 2014, 04:51:43 AM »

No offense taken :)

I've bought all the mics I own secondhand. As I already  access to 57's and 58's I've not been in any hurry or under any pressure to buy anything. As a result I've waited until these mics have come up at real bargain prices. Nearly all of them are in mint condition and I paid less than £350 for 10 mics which is a just under what 4 new SM58's would cost ( Beyer M69, SEH1, Audix OM3, 2x EVn/d767a, 2x Sennheiser E838 and 3x AKG D5 ). The JZ HH1 was a gift.

The KV2 audio rig I run weekly is at a church where I head up the sound department and the Yamaha DXR/EV ELX rig is what I take around with me for my band and small acoustic gigs I do sound for. I carry my mics with me for both pa's.

I totally get using the Shure SM58's for hire rigs that are going out on a regular basis as most musicians will have used a 58 at some point and know how it sounds and responds. I simply don't like the sound of them as much as quite a few other live mics. Sometimes the difference can be subtle and sometimes it can be big.

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Scott Wagner

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Re: Upgrade live vocal mics - £150 per mic
« Reply #16 on: September 30, 2014, 10:59:30 AM »

Two thoughts come to mind:

1. Don't waste your time with the Beta 58.
2. Try a Heil PR-35.
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Scott Wagner
Big Nickel Audio

g'bye, Dick Rees

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Re: Upgrade live vocal mics - £150 per mic
« Reply #17 on: September 30, 2014, 11:05:57 AM »

Sennheiser has a 3-pack of 835's on sale for $225.00...
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Tim Tyler

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Re: Upgrade live vocal mics - £150 per mic
« Reply #18 on: September 30, 2014, 11:19:54 AM »

Richard -

I think you should give a serious look at the Beta 57.  It's the only vocal mic I have used over the years that has elicited enough interest from a handful of singers that they went out and purchased one or more for personal/band use.  If you have a chance to make comparisons, throw this one in the mix...

Cheers,

-Tim T
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Bob Leonard

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Re: Upgrade live vocal mics - £150 per mic
« Reply #19 on: September 30, 2014, 12:27:45 PM »

Richard,
I prefer the sound of Bob Heil's mics to anything else in their class. The PR-22 is a wonderfu mic for most vocalists. It lifts the cloud off of the vocalists voice, is not boomey and is very easy to EQ. My goto would be a PR-35, which is a very well liked mic suitible for all styles of vocalists and music styles. The PR-35 also has very high GBF and excellent side and back rejection. Super mic, try one and you'll like it. Shure Beta? Horrible mics for any number of reasons.
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BOSTON STRONG........
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ProSoundWeb Community

Re: Upgrade live vocal mics - £150 per mic
« Reply #19 on: September 30, 2014, 12:27:45 PM »


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