Need help on Vocal Mic Selection Female Soul Singer Lead Vocalist

Re: Need help on Vocal Mic Selection Female Soul Singer Lead Vocalist

Per Søvik said:
So only chumps go out and acquire the equipment artists ask for, even when that equipment is a very mainstream item that is likely to be on many riders?




Would you have said the same if it was a SRX725 rig? The EV's sound a lot better in my mind, and if anyone thinks this is a rig that can't justify the difference between a 58 and something a lot pricier, then they are sadly mistaken. Is it the B-word maybe?
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Per, my comment has nothing to do with brand names or the perceived sound quality between those brands. It has to do with using common sense to assemble parts into an effective whole that can be used as a practical tool with which to ply one's craft and hopefully earn a living.
 
Re: Need help on Vocal Mic Selection Female Soul Singer Lead Vocalist

Steve Payne said:
Per, my comment has nothing to do with brand names or the perceived sound quality between those brands. It has to do with using common sense to assemble parts into an effective whole that can be used as a practical tool with which to ply one's craft and hopefully earn a living.
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Totally get that, and if the question had been what to do to upgrade the system I'd have suggested a pair of px/tx218, a dc-one and some decent amps.

From a system building point of view, when building from scratch, one can either specify the best overall system for a given budget, or one can specify a functional system with some holes to be filled later. Such an incremental build system might not at any one time be the best system that could have been built for the amount of money spent, but might provide the best upgrade path without rendering previous investments prematurely worthless. Microphones can be a very long term investment, I've got a couple that is thirty and fourty years old. If each new investment becomes the strongest link in the chain, with quality that surpasses everything else, that investment(equipment) is then likely to have a long period of usability before it becomes due for replacement (due to quality concerns). Investing in equipment that is par with the overall level of the rig will not represent an actual or potential improvement, and will not move you forward.
Sometimes a par purchase is necessary to achieve the quantity needed, like not being able to justify 20 choir mikes at $500 each, 20 mikes at $150 each gives me better results than getting 7 mikes at $500 and making the singers share. Once the amount of equipment required to handle the job is acquired, it then makes sense to make single upgrades in terms of priority, either based on replacing broken/worn stuff with significant upgrades or occasionally, when one has the opportunity to offload stuff at a good price, replacing functional stuff with significant upgrades. It would be great if one could build a totally balanced system and then sprinkle a few hundred $ worth of fertilizer every now and then when the wallet allows, but alas.....
 
Re: Need help on Vocal Mic Selection Female Soul Singer Lead Vocalist

Michael Smithers said:
Yep, hence my suggesting the Rode S1. :razz:
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And that is one of the things I purchased this morning, hopefully she will be happy

Thanks everyone for their input and the surrouding spirited debate... I didn't mean to cause such controversy :-)

Just to clarify for a couple of people this is a simple group of wanna be muso's working in a small lounge area of a pub with the FOH being provided by yours truly because I want to do it. This isn't my life nor my source of income. I've worked very hard to get my small system, not the top end by any stretch, but at the end of the day the 60 or so people crammed into the room will still have something that they will hear in the best possible way I can make it sound.

In the true spirit of a weekend warrior :-)

Thanks to everyone, i learn a lot from those who are willing to teach someone like me

Best wishes
Michael
 
Re: Need help on Vocal Mic Selection Female Soul Singer Lead Vocalist

Mike Mullin said:



Hi Helge, How was the the gain before feedback compared to more standard dynamic vocal mics?
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Better than a KMS105, but it wasn't a loud show. I didn't have any feedback issues on any microphone, this was after all a 4. July celebration,(they celebrate it on the Sunday before the 4th here in Oslo) with lots of kids in front of the PA.

I used regular 58s on backup singers and a wireless Sennheiser something that one of the bands provided. One interesting feature I forgot to mention was that it had an excellent rejection of loud stage sources compared to KMS105/KSM9. There wasn't any issues with loud drums in the mic even with the singer pretty close to the drums.

I'd say it has some interesting features paired with the usual DPA sound quality.
 
Re: Need help on Vocal Mic Selection Female Soul Singer Lead Vocalist

Just one last grouchy old guy comment on this...not at you, but at the "artist".

Why the h*** do you need a sound system to sing to 60 people indoors? We used to do crowds of over 200 outdoors on the street with all the attendant traffic noise and we didn't need "no stinkin' microphones"...
 
Re: Need help on Vocal Mic Selection Female Soul Singer Lead Vocalist

Michael Evans said:
And that is one of the things I purchased this morning, hopefully she will be happy

Thanks everyone for their input and the surrouding spirited debate... I didn't mean to cause such controversy :-)
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I hope you enjoy your new mike, I don't know it from using it, but have heard good things.

Controversy, spirited debate.....it's no fun if everybody agrees :)~:-)~:smile:

Dick Rees said:
Just one last grouchy old guy comment on this...not at you, but at the "artist".

Why the h*** do you need a sound system to sing to 60 people indoors? We used to do crowds of over 200 outdoors on the street with all the attendant traffic noise and we didn't need "no stinkin' microphones"...
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To provide work for the soundman, you know they invented amplified sound while you were away to Norway playing fiddle and doing the hallingdance ;)~;-)~:wink:
 
Re: Need help on Vocal Mic Selection Female Soul Singer Lead Vocalist

As a singer myself I don't understand why most singers doesn't carry their own mic. Either for sound quality preference or hygiene.

I mean, it's like a guitar player wouldn't bring their own guitar or similar (even though they seem to forget bringing their own guitar cord).

Even if my mic of choice would be an sm58, that all sound providers have in their toolbox, I'd rather lick and eat my personal mic than having a mic that has been contaminated and exposed to more body fluids than a professional hooker...

But then again, what does a singer know. I once had a singer approach me and telling me that his voice always benefitted of a 10dB boost at 11k5Hz - Yeah, right.....
 
Re: Need help on Vocal Mic Selection Female Soul Singer Lead Vocalist

Robert Lofgren said:
But then again, what does a singer know. I once had a singer approach me and telling me that his voice always benefitted of a 10dB boost at 11k5Hz - Yeah, right.....
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Some high end mikes have got a big peak in that area, and the difference between two different mikes can easily be about 10 dB.

As for carrying your own mike, surely every singer should be expected to carry their own quality wireless with a parametric eq in a small half rack flight, all dialled in and ready to go. Need Autotune? Carry it in you rack :twisted:

Guitar cords? "No, I haven't got any, but I can sell you a new one for fifty bucks." 8)~8-)~:cool:
 
Re: Need help on Vocal Mic Selection Female Soul Singer Lead Vocalist

IME, the "good mics" such as those Per mentioned do indeed sound much better than the usual suspects, but they also pick up everything on the stage that's amplified or banged on - not much use for most shows.
 
Re: Need help on Vocal Mic Selection Female Soul Singer Lead Vocalist

Robert Lofgren said:
But then again, what does a singer know. I once had a singer approach me and telling me that his voice always benefitted of a 10dB boost at 11k5Hz - Yeah, right.....
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Did sound for a blues singer (hoarse, quiet voice, luckily the entire band was very quiet) who definitely benefited from a big spike around 9kHz.
 
Re: Need help on Vocal Mic Selection Female Soul Singer Lead Vocalist

Tim Padrick said:
IME, the "good mics" such as those Per mentioned do indeed sound much better than the usual suspects, but they also pick up everything on the stage that's amplified or banged on - not much use for most shows.
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"Good" mikes comes in two categories, the "studio sound" type that typically will have very little foam and other crap in front of the membrane, mainly relying on two layers of mesh to reduce plosives, and the "good for kissing" mikes that have more layers and tricks to allow for extremely close miking. The latter will obviously pick up less from stage and will be less prone to feedback simply because of lower gain/less sensitivity that comes from having the singer closer. Singers that are good at controlling their plosives and breathing might get away with french kissing any mike, others not so much.

Scott Helmke said:
Did sound for a blues singer (hoarse, quiet voice, luckily the entire band was very quiet) who definitely benefited from a big spike around 9kHz.
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One of my favourite tricks to bring the hoarseness forward is to run a sidechannel with a huge boost from 5K-15K adding 25-30 dB and then limiting that channel 20-25 dB below the main channel. Brings out the hoarse and the whisper, but keeps the sound from getting sharp when the singer goes louder. Caution: The limiting absolutely have to kick in early enough to stop feedback from happening since the gain in those frequencies is absolutely massive and there is no way you want feedback problems above 5kHz in a modern system capable of earshattering highs. I don't run it into the monitors though.
 
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Re: Need help on Vocal Mic Selection Female Soul Singer Lead Vocalist

Helge Dr. Bentsen said:
One interesting feature I forgot to mention was that it had an excellent rejection of loud stage sources compared to KMS105/KSM9. There wasn't any issues with loud drums in the mic even with the singer pretty close to the drums.
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I'd like to post a follow-up on this, but I'm not sure if this is a breach of forum regulations since I currently sell this microphone. If that is the case I do apologize.

I used a D:facto on the singer in a Norwegian extreme/black metal band this weekend, one small club show here in Oslo on Friday and a large outdoor festival in the Czech Republic on Saturday. SQ was very good but two amazing things happened that I've never experienced before with a vocal condenser.

It can sustain loud monitors really well, as good or better than the AE6100 I've been using for the last two years.
It picks up less stage wash than the AE6100 and the B58a I use on the backup singers. Usually I have a lot of cymbals on the vocal mics on small stages, but with the D:facto this wasn't a issue at all. No need to pull down the vocal faders during the show :)
 
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