Måns testing mics
We were not so happy with the vocal sound on some of the tracks, so we decided to do a microphone test. It has been difficult to get a sound that is both pleasant yet can cut through the mix. We chose the song Fire Fire Fire to try different mics on, partly because it has both very soft and quite loud vocals, and partly because it was a song where the vocals were hard to mix.
We connected four mics we had available to the four mic inputs on my Motu Traveler. The mics were (left to right in pic):
- T-Bone SC400 large diaphragm condenser
- Sennheiser MD 541 dynamic (no bass cut)
- Sennheiser MD 421 dynamic (no bass cut)
- Studio Electronics B1 large diaphragm condenser (no bass cut)
To make the test at least pseudo-scientific Måns connected the mics and I connected the mic inputs, so we didn’t know which mic went what input. But then I had to cheat: two mics needed phantom power, so I knew which were the condenser mics at least. All mics were set to give approximately the same level to the track.
Måns sang a verse/chorus and then we listened. Track 1 sounded pretty good, but a bit thin. Track 2 sounded crap in comparison, less treble and with some ugly resonant frequencies in the lower mid. Track 3 lacked a lot of treble. Track 4 was similar to Track 1, but less sticky.
So what was the result? Track 2 was the T-Bone mic. It sounded quite bad, so we won’t use it for vocals. Track 3 was the Sennheiser 541. I bought this second hand from an auction and have used it as a snare mic. Compared to the others it sounded almost broken since it lacked so much treble. It will stay in the drawer when we record vocals.
The mics that sounded good were the 421 (Track 1) and the B1 (Track 4). The 421 had a quite sharp quality that made the vocals cut through the mix. Unfortunately it sounded a bit unpleasant on the louder parts. The B1 sounded the most “natural” of the four mics, but it didn’t cut through the mix as well as the 421.
We re-recorded the whole song using the 421. We’ll see if we are happy with this take or if we want to do it again.
What we learned:
- Mics sound really different.
- It’s hard to say if a mic sounds good or bad if you don’t have anything to compare with. A/B testing is recommended.
- We want to try a really expesive mic!
Jag säger upp min prenumeration på tidningen Studio NU! Den här sajten har ju allt och lite till… Väldigt roligt att läsa för oss idioter. O grymt fin musik ni har gjort!!!