a good mic pls

[DFischer]

He wants simple answers.

The best microphone is the Line Audio CM4. It has a very flat frequency response. Buy that and all your problems will be solved.

And just to be clear, my suggestion here was sarcastic. But if a flat response is too boomy and sibilant, perhaps a carbon microphone would work better.

 

[abbey road d enfer]

This is going nowhere. Please let's talk about more interesting subjects.

 

[Barry Hufker]

I refuse to participant any further in this farce.

 

[MicMaven]

He repeatedly returns to "unbalanced and muddy".
The mic is fine. Other suggested mics are fine.
What that this mean?

We covered this already, old man ... it is the engine or the engineer? (I am trying to recall that foreign translation Mr. Micolas is STILL trying to figure out!!) James

 

[k brown]

This is going nowhere. Please let's talk about more interesting subjects.

I fear 'more interesting subjects' are not possible on this thread.

 

[MicMaven]

This is going nowhere. Please let's talk about more interesting subjects.

Good suggestion.

I am reminded of a lesson I learned having lunch with John Bernhard, former press agent and publicist to the famous millionaire, Howard Hughes. As an enthusiastic young agent, Bernhard wanted to promptly publish a denial of any scurrilous slander published by tabloids and gossip magazines. Mr. Hughes steadfastly refused permission to publish any rebuttal, as that merely gave the story more press than it deserved. Mr. Hughes preferred to turn the other cheek and ignore it. This lesson served me well on many occasions as I ignored various provocations, keeping my clients on a productive path. This may be consistent with the above suggestion.

Nevertheless, I occasionally indulge my alter ego, and enjoy a good scrap! JHR

 

[MicMaven]

James, I read every word in your "rant." And while I understand much of what you're saying (and you're not "wrong"), we won't be changing society back to some previous (non-existent) "ideal." When I am buying a vacuum cleaner, I do want to know "the best" for what I need and so I check several "best vacuum" sites looking for a consensus. It is something I will buy only once every 10 or 20 years (hopefully). But other things are what I make my living with so I will do in-depth study of "the thing" and how it operates. It is all based on "need," "use" and where our heart lies.

So coming here to ask knowledgeable people is somewhat akin to looking for consensus among several "best microphone" sites. It is a more convenient way one can make a quick, informed decision. I have no problem with that. What irks me is when the enquirer receives personalized attention on this site (or any other), that person demonstrates a lack of gratitude, patience, politeness and the willingness to learn at least a little bit. I don't expect someone to have the same depth of interest as I have. I want just a little bit of being a polite, thoughtful, appreciative human being.

End of reply rant...

WELL SAID, BARRY. No argument here.

I believe we would agree there ARE some good reviews from qualified folks which are worth looking for. I should have more clearly indicated I was referring to the large number of fake reviews by unqualified folks which makes finding the good reviews harder to find. You are correct - good discussion groups, like this one, are a vastly superior source of information.

Thanks for adding your take. James

 

[OneRoomStudio]

Here’s something I wish someone had said to me when I was starting out: the difference between any half-decent microphones (of which the NT1 is one), is subtler than you might think. Most differences can be overcome with EQ, mic placement, room treatment, and technique. The reason expensive mics are expensive is because they deliver a “known quality,” and typically require a little less treatment to sound “right” (whatever “right” is for that voice/source).

There’s a lot of gear worship on YouTube and forums, but I’d rather have a good musician in a good room with an NT1 than a mediocre performer in a bad sounding room with a U87 (or 251 or C800g). It’s fine to want to get a better sound, but don’t expect a new microphone (or any piece of gear) to magically give you the sound you’re looking for. It never will.

 

[Chrisfromthepast]

Microphones capture the source. If every microphone seems wrong, maybe the source should be changed as a refresher?
Acoustic treatment will help, or, alter your reflective surfaces’ angles to the mic? Or if criticism hasn’t helped, embrace work as a means of an end result?

 

[Newmarket]

Okay. Many comments suggest a cul-de-sac here and to stop commenting. So let's do that. NOW

 

[RoadrunnerOZ]

Every different mic has a different polar response pattern which for a fixed location in a room not treated properly acoustically will give results that vary widely from mic to mic. Each vocalist has a different mouth shape which results in the necessity of finding the correct approach angle for mic to mouth - direct on, above mouth pointing down, below mouth pointing up, off axis to the side etc.
Also your mic is mounted sideways which will reduce the effectiveness of the elastic shock mounts in isolating noise transmitted through the cantilever mount you are using which is mounted to the desk you are seated at (noise from your equipment if it has fans, rumble through floor transmission to the desk, movement of elbows on the desk and so on). Reflections of your vocal from the desk surface reaching the mic interacting with the direct sound will cause cancellation or summing of various frequencies. Back reflections from your monitor screen can likewise cause problems. Sidewall and floor/ceiling standing waves in the seating position will also cause problems - this can result in a change in the sonic quality of a recording as vocalists head position relative to the room changes.
As others before me have pointed out there is a serious need to fix the environment.
But then there is also your mounting of your mic - a heavy based stand on an isolating pad if you have floor borne hum from fridge or aircon is a good start. Sideways mounting of the mic as you have it will increase the coupling to the stand as the mics weight/load is taken by only half of the mount’s elastic system now at the top of the normally lateral mount point rings, the bottom being slack elastic bearing no load. Back resonance of the stand will color the sound of the mic, including the spring tensioner that holds the stand coupling back through the elastic mounts.
We had this problem in a studio I helped design and build where the sound of the mic (AKG C12) was colored by the stand which had inherent ringing - also we were getting feedback from the sub in the control room due to floor-borne low frequency coupling - we changed the stand and used a heavy boom arm damped with wheel balancing weights and the problem disappeared.
Each different mic requires a different mic/mouth distance and vertical placement (also sometimes horizontal off-axis) for optimum performance for that mic. Mic placement is critical to a good performance result.
Different mics in a proper studio environment will work differently for different vocalists.
You need to take your voice with you to a pro-audio store that sells a good range of mics with a proper in-house listening and recording facility to find the right mic for your voice.
I have designed, built and engineered recording, mixing and mastering in recording studios - music/voice over/film production - for the last 47 years and the problem hasn’t changed - if the environment is not properly treated the mic will never sound good especially as each mic will “hear” different bad spots in a room due to its polar sensitivity pattern vs the reflecting surfaces within that room bouncing voice back to the mic delayed and phase compromised. Mics that have better side and rear rejection may perform better but you’ll still have the “sound of the room” to contend with.
You will also hear in a non acoustically isolated room every little sound transmitted through walls, windows, floor and ceiling and with a desk mounted mic stand adding personal noise from desk contact and floor coupling it just adds to the problems.

 

[k brown]

Every different mic has a different polar response pattern which for a fixed location in a room not treated properly acoustically will give results that vary widely from mic to mic. Each vocalist has a different mouth shape which results in the necessity of finding the correct approach angle for mic to mouth - direct on, above mouth pointing down, below mouth pointing up, off axis to the side etc.
Also your mic is mounted sideways which will reduce the effectiveness of the elastic shock mounts in isolating noise transmitted through the cantilever mount you are using which is mounted to the desk you are seated at (noise from your equipment if it has fans, rumble through floor transmission to the desk, movement of elbows on the desk and so on). Reflections of your vocal from the desk surface reaching the mic interacting with the direct sound will cause cancellation or summing of various frequencies. Back reflections from your monitor screen can likewise cause problems. Sidewall and floor/ceiling standing waves in the seating position will also cause problems - this can result in a change in the sonic quality of a recording as vocalists head position relative to the room changes.
As others before me have pointed out there is a serious need to fix the environment.
But then there is also your mounting of your mic - a heavy based stand on an isolating pad if you have floor borne hum from fridge or aircon is a good start. Sideways mounting of the mic as you have it will increase the coupling to the stand as the mics weight/load is taken by only half of the mount’s elastic system now at the top of the normally lateral mount point rings, the bottom being slack elastic bearing no load. Back resonance of the stand will color the sound of the mic, including the spring tensioner that holds the stand coupling back through the elastic mounts.
We had this problem in a studio I helped design and build where the sound of the mic (AKG C12) was colored by the stand which had inherent ringing - also we were getting feedback from the sub in the control room due to floor-borne low frequency coupling - we changed the stand and used a heavy boom arm damped with wheel balancing weights and the problem disappeared.
Each different mic requires a different mic/mouth distance and vertical placement (also sometimes horizontal off-axis) for optimum performance for that mic. Mic placement is critical to a good performance result.
Different mics in a proper studio environment will work differently for different vocalists.
You need to take your voice with you to a pro-audio store that sells a good range of mics with a proper in-house listening and recording facility to find the right mic for your voice.
I have designed, built and engineered recording, mixing and mastering in recording studios - music/voice over/film production - for the last 47 years and the problem hasn’t changed - if the environment is not properly treated the mic will never sound good especially as each mic will “hear” different bad spots in a room due to its polar sensitivity pattern vs the reflecting surfaces within that room bouncing voice back to the mic delayed and phase compromised. Mics that have better side and rear rejection may perform better but you’ll still have the “sound of the room” to contend with.
You will also hear in a non acoustically isolated room every little sound transmitted through walls, windows, floor and ceiling and with a desk mounted mic stand adding personal noise from desk contact and floor coupling it just adds to the problems.

Ouch - please break up your posts into paragraphs; especially posts this lengthy!

 

[RoadrunnerOZ]

Ouch - please break up your posts into paragraphs; especially long ones!

Sorry - just used return key and no indent - this keyboard has no Tab key

 

[k brown]

Sorry - just used return key and no indent - this keyboard has no Tab key

No need to indent; just put a space between each paragraph - that's the way most posts here are written.

 

[RoadrunnerOZ]

Yeah - good idea - iPad indents are a pain