Excited about tonight’s rehearsal a little more than usual. We’ve replaced our Beta 58s, Beta 87, and E865s with Opus 89s from Beyerdynamic. In my view, they have the predictability of a dynamic mic with all the charm of a condenser mic. (It’s a dynamic.) Bright and warm without the rip-your-face-off metal of a Sennheiser or the sharp edge of a Beta 58 – or the buckle-under-loud-vowels of our wireless KSM9s. Oh… those KSM9s are staying but tonight? 89s all around!
A couple wired KSM9s will round out the vocal mic selection in a couple of months.
2 Comments »
This week I’d like to offer my opinions (not necessarily reviews) about some mics like the KSM9, KMS105, E965 and others just to add my own voice to the crowd. When you’re considering spending $700 each on microphones it’s good to get as much information as you can as well as take a few for a test drive.
My friend Masaki owns One Way Media Solutions and for the last several months he let me borrow a bunch of high end mics just for the heck of it. I tried them each on at least two people to get a good feel for them.
Keep in mind that a great singer will sound great on any mic the same way a super awesome guitar player can pick up my guitar and make me think, “I was going to sell that? It sounds great!” After spending time with our vocalists at a Vocal Artistry seminar we hosted I was stunned to learn that I have tried to fix poor singing style with expensive mics. That’s another topic. I’m just saying expensive mics are not solutions for vocal troubles. They’re just the secret sauce for good vocalists.
The mics I’ll list are (except for a couple) around $700 on the street. If a $100 Shure SM58 is a tool in the tool chest, these mics are more like expressive instruments. Great vocalists play their instruments well. Putting a sensitive, responsive mic in the hands of a not-so-great performer could backfire a little so beware.
Also, my views are colored by my goal with our worship mix. If I were out on the road with a band I’d have different things to say. My personal goal is to come as close as possible to the sound of a worship CD. Average worship CD vocals are smooth, even, fresh, and clear; not in your face. Also, I’m mixing on an Innovason SY80 (a very bright console) and Nexo Geo line arrays with the 8″ mid drivers (very bright as well.)
In any case, I hope these thoughts are helpful to anyone at a church considering a leap into the world of greater than $600 microphone love.
Mics after the jump… Read the rest of this entry »
5 Comments »
Entries (RSS)