Imaginaryday wrote: I am about to record a male vocalist who has the same tone, range and style as the main singer of the Gypsy kings.
I would like to know of a good mic in the $400. - $500 range. I will use UA 610 solo as my pre.
Merci a bunch!

Electro-Voice RE-20

Argh... Beat me to it. One of my all-time favorite vocal (among other things) mics.

Massive Mastering wrote: Argh... Beat me to it. One of my all-time favorite vocal (among other things) mics.

The well-trained student should try to eventually best the teacher.

(Where do you think I learned about that mic?! Haha. Here and on other boards, I read your analysis of the mic, and became convinced. I also won't make any 6'x6' vocal booths. All thanks to you!)

Thank you guys for the suggestion. I have never heard of this mic...what's special about it?
Any other mics?

Wow, you need to google this mic, and read up on it! ;-) It's one of everyone's favorite b'cast and vocal mics. It very distinctive (and large) size make it a standout among mics; it's also a dynamic mic (NOT condenser) with an internal pop filer and bass rolloff switch. it sounds GREAT on male voices, esp up close. It's not perfect on everything, but sooooo many broadcasters have used it, it's legendary.

As for other mic suggestions, any of the AT4000 series mics are great; my preference is the AT4050, (in your price range) and many prefer the 4060 (tube, but a lot pricier). I'm also partial to the MXL line of mics (in your price range), like the V6 (warm, tube-like sound from a transistorized circuit for under $300).

There's a lot of good stuff out there; the Rodes and the ADK mics come to mind as well....

THere are MANY good mics in that price range but, ONLY one will match up best with your vocalist's voice & style. No way to tell EXCEPT by actually doing a rec. test AND listening to the playback.

Don't discount the SM7, it's nearest relative is the SM57 but on many a vocalist it's the right microphone, and it's right in that price range. Word is that Michael Jackson sang into an SM7 when doing Thriller, and I've seen it used to great effect on a rock vocal many times. But as DIGIT said, the best way to find out is put the vocalist in front of it and test it out.

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I've been using the Cascade v55 vacuum tube for about a year and it's replaced mics in my cabinet at twice the price including Neumann and AKG.

It retails for $499 and has a 1.38 inch gold sputtered diaphragm. Absolutely incredible on Vocals, guitars, drums, just about everything. You could do an entire album with a pair of these and a Royer 121 ribbon mic.

With a great tube mic, solid state mic pres are fine. With a high quality tube mic pre it's scarey. Go to cascademicrophones.com

small company. I guess the risk is in long term reliability but I bought a second one and they are very close to a matched pair. NO problems and too many pluses to mention here. Great proximity and very consistent every time you warm them up!

Thank you all for your input. My session will take place next week.

BDFitz wrote: It retails for $499 and has a 1.38 inch gold sputtered diaphragm. Absolutely incredible on Vocals, guitars, drums, just about everything.

Sounds like a sales pitch to me. how long have you worked for Cascade?

5amGuy wrote: Don't discount the SM7, it's nearest relative is the SM57

I'm sorry...I have to bust you on this. The SM7 is not related to the SM57 in any way other than having an SM before the number.

Two very different designs, and sounds. The SM57 sounds honky and the SM7 sounds amazing.

I'd say the RE-20 or the SM7. You can use both on pretty much any instrument with awesome results, and still be left with a badass vocal mic!

You can't lose with either.