Hi there all,

Instead of asking "which mic should I buy," I'm going to let you listen to the 5 mics I actually have available to me, and help me pick the one you think is best for my voice in the different circumstances. I'm not going to mention the brand, cost, or type of mic, until much later. All I care about is which mic you think makes MY voice sound the best on this little song I created. Yes, my pitch and technique are off, but this that too is not what this is about.

Each "song" consists of me denoting the mic number, and then singing a part. All mics were recorded in the same session. I tried to sing it as close to the same each time. Preamp is identical in each track, set so the meters were reading the same each time. I sang with about 6" distance to each mic, with a pop filtre. Rolloff, if available, was left OFF.

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There are 4 tracks:
1. 5 Mics Loud-Band: This is me singing fairly loudly with backing tracks. Because I wanted a real world scenario, I put the vocals through a compressor-the best one I have available to me and the one I would likely use. I made sure in each vocal example the level of the vocal was adjusted so the comp hovers around -2 to -4dB of reduction. I did not add EQ to the vocal. I then put the whole thing through a limiter. Sorry it's a bit bass heavy.

2. 5 Mics Loud-Voice only: Same vocal tracks used above, but the backing tracks, compressor and limiter have been removed, just the raw tracks.

3. 5 Mics Quiet-With Guitar: The Guitar is compressed and EQed. The vocal is compressed as above to somewhat simulate a real world scenario, but not EQed. Again I used the vocal compressor I would likely use. The track was then run through a limiter.

4. 5 Mics Quiet-No FX, Guitar. Same vocal tracks as number 3, but the guitar, compressor, and limiter have been removed. Just raw vocal tracks.

Thanks for your time and input. I'm looking forward to hearing what you think of the different mics.

Thanks
Keith