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Studio Broadcast Mics

S

SValentine

Guest
OK I know some folks on here will get this- I am trying to find a really good mic, now I believe mics and pre-amps are different with peoples voices so, that being said-

can a ribbon mic work in broadcast a la replica rca 44 --?


you tell me throw out some ideas--I also don't want the mic to be huge, when interviewing a guest I always think it helps to see most of their face lol

thanks for any ideas

Valentine
Los Angeles
 
RCA 44's and the AEA replica's are huge, so that's out. If you go dynamic there's the new Neumann BCM705 or the Shure SM7-A. The Rode NT1-A or the Rode Broadcaster are fine mic's as well. You'll get a thousand answers to the Processor question, they go hand in hand with your mic, so that'll kind of dictate which mic's you might want to pick. I like the Symetrix 528-E, but you'll get other people who like something else and there are many other good ones.

I would not consider EV mics now days. There are decent condenser mic's too. Look at Sennheiser and Neumann for those.

Ribbon mic's are a consideration. Telefunken makes a nice one and then there are the classic RCA's on Ebay, but that'll cost a lot of money, and they're old.

Hope I didn't leave you with more questions than answers. Good luck!
 
I'll go along with what Calguy says, pretty much, although you might consider the USB direct-digital mikes. I'm anxious to get my hands on one; I've just been reading about them.
 
calguy said:
RCA 44's and the AEA replica's are huge, so that's out. If you go dynamic there's the new Neumann BCM705 or the Shure SM7-A. The Rode NT1-A or the Rode Broadcaster are fine mic's as well. You'll get a thousand answers to the Processor question, they go hand in hand with your mic, so that'll kind of dictate which mic's you might want to pick. I like the Symetrix 528-E, but you'll get other people who like something else and there are many other good ones.

I would not consider EV mics now days. There are decent condenser mic's too. Look at Sennheiser and Neumann for those.

Ribbon mic's are a consideration. Telefunken makes a nice one and then there are the classic RCA's on Ebay, but that'll cost a lot of money, and they're old.

Hope I didn't leave you with more questions than answers. Good luck!
Click to expand...

Correction, I should have said Shure SM7-B, not the A
 
What's the problem with EV's mics? Every studio I build now is with an RE-20.
 
Heil sound makes some good and slightly less expensive broadcast quality mikes. They also make an RCA replica but it is a dynamic element, not a ribbon as was the original. I once did an experiment where I had an announcer read copy in front of a phlanx of mikes (EV, Sennheiser, Shure) and crossfaded among them while a group listened through studio monitors. No one noticed any difference in the sound.
 
nmoore6676 said:
I once did an experiment where I had an announcer read copy in front of a phlanx of mikes (EV, Sennheiser, Shure) and crossfaded among them while a group listened through studio monitors. No one noticed any difference in the sound.
Click to expand...

Years ago when I populated studios, I would do test runs of myself using a variety of mics. In my own voice I could hear great variations from mic to mic. When I asked a co-worker to listen to the recording, his response: I don't hear no stinking differences.

Other people have made recordings using various mics and asked me to listen. I couldn't hear the difference. But they thought they could.

We are sensitive to our OWN voice.

Here is my prejudice... which I would be hard pressed to to prove: There is no one best mic. Individual voices are indeed enhanced by using the most appropriate mic. And the acoustics of the room may call for a change of mics for a given person.

There are some people who have truly gifted ears. Some of them are the people who are charge of mix-down in recording studios. You will also find some of them hanging out in the Radio Professionals / Production discussion board here in Radio-Info. The voice-over guys talk microphone and preamps and compressors in that discussion. Check them out for additional info on this topic.

One last word: In today's broadcasting world stations are required to limit audio response in order to limit interference to other stations. Does it make any difference if you have the best mic?
 
kyscott said:
What's the problem with EV's mics? Every studio I build now is with an RE-20.
Click to expand...

EV got new owners a few years back and the internal parts aren't what they used to be. We had a studio with RE-27ND's installed. These were brand new mics and they were all so distorted that they had to be removed. I know that EV was made aware of this and they made corrections. If you're getting clean results from yours then count your blessings. Personally they have too much mid-range for my voice.

Goat Rodeo Cowboy makes some good points, but I'll answer the question he posed at the end of his post "In today's broadcasting world stations are required to limit audio response in order to limit interference to other stations. Does it make any difference if you have the best mic?" Yes, it does make a difference. You should always have a mic that presents your voice in the cleanest and most flattering way. If you present a distorted sound, it's a tune-out.
Besides, who says that your audio is for radio only. You may be doing VO for television or if you're lucky movie trailers, or even for a movie itself. There are many industrial projects as well.
 
A lot of it is personal taste and in particular as has been noted above, we are most sensitive about our own voice. I happen to think I sound best on the old EV 666's. By the way the original poster mentioned the old RCA ribbon mikes. Those, even if you can get one, are not suited for modern studios. When they were being used the studios were just that and there were not any machines or computers in the same space. They were made to be placed more than a foot away for best response and also to keep breath blasts from stretching the ribbon.

My best advice is to take your favorite earphones and find someplace where you can try out what you are considering. If this is to be used mostly to record your own voice for VO work or tracking then you want what makes you sound good.
 
Plenty of good advice in this thread. I'll only add this observation.

I will never do movie trailers, my voice isn't built for it. It has more in common with Rod Stewart than Joe Kelly or Ernie Anderson. Still, I do a fair amount of daily production (some might say a lot of fair production) and a daily radio show on an AC station. Enough about my background.

To answer your question, every studio is different and the "sound" of a microphone depends on a lot of variables, from the construction and dimensions of the studio, the mixing board and the mic processors to your ears and your headphones and how loudly you run your headphone-studio monitors.

I've worked EV-20's and 27's (I like the "old" 20 more than the 27); Shure SM-7's, Sennheiser 421's (my all-around favorite microphone); AKG's and Nuemann U-87's (way beyond my reach.) Each has characteristics that sound pleasing as well as confounding. There are so many variables that it's difficult to answer your question 100%.

In the small studio in my home, I rely on an AKG-Perception 100 and a Shure SM7-A, depending on the kind of commercial I'm doing. I sold my Sennheiser to "buy down" and get the AKG but I plan to buy another 421 very soon.

If I were to recommend a good microphone it would come from Sennheiser. On a budget? You could start with a Sennheiser E-845. But if you're going to buy a Sennheiser, why not go whole hog, do the right thing and get the Sennheiser 421, About $350 - $400 with shock mount.

The AKG Perception 200 isn't bad (for a mic that's made in China), but it can sound boomy and if it isn't worked properly, can work against you.

That's my dollar 39 cents worth of advice. Good luck to you.
 
wow - great answers. I'll read up on em over the weekend. You guys really took some time in answering, thanks very much.

Gonna change my sons diaper now--newborns allow for so much sleep :)

Everyone have a great weekend !

Valentine
104.3 My-fm
 
My favorite flavor this week if you have the bucks is the either the Neumann TLM-103 or Sennheiser MKH 416
hosed into an Aphex 230 mic proc.

Mark
 
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