I am trying to pick out the best microphone to use with my Tyros2, and have now tried six different dynamic microphones of various brands.. AKG, Beyerdynamic, Shure, Sennheiser etc. I value the expertise on this forum, which is why I thought I'd ask you all to help me choose the one best suited for my voice.

I have recorded six short clips, all of the same song, with exactly the same settings for all mics. There is no EQ applied for any of them, everything is as flat as it gets. These clips were recorded using the Tyros2 HD recorder, then encoded to maximum quality MP3 at 320Kbps.

This will take some time and effort on your part, but if you don't have anything better to do then please, help me out. Choose, say, the best two or three. Let me know why you think some are worse than others. I won't yet reveal the microphone make & models, I'll let everyone know after seeing a few opinons and recommendations here.

I value your time on this, it will affect the way my performing will sound for the years to come! Thank you very much. Here is the link to the test clips. It's a zip file, and contains 6 MP3s.
http://cray.tuug.fi/~hese/TheWolf_MIC_test.zip

Thank you!!

Wolf,
I put them all in Cubase SX, so swapping from channels was very quick/easy.

Comparing was easy as well :
#1 : Lowest soundlevel rating=7
#2 : lack of mid, sounds 'loudnessed' rating=6
#3 : Loudest level, lack of high rating=7
#4 : Too dark in sound rating=5
#5 : Nice clear sound rating=8
#6 : Bright, clear, warm sound rating=9 !

So, for me #6 wins

I like your voice Wolf.

Wolf,

You didn't provide any mic model numbers. Of all the handhelf mics I've used, the Samson Q-7 has been the best, followed by the Sennheiser E-855, and coming in a distant third was the Shure SM-58. Of the headset mics, nothing to date has surpassed the quality of the Crown CM-311-A.

I would download your files, but it would take forever on dialup at 26,400 bps.

Good Luck,

Gary

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Travlin' Easy

Hi Gary,

Yes I intentionally didn't yet reveal any make & model numbers, as I hope to keep this test as unbiased as possible for now

And Roel, thank you very much for your input. And a great tip.. to load them in Cubase! Never thought of that.

Wolf:
I was going to listen and comment, but just have dial-up and it take almost a hour to download, so just give my thoughts about mikes, I've used several different ones, and if its a good name brand quality mike from about $60.00 up I usually can keep tweaking until I find that sweet spot. If you got one you sorta like, go with it, and just keep tweaking until your happy, after all your the one that hears you he most, biggest mistake most make wih mikes is they're trying to sound like the radio anouncer thats reverbed to death and much to bassy to do a decent vocal, when you think your just a bit on he treble side you probably got it, for when the music starts you have to cut through, pay attention to the hiss and pops of your words, and you probably will like it. I've got a half dozen mikes, going from recent to 50 years ago, the old sure's got a good sound but easy to feed back. I use a samson 3 for 39 US dollars that does a excellent job. Sorry I missed your demo, but I'm guessing you sound good on all, and anyone of the mikes could be tweaked to sound like the others, if you get my drift.
Cheers.....Pose

Hi Heikki: Wow, before even reading Roel's posting reply, I had evaulated your six microphones demos and came away with pretty much the exact same impressions Roel had. The microphone which I consider my favorite (and most natural (unhyped) sounding for your voice is #6, with #5 in 2nd place. I'm really anxious now if this is the SAME one I had chosen, when you had me audition your original group of 4 mics a few days ago. I'm also looking forward to discovering what brand/model mic you used for each of your demos. - Scott

Wolf...In my honest opinion, I also liked
#6 first place and #5 second place and I also agree that you have a very good pleasent voice....however, if I can make a suggestion with our offending anyone, raise
the volume on the mic and back away from it
give your voice a chance to perform..a lot of singers make a common mistake of "swollowing the mic" and will distort the voice somewhat....try to do the same test again using more volume and more distance from your mouth you will get a much clearer sound and you will have to depend on your voice more to project the mellow sounds you do so very well, you will
probably hear the difference at once.....
just my own personal opinion after having used the mic for close to 50 years now, try it if you don't like it, you can always go back to where you were.I like your style...
Tony Rome

SHURE SM58

Ok Donny, since I know that ONE of the 6 vocal demos utilizes the Shure SM58, how about picking which one it is. - Scott

Scott as you well know and this has been discussed before, a MIC is a very personal piece of gear that will sound diferent to each person using it due to everyones vocal tonality being different, plus our EQ's will effect the outcome considerably....I have used in the last 4 yrs a few different ones, Shure SM58, EV 767, Senn 855, Shure SM58 Beta........but for me I have returned to using the SM58 its a proven workhorse and for my vocals sounds exceptional every night without fail, A good Mic is not gonna make you sing better ;( ......but, If I had to guess listening to these samples I would have to say either #6 or #3 to be the a SM58.



[This message has been edited by Dnj (edited 11-13-2005).]