Best Vocal Mic In the Under $200.00 Range?

Hey everyone, I usually post in the sound engineer forum, but decided to post this thread here.

At my last show I had my old EV ND 767 just up and DIE on me and had to borrow one of the drummer's instrument mics just to get through the rest of the show. Anyway, I love the EV mic, but I also know that the SM58 is industry standard. The Beta58 is considered a step above. and the ND767 is also a mic with a great rep. I am going to head out to Guitar Center this weekend to try them all and any others, but here is my question:

What mics do you guys prefer?

I will make this a poll. If you choose "other" then please, please, please post the mic you chose and why! lol Don't just click the choice.

Edit: Oops! I forgot that the SM87A is a $250.00 mic and cannot edit the title. So include that in your possible choices anyway! lol Thanks!

Fr decades, my favorite live mic was the old workhorse 58. Recently, I purchased a Shure Super 55 Deluxe, which is a retro looking mic but based on a beta 58a capsule. I managed to find one new online with free shipping for under $200.

I love it love it love it.

See this thread for examples of this mic in action:

http://acapella.harmony-central.com/...Songs-on-Video

MXL V67g condenser microphone

Check out the frequency response of this $100 mic:

Thanks for the responses, EightString and chamcham. I like the vocals, Eight.

That said, I have to say: Really? 151 views on this thread and TWO responses with zero votes on the poll? lol Hookay. I think I'll just mosey on back to the Live Sound & Production forum on this site and post this there.

lol. This is one of the slower forums. Not like guitar or amp section where people reply in 5 minutes.

Anyway, your choice is gonna depend on its application. It is for live vocals? or studio vocals? And its impact its gonna depend on type of voice and style you're singing. I use the sm58 as my live mic and the Studio Projects B1 as my recording mic. Both are pretty budget and roughly the same price. I originally used the sm58 as my recording mic, but it doesn't have the same presence as a condenser mic and doesn't always capture most of the higher overtones of the voice. My voice teacher swears by the Shure beta 87a though, it has more presence than the sm58 (hence the price tag. lol). I've also heard of singers who go with the Sennheiser E835 as a less expensive substitute for the sm58.

Thanks, davie! I have been a huge proponent of the EV ND series mics. As I said above, my 767 died and so I am going to look to buy another one. I was going to just order another 767 since I have been so happy with it, far more so than all the various SM58's I have sung through with other people mixing my bands. But then I saw the 967, so I came into this forum to see what you guys like. Unfortunately, there seems to be no unanimity or even a majority preference, other than "Use the SM58 for voice and use the SM57 for instrument amps, STUPID!!" that seems to be the pure name-recognition or, dare say, knee-jerk reaction.

For instance, I think the Sennheiser e609 blows the doors off the SM57 for micing my guitar cabinet. I also love the EV 767, but like I said, I am not sure how much of the allegiance to the SM58 and SM57 is really preference or just what everyone is used to...ya know, "industry standard" and all.

Sorry for the meandering rant here. Maybe I should just go to Guitar Center and try a shitload of vocal mics.

One thing I sometimes do is look on Amazon for their top 100 lists, pick items off the list, and read the reviews. (Amazon reviews have been useful in my experience - much better than HC's.) Anyway, they have a list for condenser mics (here) and another for dynamic mics (here). BTW, the MXL V67G that chamcham mentioned is rated 4.6 out of 5 stars based on 43 reviews and costs 100 bucks.

Finally and FWIW, I feel your pain. I've recently started looking for useful, high activity vocal forums, and I'm still looking. (Not to hijack the thread, but any suggestions would be appreciated.)

Well, good luck to you.

I love my Audix OM3 but if I were in the market I would probably go up to an OM5

What about the OM6 or OM7?

I have heard good things about these as well.

What about the OM6 or OM7?

I have heard good things about these as well.

I'm not a fan of SM58's and I never have been, to me they are muddy sounding.
I like Sennheiser Mic's with their 431 being my favorite, but it isn't an under $200 mic.

The band I was in used EV ND mic's back in the 90's.(we had 157's when they first came out - they were around $50-$60 each at the time, and we bought them in 3-packs from Musician's Friend for vocals and guitar cabinets. They worked great.)
The SM87 is a condenser, and it works really well.... but a lot of singer's steer clear of them for some reason. I tend to like the vocal mics to be the same all the way across the front of the stage.... it just always seemed to make sense to me.

I'm not really familiar with Audix mic's, outside of their Kick mic (D6, I think?.)

Well budget is a factor, although after your post I did a quick read and a 7 might be worth springing the extra for...

I spent several months earlier this year looking for the right mic, and I have to admit it was a daunting task, largely because no two people hear things the same way, and no two voices are the same. I own and have owned plenty of mics, some I wish I had kept (RE15), one I have kept for forty years (Shure Unisphere A-basically an SM58 with a 1/4" jack and an on/off switch), several SM57/58s, and a SH55 (which our harp player loved so much it is on 'permanent loan' to him), but I've been through Sennheisers, a number of ribbon mics, and several others...until I found the ND967, I didn't think I was going to find a mic that worked for my atypical vocal style. I really wanted to not like this mic, but it has this very clever ability to contour to my voice evenly whether I am singing rough and bluesy material or sweet melodic ballads. No other mic was able to handle the gamut without losing 'something', except this mic...including the ND767.
I'm not saying this is the best mic in the world, or that everyone should get one, but for my needs, it was a pretty much perfect fit... YMMV :coool:

I have been hearing a lot of great things about the Neumann KMS 105, but a few things give me pause about the mic. First off, the guys over in the Live Sound forum cautioned me against it for several reasons. But I know some very good singers who swear by them. However, the retail price of the mic is somewhat prohibitive. I mean, you soend upwards of $700.00 on a vocal mic and you don't like it, lol you're kind of screwed.

Listen, high prices do not a good mic make.. (if you get my drift) I like the SM58, but seriously for my voice in live band, small venues I prefer the Sennheiser e935. I've been inside music stores and fired up the biggest baddest systems they have and "did my thing" with big dollar mics and cheapies too. I kept coming back to the e935.

It's all preference. What matters more than a perfect mic? It's that you can HEAR yourself properly in the mix. Money is not the deciding factor, or shouldn't be. Get what you like and do what you do. Deep down, you know what that is.

I agree with most of what you're saying, but disagree with the part in bold. Why? Because there isn't a budget or high end microphone (within reason of course) that you can't "hear yourself properly in the mix." I can hear myself just fine with the Shure SM58, but I hate the sound of the mic and what it does to my voice. What attracts me to the Neumann is that from what I've heard, of all the vocal mics, it is the one that makes your voice sound the most like your voice without a mic, amp, or speaker. My problem is that when I record my voice acoustically, it sounds great, much better than it does through most or all mics.

For some reason, I find that the SM58 and other mics of its style tend to make the voice sound "boomy or woofy." Maybe (and this is just a guess) in the experience of Shure engineers, most singers have a thin, wispy voice and need some lower mid-range and upper bass "help." I am finding that when I use an SM58, I almost have to really kick the treble on the channel EQ up really high, roll off the bass, and roll off the midrange at about 200-300 Hz. I honestly shouldn't have to do this. I believe that a flat EQ is (or at least should be) your best starting point, and when I have to kick the treble up so absurdly high to suit my voice, there is probably something wrong with the mic.

My old EV N/D 757 sounded BEAUTIFUL. I would absolutely roll off the bass (with the mic switch, which takes out 80 Hz and below, I believe) and I would MAYBE notch out a drop at 200Hz on the sweepable mid. But I could leave the bass and treble very close to flat and it sounded warm, full, and the "highs" cut through nicely, giving me a beautifully crisp sound.

That's what I am looking for in a mic. Something that sounds natural and almost completely "flat" and the Neumann is supposedly the silver bullet in that department.

Problem is that as gorgeous as the sound supposedly is, there is a pronounced propensity for the other instruments (particularly in the high end, like cymbals) to bleed through into the mic so badly that it can actually be as loud as the singer. So the KMS 105 is probably a fantastic mic for a small acoustic duo (like I have) but for my electric band, where our stages are usually small and the drummer very close to me, that mic is likely to be completely inappropriate.

For live vocal mics I like the shure 58beta. Good clarity, solidly built, good feedback rejection. You can drive them a bit too, which is nice for screamers. They're less muffled than their non-beta brothers. The newer "elvis" beta mics use the same element if you want something flashy. You lose the handheld ability if you go that route though.

In less than ideal recording situations the 87A beta is my go-to vocal mic. Provides great recordings without picking up unwanted stuff going on in the environment. For people without a proper (well isolated) studio this means good vocal tracks with the hum of the refrigerator and passing cars.