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Have you vocal mike recommandations for a noob singer with a relative weak voice ( not trained yet ) only for recording purposes ?
I'm looking for a quality mike but with a realistic budget ( < 500€) . I think the SM57 is relatively close to the 58 , but I had times trying to record my voice with my SM57, as my signal was too weak.
I won't use any external preamps other than the few Neve & UA profiles I've got on my KPA.
A mike that can also be used for profiling plus is a plus.
thx
R
I'd say go for a Shure SM7B. One of the best vocal mics out there, it's on a lot of records. Works well for guitars too, from what I've read.
PS: There shouldn't have been any trouble recording your voice using an SM57. You need to route the signal through some kind of preamp usually.
Since you're going into the Kemper, I'd suggest first running the mic into your interface, then routing into the Kemper and back in to record the processed signal.
Keep in mind though, even though there's a lot of praise for the preamps captured using the Kemper, I think they were hyped up more than being of real use as a mic processor in the studio. You want to be able to change things around and that is not possible with just a static capture at one position.
In that regard, you'd get better results just using one of the preamps in your DAW, like Cubase or Logic.
I have a SM7B, awesome mic for guitar and bass however, for voice you'd want to invest in a Cloudlifter as well due to it's week signal. This might push you over your budget. I bought a Cloudlifter-Z for mine and it's a great setup.
The 58A Beta is decent too!
I'm with @nightlight with regards to using pre's from your daw 
I agree the SM7b would not suit a weak singer, its a great mic and i use it on clients in the studio who have a powerful voice.
Get a Neumann U87 
some cool answers guys 
keep em goin', looks like I'll need a preamp anyway ,
the SM7b would not allow taking whispering voices as far as i read ?
U87 looks pretty cool but the price tag is not any good copy out there ?
Warm audio do a great u87 copy
Whatever mic you go with, the only advice I strongly recommend is - purchase new from reputable stores/sites only!
There are quite a lot of hard to spot fake/counterfeit mics out there. I have some "fake" and genuine Shure mics, and side by side, they look incredibly similar. Amazing the effort they put into these cons. They look the goods, but perform very badly compared to the real thing. I was burnt by this trying to save a few bucks online (the fakes were only about 15% cheaper, so I thought I was getting a genuine deal.. silly me).
As far as mic models, it's hard to say what will be best for you as everyone has different preferences of what sounds "better" in a certain scenario, but the previously mentioned Shure SM7B is a solid bet as a long term keeper for a studio dynamic mic. If you ever plan on jamming with mates in a band setting a SM58A Beta is a popular and proven choice.
You should be able to get the vocal level you need out of any modern mic by boosting the signal in your software. How are you connecting the signal to your PC?
Warm audio do a great u87 copy
Yep, for being just a bit over budget it's a great option. One of the most accurate representations, solid job they did.
How are you connecting the signal to your PC?
SM57 to KPA ( to benefit from the SPDIF connexion, preamps and FXs ) , Neve profile , No CAB , lots of gain & volume boosts due to my poor vocal strength
here is my only try at singing thru this signal chain :
Buying vocal mics is a total crapshoot unless you can try them out first. You may get lucky, you may not. I'd buy from somewhere with a good return policy, and test in the comfort of my own home.
I had an sm7b, but it does NOT suit my voice, really.
Forgot to mention the Rode NTK / NT1A / NT2A. I used mine for vox, bass, cabs and acoustics. Good bang for the buck.
Honestly though, after hearing your track I'd bet you'd be surprised at how well the 58A Beta (not 58, there's a difference), does for you. Plus you could buy a couple of them
Buying vocal mics is a total crapshoot unless you can try them out first. You may get lucky, you may not. I'd buy from somewhere with a good return policy, and test in the comfort of my own home.
I had an sm7b, but it does NOT suit my voice, really.
So true. Why always suggest a Shure (Beta)58?? There are so much more mic's that could suit your voice much better. Just take your time to find the right mic for you. I guess you're a guitarist as well, it took some time to find "your guitar", you didn't settle for the next best.
In lieu of actually testing 5 different mics, I'll second checking out the Røde NT1A. It's cheap and very decent for the price. Fairly neutral, too. If you're not a strong singer, there's really no need to try to make up for it with gear - it will not make that much of a difference. I'd just get something decent and neutral, and work on my voice with that The better your voice gets - the more you come into your own as a vocalist - the more it makes sense to pick something more special down the line.
I'd just use the mic you have but I'd blow off running it through the Kemper and go straight into your interface. Record it the best you can with the built in pre you have and add gain later by using plugins and compression.
You don't mention what interface you have. I'd upgrade that before anything or add a small two channel interface with a better pre. You won't hear a world of difference between an SM57, 58 or SM7.
A cloud lifter or great preamp will make a difference but as long as you record clean without distortion, you can add gain in the DAW.
Also the Kemper doesn't have phantom power so more sensitive condenser mics are out. You could use your interface to power a condenser mic, but honestly, if your room doesn't sound that great, a less sensitive dynamic won't pickup the room as much and can often sound better. Eventually you'll want some sort of condenser though for ac gtrs and anything you want to record with a more full frequency sound.
If you are not a loud singer, it is not a problem - especially for digital recording. From what a couple of my pro-sound engineer friends have told me, two of the quietest live singers in Rock history have been Steve Perry of Journey and Malcolm Young of AC/DC. Their singing volume didn’t get in the way of their performances, so, don’t worry about it
I'd just use the mic you have but I'd blow off running it through the Kemper and go straight into your interface. Record it the best you can with the built in pre you have and add gain later by using plugins and compression.
You don't mention what interface you have. I'd upgrade that before anything or add a small two channel interface with a better pre. You won't hear a world of difference between an SM57, 58 or SM7.
I agree with this.
@waraba The demo you shared sounds fine. You keep mentioning you have a weak vocal, but really its no where near as "weak" as i was expecting. Using the KPA as a mic pre is pretty unconventional - but great things have come from being unconventional - so I say stick with its working for you.
Other things to try:
Get right up on the mic you are using (proximity effect is your friend if you want a "fatter" vocal sound)
Use your recording softwares compressors. I don't hear alot of extra noise/hiss in the demo vocals, so a heavier compressor plugin will be your friend if you still feel the vocals are lacking weight.
Got me curious about what cool things the KPA could be used for as a vocal processor now... hmmmm...
Voice sounded fine to me on that
At home here, I’ve got a Rode NT1 that I’ve had for 10 years or so and it’s very good but I bought the SM7b and cloudlifter combination within the last couple of years. For me (and also my daughters who both sing) it’s a better combination but as others have said it’s hard to recommend a mic without you trying them.
The cloudlifter won’t work with condensers - it’s essential with most interfaces for the SM7b as the amount of gain the interface has is not as much as that mic needs for most applications. This device uses phantom power and adds gain to the mic. It does not pass the phantom power through so you can’t use it with condenser mics. Worth knowing if you’re looking at the Rode NT1a at the same time at the SM7b..... the cloudlifter and Rode combination won’t work. Apologies if you know this already but thought I’d mention.
Another thing worth mentioning is metering in your DAW software. I’m still learning (I’ve been home recording for years but still seem to actually know very little!) and I recently came across some advice that was incredibly helpful. The following will make many people here face palm at me not knowing it but I’m not proud - sharing my ignorance in case it helps
It’s basically to do with the input metering. Daw faders (depending on daw) will not tell you true input..... if you get a metering plug-in on that Chanel then it will. I use Studio One and there’s a great free meter that they had as a download which serves my purposes but there are others out there for free / very little cost. This meter showed me that some vsti seem to be set pretty loud and spdif on the Kemper seems to peak at -12 on the meters. So some vsti needed to be turned down within the program itself so it peaks at -12db also. When setting the rcording level for your voice, don’t touch the fader - just adjust the peaks via input gain on the interface so your voice is hitting 0 when the meters are on -12db mode. When you do the take you can up the fader a little / reduce the instrument faders to taste to get your headphone mix.
When mixing, most newbies do everything too loud. Guilty of that here for sure. Doing the above means nothing clips, nothing overloads and all the virtual plugins (tape emulators etc) are happy as they’re working at the place they want to work. Mixing became much easier. If anything is still genuinely too loud / too quiet, there will be a trim tool in the daw to fix that as opposed to the faders.
I’ve seen other advice to record at -18 and that may be worth trying also but for me I’m getting good results at the -12. My 11 year old daughter’s voice is coming on nicely but she tends to quieten down when a mic is put in front of her. The above worked. My eldest daughter can fill a concert hall with no microphone so with her the metering is also vital. I was stupidly doing everything on the faders in the daw without really understanding the level of the signals already there.
Reason I’m telling you all this? It may help you to achieve a level you’re happy with even if you spend nothing
Good luck in your quest
SM57 to KPA ( to benefit from the SPDIF connexion, preamps and FXs ) , Neve profile , No CAB , lots of gain & volume boosts due to my poor vocal strength
here is my only try at singing thru this signal chain :
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That sounds good to me, Renaud. I think you are worrying about nothing.
