Neumann - U 67 Set

I recorded an entire album of vocals on the 103 into SSL SiX Pre, except for one track. I thought it was great, until I got to the mix and realized every single recording had to be de-essed or EQ'd to hell to get it to not be painfully harsh. That one last track, though, was an original U67 into a Neve desk. That was what made me really understand the difference - the U67 came out perfect, with pretty much nothing needed to make it sit right in the mix.

I don't think it sounds bad rather but there's mics considerable cheaper that sound just as good. I never use mine but just keep it in the studio cause I know some people think they're great. I just can't think of anything I'd use it for before another mic. I don't mind spending money on a mic - I love my U67's (my favourite mic) but I think the U87ai is a very boring, overly bright sound that feels too pokey for me. It's just a fine back up mic if all the others a being used already. Once it's gone through some tube stuff it sounds much better but I just don't get the hype at all... Heard a lot of good things about the Soyuz 017s though! Thinking about replacing mine for one of them... the get one sounds great and the tube sounds even better!

Unpopular opinion, but I've never been a fan of any Neumann except the U67. It's ok to not like things other do.

I got an old 67 and a really old 47 and I love them. BUT, I wouldn't use them for audiobooks. They're both too, big sounding. For big up front vocals or announcer style commercial spots they are the best. U87 all day for audiobooks.

I'll be honest with you, I don't have enough experience with it to know. I need to borrow/rent one some day to try out - but I'm pretty set for big LDC's right now, until it is time to get a new pair to use as overheads, and I have lots of other things on the list first! And my poor experiences with the 102/103 make me skeptical of SenNeumann's TLM mics. Notably I do like the U67 and U69, just not enough to keep one around. Cost no object I'd have both, preferably a pair of 67's for OH duty. It isn't a "I don't like Neumann" thing, it is a "I'd rather use something else" thing. All I could list is things I have enough experience with to know what and why I like!

I've done a thousand shootouts for artists and very rarely does a 47 win. People will always choose a 67, 251 and c12 over a 47. They only sound good on some people where those mics sound good on everyone. 87s are the second worst Neumann mics. They sound like shit

From the vocal description and references, OP is obviously female, so why do people keep suggesting a U87? That's a fairly safe bet for a *male* vocal mic, but it's unworkably harsh on many women. A U67 can sometimes work, but it requires a big HF shelf, so why bother? A Neumann TLM 107 gives you that enhanced top on its own, without the problems of a TLM 103, which I recommend avoiding at all costs. (Please spare me the Billie Eilish references! We're not cutting dry whisper vocals here.) Female voices, unless they are really piercing, often benefit from something in the C12 lineage: if not the original, then a '251, C800, and certain editions of '414. The thing to watch out for is sibilance. Pop producers often accept that in raw vocal tracks and simply process the hell out of them, but that's *way* too much work in a situation where one is likely to be stacking dozens vocal tracks. Since the university seems to have a deep locker, I'll mention that Manley Gold, Josephson C715 and C725 are also C12 lineage mics. Contributor u/peepeeland is spot on with his recommendation of a SDC and any university that owns a dummy head should have the usual suspects from Schoeps, DPA, and Neumann available. I think using a SDC is a particularly good idea for close-miked vocals in a studio; when tracking in a hall, I'd lean towards a LDC for better "reach"; use spaced SDC's for hall capture (and print them to separate tracks). Orinoco Flow was cut in a home studio, so all the reverberance heard on it is artificial. For the next decade or so, rackmount reverb processors often shipped with a preset called "Enya Vocals". Replacing the artificial reverb with the real thing is a super cool idea, but college auditoriums are busy places and the sheer quantity of overdubbing required may be unworkable under the schedule constraints. Here's an idea: any university that owns a dummy head has probably done some work with impulse response capture. (If it's McGill, they've done a *lot* of this work!) The strategy is to sample the hall acoustics for multiple stage locations and listening positions, then apply those impulses to the studio-captured vocal tracks. This kind of impulse capture is a big project on its own, but I'll give it even odds that some master's degree candidate already did it for their thesis project. When tracking, it's crucial that OP's pitch, timing, and diction are spot-on for each track. Autotune/Melodyne are *right* out! Enya didn't use them, and that kind of processing ruins the micro pitch variations that make this kind of vocal stacking so appealing. It's important to be really diligent and selective while tracking vocals and it could be very helpful to have a trusted (non-scary!) vocal coach present for these sessions.

When I was in audio school we had a recording project in a great studio, great sounding rooms, great mic locker, ssl console, etc. The singer on the project trusted my input, so I put up a Neumann U67, because it's high end and has a tube, and an Apex 460b. We were allowed to rent the 460b, so I thought if she didn't capture everything she wanted she could take it and track on her own. I put the capsules as close as possible with a slight preference to the 67 We shot them out blindly, and every hand in the room went up for the 460b. I naturally took credit and acted like it wasn't a shock to me either. The mic was super bright out the gate, so it really suited the genre. More people recorded with the 460b after in their own time on their own projects, and often preferred the sound because their performances were better. More time and less pressure when recording was the key ingredient imo. Needing to darken the mic was far less important than the performance characteristics that couldn't be changed in post The sm7b is a fantastic mic. Could you get closer to the sound you want with a different mic? Maybe. It depends on what vocal sounds you wanna achieve. But the most important part by far is your comfort and mindset when recording, so you can get the best takes possible. Everything after that is secondary (as long as you're recording with an xlr mic and a Scarlett or better interface lol)

My u87's get used on drum rooms mostly. I used to use them as overheads till I picked up a pair of 67's which are far better microphones IMO

I really like the 58 for vocals. I started using it more than the U67. NT1 is fine if you want a condenser sound but I'd just get the 58 and move on to making music

I don't think that's entirely fair. I love 67s and hate 87s on vocals (doesn't make them bad mics) but I like other solid state mics just fine. 87s just have an upper mid harshness I simply can't handle on vox

Def not an underrated mic; it's like over 4k new and generally compared to a U67! That is a NICE mic.

Vocals - start with 4 of the following up: U67, 251, c12, u47, c37, and maybe a u87, SM7. Patch each into your choice A vocal chain, and pick whichever works. Sometimes the U87 or the SM7 win For the character of the song. Or just go with what you got and make it work.