Thank you all!, yes, it's a long debate, which Mic to choose, considering this would be the main/most used vocal mic! So, yes i have to really pick a good one, as much as i love the u87, one thing I've noticed it is a bit bright, on some "sh, Sss, p" sounds and i always had some problems with that, i much prefer a tiny bit of darkness around those frequencies. So...u87 to be or not to be
Here's a good vid shows the difference between the new and the "old" u87...and they also touch this subject of brightness.

 

Last edited: Sep 4, 2015

I heard some takes with Telefunken CU-29 Copperhead. Nice one.

On my side, i already experienced a test run with several singers (male, female, white, black...) singing a single take in a circular array of 10 mics, from 100 to several thousands (with U87, of course) bucks.
The 414 was very dark, with too much low end. Rhodes got a spike in the high mids...and other troubles on almost all mics.

The best one was U87 for sure. But the previous one was sub 400
A microphone is not a brand, it is an output sound and purpose.

Here is another vision from someone else i really like :
http://www.recordingreview.com/blog...rophones-disappointments-in-recording-gear-2/

 

Surprised Manley hasn't gotten any love here.. We generally use the Reference C at our studio. Great all around vocal mic, sounds good for any style. You can really hear the details. The mic pre is also VERY important.

My go-to signal chain..
Manley Ref. C > A-Designs MA5 OR Great River MP-500NV mic pre > Slate Dragon Compressor ( Catch the peaks. appx 7 db reduction) > Burl B2 Bomber A/D Converter (Preserve that analog goodness!)

 

Thank you, yes, I’ve heard about the Telefunken CU-29 Copperhead the Telefunken AK-47 MKII (They do look like beautiful mics!) and the Manley, but never had the chance to test them personally, so not sure how to put them against the Neumann mics, as far as built, sound character, etc…or maybe shouldn’t put them side by side? I may have the ability to buy a Neumann U87ai, so the question is to do it or not, after the ongoing debate about this U87 everywhere, it is an “industry standard” but again it has some flaws here and there.
I also really prefer a mic with Switchable Polar patterns, can be very useful, but some mics don’t have it.

~ One note regarding the Telefunken, is that I heard it has almost a gentle internal “De-esser” effect, kind of smoothly out sibilance, which is very nice! But again, not sure how good this mic is.

 

Last edited: Sep 5, 2015