Choosing a vocal mic isn’t that difficult….
We have gathered quite a variety of mics that are intended for singing on stage in a live setting, and could be used for karaoke too.
In order to make the right choice you may want to answer a few questions:
See, that wasn’t too hard. Now please check out our top 5 mics on the list, and try using one of these.
Hopefully this will end your search, because searching for mics is our job.
Sennheiser e935 is a very powerful but inexpensive handheld. It has a beautifully balanced sound and clarity of a condenser mic. On the other hand, it is quite unpretentious and works wonderfully for both female and deeper male voices. As a cardioid microphone, it sounds more natural than its supercardioid brother e945 and that is expected. What we find most striking is the level of feedback rejection – it is simply incredible… Works not only…
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Sennheiser e965 is a premium large diaphragm vocal mic with a true condenser capsule, switchable between cardioid and supercardioid patterns. This mic has been out for some while remaining relatively unknown. The price was high in the beginning, it costed as much as Neumann and other high-end models, so those willing to try it out were few. But recently, the price has been significantly reduced, so we finally decided to give it a shot and…
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Sennheiser e945 is a great example of a great vocal mic. Made of quality, it produces an extraordinary for dynamics clear ‘n natural sound with a pleasant bit of warmth while easily cutting through the mix. This mic is not ‘picky’ about your technique, be it clean or grungy voice (or even something more extreme?). Gain before feedback is also quite very good – way better than most of the available mics on the market…
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Shure KSM9 is a professional on-stage condenser mic. This model is renowned and remains a favorite choice of many musicians. It offers a natural, open sound, with a very balanced low-end, beautifully smooth midrange and brilliant highs. Giving just enough brightness to put you in line or slightly ahead of the instruments, I find it working great for all types of voices too. As expected from professional equipment, you’ll get that superior quality and low noise levels. The unique…
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Heil Sound PR35 is a high quality, recording-grade dynamic handheld with an emphasis on presence and a rich, extended low end. This mic sounds very smooth, the highs are clean and there is almost zero harshness. It can be used for high quality live recordings while being stage-worthy and this is a great advantage. On the other hand, in the hands of an unskilled sound engineer and a mediocre quality PA, it may actually sound…
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Telefunken M80 is a rugged dynamic cardiod mic for live vocals. It reminds of the well-known SM58, with a similar sound except for a better-balanced low-end response that helps it cut through the mix better. In terms of gain before feedback, there isn’t much of a difference either (when both are adjusted to the same levels) although it appears that M80 requires less gain despite the specs actually saying it has a lower sensitivity. Telefunken…
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AKG D7 is a premium dynamic supercardioid stage mic with a smooth and open sound that is quite resilient to feedback. On paper it may look identical to D5 but don’t get confused because there are distinctive differences in the sound. AKG D7 is a step up in quality, and it is also more expensive but fortunately, you do get what you pay for. As a reference mic, it delivers a very natural tone despite…
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Shure Beta 87A delivers a superb quality, open sound with lots of detail and clarity. It has a wide dynamic range and can handle both weak and powerful vocals without distortion. This mic is well tuned for stage performance and it easily cuts through the mix without putting strain on the singer. With a supercardioid pattern it achieves superior gain before feedback and minimum stage bleed, giving you the ability to perform on smaller and more aggressive stages when needed. The frequency response is nicely balanced and sounds natural throughout…
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Shure Beta 58A is a great performance supercardioid mic, capable of delivering nice and clean vocals without killing your budget. Fairly bright but unobtrusive in character, it clears up vocals without exaggerating on the higher register. It has a linear response throughout the entire vocal range, which is especially appreciated by versatile singers. All in all, this mic is very easy to work with, both for singer and sound engineer alike. It is also quite…
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AKG D5 is a cheap but rugged supercardioid mic. It offers similar but slightly superior sound to Shure SM58. Tighter pick up pattern also gives it more flexibility to deal with gain before feedback. This mic can thus be considered as a more viable, cheaper alternative. However, it does suffer from the same disadvantage, which is the lack of detail. When comparing to more advanced handhelds, D5 may kind of sound inarticulate but as a…
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Sennheiser e845 is a budget version of the e945 supercardioid handheld with a less refined response and a slightly lower output. It is still as good in terms of gain before feedback and the supercardioid pattern it offers is as tight as ever. That is why this mic is well suited for noisy venues as well as back vocals where you want to keep the background noise to minimum. The higher end is as open…
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Sennheiser e835 is a budget mic of above average quality that has a very distinct wide cardioid pattern. As such, it offers minimum proximity effect and it’s quite forgiving if the talent goes a bit off axis. This mic is very easy to handle and it will be ideal for presenters, churches and other non-critical applications. It can produce quite clean, unobtrusive and intelligible voice as long as you don’t push it to the limits,…
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Audix OM-7 is a hypercardioid microphone /w dynamic capsule designed specifically for live performance. It’s been out for some while and I happened to hear only positive reviews, which seemed to me rather exaggerated back then. But recently, I was able to test it all out myself and comparing with other models, the results got me astounded… It is hard to believe how much better can this guy make you sound on stage! Sound & quality…
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Electro Voice 767A is a cheap but very good sounding vocal mic. Although it may not be as durable as Shure SM58, it certainly has a way better performance for just about the same price. It has a bright high-end with a smooth bottom end. Whatever your voice is, it will never sound muddy as this mic always delivers a lot of detail and clarity. If you need a good entry-level mic with above standard sound…
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Blue en-Core 200 is an active dynamic microphone with a cardioid pattern. It delivers a bright, high definition sound that easily cut through the mix. It can best be used for live shows especially with quiet passages as it helps to minimize electromagnetic interference. The unique feature of en-Core 200 is a prebuilt amplifier, which adds a little bit of gain and helps to reduce the annoying hissing and humming noises, which may also result from low quality wires. This mic is quite…
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Shure Super 55 Deluxe is a supercardioid prop mic for live sound. It may certainly look cool on camera while sparing you from having to procure an expensive and delicate Neumann or some other signature microphone in order to impress your audience. You have to understand it doesn’t have anything to do with the old mic other than having the similarly styled body. Those times are long gone and we have a small cylinder-shaped capsule…
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This is a very old model, introduced about 50 years ago and still in production. It has a fairly good sound, for which it even received a number of awards – though that was in the past. Now, this mic is getting steadily outdated and replaced by more advanced models. On the good side, it is very affordable, and so would be a great choice for any broke musicians and amateur singers. If your mic budget…
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In this article, you'll learn how to choose professional and budget
