Am i deaf?? Is a cheap karaoke mic better than SM58???

[parablue74]

Can't believe this, i am so lost with mics now!!!!
I lately bought a karaoke system for my household to enjoy, and decided to grab 2 cheap Audiotechnica karoake mics , XM1S and AT-V8. Went back and did a test wondering how far these mics lag compared with my other professional mics in my mic cabinet.
Of cos they are no match to my condensers, but really!!!, they totally compete with my SM57 and SM58 on vocals...
The XM1S really showed a great performance, and i couldn't say it lose out the SM58 at all, but it was definately better than SM57 on vocals. The V8 has a little slight deteoriation of clarity after heavy listening comparing with SM58, but didn't lose to SM57.
These mics had slight different tones and the XM1S was warm while the AT-V8 was more airy. But these tones were no worse off than the Shures at all but rather compete very well against. But these mics are $30-$40 mics, how can it be???
I always had this concept that karaoke mics are crap, but how can this be????
I'm already yearning to buy the XM3S mic at $48 which is the instrument mic version, for all we know, it might even be better than SM57!!!!
Am i turning deaf, how can this be???

 

[parablue74]

Take note: I did use the same preamp, cable, everything set at same gain, and sang the same thing on all the tests

 

[unsane]

perhaps they just suited the character of your voice better, i've never liked 57s on vocals except for screaming. post some mp3s up if you can. where did you get these mics anyway,for that price it would be interesting to check out...

 

[parablue74]

Oh, i found them in Best Electronics down at Plaza Singapura

 

[lunarsoul]

Well, afterall they are Audio Technica mics. Dun think they'll be that bad compare with other karaoke mics.

 

[parablue74]

Just purchased the XM3S instrumental mic. Did a test of recording it on SD and rack toms and compared it with the SM57. On SD, it had a tighter sharper tone compared with the SM57, both sounds are useable, dependent on the usage. On the smaller rack tom, it was more usable than SM57, it was tighter and punchier compared with the loose SM57. On the larger rack tom, both SM57 and XM3S had an equivalent sound, basically i would consider both to be pretty unusable for it as the sound is too boomy. However, the VX8 was slightly better.
And the XM3S only cost $48 compared with a $125 SM57.

 

[Ichiro]

seriously i nv realli consider sm57 as a "vocal" mic at all... at least not for singing... sm58... well maybe for live sound...

i am currently doing a little research on some of the audio tech large diaphram vocal mics... as the reviews seems gd...

as for vocal recording is concern... i can easliy say neumann makes the best vocal
mic...

every mic is made for a certain reason... or it will onli sound great on certain instrument.... sm 57 is known fo a snare mic or a hit hat mic, sm58 live event mic.... the preamps u used also plays a big part on the recording also....

there are many factors to be considered......

 

[parablue74]

Tried SM57 before on vocals, they sound horrible. Audix OM2 is a way better handheld dynamic mic on vocals.
Yupz, maybe the XM series mics i bought works for my system well, didn't get a chance to try them out on others yet. But they are sure cheap enuff for trial 'n' error games.
SM57 is considered the industry standard for snare drums, but as every snare sounds different, the tonal range differ in terms of mic suitability. The way i see it, SM57 and SM58 is just over rated and popular, that's why everyone talks about it. On High Hats, condensers sound better as they are more sensitive. Large diaphragm condensers can be used for high hats, so can small diaphragm ones.
I would experiment the XM mics on electric guitar amps next time round.

 

[Ichiro]

yes i agreed that the sm57 & sm58 is over-rated... these mics is still used in the live sound situation as it is one of the "safest" way out... as for recording... ppl now i more open to many other mics....

actually there is no right or not to this kind of stuff.. it is the sound selection of the engineer and the musician themselves....

the miking technique and mic used also depends alot on the genre of music recording or playing live... these are some major points needed to be considered if u wan the outcome to be positive...

 

[parablue74]

Sure Ichiro.
I also have an Audiotechnica AT4033A large diaphragm vocal condensor which i use often for vocal recordings. It is an awesome mic, very clear. However, it sounds best with female vocals becos of it's clarity and smoothness. I think the latest model is the AT4050 or something like that if i'm not wrong.

 

[kahuna]

where sells audio technica mics?got any reccomendation for cheap wired audio technica mics?

 

[thor666]

Please re-read the thread.

 

[bernardgoh]

sm57/58 is not overated.... i'm still using it for vocals sometimes... with u87.

 

[Gr3y]

sorry for a noob question... is that xm3s instru mic a condenser? does it runs on 48v phantom? :lol:

 

[parablue74]

No they aren't condensers, no need phantom power

 

[stalefish]

maybe you could upload the different (short) vocal takes on the different mics so that we can hear the difference? ..always good to have a 2nd pair of ears around.... in this case more then that

 

[Gr3y]

cool! i trust u la brudder! i'll invest with 1 too!

 

[audio]

just read this thread..parablue, y not u upload some recordings so we can compare the difference? i've got a strong feeling u r turning deaf..

 

[blueprintstudios]

as rude as that is to tell someone he's turning deaf. he makes sense on the A/B recording comparison side.

 

[parablue74]

yes, audio, what did you say??? hahaha
A bit lazy to bring in some recordings over, but when i got the time, i will do it!! As for 2nd ears, my singer was quite happy with the XM1S. My band will be starting recording soon, so we will be doing some thorough testing on these mics to see how they fit to different songs..
Well, it's like this, the more options the merrier, whatz the problem with having more options at a lower cost...
I have an arsenal of 18 mics, mostly pro and some cheap ones, and i do comparison test for all of them. You will be surprised with the results i come up with, sometimes even a bass drum mic can work for some people's vocals.. in some scenario. music is art, and in art, there isn't much rules and regulations to follow.