VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

[Jacob Ekstroem]

Okay, a subject title like that calls for an explanation:

I have a very dark mic. It's actually a Rode NTK (yup, the one in the picture to the left!), a mic few people would descibe as a dark mic, right? Well, mine has a Telefunken tube in it and the low end response is completely off the charts. It sounds amazing, just not for my voice as it is, so it's been a while since I've used it.
It is also the quietest mic I've ever heard. For that reason alone I think it deserves a new chance, so the idea is to try and pair it with a preamp which could sweeten up the sound. A lot.

Needles to say, something Neve'ish like a GAP 73 would be a bad choice. I have a Joemeek VC1Q I used to pair it with... also a very bad match for it. My main pre right now (paired with an AT2035) is a very clean Danfield MX10. A great pre, but it does nothing as for colouring. What comes in, comes out. No, I need something bright, hysterically low noise and not overly expensive. Budget is in the $500 range. Think: "a cup of black coffee that needs a lot of sugar". I know I could just EQ it in post, but that's not the goal.

Any suggestions? (Did I hear someone say Grace Design M101?)
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Jacob - Danish Voice Overs (try it... it sounds really funny, too!)

[chuckweis]

I have an M101, but I personally wouldn't describe it as bright. I *can* brighten up things by engaging the EQ section on my 528e (which I run the signal through for the downward expansion purposes), but the Grace doesn't sound inherently "bright" to me. Transparent and clean, YES.

[Mike Sommer]

Here is the problem. The very first item at the head of your audio chain is dark and colored. So anything along that chain is not going to reduce that. About the only thing you can try to do is not dirty it up any more, i.e. using a clean a transparent preamp and processing to get the pure tone of the mic.

So to put any shimmer in the highs, you'll need to do that in post. Or Change the mic. Oh and EQ is not the best way to brighten a signal.

The Grace M101 would be a clean pre.

May I ask what it is or why it is you want to brighten the signal?
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Acoustics are counter-intuitive. If one thing is certain about acoustics, it is that if anything seems obvious it is probably wrong.

[Jacob Ekstroem]

Chuck, Mike - thank you.

Mike, I don't think I can explain myself better than I originally did, but I'll try:
I own 5 different mics by now, so I don't need a new one. The NTK was my go-to mic for years, but I always thought it wasn't the right match for my voice, and being a tube mic it became annoying having to make sure it was warmed up before sessions. I decided to go for an all-solid state chain and got a CAD e-300 mk1, which I loved except it is quite noisy. Recently I bought an AT2035 which is not, and I'm quite happy with it.
About a year ago or so I tried something fun, I changed the tube in the NTK to a NOS Telefunken. The character of the mic changed completely, the sound "opened up" so to speak but the low-end response was drastically improved. The sound became fuller, "fatter". Hence the term "dark mic".
I'm not a mic guru by any means, I haven't tried literally every mic on the market, so I have nothing to compare the sound with, really. But I'm still pretty amazed how quiet this mic is, and I can't convince myself into selling it even though I don't use it anymore. It's just too good to let go.

As to why I'd like to "brighten up" the sound... I guess it's a matter of taste. I'm not a fan of ballsy, larger-than-life vintage sound. I prefer a crystal-clear, smooth-as-silk kinda sound. Think tap water opposite "Tasmanian Rain" water. The coffee reference I mentioned earlier was quite good I think.

People are often talking about the perfect mic/pre match. Quite often the question is "how could I tame my bright (insert bright mic here)" and often the answer would be "anything Neve'ish". Please do correct me if I'm wrong, but that's my experience. What I want to do is kinda the opposite. I want to keep the open sound but emphasize the high's instead of the low's. Some pre's "fattens" up the sound of a thin mic. I wanna put my "fat" mic on a diet.

So you see, the object is quite simple, really. I just don't know if it can be done.
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Jacob - Danish Voice Overs (try it... it sounds really funny, too!)

[georgethetech]

Any clean pre with variable hi-pass filter would be the way to go.
Such as an Avalon M5, Daking Mic Pre One, something like that.
Just roll off the boomyness to taste. Sizzle in post.
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[Jacob Ekstroem]

George, thanks, but I have a feeling you missed the "Budget is in the $500 range" part of my initial post

Not that I'm sayin' I need this to be possible on a budget like that. If it can't be done... it can't.
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Regards,
Jacob - Danish Voice Overs (try it... it sounds really funny, too!)

[JTVG]

[Brad Venable]

J, you know I like the Grace, having had one for years before changing my configuration. And the bonus is that if you ever get a ribbon mic, you're all set.
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[Mike Sommer]

Jacob

I understood what you were saying. I think you may have misunderstood me.

Simply, you can not make a microphone brighter than it already is, with a preamp. All you can do is try not to get in the way of the of the mic, by using a cleaner pre.

Going with a clean preamp like the M101 is about your only hope of that.

If it is still not providing the shimmer or brightness you are looking for, you can try processing in post production. ( If you like post some audio and I'll play with it for you)


If you're still not finding what you are looking for, there is not much left to do but get a different mic. ( I know you don't want to hear this, but-- there ya go)

The trend of shimmery bright audio is a post production trick. It is added harmonics, or artifacts for the illusion of dimension. Even when using a 416.
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Acoustics are counter-intuitive. If one thing is certain about acoustics, it is that if anything seems obvious it is probably wrong.

[Jacob Ekstroem]

No problem Mike...

Yeah, seems like it can't be done. Guess I'll either leave it for now or try something like a Grace.

Thanks guys.
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Regards,
Jacob - Danish Voice Overs (try it... it sounds really funny, too!)

[JTVG]

Why not brighten it up with EQ?
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Joe Szymanski
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[Mike Sommer]

You can only do so much with an EQ, and most of the time any adjustment above or below 4 dB's will cause problems even with a parametric EQ. The vocal can get really peaky.


One way to add air and shimmer to vocal top end it to us a Vocal Exciter:
In this video they use Protools , but you can use most any multi track DAW that has sends and such. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oH0WYZwZPN4
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The Blog:
http://voiceoveraudio.blogspot.com/

Acoustics are counter-intuitive. If one thing is certain about acoustics, it is that if anything seems obvious it is probably wrong.

[kgenus]

Drop the NOS Telefunken into something else and put an Electro-Harmonix 6922 EH inside that NTK. You'll get Gingerale (to follow your analogy). 30 minutes to warm up and you're set.
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[Deirdre]

Man, I love that vocal exciter tutorial.
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[kgenus]