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Looking for a good mic to cut down the distortion with loud vocals...

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Topic Looking for a good mic to cut down the distortion with loud vocals...
I’m looking to buy some microphones for a vocal recording room. Right now I have a $40 cheapie, and whenever the vocalist gets above a certain volume, I get all that distortion and crackling that unprofessional studios are notorious for. As I’m doing mainly gospel recording, the vocalists have a tendency to ‘shout’ and ‘hollar’ and I want to be able to catch all of that without the distortion. What kind of mic’s should I be looking for, and is the distortion even a microphone related problem? Is it my mixing?? I can’t imagine it to be the mixing because it’s happening before I even get a chance to mix the vocal track down. Help.
2
distortion occurs whenever your spl (sound pressure level) gets too high and fills all the headroom of your mic pre-amp.
it does not come from the mic, it is generated from the pre-amp, so ANY mic can generate distortion.

if you are tracking an extremely dynamic singer, you should use a compressor on your mic, so distortion peaks are lowered and the signal stays clean.
this is a very usefull article to better understand compression, and how to use it:
http://www.saecollege.de/reference_material/pages/Compression.htm#comp
3
Thanks a bunch, man. What is a good compressor to use, and since I'm going to be upgrading from my cheap mic setup anyway, I guess I should ask what the best mic is (under $500) to record an individual vocalist.

I also should ask what the best kind of microphone is for recording multiple voices at one time. In certain situations, I'll be recording three people into one mic- and they can get pretty loud. Would I use the same sort of microphone for that as I would for just one person singing into a microphone?

Thanks for your help.
4
for 500$ i suggest this setup:

samson C03 condenser multi-pattern mic (less than 100$)
behringer ultragain pro mic2200 (around 100$)
dbx 266XL compressor/gate (i got one new for 200$)

the C03 is a multi-pattern condenser mic, it means that it can be used for single vocalists and choirs. don't be fooled by its price, it's a really good mic, worth every penny!
https://www.samsontech.com/products/productpage.cfm?prodID=1663

the behringer mic2200 is a stereo tube mic pre-amp, complete with +48V (for condensers). i used it for 3 years to record drums and vocals before buying a more expensive preamp. Its the best tube mic preamp you can get for that price.
http://www.instrumentpro.com/P-BEHMIC2200.html

i'm sure you know dbx. if not, dbx is one the most famous brands of recording studio outboards. i own today 4 dbx 266, and wouldn't trade them for anything else.
http://www.dbxpro.com/266XL.htm

with this equipment, you should be able to recod some serious vocals!
5
I may have mis-stated my intentions. All in all, I probably have about $1200 for the entire mic setup- which will have to include compressors, mic's, and preamps (even though I'm not sure what the difference is between a preamp and a compressor). If $100 will get me a proffessional sounding microphone, cool. But I can stretch beyond that if necessary, say $500 tops for a mic. I've seen where they get up to $1,200 (I can't get that far out there).

My main concern is getting a mic that won't make my vocalists sound like they're singing in a can. I guess I want a full, warm, proffessional sounding microphone. A compressor sounds like it will address all that distortion that I get when we go over a certain volume. What will a preamp do??

Sorry for all the questions, and I appreciate all your help!
6
ok, then i suggest you a groove tube mic
http://www.groovetubes.com/product.cfm?Product_ID=1596
this is one hell of a mic! after this, there is only the famous akg 414 (quite expensive)

The job of a preamp is to amplify a low level signal (possibly at high impedance like a mic or a guitar pickup) to line-level, its the first stages of every instrument amplifier.
A compressor reduces the dynamic range of an audio signal if its amplitude exceeds a threshold.

The output signal of the preamp can be connected to the compressor (or any other effect processor) and then feed directly to any audio recording device (tape recorder, pc audio card, mixer line in, multitrack recorder etc...).