¡Obtenga asesoría en español!  Llámenos hoy a (800) 222-4701
(800) 222-4700 Talk to an expert!
Loading Cart
Your Cart Is Empty

See what's new at Sweetwater.

My Cart this.cartQty

Behind the Scenes: Creating the Vocal Mic Shootout

When Sweetwater first considered doing the microphone comparison that we’re calling the Sweetwater Vocal Mic Shootout, we knew we’d have to pull out all the stops to do it right. The most important part of any gear comparison is ensuring that the tests are calibrated and precise so that any differences in sound are reflected accurately and not influenced by bad testing methodology. We know all too well that engineers are a tweeky bunch — we have lots of them working here. And they ask lots of questions. There are so many details (mics, preamps, cables, amps, outboard gear, etc.) that most people don’t care about, but these details are extremely important to engineers. But engineers aren’t the only ones who care about making a vocal sound great in a mix, though. We all do. That’s why we took the time and energy to create this resource, so you could hear 50 mics side by side and be a better-educated microphone shopper.

This is a photographic tour behind the scenes of the setup and recordings for our vocal mic listening comparison. Read on, and you may find tips that will help you get a better vocal sound, even if you are still shopping for a mic. Then listen to the vocal mic recordings, and see what differences you hear in mics that range in price from $50 to $8995. You may decide you need to save up for that golden mic, or you may hear something that is more affordable that will perfectly fit your needs.

The Goal

Our goal with the Vocal Mic Shootout was to select a wide variety of mics, set them up side by side, and record vocals so we could not only listen to the differences, but also share the files with our friends. Our hope was that we (and you) might discover some vocal mics that we might not have had a chance to hear otherwise. Of the 50 mics we auditioned, I was only familiar with 16, having used them in the studio. As expected, I heard several mics that really interested me, ones that I will probably need to add to my mic collection.

The Challenge

The fundamental challenge when setting up a shootout to compare mics (or any pieces of gear) with each other is assuring a level playing field — presenting each mic with the same (or extremely similar) source material. When comparing vocal mics, the obvious source is a singer. While it is repeatable, it’s not an identical source every time. Try as hard as we might to be scientific in our testing regimen, this is still not science; it’s about music. So the best source for comparing vocal mics is the human voice, recognizing that no two takes will ever be absolutely identical in level, inflection, passion, pitch, etc. The best we can do is get singers who are professionals and can deliver similar performances time after time. And then we do everything in our power to make sure that mic position, singer position, and microphone levels are all as close to uniform as we can get them.

Kat Bowser, female vocalist, with the first group of eight microphones

The Setup

Here are the steps we took to make sure the sound of the mics you’ll hear in these recordings is as true and uniform a representation of the sound of these mics as we could possibly make them.

Great care was taken to put each mic in the same place in relationship to the singer.

The Mics

The mics were selected after considering hundreds of microphones that Sweetwater carries (nearly 700, not counting wireless, shotgun, USB, or headset mics). We decided to limit the selection to a very specific subset, in order to get to a feasible number to compare. We specified large-diaphragm, side-address condenser mics. Then we whittled the list of over 100 mics down to a list of just 50 we were most interested in hearing, based on A) popularity, B) availability, and C) price.

Once we had a master list* (included at the bottom of this article), we set them up in groups of eight on the same horizontal plane, approximately 12″ apart, so they would all pick up similar but minimal reflections from the room, but not so close that they might interfere with the sound of adjacent mics. The studio glass was 17′ behind the mics.

The signal path was microphone > preamp > analog-to-digital converter (ADC). All the sound files of the solo mics are completely flat. There was no audio processing in the signal path whatsoever. All mics were connected using 30′ Sweetwater mic cables.

The Studio

For these recordings, we worked in Sweetwater’s Studio A, a large Russ Berger-designed room with well-balanced acoustics, not too live or too dead. It’s also very, very quiet.

Setting up mics in Sweetwater’s Studio A

The Gear

All mics were recorded using the incredibly clear and transparent Millennia HV-3R mic preamp.
We recorded through the industry-standard Avid HD interface set to 24-bit/96kHz with an Antelope Trinity master clock.

The incredibly transparent 8-channel Millennia HV-3R preamp was used on all the mics.


The Process


Aligning the Mics

All mics were positioned at a uniform height (61.5″) on Latch Lake mic stands that allowed for very precise adjustments without worrying about the boom arms sagging and changing the mic position. The mic stand in the image below was adjusted to 61.5″ and used as our fixed-height calibration measure so we didn’t have to rely on the measuring tape.

All the mic diaphragms were uniformly set to a height of 61.5″, the predetermined mic height for the male vocalist.

Why 61.5″? That was judged to be the right height for our first singer, Nick D’Virgilio. Once the mics were positioned and calibrated, they stayed in the same place for Kat Bowser, our female singer. She stood on a riser to get her mouth to the same height so that we didn’t have to reposition and recalibrate all 50 mics. The singers stood on a rug that extended the full length of the mic positions to keep reflections from bouncing off the floor into the mic.

Producer Mark Hornsby at the console recording Kat Bowser — notice that she’s standing on a box/riser.

Calibrating the Mics

The signal source for calibration was an Auratone 5C Super Sound Cube that was reproducing a 1kHz tone at ~105dB SPL, aimed at the center of the mic diaphragm positioned 4.5″ from the vertical plane of the diaphragm. The source tone was recorded on a Pro Tools track and played back at the same level for each mic. Then the preamp gain was adjusted so that the input signal to Pro Tools registered at -19dBFS +/- 0.7dB. The tone was then printed on that track and final level calibration was done with Clip Gain to achieve identical microphone levels, matched accurately to +/- 0.1dB. (We considered the alternative of using another gain stage or variable attenuator in the signal path after the preamp, but we didn’t want to introduce any possible coloration in the microphone signal path.)

Measuring the distance from the Auratone calibration speaker to the mic diaphragm, about 4.5″. The pencil on top of the speaker pointed to the horizontal center of the microphone.

Extreme care was taken to find the exact center of each mic’s diaphragm when positioning the mics to the correct height.

Flashlight illuminating the back of the Audio-Technica 5040’s unique windowpane diaphragm

The distance from the singer’s mouth to the diaphragm plane was measured before each performance. Nine inches was the spacing that we used.

Nick D’Virgilio making sure the distance to the mic (9″) was the same every time

Absolute polarity was confirmed using the Galaxy Audio Cricket Polarity Tester.

Eight of the 16 tube mics we auditioned, warming up overnight prior to testing

Recording the Performances

In order to preserve the singers’ voices (who were performing the same 60-second sample 50 times), we didn’t try to produce perfect vocal takes. There was some punching when lyrics were forgotten or misplaced, but most of what you hear will be single takes from start to finish. The tracks were selected and recorded and mixed by Mark Hornsby. We considered using a pop filter. Nah. What about highpass filtering the occasional P pops? Nah. Well, there’s certainly some pitches that could be tightened up. Nah. You’re hearing raw vocal tracks just like you would with any singer in the studio. You want tuning? You want compression? You want to add reverb and effects? Go right ahead. That’s why we’re offering a download with the original 24-bit/96kHz sound files as consolidated .wav files (both as a Pro Tools session and just as a folder of audio files to load into any DAW), so you can hear exactly what we heard in the studio.

Our male vocalist, Nick D’Virgilio, sings into the RODE NTK large-diaphragm condenser mic.

Fifty (Yes, That’s 50) Mics!

It’s hard to conceive what is involved in setting up and calibrating 50 mics. We had a staff of four engineers who worked for two days to handle the technical bits, not counting the unboxing and reboxing that took another two days. Several of the microphones offer features including highpass, lowpass, pad, different voicings, multiple patterns, or even an internal preamp in the case of REDD Mic (we used the REDD with the +4 setting into the Millennia preamp), but we decided to listen to all the mics in cardioid pattern with all switches in the OFF (bypassed) or normal position without any filters or alternate voicings. While having lots of sonic options in a single mic can be a real asset, exploring all those options was not a possibility during this time frame.

The microphones included here were sourced from the Sweetwater Studios Mic Locker, Sweetwater product inventory, or directly from the manufacturers.

I hope it is clear that we went to great lengths to make sure this was a fair and unbiased comparison, showing each microphone in the same light. We think you will find this a very educational and informative resource and that you will learn a lot as you listen to all the sound files of 50 mics.

If you have any questions about microphones, call your Sweetwater Sales Engineer at (800) 222-4700. They are highly trained professionals who know all about the microphones that will meet your needs.

And if you want to share your thoughts about these mics and this shootout, join us in the conversation at the Vocal Mic Shootout Forum on Gearslutz.


*The Microphone List

AKG C214
AKG C314
AKG C414 XLII
AKG C414 XLS
Aston Origin
Aston Spirit
Audio-Technica AT4033/CL
Audio-Technica AT4040
Audio-Technica AT4047
Audio-Technica AT4050
Audio-Technica AT5040
Avantone CV-12
Behringer C-1
Blue Baby Bottle SL
Blue Bluebird SL
Blue Bottle w/B6 capsule
Bock Audio 251
Bock Audio iFet (Voice setting)
Chandler REDD Mic
Lauten Audio Clarion
Lauten Audio LA-220
Lauten Audio LA-320
Lauten Audio Oceanus
Manley Gold Reference Mic
Manley Reference Cardioid Mic
Miktek CV3
Miktek CV4
Miktek MK300
Mojave MA-50
Mojave MA-201fet
Mojave MA-300
Mojave MA-301fet
Neumann TLM 49
Neumann TLM 103
Neumann U47 FET
Neumann U 87 Ai
RODE NT1
RODE NT1-A
RODE NTK
sE Electronics sE2200a II
sE Electronics sE X1 s
Shure KSM32
Shure KSM44A
Soundelux U99
Soundelux U195
Telefunken AK-47 MKII
Telefunken AR-51
Telefunken ELA M 251E
Telefunken U47
Warm Audio WA-87


If you made it this far down the page, you’re as serious about mics as we are. Here’s a video of Mitch Gallagher interviewing Mark Hornsby and myself about how we did what we did.

Photo of author, Lynn Fuston

About Lynn Fuston

Lynn Fuston spent 37 years behind recording consoles in dozens of studios in Nashville, as well as doing remote recordings around the globe. In addition to his time at the board, he's been a contributing writer/editor for recording magazines such as EQ, ProSound News, Audio Media and Pro Audio Review since the '90s. His studio work on Gold and Platinum-selling records with iconic Christian artists such as Amy Grant, Michael W. Smith, DC Talk, Russ Taff, Twila Paris, Kathy Troccoli, and countless others gives him a unique perspective on the artistry and technology of recording. He also produced the world-renowned 3D Audio CDs, a series which allows listeners to compare mics, preamps, analog-to-digital converters, DAWs, and summing, giving them the ability to hear the differences in their own spaces. He has hosted recording forums since 1998, both on the internet (3dB) and Facebook (3D/FB). Fuston is now the Manager of Written Content for Sweetwater's web and print publications.
Read more articles by Lynn »

Inspiration. Information. Passion.

Being music makers ourselves, we love geeking out on all things gear. From the tweakiest techniques to the biggest ideas, our experts work hard to constantly supply inSync with a steady stream of helpful, in-depth demos, reviews, how-tos, news, and interviews. With over 28,000 articles and counting, inSync is your FREE resource for breaking news, reviews, demos, interviews, and more.

In this article: