Electro-Voice - ND96

It’s a very good vocal mic. I prefer my EV ND96 over anything else for live vocals, but that’s just personal preference. The SE v7 is very capable of recording vocals or performing live….and I actually like the reg v7 versus the v7x to record guitar cabs, as well as snare bottom. As far as difference of v7 versus a shure 57 or 58, the SE v7 has more hyped upper mids and is a bit more bright. A lot of vocalists prefer the v7, but the 57 is a must have in any mic locker.

I made a video of how microphones respond in worst case scenarios with drums: [https://youtu.be/Fmmj9I5NXzE](https://youtu.be/Fmmj9I5NXzE) It didn't matter much which mic I picked. It was only when using AI to split the vocal from the drums that there were some differences. The EV ND96 performed the best in the end.

Try an SM57 for lead vocals onstage at a small gig. I wasn't expecting it to be as good as it is. It's a little bit unusual, but I recently made a whole bunch of excellent singers happy that way, and I even had the usual SM58 available for them. One guy, a certifiable old school jazz legend, specifically requested the 57 after seeing it used by someone before him. For the newbies... Branch out from Shure. Spend the same amount though. EV and Sennheiser make great vocal mics that address different vocal styles. I like a Sennheiser e835 for mousy female vocals where a Beta 87 or SM58 would feed back. EV ND series sound pretty good on a guitar amp for hollow body jazz stuff. Grab a cloudlifter and an inline DI-style phantom power source to round out your toolbox. You never know when you're going to need either of those.