Neumann - TLM 170 R

The technology of the transducer won't change the ratio between the direct and the reflected sound. What matters is the pickup pattern and how close you are to the mic. My favourite mic for this role is TLM170 and its close sibilings - TLM193 and U89. Schoeps MK4 is also great if you want something even more neutral but IMO it truly excels if you give it some distance which you probably shouldn't if your room isn't great. MK41 is likely a better choice for the not so good rooms.

Ur first and only mistake was using the tlm 103 for vocals, shit is the KING of creating sibilance issues Try an Austrian Audio OC818, around the same price as a 103, and it's bright too, but without any of the trashness. If you wanna spend double, Nordic Audio Labs NU 24k is genuinely amazing and might be the best vocal mic on the market. It's up there, and it's only like $1800ish. Or if you want a duller, darker sound, Audio Technica AT 4047 or Neumann U89i/TLM 170R/TLM 193. Using dark mics isn't bad. You have eq lol, just make it brighter in post. But you can't really fix a shitty sounding bright recording from a bright mic once it's recorded.

In order, I’d try- Backing off the mic a bit Making sure I wasn’t blowing up the 1073 too much Doing less gain reduction with the CL-1B Swapping out the 1073 for something really clean **Trying a more neutral mic like a TLM-170** Trying a bunch of neutral mics including dynamics and ribbons

+1 for adding a ribbon for a different flavor. But in the LDC category, I love the TLM170. Added benefit of broader range of multi-pattern options if you want to make slight adjustments to proximity effect. But the straight up cardioid sounds great fresh out the preamp.

When I think workhorse, I think original U87s. If you like your U67s but not those, there's a good chance you just don't like the solid state sound. You might get more from a modern 'clean' valve mic, like an M149 or Lauten Eden. Still, there's some solid state LDCs that are worth trying. * Original C414s are real workhorses (Comb, EB, C412s) - but they've gone very expensive for what they are. Some swear by their C414 ULSs, but ours never won a shootout on vocals. Skip anything newer than the TLIIs. * U89s / TLM170s are good if you want something modern / neutral. They're the opposite side of the scale to your M49 - but do their thing very well. * Some people really love the Soyuz 017 - but its capsule is a k87 copy, so the FET version could be too similar to the U87 for your tastes. * I haven't tried the newer Gefell stuff, but a producer brought his MV-692s in (with M62 capsules), and they sounded beautiful. Really, anything old with a nickel capsule is worth trying for vocals. They have a smoothness and 'air' that's often lacking in FET mics. But before going out and renting a bunch of mics, try some of your SDCs. They get overlooked a lot these days, but you'd be surprised how great they can sound on vocals. Often they do the "cut through a dense mix" thing better than a FET LDC.

I’ve heard plenty of TLM 170s, they’re often the standard on scoring stages for big orchestral recording for feature films. They’re incredibly transparent and the only thing that differentiates them from the cheaper TLM series microphones is that they have a ton of added electronics such as multiple polar patterns, filters, and a pad. The more of that stuff that is added to a mic build, the more expensive it’s gonna be to manufacture. My comment still stands true, you can find mics at that same price that have way more character. And you can find mics at half the price that sound cooler, in my opinion. They aren’t “poorly” made at all, they’re just not worth the money. And I would consider that in the “overrated” category.

I am working for a radio station in germany and we have 8 „vintage“ U87 i use to hear for 13 years now. I have problems with eq-ing them. I prefer TLM 170 for now. But sometimes its the only right mic, but often the bass does not roll off „correctly“ for me. Its a mess sometimes

I went to a Sennheiser backed mic shootout at a world class studio. I think it was a NARAS meetup. They had all the Neumann mics lined up along with the 8000 series Sennheiser mics. I thought the 102 sounded thin and harsh compared to everything else in the room. Most others there agreed. The most pleasant sounding mic was the M149. The most real sounding mic was the 8000 series Sennheiser. They were much more transparent than the KM184. I’d say on par with the B&K, now known as DPA mics.

This event was before the TLM 107 was released. On another note, I do love my tlm170. It was the first in the TLM series and was basically designed as a transformerless U89. It’s very smooth and natural. It’s absolutely on par with the u87, but with a flatter response, lower noise and distortion, and if you want to buy the extremely over-priced accessory, you can do remote controlled polar pattern switching. It is a little dark and some might say clinical, but very very natural and transparent. You can always add more character in the mix so I’m cool with that. I got the impression the 107 is the successor to the 170, but that’s just me guessing.

It uses the same capsule, but I don’t know if it’s really meant to be on par with the tlm170 and u89 in terms of tonal quality. For example the tlm103 uses the same capsule as the u87, but they sound quite different.

Those are great for shows/touring. But for vocals, you definitely want a condenser. I used the MXL for years, and then I got a VERY good deal on Amazon on a Neumann.

I have an mxl condenser mic that works well, but just bought a Neumann condenser mic off Amazon. In the studio, they always said they used the $4k Neumann on me. Not sure that it is a knock off, but supposedly the same one Billie eillish uses and it sounds great. Under $400.

It matters massively and you’ll see that with experience your ears will learn to recognise the difference. It doesn’t matter how much you process a 57, it won’t compare to a Neumann, no matter what you do to it. It might sound cool in a different way, but you won’t get the high fidelity of a top notch condenser, if that’s the sound you’re going for. Think about this: If you go for an “expensive” vocal sound and have a U 87 and maybe a nice compressor, you won’t need to process it much, maybe a bit of eq and some reverb / delay. In that case you’d be MIXing. If you have a 57, you’ll have to use a ton of processing to make it sound more “expensive”. You’ll have to use multiple compressors, color eqs, cut resonances, etc. in that case you would be FIXing. Makes sense?