Neumann - U 47 fet i

Curious about your 87s? Are they original or reissue? Cuz the new 'ai' versions suck on vocal, but the originals are amazing. It's such a difference I'm mad that they didn't change the name. That being said, don't sleep on the 47fet. Take that thing off your kick drum and use it on anything else cuz it slays.

If cost isn’t an issue the Neumann U87ai is industry standard for voice work. Neumann also reissued their U 47 FET microphone which is relatively clean and handles big/deep voices very well. I’m a also a big fan of Brauner mics for a cleaner more neutral sound and the Myburgh M1 for a richer “Neumann” flavor. Your technique, vocal delivery, and the sound of your room are as important as the mic. I’d reach out to a reputable dealer where you can try two or three different high-end mics in your space to compare.

Nothing like the og Neumann fet 47

Yeah. I’ve done a lot of studio work and they are almost never used. 414s are way more popular. FET47 is the real go to for that kind of mic. When you have access to KM86s, 54s, U47s, etc. the 87 doesn’t leave the drawer very often.

Fet 47 is essentially a non tube U47 and basically the original 87. I’ve heard United Studios makes a good clone. Neumann KM86 is a side address small diaphragm FET condenser. Very popular on acoustic guitar. Has multiple patterns, fig8, omni. All around cool mic. Probably hard to find a clone or something comparable these days. Neumann KM54 is another side address small diaphragm. It is tube. I believe it shares the same capsule as a KM84. A fun mic. Probably not going to find any modern mics like this one either. ATM450 is a good sounding SDC that is side address, but I wouldn’t put it in the same league as the previous 2. Sennheiser MK4 is my favorite <$500 mic. Very natural sounding.

Yeah. I’ve done a lot of studio work and they are almost never used. 414s are way more popular. FET47 is the real go to for that kind of mic. When you have access to KM86s, 54s, U47s, etc. the 87 doesn’t leave the drawer very often.

That’s pretty fair. I find pretty much everything lacking on vocals when up against a really good 251, 47, or M49

An old 414 (brass ck12 capsule type) can be pretty great. For modern and bright be JZ black hole is amazing and handles sibilance well. I also love a fet 47 on vocals particularly male rock vocals.

My U47 sounds great on probably 50 of singers. Works particularly well on low voices and people Who don’t sing loud. Any high SPL and it falls apart. The UM70 however works on everyone. We have four of them because they’re so useful.

87s already very hard to get right. i despise the 87uis, and never heard an 87 i liked to record with til i got to use a real vintage one. even then i preferred a 67 or 47. I think moreso the 87 is the outlier here because the wa251 is amazing too. dont expect it to be a full 251 sound but if u supplement it itb you can achieve the same sound. which is the purpose of WA mics. get you as close as you can in your budget then supplement from there. also for the youngsters i think its a great way to familiarize yourself with “mic sounds” on a budget. Need to go in knowing its not the real thing but very few get to work with a c800g, vintage 47, or anything above 10k without having great working knowledge.

I got an old 67 and a really old 47 and I love them. BUT, I wouldn't use them for audiobooks. They're both too, big sounding. For big up front vocals or announcer style commercial spots they are the best. U87 all day for audiobooks.

Truth? It’s often a grey area until you get to compare a neumann u47 with any other mike. As far as affordablr mikes go, yeah there’s a noticable difference between a decent and a ‘good’ mike. Not just for audio nerds. It pays to invest in good mikes.

There’s no magic mic out there that’ll solve it, a U67 or even U47 might get you a bit closer - I guess you’ve tried with your mics plugged directly into your soundcard so you can hear how your voice sounds with no additional processing? If it does still sound toppy then maybe some post EQ processing or even something like Soothe 2 to (very) gently tamp the sibilance down is what’s needed. If the mic plugged in vanilla isn’t boosting your HF then you know it’s some combination of the 1073/CL1B and might be saturation or something in those units that’s accentuating the highs - could you try rolling off a little HF on the 1073? Are you using any form of pop filter? The Hakan pop filters are quite good at being transparent but helping to mitigate issues.