Neumann - U 87 (original)

Depends on if you have an original or the 'ai' version. the new ones do suck, but the og's are magic.

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.

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 have a vintage u87, second run they did. I love it but it's not for everything or everyone.

Pro here working at a top-ten studio with over 200k in microphones. I use the U87 set Ai and even vintage U87 for roughly half of my vocal sessions. Its a bit of a Swiss Army mic. If you can't make a U87 work for your vocals, you have bigger problems than your mic. It is not over hyped in the highs or scooped in the low-mids. It's a fairly vanilla mic all things considered but with minimal preamp eq or DAW eq, you should be able to get a natural balanced tone out of most vocals and instruments. Proximity is the key determining factor when used commonly in cardioid.

Vintage 87s vary greatly from mic to mic, something to keep in mind. Some sound great, some can sound awful. For seasoned engineers, it’s a predictable go-to. Like a 57. There are certainly better mics, but when you’re in the heat of battle, and decisions need to get made, it’s one of the first grabs because I know exactly what it’s capable of.

100%. I’ve used vintage 87’s, Ai’s, replicas…all blah and boring. If I absolutely had to use one it’d be fine but for being a legendary mic worth thousands, it’s always a letdown.

First: do you own original 70s ones? Because the later ones aren’t close to as good. Second: part of what makes them great is that they ARE kind of neutral. Or flat. They just work in literally anything and everything. They’re occasionally the perfect thing (especially on some vocals. There are probably more 1970s vocals recorded on 87s than any other mic) but they always work. I could happily make a record with nothing but a room full of 87s (and Ken Scott also often has, for example)

It depends by your chain and for what purpose you intend to use it. For a clean recording of the mic in the audio interface u87 is a good mic but nothing esoteric, for example, i prefer an akg c414 for a clean sound. But when you search a specific color and a signature sound u87 is the most versatile mic to use with most high end preamp that makes a miscellanous of colors and styles depending on the combination chosen. I think also, that most of audio engineers or artist use the u87 by 1% of his possibilities because they use only the cardioid polar pattern, but the figure 8 in a mid side for a piano recording, or the omni for a coloured room, they changes everything in terms of texture.

I really will never understand the tlm103 love. For me, it’s u87 or MKH416 for that commercial cut-through.

in my experience, the microphone plays a huge part in what a source sounds like and some mics work better than others for specific sources. it's not necessarily a question of cheap vs expensive microphones; someone's voice might sound nasally and harsh on a u87 whereas it might sound better on a different, cheaper mic. it's about finding the right mic for the source