Neumann - U 89 i

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.

I find the TLM 103 downright unbearable in the highs. The U87 Ai can get pretty ruthless on s-sounds too (especially with female voiceover talent). Personally, I’d take the U89 any day. Far more versatile and flattering to the human voice. Many engineers seem to get unsettled by its low-end, probably because modern sound has trained them to equate violence with clarity. The old original U87s can be nice, but every one’s a surprise on it‘s own. God, it’s been a while since I’ve mansplained to fellow sound people on the internet. One does miss it!

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.

well I'm not going to argue that, if I had a pair of U67's I'd use them everywhere. I do have a pair of U89's which I use on room, they're certainly overlooked, you don't hear that model mentioned often

Shoutout to the underrated U89. Toils in the shadow of its big brother, the U87, but more neutral.

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?