Shure - KSM8 Dualdyne

Hard disagree. It’s not a brand thing it’s a brand model thing. AKG is not the company it once was, the modern mics have nothing to do with their old legendary microphones.  Shure SM7B should have made the list, it’s my favorite shure mic. I have so many models. KSM8 is good if you have vocal cord damage and it suppresses those frequencies. I know of no studio sennheiser for vocals. They make good handhelds for live music though.  Similarly Neumann TLM103 is overly bright and harsh and great for foley and perhaps modern narration but not necessarily good for singing 

I hate clip-on mics, so I can’t answer your question, but a GREAT stationary flute mic that flies under the radar is the Shure KSM 8. I play wooden flute in a Celtic rock band, and even right in front of the drum kit it picks up the flute great. The remarkable feature of this mic is that you can play straight into it, nose touching the screen, and not get ANY wind noise (with a low cut applied). It’s worked great for me. Sorry to not be of help, but maybe other folks looking for mic options will benefit.

Have you tried the KSM8? It’s kinda sorta smooth around the mids, very little proximity effect, doesn’t emphasize 800–1.2 kHz area. If budget’s tight, good old Beta 58 or 87 are worth to give a shot. Before cutting 350–400 and 750–800, I’d first sweep around 900–1.2 kHz and put a gentle dip there. Then add a small cut near 350–450 Hz, plus a dynamic EQ band around 800–1 kHz to duck on big vowels. HPF around 100 Hz, and if it sounds dull, add a touch of air. What I also find useful is playing with the mic angle and aim, try 20–30° off-axis and aim just below the lip line. That often takes the edge off. You can test and try to figure out a sweet spot for your singer. If you sprinkle in some VST magic like Waves F6/C6 and pair it with the right capsule and mic technique, that works best. Why I like F6/C6 in this case is; F6/C6 let you set per band thresholds, ranges, and time constants, even sidechain a specific band, so you can make the 900–1.2 kHz dip only when it pops out without dulling the whole. Metering shows exactly which band is working and how much, which makes dialing faster. Many decent modern consoles built in dynamic EQ is also great and close enough. If your desk already has per band dynamics with good metering, you can use that too. Plugins mainly win on ergonomics and precision.

Shure KSM-8, fantastic and much less bulky than RE20. Heil PR-30 and PR-40 maybe also.

My favorite mic (which I know is not a condenser) is my KSM8. I sit farther back due to a disability, my room is only slightly treated (walls,) I have a homemade vocal booth but I barely lean in enough for it to matter, and I still love that mic. I’ve recorded everything; my own stuff, co-writes, video… I even use it live. It’s great and I’ve never had anyone with whom I’ve worked tell me otherwise. That said, I totally agree that if you don’t want to go up a level, an SM58 works fine.

The KSM8 sounds closer to what people think the original SM7 should sound like. The SM7B is close but I wouldn’t consider it to be HiFi. To me the KSM8 into a 1073 style pre is chefs kiss perfect. It’s proximity effect mitigation is even better than the re-20 with a huge sweet spot.

The KSM8 sounds closer to what people think the original SM7 should sound like. The SM7B is close but I wouldn’t consider it to be HiFi. To me the KSM8 into a 1073 style pre is *chefs kiss* perfect

I appreciate your response :) for her past live shows we've been using KSM8s or Beta 58As with great success! we really need her to be mobile on-stage for this tour, however :( edit: also noteworthy was the Heil PR35 and SE V7

I believe classically this is what the AKG [D 222](https://www.vintagemicworld.com/html/Mic%20of%20the%20month_AKG%20D222_two-way%20dynamic-vintage%20microphone.html) and D202 were designed for. They have two diaphragms, one for normal speech frequencies and above, and another just for low frequencies at the back of the capsule shielded by the first. This makes rumble much more consistent and manageable without entirely rolling off the low end, and was historically (and apparently into the present day) favoured for broadcast usage as it keeps speech intelligible whilst not sounding distractingly odd in the same way a shotgun mic or headset can. Unfortunately these microphones have been discontinued for many years now, and I don't believe AKG has anything more modern with the same features. Shure however does produce several microphones with this two-diaphragm design principle including the [KSM 42](https://service.shure.com/s/article/dual-diaphragm-design-control-of-proximity-effect?language=en_US#:~:text=The%20lower%20the%20frequency%2C%20the,of%20the%20sound%20is%20blocked.) studio condenser they talk about in the above support article and it's live brother the [KSM 9](https://www.shure.com/en-GB/products/microphones/ksm9?variant=KSM9%252FSL) (which I have come across in the wild being used by some very boomy baritones, but never when I've been running the board), and the dynamic version the [KSM8](https://www.shure.com/en-GB/products/microphones/ksm8?variant=KSM8%252FB) (which I have used in live and it sounds great). If you're looking for things to give a try out I'd see if you can get ahold of either the 8 or 9 and give them a test drive and see if you feel the result.

Ksm8 and ksm9's are pretty classy.

Id recommend any of these sorted from most expensive to least expensive Neumann TLM 102 condenser - $800 Shure KSM 8 dynamic - $400 Audix ADX-51 pencil condenser - $210 Shure Beta 58 dynamic - $180 Shure SM58 dynamic - $100 Realistically if this is a one time use deal just go buy a used SM58 for like $50. A good performance will sound good on any microphone. Investing in a large diaphragm condenser is kind of unnecessary unless you’re trying to record yourself often, but it will produce some exceptional recordings. If you’re looking for a mic that sounds clear that you’ll use often, I personally use the KSM8 for live shows and studio work. It’s great at capturing your voice without coloring it (if that’s what you want). But again, if you perform well a cheap SM58 is really all you need.