The Shure SM7B Is Used By The Best Engineers

Posted on May 9, 2012 by Blair Sutherland Leave a comment

I recently got the opportunity to use the Shure SM7B and found out why this microphone is used by some of the best recording engineers in the business.

The Shure SM7B is a dynamic microphone that is mainly designed for voice recording and live sound applications, it features a cardioid pickup pattern, a bass rolloff, a high mid boost, great off-axis rejection and a pronounced proximity effect.

I like the sound of the mic with the mid-range boost for a male announcer voice as it adds the clarity and allows the voice to cut through a little better than it might on just the flat setting. The proximity effect is quite pronounced, the low end is very full sounding as you get closer to the mic which makes it great as a broadcast or voice over microphone.

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The low end rolloff is useful if you are recording in a room that is not well treated and need to filter out the room noise or if you have a very boomy voice talent.

The SM7B also sounds great on a male singing voice and has been used by Eddie Vedder, Michael Jackson, Metallica and The Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Check out the specs:

Eric Paul, the engineer for Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings and Johnny Cash had this to say:

“If you’ve tried out three very expensive tube mics and you aren’t happy with any of them, then the next step should immediately be a Shure SM-7. I will almost always guarantee you that if the expensive mic doesn’t work, an SM-7 will. For some reason, people sound better on them.”

Mix Magazine March 1998

The July Issue of EQ Magazine states:

The SM7 is perhaps most famous for being used as the vocal microphone on Michael Jackson’s Thriller engineered by Bruce Swedien.

Overall the Shure SM7B is an excellent dynamic microphone and would highly recommend adding it to your mic collection especially if you are recording male vocals or voice over talent.

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Why The Genelec 1032A Is Still My Favorite Near Field Monitor

Posted on March 29, 2012 by Blair Sutherland Leave a comment

There are some companies that make great near field monitors, KRK, Dynaudio, JBL and Yamaha, just to mention a few, but I have to say that my favorite studio speaker is the Genelec 1032A.

The Genelec 1032 A is two-way, active near field monitor with a 10 inch woofer and a 1 inch tweeter. Genelec has been making studio monitors since 1978 and is one of the leading studio monitor manufacturers in the market today.

Genelec was one of the first companies to make active monitors. While almost every speaker manufacturer makes them now, not too long ago it was a rare find. The advantage of an active monitoring system is that the amplifiers and the speakers are designed to give the best quality sound together. With a passive set of monitors you have to find the right amp to pair with the speakers.

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One of the technologies that Genelec has developed and implements in there near-field monitors is the Directivity Control Waveguide (DCW). Basically, the DCW is designed to match the frequency response characteristics and the directivity characteristics of the drivers in the speaker. The result is a very flat overall frequency response for on and off-axis listening positions.

Here are some of the features of the Genelec 1032 A studio monitors.

  • Flat on and off-axis response for wider usable listening area
  • Increased direct-to-reflected sound ratio for reduced control room coloration
  • Improved stereo and sound stage imaging
  • Increased driver efficiency
  • Increased system Sound Pressure Level capacity
  • Decreased drive unit distortion
  • Reduced cabinet edge diffraction
  • Reduced system distortion

One of my favorite features of the Genelec 1032 A is the roll-off and tilt controls. I found that they provide just enough control to make the monitors sound perfect for my ears and my room. The tilt and roll-off switches are adjustable in 2db increments. I found that I like the treble tilt +2, the bass tilt at 0, and the bass roll-off at -2.

If you use these monitors as your only speakers I would recommend pairing them with the Genelec 7070A subwoofer to get an amazing clean and punchy low end.

The down side of these speaker is that they are not inexpensive. The 1032A cost around $5000 for a pair. The 7070 A Subwoofer runs close to $3000. If you want an excellent, high-quality, great sounding near-field monitor from a company that has been around for a long time and has some pioneering technology, and if you can afford them, I would recommend getting a pair of the Genelec 1032 A Studio Monitors.

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Blue Bluebird Review

Posted on November 2, 2011 by Blair Sutherland Leave a comment

The Blue Bluebird

I have been using the Blue Bluebird microphone quite a bit recently and really like what I hear.This is one of the better microphones for the price.

The Bluebird is a large diaphragm condenser microphone with a single cardioid pickup pattern and discrete class A electronics.

It has low noise and a high frequency boost that makes it great for recording vocals, guitars, strings and piano.

I use the Blue Bluebird mic for vocals, drum overheads, strings and guitar. It has a nice clean sound without the super high sizzle.

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Here are the manufacturers specs:

blue bluebird frequency response

 

The biggest complaint with this mic is the accessories, the shock mount is a little weak and there is no high pass filter.

The Blue Bluebird is an excellent mic for the price, very versatile and clean sounding, I would definitely recommend adding this one to your mic collection.

 

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