Duncan Stitt

Could you elaborate on the "borrowed time" thing? I just got CbB maybe a month ago in order to use their playlist function on live gigs. (I used to use it in the 90s-early 2000s.) Since I'm still tweaking midi files on the Mac and haven't yet moved them to CbB, would I be better off buying the new Sonar, assuming it also has the playlist function? I'd hate to spend hours and hours setting up files in CbB with TT1, only to have to set them up over again with a different midi sound engine when Cakewalk no longer opens.

Alan Bachman - the OP mentioned his favorite mic was the Stellar CM5, which is a C12 style of mic. And he said he doesn't like his 87 clone, which leads me to believe any mic with a lot of low mids - like a 47 or 67 - might not be what he's looking for. I agree Tony Joe White might use a beefy mic, but I think the OP was using those artists as examples of his repertoire, not the sound he was looking for. For harsh singers in rock music, I keep going back to my SM7b, but I cheat a little, using the Cathedral Pipes phantom powered booster and running it through a Tonelux MP5a 500 series preamp with the "tilt EQ" boosting the highs by 1 db. I used to use a Phoenix Audio preamp, which was a truly magical combination with the SM7b, but it's cutting out on me, even after replacing the stepped gain pot. The unit is so old, no one in Phoenix Audio's tech department has even seen one. If I wasn't so near retirement (past retirement, actually) I'd get their 500 series version.

Good info PF. If you favor C12 style, the Lewitt frequency response graph is virtually flat till about 10k, where there is a lift through about 15k. The lift on a C12 starts at 5k and tapers off after 12k or so. That would make the Lewitt darker than a C12 style mic, (theoretically) but the Lewitt would have more air. If you could EQ in the 5k you need to emulate the C12 sound, the Lewitt might work, but ideally, we get our sound without having to EQ the mic. If Lewitt is like other boutique mic companies, they may make a C12 style tube mic. ADK makes a nice C12 style mic, the Vienna, but I don't know the cost of their tube version. Their FET version gets rave reviews. I've had a Vienna IIau FET mic for years now. It sounds much better than the C12 style Peluso capsule I put in my modded Apex 460 tube mic. Sibilance issues on the Peluso C12 inspired me to send the mic back for a RK7 capsule swap. These days, I use the Apex on bright sources that need less highs. I'm not surprised you don't like the Warm audio 87 style mic. 87s are just too thick sounding for me. When I was researching affordable tube mics recently, I saw a comment about the Warm Audio 251 style tube mic sounding darker than an ADK Cremona fet, which is another 251 style mic. Perhaps they're taking "warm" too far? Ha ha.

Pathfinder - what sort of music are you doing? Do you need a bright mic to cut through a busy mix, or a beefy mic to feature a big, warm vocal in a sparse mix? What sort of voice to you have? Bassy, midrangey, dull, bright, thin, thick, issues with sibilance? What vocal mics have you used in the past, and what sort of EQ tweaks did you need to do to get them to sound good? Do you want a mic with a lot of air on top (10k-15k) or do you want a more natural sound? Do you sing loud? If you do, that could limit which mics would work for you, since some LDC (tube or non-tube) mics can't handle singers who project across the room like an opera singer or broadway singer or a rock music screamer. These are all factors that will help determine what sort of mic might sound good on your voice. If random people on the internet tell you they like the mic, that tells you nothing about whether or not it will work for your recording scenarios. The only way to find that out is to plug it in and record with it. Alternatively, if you could find a mic shootout on YouTube featuring a mic you've used before next to the Lewitt, that would at least give you more information about whether or not the Lewitt might be a good candidate for you. Keep in mind, tube mics should be turned on a half hour before recording to let the tube stabilize. 5 minutes would do in a pinch, but the sound could still fluctuate, meaning if you punch in 20 minutes later, it might not match the earlier take. Also, tube mics are fragile. They recommend not jarring the mic when the tube is hot, since it could break the filament. And lastly, be aware of confirmation bias. If you pay $1200 for the Lewitt, you're automatically going to like it. That feeling might change over time, so put it through its paces before the return window expires. Have fun!

Expanding on my earlier comment, here is a "learning experience" situation I went through a while back. A lady singer came in my studio and I put up a Gefell MT71, which is a highly regarded LDC mic (not tube) descendent from the Neumann line. I had just purchased it used and had high hopes, since it was known to be a substitute for the industry standard Neumann U87. Unfortunately, the Gefell was giving us serious sibilance issues. She had some tracks from a previous recording done in another studio. Her vocal sounded great. No sibilance whatsoever. She said the mic they used was a Shure KSM44 LDC (not tube.) I googled both mics and looked at the frequency response curves. The Geffell had a peak at around 7k. The Shure had a dip in that range. The Gefell was maybe twice the price of the Shure, but it was a bad choice for that particular singer. The general rule is to use a dark mic on a bright source, and a bright mic on a dark source, but it's subjective. You won't know until you record with it and see how it sits in a mix. It might sound fabulous soloed, but disappear in a mix, or it might sound tinny soloed but cut through a mix perfectly. It also might depend on the context. For a more exposed vocal, a warmer mic might sound better than the brighter mic that cuts through a busy mix. As long as you have a return policy with whatever mic you get, you should be okay. I have three budget tube mics at the moment, the Lauten 320, a Stellar CM6, and a modded Apex 460 with a RK7 capsule. They all sound different. The Apex is dark and beefy, the Steller is more like a U87 but with less low end, and the Lauten is more of a flat response, but with a crispy high end. I can get sibilance from the latter two, so it's tricky. Originally, the Apex 460 had a Peluso C12 style capsule, but dealing with sibilance was never ending. I ended up sending it back for the RK7 capsule replacement. If you're into soldering, you can get DIY kits from microphone parts dot com, with parts tailored to whatever sort of sound you're looking for.

See if you can find some "shootout" videos on Youtube. Just like all mics, tube mics come in many flavors. Some are brighter than others. Depending on your voice, the "shape" of the response curve can flatter a voice, or the opposite. RecordingHacks dot com has a microphone database with short reviews on mics, and in most cases, a frequency response curve. If you find yourself boosting - or cutting - a certain frequency range when EQing your vocal, you'd look for a mic with a frequency response curve would accomplish your EQ corrections without having to reach for the EQ controls in the mixer. I just got a used Lauten 320 tube mic. It has a fairly flat (natural) response curve until you get to the high end, where a crisp edge is added. This can be a problem when running the mic through a compressor, resulting in hashy Ss. Tube mics do have some built in compression due to the tube circuit. That's part of why singers like them so much, but if you get hashy Ss before you use your compressor plugin (or hardware compressor) you're SOL. In an untreated room, a dynamic mic would be a better choice. Running an SM7b through a $100 Cathedral Pipes phantom powered booster can be a nice combination. Plus, dynamic mics can handle a loud singer where a tube mic might break up due to being overloaded.

A cheap alternative to expensive ribbon mics might be the SE V7. It's a $100 dynamic mic for stage vocals, but with a less crispy high end. I use mine on violin all the time. I also add the Nomad Factory E-Tube Tape Warmer plugin, which reduces any crispy high end that might still be there. Mic positioning also makes a big difference. Using Direct Sound Isolation headphones helps with positioning. You might find a sweet spot on either side of the body. At the center of the body (the neck and strings) you got lots of raspy string sound but not much fullness.

The Arranger track is great! It'll be an extra step - I work on a Mac with Digital Performer and then transfer the midi files (with markers) to Cakewalk - but it'll really help with making sure I know where the arrangement is going on new songs.

New to CLB, wondering if the Theme Editor can enlarge the text for markers in the timeline? I'm going to be using CLB to run midi sequences live on gigs. In the old Cakewalk from 25 years ago, marker text was clearly visible. In the new version, it's tiny.