Neumann U 87 Ai Large-Diaphragm Condenser Microphone - Matte Black

This microphone is my life blood. The reason I get the jobs that I do. As a voice actor, it is the Rolls-Royce of microphones. This baby sparks JOY!

I bought a factory repack from Alto music at a significant discount. So far it’s everything I hoped it would be. It’s a lot better than the imitators that’s for sure! For my voice I love the richness I get in cardioid in the booth or Omni in mid studio when recording guitar or live vox and guitar…I’ve tried it through different preamps with and without compression going in and it doesn’t sound bad no matter what I do. Sibilance is a little more prominent when recording close up vocals in Omni, but I think Omni is better when standing back from the mic a little anyway. I keep my knock off 87 on my kick drum now along with a d112 inside. I can’t wait to upgrade the rest of my signal chain, but for now I think the mic sounds best for me going through a 1073 style preamp without driving it too hot to really let the mic do the talking. I mostly keep the 1176 style compressor on the lowest setting, fastest attack, slowest release when I use it and it does just enough to smooth things out a little without too much coloration. I don’t feel like I need to use much if any EQ with this mic either, no slew of digital processors like some other mics I would always fight with. This is all probably tmi for an Amazon review, but if you’re anything like me, into audio, learning and dreaming of gear you never thought you’d be able to own, let me just say that I think a good mic should be the first step in upgrading your signal chain..after honing your instrument/voice of course. It doesn’t have to be this mic or this expensive for good results, but this one definitely makes me want to use it and practice more! Rock on 🤘