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Shure VP64A (Notes)

Shure VP64A (Notes)

May 22, 2023

I have not given up on a handheld Omnidirectional mic for recording. I had this one for a short time, and I may have written it off way too early. For starters, it has a similar response as did the EV at 50 to 12,000 Hz, and from what I remember it was decent with plosives and such. The roll-off starts a little earlier than any of my other dynamics, in or around 200, which kills most of the boominess. This is what makes this a good mic for conducting interviews and such.

"You would not want to use this as a recording mic" is the standard comment on them, but what I find is that we tend to process vocals until they sound very close to this type of mic. So why not get the tone right off? The last time I tried it, I seem to remember that it was bright, but lacked gain (typical of dynamics in general). But I have a +25dB booster now, so this thing needs to be tested.

My hope is that I can eliminate as much EQ as possible going into the computer. If all I am dealing with is gain, there's a great chance that I can have a consistent mic. I like the idea of an Omni that is not sensitive so that I can get up close and not record as much of the room itself. This appeals to me. And the price tag of 89.99 is not bad either (although it has gone up 20.00 since I had it back in 2020). I had, at one point, tried the SM63 and got nice results... But thought this one sounded a tad better.

If you listen to the reviews of this mic, the person sounds thin, or lacking in bass. However, when in a mix, the vocal seems to naturally sit well from the start.

I do have a condenser that is Omni, and I need to dig it out and do some tests before I bite the bullet and grab this one again. But I wanted to note the graph here to come back later and confirm my results.

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