Chandler TG Mic...and I’m living on the elliptical

I got to try out the mic on my voice after getting home from work and it's quite impressive! I have a baritone voice that can go from deep to nasal to spacey very quickly, (people usually say it sounds something like Jim Morrison or Paul Banks with excursions into not quite as nasal as Smashing Pumpkins and dreamy like Slowdive or maybe a bit of softer Blue Oyster Cult territory). My voice also tends to include some interesting overtones when I sing a certain way, and those can be a challenge to capture. I've had trouble finding a mic that really works well with my voice and can capture the low voice parts well while also not sounding nasal or too sibilant and, at the same time, working well for my more shogaze/spacey voices and overtone content. I have, believe it or not, settled on a Rode NT1 as the most complimentary option for quite a while because it is basically fairly neutral (not like the NT1A, btw). However, the NT1 does seem a bit cold and can also be a little nasal (though it does the dreamy thing well). I also usually end up using a ton of pop filtering and a windscreen with it to get to be less bright.

As you might have gathered, I am excited because the TG mic works very well for all of that and, of course, sounds much nicer than the NT1. So far I do like both program A and B, but think B would usually work better for my voice (Ragan's too, I think). It seems to me that it has a pretty neutral quality as well on the flat setting in program B, but it also manages to have a nice and very flattering character of its own. It doesn't get harsh when I sing more nasal, can be detailed enough yet still warm for the dreamy sounds, and handles the baritone low end very well. It also still feels like it's a faithful representation of how I actually sound (or at least how I sound in my head!).

I don't think program A would work as well for some of my singing styles, but I do think it works pretty well for the dreamy or fear the reaper-esque styles I mentioned. I do think that mode can get sibilant, though, for me, so I do have to be more careful and will also try a windscreen at some point to see what that does.

I do find that a lot of the settings really do not match my voice well, but that is totally fine because they are likely good for other sources.

For me, the settings that sound really nice are in the cardioid pattern:

System B Flat, no HPF
System B Position 1 (all the way left) no HPF
System B Position 1, 50hz HPF
System A Position 1, no HPF
System A Flat (situational)

I was running all of these through a REDD.47 > Hairball 1176 > RS124 > Dangerous AD+ with transformer disengaged. Sometimes I also left out the 1176 and I also tried with just the REDD.47. All combos sounded good but with varying degrees of dynamic control/output level of course. I will be trying my Sowter Stam 1073MPA soon as well. I think that is likely to also be a nice and flattering combination.

So, onto things we've talked about that some people haven't loved.

1. The Red Light: I actually really like this feature. It's not that bright, so you don't notice it much at all when you have another light on. However, it's actually extremely useful when you are in dim light (as I often am, because it seems to help me get into the music more deeply). With the light on in dim light you can see exactly where the capsule is, and I think that's quite a nice feature. It helps with positioning and/or singing technique. Does it look cool aesthetically? In the dark, I think so. In the light? Neutral opinion.

2. The Shock Mount: It is a little tricky to get the mic in there and the location of the latches is not ideal for facilitating that either. However...not sure there's actually a better place for the latches, and I do much prefer it to one of those horrendous cage of rubber bands designs that make me nervous. I may just use a Rycote, however, as I tend to prefer those over most any other shockmount.

3. Fiddly Switches: Well, yes. I did spend a lot of time fiddling with switches out of the box. However, I was able to easily determine which settings were a definite "nope" for my voice and which ones will be useful. I can foresee having to practice a bit more to determine exactly when to use each setting that I do like, but that's music for you. It's a lot better than having only one option, in my opinion. One thing that initially confused me is that you need to use the small provided screwdriver to switch in the pad or the omni setting. I see, though, this is necessary to get the mic into most shock mounts. Not a big deal. I will likely be in cardioid most of the time. However, I did enjoy the discovery that I can move my hand behind the mic in omni mode to varying distances and create a pretty great flanging/ADT effect. I'll definitely be using that trick.

Well, that was longwinded. Anyway, I am quite pleased so far and looking forward to trying it on guitars and drums.

That was really interesting Ragan, thanks for doing this. It's funny, I just got the Stam SA67 and wasn't used to the character it has, then when I heard the MK67 on your tracks, I recognized similar qualities. The vocal gets compressed into a smaller space, but becomes very listenable somehow. Just listening to the TG using B, I think it's a fuller warmer sound, but in the track, the 67 seems to work.

The TG does proves its mettle here though, so it's more about compatibility I guess. When you get some time, maybe try spock's other setting suggestions, just in case.. My SA67 really likes female voices, go figure. I haven't had a lot of time with it yet.

Haven’t gotten a chance to listen to the clips yet, but as you can hear from my vocal clips, I didn’t really find it strident on my voice at all. In fact, my only concern was maybe there wasn’t enough mids compared to the Upton. But we all have different mics that fit us better. Who knows, maybe I’ll get it and find the same thing with the new one. It’s absolutely ok to have different opinions - otherwise everyone would think we are all just shills. Lol
Isn’t the prevailing thought on the MK67 that it’s really dark? Which is good on your voice, Ragan

What's the smell of the mic box? I can't put my finger on it!

Looking to have my wife do a vocal test with it tonight. Then will be working with a folk'y S.S. next.

I have not figured out what I think of the light just yet... It's also much lighter then I would think for a mic of this size.

System B and Pultec style EQ (as per Dr. Bill) will be excellent IMHO.
I wonder how going through UA610/710 might work out.
Chris

Subjective stuff I suppose but the TG always sounds more strident and more scooped to me.

For my part, I just can’t seem to make friends with the TG’s top end, no matter what setting I have it on. And not just on my voice, on acoustic guitar as well. I would always be fighting it.

I have no doubt it will be a great fit for folks that want a bright sound

When ragan went to System B (not sure the settings) vs his MK mic it they were close in my opinion.

Cool, what others do you have, just curious...