Hi folks,
I recently purchased a Behringer VC340 Vocoder (link below). I tried using it with an SM58 microphone, but I am not able to manage with this model as it restricts be to being stood up and also in close proximity to the mic. on it’s boom stand. I have searched online for various options of the ‘headset’ category this week. The music shops I have phoned, or emailed, have all been completely clueless - hence a total waste of time. The demos. on You Tube have also been pretty thin on the ground. Ideally, I really wanted to speak to an rep. at Behringer but I learned they no longer offer telephone support - another bummer!
The SM58 produces a carrier-signal but it sounded rather quiet in the ‘tenor’ and ‘bass’ registers (ie. just below middle-C). The mic. I have been drawn towards, if any, is the Shure WH20 XLR (link below). It is a headset model. But I have read/heard that it also lacks (because of some of the specific purposes it has been designed for) in the ‘tenor’ and ‘bass’ registers. I like everything about this model except, as cited, I am apprehensive about ordering one and discovering it is unsuitable (frequency response-wise) for the job!
I has been suggested by a semi-famous (You Tube) keys player that I look into the possibility of a condenser mic. The Vocoder does not have phantom-power, please note. However, the two mics he kindly recommended (EV N/D767 and Sennheiser e935) are not of the headset variety.
Here is a brief comment I dug up from an old Gear Sluz thread:
The better the mic the better the vocoder will sound. If you’ve got a mic which picks up sound poorly and varies too much when you move about you’ll find it’s hard getting a consistent volume on the vocoder and the output will be muffled etc…
The only thing is that the VC340 won’t work with a mic that requires phantom power - so a condenser mic will have to have it’s own pre-amp/power supply to work.
I am hoping that there are fellow forum members here who may have had to make a similar choice in this area, and who are able to share their insight and experience.
Many thanks in advance for any kind assistance offered here…
Best,
Paul David Seaman (UK)