RE: Behringer VC340 Vocoder (mic. help?)

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)

https://www.behringer.com/Categories/Behringer/Keyboards/Synthesizers-and-Samplers/VOCODER-VC340/p/P0CQP#googtrans(en|en)