Vocal mic tests

Vocal mic comparisons live with acoustic guitar.
Sennheiser e935 - 0:00:00 - ‘Alive at 99’
Sennheiser e945 - 0:03:00 - ‘Room’
Audix OM6 - 0:04:19 - ‘A Block Away’
Shure KSM8 - 0:08:21 - ‘Stars on the Ceiling’
Miktek PM9 - 0:12:03 - ‘Late Bloom’
No EQ except 12db high pass at 100hz. Light compression.
Guitar recorded with a Shure SM81 and DI.
All songs written by Tim Brady of Cement Ship.

[@pangyre]

Thanks for the demos. You sound great.

[@DavRuiz]

A very good comparison of all the mics, great playing and singing as well! e935 seems to be the right path to follow. 🤙

[@cementship]

Thank you! Yes that was my favorite from this batch/test

[@Soundchain101]

Forget the mics, I love your guitar playing!

[@jasonbodden8816]

I know this is a mic comparison vid but man, your guitar playing is phenomenal.

[@JamesAGuitar]

I just bought an Sennheiser e935 and haven't had a chance to road test it yet... making is sure I didn't make the wrong choice is how I stumbled across this video LOL. For your voice I liked the e935 the best, although the KSM8 was really good too although more colored so more of a flavor. But honestly man, you transcended all of them. You are a talent and that was super inspiring. Great comparison.

[@whamni]

All the mics sounded good in their own way and there's one in there to suit everyone's voice. great comparison and well done. Is that a Dimarzio pickup I see on the guitar, sounds good

[@cementship]

Thank you! Yes agreed, all pretty sweet mics honestly. I use a Seymour Duncan magmic actually, usually with the mic all the way off

[@jimilove7773]

Thanks!

[@cathyharrity8050]

I have a 5 year old Washburn and it has a 1/4" jack and an xlr which gives me stereo out as a pose to 1/4" mono. Great tone combined with a soothing voice makes for an all around performance 🙌. Very nice.

[@cementship]

Oh that sounds amazing! And thank you!

[@slofty]

These are all terrific mics; as usual it is down to use case. Listening through ruler flat studio monitors and limited only by YT's audio clippers, I actually think the PM9 works best here and that the OM6 would have worked the best if you had a shoutier voice or even got right on the grille. The OM7 is even better but you need a very clean pre to crank it.

[@CristopherPalomarLopez]

Eso se escucha genial hermano.

[@cathyharrity8050]

Very well done. Excellent comparison of similar microphones 🎤 👏. Curious as to what guitar you are playing...

[@cementship]

Thank you so much!! It's actually an inexpensive washburn I got like 20 years ago, I think you can get them for about $100 now ha

[@cathyharrity8050]

@@cementship I have two Washburn guitars one has both 1/4" jack and a xlr jack for stereo amplifier. The other is a Washburn bella to one bite s9v with a beautiful vine running through the fret board. Both guitars were $300 and they are highly underated. I reset the action lower for better plability. They play and sound as good or better than many guitars sold at twice the price. I think a capable player can make the best of either regards of price. If the tone is there, that's all that matters.

[@cementship]

@@cathyharrity8050 nice!! I’d love to have that setup, opens up so many cool possibilities! Yes this is the first Washburn I’ve ever played/owned and I’m a huge fan! I used to play other guitars but this one somehow always stayed in tune and sounded beautiful, and now for my band I’ve played it exclusively since January 2017 ha

[@jmasno5]

Cool playing and singing. Especially on "A Block Away." I have the e945. What's you feeling on the PM9? You voice sounded good on all of them.

[@MajesticFuzz]

I currently use om5 but debating upgrading to the 935. I guess I should consider om7 also since I’ve used audix for 15 years.

[@cementship]

Yes I actually have been using an om7 since this video was made, I love it! I tend to sing right into the mic so it works for me, plus it helps reduce background noise pretty well since the polar pattern is so tight

[@cgonzt5636]

Cool guitar painting! Your playing is so smooth. Well done! For the mic hard to decide between e935 & Miktek, maybe bec different song. e935 has an extra top end airy, so bec of that, for this song context I’ll pick Miktek PM9.

[@cementship]

Thank you so much!! Yes those are great mics for sure, I should have done a more clinical test ha but I had to return these mics. The PM9 seems to be a mic that’s been slept on, but live sound engineers seem to really love it ha

[@cathyharrity8050]

I believe AKG for the money make equally good microphone compared to the more expensive brands. I can't tell the difference between my AKG and my Sennheiser microphone all I know is I paid twice the price for equally sounding microphones

[@cementship]

Oh yea AKG makes pretty good mics for sure! There’s probably a tiny difference, but not as noticeable as environment acoustics, technique, mixing to fit the song etc. There’s also a huge industry on KZbin dedicated to saying “you need this microphone, and of course they are sponsored or have affiliated links to that mic ha

[@wollebecker8075]

Think you should have to play and sing the same son for each of the Mic. So the Mics are not comparable. By he way, your voice is awesome.

[@cementship]

Yes that would make a lot more sense ha, I just did this real quick for personal reference. Totally would have done a more controlled test if I knew so many people would watch haha. Thanks for the compliment!

[@K9Mike]

What are you mic’ing your acoustic with?

[@cementship]

I used a Shure SM81 blended with the DI

[@K9Mike]

@@cementship oh wait, so you’re singing through the shure and playing to the senn?

[@ericman4096]

E935 the best !

[@cementship]

It’s a great mic!

[@coffeehigh420]

@@cementship did you like the 945 or the 935 best ?

[@cementship]

@@coffeehigh420 I think the 935 sounded smoother, they are both good though!

[@coffeehigh420]

​@@cementship I agree but if you eat the mic, the bass response might be better with the 945. I do agree with you, the 945 is a bit too bright. - can always adjust the bass levels with a mixing console.

[@cementship]

@@coffeehigh420 yea definitely all about mic technique, I’ve been using an Audix OM7 for the past few years at live gigs and I love it, it’s a mic designed to be eaten ha. I play a lot with a saxophone player so that mic helps reduce the bleed

[@FilippoBuscemi93]

which one is your favorite :) ?

[@cementship]

From this batch my fav was the Sennheiser e935. I also tested these and more in live situations, and my pick is actually the Audix OM7 (which wasn’t tested in this vid) so I’ll be switching to that soon from my current Shure SM58 🎵

[@FilippoBuscemi93]

Thanks for your comment!!! Between the e935 and the om7, which one would you recommend for home recording vocals ?? Wish you all the best, nice playing and singing!

[@cementship]

@@FilippoBuscemi93 of course! Hmm I think the e935 will be more versatile and easier to use for different vocalists. The OM7 is a very particular mic, you have to sing right on it like within 3 inches, after that the volume level drops rapidly. For me it’s great though especially since I tend to eat the mic, and the OM7 cuts out background noise tremendously (if you’re neighbors are loud ha). But the e935 has a more pleasing sound overall

[@coffeehigh420]

why is it that nobody seems to like the e945 ? I don't get it.

[@LE6String]

e945 sounds so crystal clear+crisp! its perfect when you have a rather deep, soft voice like me. a lot of other mics makes sound very dull with my voice.

[@coffeehigh420]

@@LE6String you damn right!

[@jimilee4609]

E945 Rocks! 👍👍

[@cementship]

It's a great mic too! I probably should have sang the same part of a song with them all for better references ha.

[@cocow_tw]

@@cementship I enjoyed your singing a lot! Came in for the e935 e945 comparison but stayed and listened till the very end 😳❣

[@Soundchain101]

Forget the mics, I love your guitar playing!