#1682972 - 07/11/05 12:56 PM
Hey, Phil, should I buy a "cheap" U87Ai?
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umkcprof
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Registered: 09/05/04
Posts: 158
Loc: Kansas City
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Hey, Phil, oh advisor extraordinaire. . .
Can you think of any reason other than avarice or and the Neumann brand name why I should purchase a Neumann U87? I have a line on a relatively inexpensive set (with shock mount) in great shape in the $1600 range. It seems almost a superfluous purchase, but I thought I should at least bounce it off the expert. Would it really give me anything that the ifet7/Manley/Schoeps mics don't already do very well?
Thanks much.
Steve
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#1682973 - 07/11/05 05:10 PM
Re: Hey, Phil, should I buy a "cheap" U87Ai?
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Philip O'Keefe
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Registered: 12/17/00
Posts: 17674
Loc: Riverside,CA,UNITED STATES
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Is that $1,600 for a pair of mics, with shockmounts, or for a single mic with shockmount?
That price, for a pair, is quite good. For a single, it's higher than I'd want to pay.
However, I've got to add that I personally have never been a big fan of the Neumann U87... but then again, I recently found out that Karen Carpenter's vocals were done primarily with a U87 (I would have guessed U67), so given the right source, they can obviously record some incredible vocals. But my personal results with them have never been as positive - I've almost always found something else (mic wise) that I prefer. Such as the aforementioned U67... but those are going to run quite a bit more than U87's.
I'm not big on avarice, but I do like gear. 
Having said that, I'd look at it this way: You already have an "improved" version of the '87 with the "V" setting on the Soundelux iFET7, so IMO, a pair (or single) U87ai is redundant. However, if you can get a pair for $1,600, with shockmounts, that might not be a bad investment, simply because you can probably sell them for more than you paid for them.
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#1682974 - 07/11/05 05:47 PM
Re: Hey, Phil, should I buy a "cheap" U87Ai?
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umkcprof
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Registered: 09/05/04
Posts: 158
Loc: Kansas City
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That was my opinion as well. . . and it was a single, rather than a pair. . . which I would have purchased for the investment potential alone. . .
Thanks much, Phil. . .
Steve
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#1682975 - 07/12/05 12:40 AM
Re: Hey, Phil, should I buy a "cheap" U87Ai?
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Sean Eldon
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Registered: 04/19/04
Posts: 462
Loc: Long Island
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i set a customer up with a U87ai after trying to talk him out of it for roughly one month. the few times i'd used it, it was very boomy and there were usually better choices for any sound source.
funny i should see this thread, because i heard a record he cut with that mic today. it was the only vocal mic used. in conjunction with his spankin new UA 6176...i'd say that it was absolutely the cleanest and most warm vocal tracks i could have ever heard for this guy's voice. he's doing a lot of low tenor to baritone jazz-scat style vocals. it sounded absolutely too good to be true. i'll ask his permission to throw up some samples. he uses that mic to his advantage more than anyone else i can think of.
maybe it's the fact that this guy has one of the most ridiculous computer based set-ups that I've ever put together...
- Custom SuperDuperCharged Pentium 4D Dual Core 3.2 with 2gb of ram , separate EastWest based VST computer, with Sexy-Sexy-Sexy 32" LCDs. UAD-1 Ultra Pack. Wowzerz.
- RME Fireface 800 running Sequoia, monitoring with JBL 6328P and LSR sub
- Trident 4T Channel Strip!!!!, (2) Vintech x73, Universal Audio 4110, Universal Audio 6176, Groove Tubes Glory Comp, and a used Summit Audio DCL200
- Matched pair of U87ai Set Z, RE20, D6, MD421, MD441, pair of AKG C451s, B.L.U.E. Cactus, pair Audix SCX-25 for stereo piano micing
Anyway, that's far far far off topic. The point is that after wanting to hate it very very much, the "new" U87s are, if you can get them to work right, the most spine tingling great vocal mics for a deeper male voice. Moving your head back half a centimeter during tracking will show up in the recording in a pleasurable fashion. Looks like its time for me to cut out the high pitched yelling and do some Barry White. then i'd have a reason to buy one.
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#1682976 - 07/12/05 03:34 AM
Re: Hey, Phil, should I buy a "cheap" U87Ai?
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Philip O'Keefe
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the "new" U87s are, if you can get them to work right, the most spine tingling great vocal mics for a deeper male voice.
One of the rare times when someone has ever come in asking for a "Neumann mic" and "actually had a clue" was a cool gentleman named Adrian Pressley, an amazing bass who specializes in "American Negro Spirituals", and who has performed at the Lincoln Center and is a former member of the Harlem Spiritual Ensemble... he had previously tracked vocals in NYC and London (Abbey Road) on U87's, and liked them. I suggested he try a 251, and after a bit of hesitation and trepidation, he agreed to give one a go... and now that's all he uses. 
Yes, 87's can sound good on some baritones / basses... but IMO, I still usually prefer other mics. YMMV of course.
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#1682977 - 07/12/05 07:20 AM
Re: Hey, Phil, should I buy a "cheap" U87Ai?
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RaGe
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Registered: 04/26/01
Posts: 786
Loc: 16°14 N 61°32 W
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umckprof, when are you gonna post those files? 
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#1682978 - 07/12/05 08:01 AM
Re: Hey, Phil, should I buy a "cheap" U87Ai?
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umkcprof
Senior Member
Registered: 09/05/04
Posts: 158
Loc: Kansas City
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Sorry RaGe. . . as I posted here earlier, that ain't gonna happen.
:-)
It is a case of "when you suck, you suck." And equipment be damned.
:-)
Sorry!
Steve
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#1682979 - 07/12/05 08:12 AM
Re: Hey, Phil, should I buy a "cheap" U87Ai?
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Lee Knight
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Registered: 10/19/01
Posts: 1077
Loc: Encinitas,CA,UNITED STATES
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I used to wonder, before I began recording, why some tracks would have a totally unnatural midrangy kind of sound. It sounded expensive, but to my ears, not particularly good.
Then back in '91 or so, I started doing VO work outside of Chicago and their money mic was the 87.
So THAT's what I'd been hearing! I always hear a mic and not a voice with the 87. It was nice on mono OH though.
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#1682980 - 07/14/05 10:04 PM
Re: Hey, Phil, should I buy a "cheap" U87Ai?
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Philip O'Keefe
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Loc: Riverside,CA,UNITED STATES
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Lee, if you like the '87 on OH, you should check out a pair of U67's... they really shine in that application - as well as for room mics. 
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