A Microphone Upgrade: The Electro-Voice RE27 N/D
I spent some money on a new mic. Not the best one in the world—that’s a Neuman, and you need a recording studio to benefit from it—but probably the second best.
It’s an ElectroVoice RE27 N/D, which is the upgraded version of the RE20, which many talk show hosts use and have been using for decades.
Advantages
A main advantage of having a good microphone is that you get good sound with minimal post-production, and that’s definitely the case with the RE27.
With my Yeti I was doing all sorts of things in post, and while the final product sounded decent it definitely had an over-produced sound to it. And even after adding bass and reducing highs it still sounded a bit hollow.
With the RE27, as you can hear in the clip below, I’ve not added any bass effects in post-production yet the sound is very deep and full.
Settings
I’m currently doing just a few things for post-production within Audition.
Automatic noise reduction to remove some line/grounding noise.
Normalization to 95.5%.
Remove echo with DeVerberate.
Listen to a sample from the RE27:
As I say in the clip, I’m quite happy with the mic, and I hope you guys are too.
Notes
- There are basically two different types of mics: condenser mics, and dynamic mics. They represent two different ways of converting acoustic energy into electrical signal. In short, condenser mics are more sensitive and have higher frequency range, while dynamic mics are more consistent and forgiving.