EQ on Mic input

[GregB]

Hi all,

This is something I learned several years ago about my S950, but it may apply to other Yamaha arrangers as well.  This isn't strictly about vocal harmony, but is about the mic input.

Something not widely published is that the Mic/Line switch on the back of the instrument does more than just change the gain - it also changes the equalization on the input, and this is not reflected in the mic settings page in the user interface.  When in Mic setting, a 6kHz low pass filter is applied automatically, which significantly reduces the "crispness" of vocals.  It may be that the low pass filter improves the sound of the vocal harmony feature by reducing VH artifacts, so this filter may be desirable in some cases.

For me, I occasionally use the VH feature for the fun of it, but I've only rarely used it when playing live.  (However, I do often use the VH's auto-tuner feature as a tool for vocal practice - it makes it much more obvious when you're even just a little off pitch, so you can practice more accurately).

So, what I've done with the mic input is to set it on Line mode and use an external mic preamp.  This allows for a flat EQ on the microphone.  In my case, I carry a Behringer UMC404HD audio interface with me as a "swiss army knife" that can be used as an audio interface, a mic preamp, and/or as an active D/I box.  My typical setup is to send the S950's line outs to the UMC404HD inputs 1 and 2 (for use as an active D/I or interface or whatnot), and then use UMC404HD input 4 as a mic preamp for my Sennheiser e835 mic.  I then use the insert connector on the back of the UMC404HD to send the amplified mic signal back to the keyboard's mic/line input (look up "Insert Direct Out Adapter" for how to use an insert jack as a send without blocking the signal flow).

For some, depending on the vocalist and the mic, you may end up with excessive sibilance (essing) with the high frequencies not rolled off, which you can address with a de-esser or a multiband compressor with the right settings, to go after the essing in the 5-10kHz range without aggressively compressing other frequencies.  On the S950 there is a multiband compressor (COMP MELODY, COMP BASS, and MBAND COMP are all multiband compressors) that can be applied to the vocals (via DSP4), though I haven't played with it much.

Anyhow, I hope this helps others whose situation may be similar to mine.

- Greg

[overover]

Hi Greg,

Thank you for this information! Some users will certainly be able to use these technical details and suggestions.

By the way, I had occasionally noticed such frequency information for low-pass filters (in the case of the S950 Mic input e.g. LPF:fc 28kHz/6kHz/23kHz), but I hadn't really thought about it so far.


Best regards,
Chris