Sennheiser E835 is it any good?

[Toril S]

Hello friends Today I ventured outside of my confort zone and bought myself a mike! Whether this will mean that I finally dare to sing remains to be seen, but at least I now have the proper (I hope) equipment! I also read poems and essays on gigs, and I intend to use the keyboard's speakers and boost up my rather timid voice with this mike. Is it a good choice? I tried it in the store on a S970, and it sounded good after some settings had to be made on the keyboard. Steep learning curve this! But that's the fun! All tips and tricks concerning this scary peace of electronic are welcome I am scared to death of having my voice boosted up, but think it is necessary! The mike is still in the box, and I go in wide circles around it. LOL!

[MarkF_48]

Yes you made a good choice. I have a couple of the Sennheiser mics similar to the one you have and they do sound good. Have fun!!!

[Toril S]

Thanks Mark. I bought a pack, so I got a stand as well.

[willem7397]

Hi Toril,

These Sennheiser mics are of good enough quality to start with. I have also started to use a microphone since a couple of months. I sometimes play at party's of friends and it's good to be able to talk a bit during a gig. I also tried to sing a few songs and use the vocal harmonizer.
As you noticed yourself its weird and scary to talk and sing in a microphone. You are simply not used to hear your own voice in a different way. Almost everybody suffers from this even if they are very good performers. The best advice I got was to make many recordings of yourself so you get used to hear your own voice and you can improve yourself. Also the mic settings are important. Play with the equalizer and reverb settings to get the best result. A finally ask somebody you trust to give honest feedback on your performance.

[travlin-easy]

I have been using an E855 for years. It is an outstanding mic and I highly recommend it. Great feedback rejection excellent tone qualities and frequency range.

Enjoy,

Gary

[Toril S]

Thanks William and Gary. This is scary but olso fun. Good advice😀

[travlin-easy]

Toril, I can tell you first hand that most people can sing to some degree, and with lots of practice, most seem to improve over a relatively short time frame. However, the secret to success with singing is first, record yourself, then play back the recording, listening carefully to every aspect of the performance. You will find that you are your own best and worst critic - which is a good thing.

That said, most community colleges and universities offer voice and articulation courses, mostly non-credit and at night. The course is usually quite inexpensive and well worth your time and expense. You will learn vocal control, which is extremely important when singing through a mic, song phrasing, and also breathing techniques which is very important in order to maintain vocal level. The courses are usually about 2 nights a week, for six weeks.

Although I was a good singer from about age 12, I still took the Voice and Articulation course when I decided to become a full time entertainer. And now, at 77, I can still manage to sing with a fair degree of vocal quality - at least that's what my wife says, and after 55 years of marriage, she pull no punches when it comes to criticism.

Good luck,

Gary

[Toril S]

Thanks Gary for the good advice! I also just read your story abaut creating gig disks. That solved the problem I had! Since the music finder is difficult for me to read, gig disks are the perfect solution for me! As you wrote in your story, it is hard to keep remembering what styles to use for this and that song. Frantically pushing buttons while people are biting their nails on the dance floor is not fun. I have been there some times Thank you for all tthe good ideas

[travlin-easy]

Glad this old man could be of help.

Good luck,

Gary

[DonM]

The 835 is a good mic and Sennheisers have high-quality design and build.
I have several, including the 855 that Gary mentioned.  The 835 isn't quite as sensitive and lacks a little of the frequency response of the more expensive models, but it is a fine mic for the cost, and I much prefer it to the Shure SM58. 
As was mentioned, play with the e.q. and effects, and record yourself.  If you can read music, a good learning technique is to play the melody line as you sing it. 

[Toril S]

Thank you Don. I will try this out having fun☺ The mic is useful for getting peoples attention. I read poems and other stuff, and my voice is not so powerful.

[DonM]

You may want to experiment with the Compressor settings in the S970.  They can be set to enhance and balance your voice, keeping the volume at an optimal level.

[Toril S]

I will try that.

[karmacomposer]

Sennheiser mics have been my go to mic for years.  Good choice. I use the 9 series myself.

Mike

[Toril S]

Thank you Mike. That is also my experience. I am satisfied with it

[karmacomposer]

However, in my recording studio, I swear by my AKG C414 XLS

https://www.akg.com/Microphones/Condenser%20Microphones/C414XLS.html

Pretty much the gold standard for studio mics in professional recording studios and either requested by major bands or simply in use because it is the workhorse of the industry.

Can't go wrong with it or its little brother if you want that incredible studio sound.  Fact is, it beats out the Neumann series mics (depending on which one) costing 2 to 10 times more in most cases.

Mike

[Toril S]

Thank you Mike. Good to know about other alternatives☺

[travlin-easy]

Mike, that's a great studio mic, but not something you would use on stage, mainly because of the larger footprint, which would block the performer's face. The Sennheiser E series has been used by thousands of top name performers over the years with great success. Prior to that, the on stage mic of preference was the Shure SM58, which was the gold standard for on stage mics for decades until Sennheiser and others began producing incredible super-cardiod and hyper-cardiod mics with very wide frequency ranges. Additionally, the Sennheiser E series has a very short vocal range, which is preferable for on stage use because it allows the singer to utilize the proximity effect (pull away technique) to a greater degree without moving the mic very far from their lips. Because of the shorter proximity range, the mic has a very high feedback resistance, which is another great feature.

All the best,

Gary

[Toril S]

Yes. I am surprised at how little feedback there is. Only thing I miss is an on/off switch.

[OregonJim]

The mike fright will go away - don't worry. 

I don't like the sound of my voice amplified - because it doesn't sound like ME.  Of course, to everyone else it does.  Just something we all get used to.  Recording yourself a lot also helps - as long as you listen to it .

[Toril S]

Hello OregonJim. Thanks for good advice😀

[TyrIA]

Hi !

I can agree , Senn e835 is good , normal good mic,not more.
But if you want voice sound really shiny take a condenser mic. and separate channel strip cause phantom power is needed/s970 lacks it, even T5/ with normally adjustable compressor , I m wondering even T5 has just one knob on voice compression-terrible for such a good synth.overall, and you ll hear the difference .
Right now I am using AKG c2000b mic.  and ch.strips DBX 376 and ART Tube channel .

Good luck and prosperous New Year , TyrIA.

[Toril S]

Thank you TyrIA.

[Normanfernandez]

Does this Mic Connect Directly to the 970??

I need Urgent Information about this MIC

[Toril S]

Yes Norman, it does. You need only a cable😀 I am not good at those cable names, but someone will surely chime in and tell you. It is a good mic.

[Normanfernandez]

I'm gifting it to someone,

Who's a very good musician.

[Toril S]

So kind of you Norman😀🌲

[travlin-easy]

The cable you will need is an XLR to 1/4-inch mono unbalanced. Pin 3 is the hot pin and connects to the tip of the 1/4-inch plug.

Merry Christmas,

Gary

[Toril S]

Thanks Gary. I could not for the life of me remember what that cable is called😀

[overover]

The cable you will need is an XLR to 1/4-inch mono unbalanced. Pin 3 is the hot pin and connects to the tip of the 1/4-inch plug. ...

Hi Gary,
hi Toril,

to my knowledge, XLR-pin 2 usually is the HOT wire (plus phase) that have to be connected to the TIP of the 1/4-inch Mono plug.

XLR-pins 1 (Sleeve) and 3 (Cold / minus phase) have to be bridged (either inside the XLR plug or inside the 1/4-inch plug) and connected to the SLEEVE contact of the 1/4-inch plug.

If XLR-pin 3 is connected to the TIP of the 1/4-inch plug, usually the Audio signal will be "out of phase".




Best regards,
Chris