💬 Steven Slate's thoughts on the original 3 microphones

"This is my personal favorite because it just sounds so good on everything. It’s the perfect balance of top, middle, and bottom. There is something so flattering about this mic that every singer I try it on just sounds better than they do in the actual room.

The intensity is really fun with this one—again, the sound will darken in a musical way, and I think it’s pretty magical at 130% on my own vox. This mic pairs well with both preamps, so try them both using the VMR A-B system. It was a favorite amongst our initial testers and I think it’ll find its way on a lot of great records!"

"The first time I sang through the microphone that the FG-800 is based on, I thought it was broken. This is a BRIGHT BRIGHT and AIRY microphone. Did I say bright? Because it’s bright. But then I used it on a female pop vocalist and realized why this is one of the most popular mics in modern music. That airy, clear, bright tone works perfectly in a pop mix with no EQ needed.

When this mic works, nothing will sound as good. And it actually works a lot, even on modern male rock vox."

A few suggestions:

• It pairs really well with the FG-76, which helps mellow the top end slightly.
• Increasing the intensity darkens it a bit—great on acoustic guitar at about 140% intensity.
• If your singer is sibilant, you’ll want a solid de-esser. Steven recommends the Eiosis E2Deesser.

"This mic will take you back in time. It’s lush, warm, fat, present, and BIG sounding. If you have a wimpy source, it gets unwimpified™ with this mic. It doesn’t have that modern sizzly top-end air, but it takes EQ in the top end like a champion. I love adding some Custom Series 10kHz when using this mic.

By pushing the intensity, it gets even darker, moodier, and a bit more saturated. Don’t just use this microphone on vocals:

• Put it on drums as a room mic
• Use it on the outside of a kick drum
• Try it on horns or strings

Here’s a cool trick: this mic has such a warm, fat bottom that you can thin it out by moving it farther away from the source without making it sound too distant.

It pairs well with either the FG-73 or the FG-76. Start with the virtual drive at 9 o’clock."