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Anyone using Audix OM 7 mic?

butchblack

butchblack

Life is short. Do good. Find and do what you love.
Jan 25, 2007
1,164
3
Waltham Massachusetts
#1
Hi all

I'm thinking of buying myself a birthday present. I've wanted to upgrade my mic for awhile (inexpensive Behringer) and have been thinking about an Audix OM 7. If it matters the band does blues and Americana I sing a few leads, mostly harmony. I couldn't get on Harmony central and the reviews on Guitar center's page suggested that you have to be really close (2") to the mic or it drops off into nothingness. My mic technique is good but I don't know if I'm always 2" or less to the mic. Any experience with the mic would be helpful. FWIW I've used a Sure beta 58A before and didn't like it. I found it a bit too shrill at close range, it was better if I was 5"-6" away from it. Thoughts? :help:
 
#4
The OM7 can handle some serious SPL and as such it needs more preamp gain than say a Shure beta 58. It's also not very forgiving if you stray off the mic. That said it is a very good sounding dynamic mic, not just for vocals either.

I've had a Heil PR35 for awhile now and the sound quality is nothing short of excellent. I have two beefs with it though: the first is handling noise. As a bass player this isn't really a concern but for lead vocalists that hold the mic it's not acceptable. The second issue is the capsule suspension and probably related to my first issue. Because this mic has extended low frequency response it's very easy for the stage monitors & amps to vibrate the mic into low end feedback. There are ways to deal with this (the mic has a 2 stage high pass filter and I use it with a suspension mic clip) but it's a problem you don't find with many other mics, including condensers with equal or better frequency response. Heil has since released a new version of the mic so it's possible these issues may have been addressed to some extent but if you know how to work within these limitations its a stellar sounding mic.
 
#6
Don't you just love Talkbass, when you ask a question like "does anybody use an OM7" and a bunch of guys that don't use one show up and tell you that their choice of mic is infinitely superior?

Anyway, I DO use one. I bought it to replace my Sennheiser and my Shure 58 when neither of those mics was working out for me in my new band. My problem was that, in the small places we play, I was getting a lot of spill from the drums and the guitarists half stack that was driving my vocal processor nuts. I was also getting some feedback problems. The OM7 is touted as the mic with the best rejection of audio clutter and with the best gain before feedback, so I bought one untried from an on-line dealer.

It does everything it says it would do. It doesn't muddy things up in the mix by picking up so much spill from other stuff on stage and, although no mic is impervious to feedback, it certainly allows a lot more liberties to be taken with monitor volume and placement before it squeals at me.

Rumours of it being totally insensitive are a little exaggerated in my view, it only requires a touch more gain on the desk than the other mics do before it's nudging the PFL meters into the red and so it's easy to trim to 0db by backing off a little when the red lights flicker, and that is achieved way before all the mic pre's headroom is used up. Since I'm always playing bass when singing I use it on a boom stand and usually get to within a 3-4 inches of it (as I do with all mics anyway) and it's fine. Just like any mic there are times when you really need to belt the vocals and just swaying back from the mic works just the same as any other...I haven't had to alter my mic technique at all. It sounds very nicely balanced tone-wise and I find I run the desk EQ mostly flat, maybe cut some mids slightly at some venues.

It's also very tough. In the 18 months I've been gigging with it, it's taken a couple of dives to the floor; once when our singer tripped over my mic stand and bought it crashing down, and once when a drunk snatched at my monitor in the hope it would anchor him and bought the mic stand down with it. In both cases the mic fell directly on it's snout and just shrugged it off, not even a scratch or dent and worked perfectly afterwards. I read somewhere later that Audix use spring steel for their windshields and I can vouch that whatever it is it's tough.

I'm very pleased with it. It does what it said it would do in an unfussy, unspectacular fashion - just gets on with it.

Downsides? Well there is no doubt it's quite pricey-around 50% more than an SM58 IIRC and, when it was new, some mic cables would be a mighty tight fit into the XLR housing to the point where I used lesser quality mic leads because they fitted without fuss. It's broken in now and will happily accept Neutrik connectors.
 
#7
+1 to the sentiments exho'ed above.

I use a mix of OM7's and OM-5's in my PA. I personally sing on an OM-7. I use a little compression on my voice and have the gain up over the om-5's . I have no issues getting off the mic, that would be the compression at work and it is extremely feedback resistant while retaining clarity.

The very best thing you can do it to setup a half dozeen mica on stands in a room then walk between them whilst singing. That will help you identify the mic that you feel best expresses what you want to sound like. I've sone that two times now. First time around i selected a Senheiser 421 and sang on that for a couple of years. Second time it was the OM-7. I don't think I need a third time yet...

BtWA couple of the local sound companies hereuse Om-6's. most folks like them better at the start as they are more sensitive and allow the singer to get further off the mic. The 5, y and 7 are all worth taking a look at. I have had no customer service experience with Audix - that is a good thing as nothing has failed and I haven't killed anything yet... I hear from the local retailerthat they are very responsive.

The Heil might be a good choice as well. I have a Pr40 and it is a nicely buit mic. It took a stage sive and got a dented screen. I emailed for a replacement screen, they asked for a pic, then sent me not only the screen but the entire frame and protector. Bassically 90% of the outside of the mic. Gratis. No charge... Can't argue with their customer service.

As long as it is self gifting time, the other toy, (tool) I might recommend a demo of would be one of the TC Helicon Voicetone Correct pedals. That is where I get my compression from when I don't have my StudioLive board along for the ride. Set at lower levels it offers an un-obtrusive and effective feature set. It can get kinda artificial sounding at higher more extreme settings. ...suppose that is true of a lot of processing gear though.
 
#8
4Mal said:
As long as it is self gifting time, the other toy, (tool) I might recommend a demo of would be one of the TC Helicon Voicetone Correct pedals. That is where I get my compression from when I don't have my StudioLive board along for the ride. Set at lower levels it offers an un-obtrusive and effective feature set. It can get kinda artificial sounding at higher more extreme settings. ...suppose that is true of a lot of processing gear though.
Click to expand...

Are we related in any way? I use my OM7 through TC helicon stuff as well...in my case a Harmony GXT that I've used for a couple of years. I don't use the guitar input 'cos it doesn't work on bass but I do use the compression in it and set the key in manual mode if I want it to do harmonies. It did enough to convince me to get a TC Helicon VoiceLive Play which is really good, loads of effects, very easy to use, 256 patch locations so you can set up a great sound for every song. It's really good for bands like ours that mix from stage and need to kick in vocal effects while playing. Of course it's not quite as good as having a more sophisticated device operated by a sound engineer out front, but since we don't have one of them the Helicon stuff does just what we need.

In fact I'm still using the GXT because the lead vocalist uses my Voicelive until he can get his own.
 
#10
Thanks for all the input. I think I'm going with my gut level and try the Audix. I'll see if the local GC has one in stock, if not I'll order online from someone with a good return policy. I'll give you my impression as we're playing the next 3 weeks.
 
#11
First impression I like it. Somewhat quiet gig. I had no problems with not being close enough to the mic. It seems clearer then the Behringer I was using. I have 2 more gigs coming up next two Sats, probably at more normal volumes for us. I'll keep you informed.
:cool:
 
#13
Hi,

OK, since this was revived. ;)

I used an OM3 for years. Great mic, sounds terrific, hard to feed back, but it doesn't have the output level of an SM58. I think it sounds better but you have to turn it up a little bit more.

I recently bought an OM5 and I love it. It's got good output, is very difficult to make it feed back, and sounds amazing.

FWIW, I do not like the Beta 58 and would rather use the standard SM58. The Beta mics are too brittle.

Your ears may vary. ;)


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff
 
#14
Welcome back old thread :D

I still have my Audix mic and have added a few more. These days I sing on the OM-5 as I'm only live with one band and we all sing on my oM-5s. The other folks have sm-58's which are not as clear...

When it comes to mic selection, i like to assemble a group of the likely suspects, put them up on stands in my studio/rehearsal space, set the volumes as close as i can get them and then just sing, walking between the mics. After a while I'll know which if any is the keeper, or if i should stick with what I have.

Not sure what GC's mic return policy is... Or Sweet water for that matter....
 
#15
Hi all

liked the clarity of the OM7 our BL, who runs the PA doesn't have a clue to what he's doing so I had problems with him setting it up then turning the master volume down which affected my mike more. I just bought an OM5, has the same clarity, stronger output so it's less affected by my BL's ineptitude.

I had the same experience as Basscliff with beta SM 58 I found the tone too brittle for my liking

My suggestion ; If you run your own sound go with the OM5 if you have a sound man who knows what he's doing consider the OM7
 
#17
Om6 is another good choice. Similar to the om-7 it is smoother than the Om-5, not that the 5 is not smooth... Any of the three offer clarity way beyond their price point. It blows me away that folks with multi-k bass collections sing on $100 mic's... There are just so many better for not very much more cash... GC in action I guess....
 
#18
I've got an OM 7 and love it. I play with a band that's mostly acoustic instruments, so there are a lot of mics on stage, and it's great at NOT picking up everything else on stage.

I sing pretty much on the mic so "technique" isn't a problem, but I could see if you're a guy that likes to be farther off it, or doing the Paul and George thing with two guys on a mic, it might not be for you. I find it's a little less forgiving than an SM58 in that regard, but it sounds a lot better to my ears.

As for sound guys, whenever possible we work with the same guy who is great so gain isn't a problem. Occasionally we play a few venues with house sound and guys who refuse to use anything other than their own SM58's or Beta 58's, and at that point I suck it up and deal with their gear. I've found I sound a lot better with a happy sound guy who's familiar with his gear than when he thinks I'm being a diva.
 
#20
Never used an OM7, but used OM5 + OM6's on-and-off for years. . Great for live use..
However, like ANY mic for vocal use, you need to find one to try out and run "FLAT" (no eq) into a PA..
They work great for some folks and not others. ALL based on your vocals.
 

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