What is the most realistic mic to use with Utau

[Utau4life]

Mic quality I'm looking for is like the quality either gahata meiji or merry kohaku have

 

[melobuniiP]

I think its mainly about tuning and mixing..

 

[Terindie]

http://fuzzleyan.tumblr.com/post/27545240036/a-list-of-equipment-used-by-japanese-utau-voicers Perhaps this link is something you'll find useful.

 

[Utau4life]

I think its mainly about tuning and mixing..

But even in Utau their samples are really clear
[DOUBLEPOST=1442978539][/DOUBLEPOST]

http://fuzzleyan.tumblr.com/post/27545240036/a-list-of-equipment-used-by-japanese-utau-voicers Perhaps this link is something you'll find useful.

That actually did thanks ^_^

 

[melobuniiP]

But even in Utau their samples are really clear
[DOUBLEPOST=1442978539][/DOUBLEPOST]
That actually did thanks ^_^

Your samples can be clear with any mics. ;o;
but tuning and mixing can boost it ;v;

 

[Cdra]

Mic quality definitely matters for sample clarity (unlike what Melobunii is saying), but the "most realistic" is out of anyone's budget, reasonably speaking. It all depends on what you're willing and able to pay for a mic; without that information, it's impossible to recommend equipment.

 

[DayDreamerStratus]

Could I ask this as well then?
I'm willing to spend anywhere from $20 to $100. I'm looking for a usb microphone that will work well with Oremo. (so it needs to not pick up too much background noise from my computer's noisey fan). Thanks~.

 

[stormylullaby]

Well Meiji is a professionally produced UTAU so she was probably recorded in a studio with $3000+ mics. This is obviously the best ideal. If you want high quality, you need to be willing to shell out for that, & this means at least $100. If you're just using a mic for UTAU, don't waste your time.

A nice cheaper mic is the Behringer C1U, which is $60 on Amazon.

 

[수연 <Suyeon>]

Realism in vocalsynth is down to multiple factors, but in terms of microphones, it's down to...
1. The quality of the mic itself and the interface behind it
2. The quality of the voice going into the mic and the output that produces

UTAU and the engines (resamplers) made for it are sensitive to the digital and analogue noise and sibilant signals that a mic/human naturally produces. As such, because it directly reads wav samples and interprets what went into them, it will feed back everything to you. Gahata Meiji, Namine Ritsu, etc. are recorded on professional studio mics in controlled environments with sophisticated interfaces that keeps the noise signal to an absolute minimum while only capturing their voices. The singers themselves approach their samples without any excess airiness that would cause the engine to produce what we'd interpret as "static" or white noise. The price for this quality is going to be significantly more than what your average user of this forum would pay/suggest. Many people here - if asked - would point to what are essentially low end (not even quantifiable as low end home studio) mics that all have their own flaws and have a significantly higher amount of noise (digital or analogue) due to the simplicity of their build. The least expensive low-end home studio mic option that I'd personally suggest (although @bodytemp would be a better source of information on this topic than I) that would get you closer to the realism goal - as far as mics are concerned - would likely be the sE Magneto by sE Electronics. It's a good home studio mic for those on a small budget ($112 retail) and XLR interfaces to power it can come as simple as the Icicle by Blue ($49 retail - it's low end and really basic - seriously, there's nothing more to it than the cable and a knob that controls the volume, so analogue noise will still be present, but the results will generally be clear without the noise making a high impact).

As Cdra said, it's really all down to the budget you can afford and are willing to spend for the quality you want. If you're not willing to spend more than, say... $100 from a low end brand and the interface is little more than the mic jack or direct USB, then you're going to get the quality that that entails (higher than the mic on the average laptop, but much less than Namine Ritsu or Gahata Meiji, and also less than a mic powered by XLR).

 

[Terindie]

bodytemp and Jeremy are both users knowledgeable about mics and audio technology, and usually are around in the chat, so you can shoot them questions about mic suitability. Keep an open mind about mics; sometimes you can only hear how good/bad a mic is once you have something you can measure it to! I used to own a snowball and a Yeti and was content with both but I got a mic for a similar price on the recommendation of people who knew what they were talking about, and my new one outperforms both Blue mics for miles.

 

[Cdra]

@DayDreamerStratus Under $100, the best you can do is a large condenser USB mic, probably. They range in price from like $60 to a couple hundred, but even the cheaper ones are definitely better than the cheaper webcam mics. I don't have a preferred USB large condenser, but some users do; the Blue Yeti is not recommended for its price bracket, so throw that one out. You'd have to do more research into that type of mic, or hopefully other users will provide advice.

A good audio interface (like a UR12) will run about $80-100 and buying a good XLR mic to go with it will run another $100 or so. If you can spend ~$200+, that's the way to go; you can get close to "studio quality" relatively easily with that if you have a decent home recording setup. Otherwise, shoot for the large condenser USB.

EDIT: i got seriously sniped huh? ww.

 

[DayDreamerStratus]

@Cdra a private school that I might be going to has a decent recording set for an xlr mic and I saw a mic that comes with everything you need. I hope I can find out the brand names or even convince the teacher to let me record an utau. :3 I will look for a good condenser usb mic until then I guess.