TONE

bdp -- I gotta tell you that it isn't easy to record a human voice.  Whenever I've played back a human voice I've recorded, it's always come up short when compared to the live voice that was in front of me.  The recording might suffer from midrange honk, bass bloat, too little air, too much air, general deadness, or sibilants that are either too strong or too weak. To be sure, my microphones were never world class (they were always of the good if not outstanding Shure sm58 level), but I have to say that the quality was far worse than what I regularly hear on decent professional recordings, no matter how much manipulation the producers might be guilty of. Oddly, the only recordings of musical instruments I make that sound good to me come from the instrument folks say is the hardest one to reproduce, the acoustic piano. 

bdp24 -- While digging through my now dusty stash of recording/live performance equipment, I realize the microphones I used for the majority of my live recordings are an MXL V67 Q stereo mike and the microphones that are attached to my Zoom H4n Handy Recorder. Both pieces of equipment bought at Guitar Center in Sherman Oaks. What a zoo...if night quite as wild a zoo as the Guitar Center Hwd.  The SM58 was my vocal mike used in my rock-and-roll days.