There has been so much great discussion with this thread. It may be a bit of an ear opener for some. I swear, the world of production is pretty much it's own beast when it comes to a song.
One thing that I didn't see (but may have missed) in all of the discussion of getting a better vocal sound is room treatment. That, in many cases, is the dead give away in a home recording studio. From what I've seen/heard, the little vocal mic barriers don't work all that well. A simple test to see how much of a difference this can make is to take a large comforter (like for a bed) and drape it over yourself and the microphone, then record yourself singing. Many times, you will get a much more full sound than if you are just recording in something like a closet...or for sure an open room. Typically, it will eliminate most of the room noise. It's crazy what this can do for the presence of a vocal regardless of the microphone. If you find that to be the case. There are some simple and inexpensive treatments you can make for vocals that don't have you sweating under the comforter...but it does work. The difference an be staggering. It's one of those fix before the mix things to do. Poor room treatment can really limit the quality of the vocal.
One last thing, I know Floyd was nice enough to point out these vocal only videos are available to listen to. The cool thing is, it's not limited to only vocals. Instruments too!
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