Kathy Troccoli is one of the most spirited singer/songwriters in contemporary Christian music, and when it came time to record her new album, she wanted to make sure her fans heard her voice the way she always wanted it to sound.
Teaming up in the studio with in-demand, Nashville engineer, Lynn Fuston, Troccoli discovered that the Soundelux ELUX 251 was the microphone that could make it happen.
A two-time Grammy nominee, and winner of three Dove Awards, Troccoli, has had seventeen number one songs on Christian Radio, and her best-selling "Everything Changes" hit number one on the adult contemporary top 40. By paying meticulous attention to the choice of vocal mic, Fuston was able to deliver the sound that Kathy had always wanted to hear, but was lacking, until now. "She had never been totally happy with the vocal sound on her records, going back for 15 albums," says Fuston from his studio, 3D Audio, Inc. "After we completed the shootout for this album, Kathy absolutely loved the sound of the ELUX 251. With this mic, she just sounds incredible, like she's singing right into your ear. It's the sound her friends and family have heard before, but it wasn't on her records."
The production of Troccoli's new CD, "Glory of Love," is the latest phase in a new course for the singer that has replaced the heavily produced style of her earlier works with smaller, more acoustic ensembles and sonic environments. With several songs consisting solely of vocals and piano, and maybe an acoustic guitar and cello, Fuston knew that Troccoli's voice, which he has been recording on and off since producing her first raw demos 25 years ago, would be front and center more than ever before. "For this album, we decided her voice would be in the spotlight, instead of the studio production."
Fuston prepared for the recording sessions by planning an intensive vocal mic/preamp shootout, and made sure that the ELUX 251, with its faithful recreation of the legendary Telefunken ELA M251(tm), would be one of the mics Troccoli tried. "I've used the ELUX 251 on a lot of vocalists in the past, and it wins out 90% of the time, which is an unusually high success ratio," says Fuston. "It's the first mic I've found that I can put up in front of a vocalist and not worry whether there is something else in the room that will sound better. Kathy wanted a clear and satiny top-end that would also pick up the depth and richness in her voice. The ELUX 251 gave her exactly what she wanted to hear. I paired it with a Buzz Audio MA2 mic pre and there was absolutely nothing lacking at all."
Designed for mid-range focus with a strong, powerful bottom and airy, unabrasive top-end, the ELUX 251 brings out the most intimate, natural details of male and female vocals, thanks to features such as a true transformer balanced output, and NOS dual triode with traditional resistive (not transistor) load and enhanced original circuitry, for a unique vintage amplification curve and dynamics response. "It's patterned after a classic microphone, but vintage Telefunkens routinely go for $20,000, whereas the ELUX 251 comes in way below that," Fuston notes. "We definitely accomplished a new milestone using the ELUX 251 on this album. Listeners are saying, 'I never heard her voice sound like that before.'"
"When I'm looking for the right mic for a singer, it's like trying to find the two puzzle pieces that fit together perfectly," continues Fuston. "That's why the ELUX 251 did such a great job on Kathy's voice. It was the perfect match. The sound of the Soundelux on these recordings is huge, robust, so sweet and rich that it's almost like caramel or melted chocolate. This mic was everything that we had wished for, picking up all the best things in her voice and accentuating them. There's no doubt that "Glory of Love" is a vocal record, and the Soundelux ELUX 251 focused the spotlight squarely on her voice."
Soundelux Microphones are distributed by TransAudio Group, founded by industry veteran Brad Lunde. This organization has quickly become the premier U.S. importer/distributor and/or U.S. sales and marketing representative for high-end audio. Success hinges on TransAudio providing dealers and end users with a higher standard of product expertise and support far beyond the norm. TransAudio Group's product lines include A Designs (USA), ADT Audio (Germany), ATC (U.K), Brauner (Germany), Daking (USA), Drawmer (UK), Enhanced Audio (Ireland), George Massenburg Labs (USA), Heil Sound (USA), Pauly (Germany), Sabra Som (Brazil), Soundelux (USA), SoundField (UK) and Weiss Engineering (Switzerland).
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