[Product Review] WARM AUDIO / WA-8000, WA73-EQ, WA-2A by aimi

I’m aimi and I’m an R&B singer. Since I’m from Narita, I’ve had the pleasure of working with the good people at Sound House many times at local events.

This time, I will be reviewing a microphone from WARM AUDIO that I’ve been interested in!

As an R&B artist, my dream mic has always been the legendary SONY C-800G—a super high-end microphone that now costs over 1.2 million yen. It’s not something anyone can easily afford… I heard that the WA-8000 is priced under 200,000 yen, and can capture a vocal tone that’s similar to the C-800G, so I decided to give it a try.

This time I recorded at the private studio of R&B producer Shingo.S. Thank you for letting me use your space!

By the way, when I do demo vocal recordings at my usual workspace, I use the NEUMANN TLM 102.
For actual studio sessions, I usually sing on a Chandler REDD mic that’s available at the recording studio.

① WARM AUDIO WA-8000 (dry)

Even without any editing, the recorded sound is clear, crisp, and vibrant. It just feels amazing to sing through. As the rumors suggested, it's a perfect match for R&B vocals. At home, I also record by simply plugging a mic into an audio interface, but for some reason, the pitch tends to be off and I end up re-recording multiple times. I often find myself just tracing the melody and lyrics without any real emotional arc, resulting in a boring, soulless vocal. (Am I the only one this happens to?)
This time, aside from a quick mic test to adjust volume levels, what you’re hearing is a one-take, unedited vocal. It’s a genuine FIRST TAKE, so please go easy on me and don’t nitpick! (lol)

② WARM AUDIO WA-8000+WA73-EQ

When running the mic through a preamp, the sound feels even brighter, and my voice seems to sound more glossy and rich. Don't you feel the high-end frequencies extend more? When the high-end opens up, it becomes easier to monitor, and I think it also improves pitch accuracy. The voice locks in faster. It gives the impression of more precision and speed in the vocal. In R&B vocals, we often use a technique called “vocal stacking”, where even the same chorus line is layered multiple times. It's also common to double or triple the lead vocal. I often use a singing style that blends the whole performance by adding a lot of airy components to the voice. When the high-end is extended like this, it captures those airy tones beautifully and makes it easier to monitor and stack the vocals.

By the way, I didn’t adjust any of the EQ settings on the preamp this time, but I did apply a low cut below 50Hz to eliminate any unnecessary low-end for home recording.

③ WARM AUDIO WA-8000+WA73-EQ+WA-2A

When adding compression, the vocal dynamics are more controlled and the vocal texture feels more consistent, don’t you think? It feels like the upper mids are slightly pushed up more, which helps everything sound more cohesive. Since the rawness is reduced, it feels like the voice is already being processed the moment you start singing. It’s like you can already imagine the final version of the song just from the first breath. You can clearly monitor the tone you want, the amount of breath, and add expressions with more nuance. Being able to recreate a studio-like environment at home is such a gift. If you practice and record demos with this setup, your performance will be even stronger by the time you hit the studio. Honestly, I think this setup gives you a vocal quality good enough for official releases, even with home recording!

A final word from producer Shingo.S:
"If you're aiming to record R&B vocals at a home studio level, this setup offers more than enough quality. Being able to get a sound reminiscent of that legendary mic (haha) at an affordable price is a huge plus for any creator. Maybe consider it as a serious option?"

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