> Step by step

1. Vocal setup

1 Unfold your mic stand and attach the microphone’s shockmount to the top of it, then place the mic in it with the capsule facing towards the vocalist. Attach the pop shield securely to the stand, so that it sits around two inches from the mic. Then plug your XLR cable into the base of the mic.

2 Plug the mic into your audio interface’s mic preamp. If you’re using a condenser, make absolutely sure that phantom power is turned off before you plug in or remove the cable to avoid damaging the mic. With the microphone connected, switch on phantom power.

3 The key to getting a crisp, clean recording into your DAW is good gain staging. Set the input level into the preamp so that signal comes in good and loud, but not so loud that it clips. And always leave a little headroom, as preamps can start to sound strained if they’re pushed too hard into the red.

4 Most audio interfaces offer ‘direct monitoring’, making it possible to set up a latency-free headphone mix that doesn’t pass through the DAW at all. Audition the headphone mix yourself first – if it’s too loud or distorted, adjust it before making final tweaks to suit your vocalist’s specific requirements.

5 Some vocalists will be happy monitoring their ‘dry’ voice when recording, but others prefer to hear themselves as if they’re singing in a bigger space. When that’s the case, set up a ‘vanity reverb’ on an auxiliary send in your DAW and route the mic input to it – your DAW’s stock reverb will be fine for this.

6 If you’re recording into a busy project with lots of plugin processing already applied, hit the Constrain Delay Compensation (or equivalent) button when recording to disable the most latency-inducing plugins and increase playback responsiveness. The majority of DAWs offer this feature.