According to front of house engineer Dave McDonald the Neumann KMS 104 was always going to be an essential part of Adele's audio makeup.
"I've been touring for the last year with Air," he explains, "and we were using the Neumann KMS 104. It takes the vocal and really throws it to the back of the hall with clarity. When I started working with Adele I said, 'let's get you one of these, it's the right mic for your vocal'. The KMS 104 just has this depth. It goes right to the bottom and the high end of the vocal and it's crystal clear. That's what I always want. I don't want to be messing around for ages EQing a vocal when I can just put a really good mic on it."
Aside from the Neumann vocal microphones, McDonald also took delivery of a selection of Sennheiser evolution mics for Adele's band's extensive backline, including an e 901 on the kick drum, a pair of e 905s on the snare, e 904s on the toms and floor toms, e 614s on high hats and overheads, an e 902 on the bass amp, a pair of e 906s on guitar amps and e 840s for backing vocals.
In addition to the host of microphones on the tour, Adele has been using Sennheiser EW 300 IEM G2 in-ear monitors for the very first time.
(Jim Evans)
