Justin Timberlake

"The signal chain for Justin's vocals was an Audio-Technica 4060 mic, into a Presonus ADL600 mic pre, and then a Universal Audio 1176 limiter. I normally use the U87 for recording vocals, but I was curious about the AT and I had both mics in front of Justin. The effects I used on his vocals seemed to work better with the AT."

• Jimmy Douglass in an interview with Sound On Sound about the recording of Justin Timberlake's track 'Sexyback'.

"'It rejected better, it sounded more like Justin’s voice when we handed it over to him...it just makes our job a lot easier. We really love the capsule, it's been great.'

Andy Meyer - FOH Engineer, Justin Timberlake"

Justin Timberlake uses the Audio-Technica AE6100 Hypercardioid Dynamic Microphone during his 20/20 Experience World Tour, as highlighted by Audio-Technica, with sound engineering managed by Andy Meyer.

Used for "Cry Me a River", as stated by engineer Jimmy Douglass in this transscribed March 2005 interview.

JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE

"Cry Me a River"

Producer: Timbaland

Engineer: Jimmy Douglass

"Justin came to me with his microphone in his case, and didn't actually take it out because he decided to see what I could do first," says Jimmy of the first session. "He was very happy, so he didn't get into that. I guess he has his mic with him just in case he runs into trouble. He works with a lot of different engineers and everybody has their secrets about their great mics. The thing about the [Neumann] U 87 - I used it because it's really kind of a neutral mic. All the other microphones have characteristics to them that don't work on everybody's voice. The U 87 seems to work on everybody."

"I look for Jimmy to tweak my vocals and make them crisp," adds Timbaland. "That's what I look for - that tone. With Justin, his vocal tone just came. Justin does his own thing."

Signal Path: Tracking

Jimmy explains: "The U 87 went to the Neve VR channel strip in mic position - I used the preamp on the board, and then inserted the [Universal Audio] 1176 across that particular path and then I sent it out to all my individual buses. I tracked Justin's vocals to Pro Tools. That's it. I've found that this is the chain of least resistance; it doesn't effect the vocal as much, and you can always do more creative things later in the mix. It's the most natural signal path I can find. I use the 1176 because it's a very fast limiter and it works well as a limiting tool as well as compressor.

"The reason I don't do anything coming in on the EQ side," he continues, "is because you can always EQ it later, but you can't take away EQ you've messed with on the way in. That gets recorded and you can never take it away."

Missy Elliott received the exact same signal treatment for her Timbaland-produced hit "Get Ur Freak On", as did Aaliyah on "Try Again," Jay-Z "Big Pimpin'," Snoop Dogg "Last Meal," Lil' Kim "The Jump Off," and Bubba Sparxxx "Deliverance," among others.

Signal Path: Mixdown

"I basically added a Teletronics LA2A across the chain," says Jimmy, "and I used the EQ on the VR. I just added a little bit of top and took away a little bit of the low bottom. I put a little bit of high-end just for shimmer. "The vocal to me is God. The vocal sells the record. I've always felt that way. That comes from working with a long line of great singers: Aretha Franklin, Roberta Flack, Donny Hawthaway, and Lou Gramm [Foreigner]. I came from the school of having the vocalist be the most important part of the record. If you listen to the early records Lou did, the vocals are really out there, it's very clear, it's very transparent. I look for transparency in vocals. And I also try to keep them very dry."

Justin Timberlake utilized the Audio-Technica AEW-R5200 Wireless System for his vocals during the 20/20 Experience World Tour, as detailed in a report by Audio-Technica.

Justin Timberlake used the Audio-Technica Artist Elite 5000 Series UHF Wireless System during his 20/20 Experience World Tour, as detailed by Audio-Technica.

In this photo, Justin Timberlake is seen using a Shure U2 SM58 microphone.