It’s taken less than a year for Lily Allen to turn from Internet buzz artist to an internationally recognised pop sensation. Known for speaking her mind and never far from the tabloids, one decidedly non-controversial move was her decision to choose Sennheiser microphones for her live vocal requirements.

Her front of house engineer, John Delf, explains the decision.

“I started just after her first shows, so I’ve seen her grow as a performer. She started off holding on tight to the mic stand staring ahead and singing really quietly but now she is all over the stage, commanding the audience and singing really confidently and being a great performer.

“When I first started working with Lily she wasn’t a confident singer so she didn’t want to spend long sound checking. Which meant we didn’t get much chance to experiment with other makes of microphone. Phil Cummings from Sennheiser approached us and offered to lend us a wireless SKM935. As soon as I plugged it in and heard it I knew it was the right mic for Lily. The output gain was so high. For months we had been having problems getting Lily loud enough to be heard properly over her band, but the Sennheiser made it very easy. Since using the 935 capsules I’ve actually had to turn her vocal down, instead of pushing the fader right to the top.

“It’s basically changed the way we do shows. Lily’s schedule is so busy now it was becoming hard to fit the time in for sound checks. The Sennheiser mic has actually enabled us to free her up from sound checks because her monitor engineer, Shabby, and myself are so confident that we can get a clear and loud signal from the mic. The capsule’s rejection of feedback is excellent, allowing me to push the whole mix to an acceptable audience level. The only bad thing I can say about the 935 is that I wish we had found it sooner!”