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Author Topic: Home VO Studio Questions  (Read 1983 times)

VOtal

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Home VO Studio Questions
« on: May 18, 2005, 11:34:18 AM »

Hello, A little background.  I’m a voice over talent who, up until a few weeks ago I worked exclusively in professional  studios and never really even looked at the mics I was speaking into, much less anything else in the studio. There seems to be a lot of VO work now for talent with his/her own studio and so I thought I could just do dry voice recordings –with maybe some simple client supplied music added in, so I purchased Blaze Audio’s suit of recording products (Rip & Burn, Overdub, power record, wavebreaker  ) and 2 radio shack microphones; (both dynamic which I now understand was a mistake, one specifically a “computer microphone”  ).  I plug into the sound slot on my Windows XP desktop computer.

The sound that comes from these recordings is rather crummy with this weird  hum in the background that I cannot get rid of. Could the hum be caused by the microphone? A friend suggested I get a large diaphragm condenser mic  AT  3035, that it would be the best mic for my voice, without breaking the bank, which I am ready to do. But I’d like some advice first.

I’m not ready to tackle mixing instruments on multiple tracks  or anything fancy—I really just want to get the same studio quality dry voice recording that I can send out maybe adding  a music track with it if needed.  

Besides the mic and its phantom power supply, what else do I need  that will allow met to set up a basic voice over studio? (Do I need  any other hardware?  And is the Blaze Audio software adequate, or should I get something else?) I’d like to keep this under $500, I think, but I need everything to produce a sound that is textured and records the nuances of my voice. (I have been researching  myself, but I can’t quite put all these things together.) Any advice is much appreciated.

Thanks, MK
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pounce

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Re: Home VO Studio Questions
« Reply #1 on: May 18, 2005, 07:48:06 PM »

500 aint' gonna do it, just to get that out of the way right away.

at least one "good" mic and a mic preamp or channelstrip, for eq and compression is a given. also, maybe some room treatment is in order to get a better sounding room around you. i got a vocal booth style set of four panels on stands that can be configured as a booth of sorts or as other kinds of gobo's.

lots of mics are popular, including dynamics. some folks still swear by things like sm7's and 421's, but lots of large diaphragm condensers are popular from u87's to u195 or many other choices.

many channelstrip options exists, for instance the avalon 737. might be a fine choice for VO.

there is a ad conversion. it's possible that fairly affordable audio interfaces for the computer would be totally cool. maybe a motu hd192, or rme card would do.

if you are on a pc (instead of a mac, which is my preference) , software like sony's sound forge would be good to get. or adobe's re-release of cool edit pro (i think it's called audition now).

you may be finding out why those engineers had all that gear. radio shack mics and a typical computer soundcard aren't gonna replace a studio. ain't even close. if you actually follow my (or similar) gear advice and get some real gear, you can in fact do vo in something less than a standard commercial studio. but the few pieces of gear you have need to be quality and not junk.
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cheers,
paul

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www.paperstreetaudio.com

thedoc

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Re: Home VO Studio Questions
« Reply #2 on: May 18, 2005, 09:13:49 PM »

The hard truth is (and people try this all the time...) you can't just go to the
recording toys store and be a Recording Engineer just like magic.   It takes years and a special talent to learn this craft and art.

I would suggest talking to some of the Engineers that used to record you and see if
they will let you pick their brains.  I'm sure they will be glad to help even if it is
like training their own replacement....

Best Wishes   Smile
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Doc

David Kulka

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Re: Home VO Studio Questions
« Reply #3 on: May 18, 2005, 09:42:34 PM »

Amen to all the above, and don't neglect the room itself.  It's rather tricky to design and build a VO booth that doesn't end up sounding like a phone booth or bathroom, and doesn't dump loads of background noise into the mic.  Often, putting together a decent voice room is more challenging than building a music room.
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brandondrury

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Re: Home VO Studio Questions
« Reply #4 on: May 19, 2005, 12:29:40 AM »

While these dudes are right, I'll give a slightly different perspective.

Since budget is an issue, you may consider going a Prosumer route.  "Prosumer" is that midpoint between mega quality and mega price.  These days the mid priced stuff is getting pretty damn good.  

I'd pick up a $300 condenser mic that matches your voice well, a $300 preamp, and a 2 channel soundcard ... (maybe USB @ $250 or so).  The odds are if you can operate these properly, they will sound very good.  To move up to mega pro you are looking at another $5,000.  The difference may be great or it may not even be noticable.

If I had to cut anything out of the list, I guess I would cut the preamp first and just a Mackie board or something similar.  My big concern would be noise and that's why I would recommend a nice preamp.


I also second that thought of getting the room right.  I've done a few voice overs and my music room does not work well for this task.   You have to get rid of the ambience or your fancy gear will be a total waste.

Brandon

Bob Olhsson

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Re: Home VO Studio Questions
« Reply #5 on: May 19, 2005, 01:23:18 AM »

The $350.00 EV RE-20 and Shure SM-7 are considered state of the art short of the highest end condensers for V/O and plenty of announcers prefer them to U-47,67, 87, etc. What you don't need are the sibilance and pop problems of cheap condensers or the traffic noise issues of most all condensers.

I'd check with some broadcast supply places for appropriate gear. Music "prosumer" has pretty different requirments and isn't that much cheaper than a lot of real broadcast gear.

Brian Roth

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Re: Home VO Studio Questions
« Reply #6 on: May 19, 2005, 01:30:45 AM »

MK, the "weird hum" is likely due to the low fidelity of the sound card/chips used for the microphone input on your PC.  Typically, all that circuit was intended for is talking to others via the internet via instant messenger software, not broadcast quality recording.

You have several challanges ahead of you!  The sound card/chips that came standard with your PC are very likely woefully inadequate, so you will need a better sound card.

I'd also suggest a Shure SM-7 or EV RE-20 since they are very popular "bulletproof" dynamic mics used in many VO/DJ applications.

Here's a suggestion...look around at the Shure and EV websites and see if you can spot the mic(s) you are used to.

Finally, you need a decent preamp to connect the mic to the (added on) sound card in your PC.

Bri



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maxim

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Re: Home VO Studio Questions
« Reply #7 on: May 19, 2005, 02:18:17 AM »

i think if you only want to have one chain, have it set up by an engineer as a one-off, so you know exactly where to sit and where to look

the daw part should be kept as simple as possible, once again on a set and forget principle (diy or get someone to help)

as far as the gear, bob's suggestions are spot on on the mic

if you pick a good soundcard, the preamps might do you ok, since you only need one (and it should have phantom power if you decide to go with a condenser)

i use motu 828 on a mac, so i'm not sure about pc alternatives, but ?mbox with ptle (used)

hang around this forum, and you will want the power sooner or later

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VOtal

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Re: Home VO Studio Questions
« Reply #8 on: May 19, 2005, 07:34:40 AM »

Thank you all so much. I will definitely hangout and learn here. I am astonished by the knowlege I am receiving.

I don't have any illusions about becoming a great engineer--none at all. I just want to get a good studio, record my voice (dry voice)in one or two takes and send it out. I think if I hang out here and learn, I may be able to do that.

It seems like I have a lot to do--it is quiet where I record, but I'm sure I will need to do sound-proofing as well and new sound card and all the other information you have all imparted.

Many thanks,
MK
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bobkatz

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Re: Home VO Studio Questions
« Reply #9 on: May 19, 2005, 07:23:27 PM »

VOtal wrote on Wed, 18 May 2005 11:34




Besides the mic and its phantom power supply, what else do I need  that will allow met to set up a basic voice over studio? (Do I need  any other hardware?  And is the Blaze Audio software adequate, or should I get something else?) I?d like to keep this under $500, I think, but I need everything to produce a sound that is textured and records the nuances of my voice. (I have been researching  myself, but I can?t quite put all these things together.) Any advice is much appreciated.

Thanks, MK



Hi, Votal, if you are a professional, your best bet would be to hire a consultant to install the system for you. It should be plug and play, and yes, I'd venture to say the high output condensor running into a professional preamp will be less susceptible to hum, provided the wiring is done correctly and not running near some large power transformer or there's some ground loop you are not aware of. But the real key to a good voiceover is the proper acoustic construction of the booth and placement of the microphone to avoid comb-filtering due to all kinds of reflections you may not even have considered, from your reading table, or your music stand, or the glass window, or the walls.

BK
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