Hello, I am looking into buying my own VO equipment for a home studio. I know VO's are moving more and more into the home studio environment, but I'm finding it hard to pick which equipment to go for.
Can anyone shed some light?
I have a Mac Book Pro, have final cut which I can use well so not a tech phobe as such but don't want to buy the wrong thing!
My space is quite airy with high ceilings which isn't the best environment but I am thinking with a good mic guard and also maybe a cardboard box for over my head (joke! although....) it may be ok.
Would be fab if you can post some opinions on what you may use?
Hi everyone. I use a reflection shield but has anyone tried the Kaotica Eyeball? Sounds like it may be perfect but would like to hear from someone that has used one before buying.
Recording for voice over work really needs a home studio and a high quality one at that. The reason you are constantly asked to go to the clients studio when you find voice over work is because they then have complete control of the sound proofing, the acoustics, you and your voice (if you want to get paid :o) and of course the final editing of all that has been produced via your beautiful vocal chords.
If you are going to make a home studio make sure it is top notch. No point in wasting a hell of a lot of money only to find the guy or gal with a top notch home studio still blows you out of the water. You need to think seriously about what you want from your recording and how far you are willing to go to get this quality in your final product. Reflection shields, auralex foam, blankets and other such items will get you a great sound if you live in a home that has triple glazing, no birds, no phones, no people (apart from you), no nearby motorways and no interruptions. But ideally you never really want to be using your software's NR (Noise Reduction) you need the recording in as raw as a format as possible without effects and cleanup tools doing their dirty work. The professional studios you send your files to do their own job on it anyway and their equipment is nearly always better than ours.
You need to build a room in a room for your studio: Here's a video I found I want to build this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bf5syq09qa0
When I get the time and the funds.
The last thing I will say is you can get some kind of usable sound which some producer's may accept but when you are going up against the VA's with proper built in studio's then really the only way you are going to go totally Pro is by going Pro in your studio.
Here's a big good luck shout out to all you VA's out there. Keep your vocal chords warm over this cold Winter period.
I've just tuned in to your queries and the great tips from everyone. I just wanted to reassure you about the Rode NT 1A mic. The producers and sound engineers who trained me agree this mic has a great sound! I find it wonderfully warm. I now have two bought from themicstore.co.uk (very helpful as is Rode).
Hello Natalie and also Melanie, who replied to you about the NT1A.
The NT1A from Rode is a reasonably priced microphone and comes with a 10 year guarantee. (I use one of these mics) The problem with these mics in comparison to some of their higher priced mics and their competitors higher priced mics is that dependent on your voice they can be a little sibilant. In my case it wasn't a good choice for me and my previous mic a German made Behringer C1 I just wasn't happy with it either.
With women's voices the mic may work better than for men's voices. With both of the above mics the manufacturers may be better placed to fill you in with all the details but these two mics didn't work with my voice and I was always displeased with the results. This being said I found a write-up that said to make the NT1A a half decent mic with better all round pickup and better tonal values was to upgrade the microphone capsule. (If you don't what the capsule is it's the small internal diaphragm that is connected to the internal circuit board inside the microphone that makes a microphone a microphone) It might sound difficult to change the capsule but when you also read that by converting your mic in this way you could have a quality microphone with a similar sound to one 10 times it's price and with the capsule fitted at a fraction of the cost of buying one of these more expensive microphones then it's really worth looking into.
My review of the microphone capsule I bought and the full specs and information on the NT1A (if you click on the link named NT1-A in the text link) will give you all you need to decide if you would a) Like to but this mic or b)If you would like to buy this mic and then mod (upgrade) it. You will see from the guide the guy gives here it is simple and the capsule to be purchased for modification is cheap but effective. They say it makes the NT1A sound like a classic Neumann U47. You can be the judge. This is a perfect microphone to modify because it has low self noise and is so easy to open and all you then need is to pop the original capsule out of the rubber ring and then get an electrician to un-solder two wires and then re-solder two wires. Then as if by magic the sibilance has been decreased.
Without paying $4000.00 or more you will not get a Neumann U47 so the next best thing is to mod. You may think the NT1A is good enough but when you mod the mic, you'll wonder why you were previously happy.
The NT1A also has a smaller head basket and by changing this head basket too you can get an even better sound but this requires a lot more work when just a capsule change is enough to please most people.
Warning by modifying your NT1A you unfortunately are voiding the warranty.
Thanks for all the feedback! Myself and a female friend plan on setting up a home studio so will be thankfully splitting costs but we plan on going through everything and reading all you suggestions as first hand experience speaks volumes.
That's interesting re the modification Glenn, def worth while having a go if you can improve the sound - will read your review ;-)
How are people finding getting work on here? Or are other sites better?
I don't know whether I added a link before or it has been maybe it's been deleted by forum managers. In that case I'll link it again because it is very useful and I have no affiliation to this website other than just using their website being very impressed at excellent customer service received and then leaving a comment for their service. http://www.microphone-parts.com.
Thank you Glenn - very helpful advice. The link works!
Yes it occurred to me that the Rode NT 1A might be better suited to a female voice. It would be interesting to hear what other female VOAs think. I've noticed that one does have to lower the register more than usual or the pitch can sound too high. Nevertheless, I like the sound quality.
Ideally to make the NT1A microphone a perfect mic for almost all of us out here there would need to be a change in the mesh grille so there is more space for the sound to bounce around. The mesh grille and the capsule and the internal FET would have need to be changed to make the new NT1 better. It appears this has happened apart from the mesh grille being of the same design.
The new NT1 with a 4.6db self noise is definitely going to be a popular mic to have. Rode have packaged this NT1 with a new pop filter which may be their secret weapon against the sibilance problem. It looks to be thicker and made of a slightly different fabric which may work a little better for voice artists out there. If you have an old NT1A rather than upgrade to this I would take the mod upgrade for a $120 rather than spend $269 or so. Although a brand new microphone always feels better, with a new capsule inside it's like a whole new microphone.
I never use the NT1A voiceovers as I have a Neumann U87. I bought a matched pair of the NT1As because of the very low self noise for recording very subtle stereo ambiances - (things like room noise etc - fascinating I know!!) and they are great for that.
The new NT1 does look interesting though. Rode sent through the frequency responses for the old NT1A and the New NT1 and they say quite a lot - as you wold expect there's quite a hike in the upper highs on the NT1A while the new NT1 is much flatter. Can send you a copy if interested.
You must login as a candidate to participate in the forum.
Please note:Messages written in the forum do not represent the views of The Mandy Network, nor have they been vetted by The Mandy Network staff.
If you read something which you believe to be offensive or defamatory, please contact us and we will take the appropriate action.
