Meryem,

You bring up a good point. For people shopping on a budget, audition the mic if you can with your own headphones and your typical talent. Ty is right that with a good setup, EQ and compression can make a world of difference. Having a mic that sounds good out of the box and doesn't have *too much* character really helps though.

Here's a good VO trick. Copy your recording to two tracks. Leave one uncompressed. Compress the snot out of the other (for instance 20:1 @-20dB.) Now mix to taste.

The uncompressed track keeps the peaks, so the result still sounds lively and crisp. The compressed track pumps up soft vowels and makes the voice sound full.

Bus the two tracks through a common EQ. The fundamentals are in the 200-400 Hz range. Adjust this for the bass balance of the voice. If there are intelligibility problems, boost the frequencies around 1.2 kHz. That should help bring out the consonants. Vocal character is often around 2.4 kHz. If the voice is too nasaly or harsh, cut it a bit. If the voice is hollow or it's hard to distinguish between multiple speakers, try a boost. Finally, the 5k-15kHz range is where you find the sparkle or "air." Boost this to make a dull voice shine.

These are only rough guidelines. It really depends on the voice and the recording. But it's a good place to start.

Also, you can make sharp frequency cuts, but (pretty much) never make sharp boosts. Boosts should be wide and smooth and cover a range of frequencies.

I used the above approach on an amateur with a reasonably deep voice recently. When he heard the raw recording, he wasn't feeling too good about himself. After the processing, he was all smiles. :)

At that budget and with that specific need - you want a really "out there" suggestion? Look up the Coles "lip" mic.

Anyone have direct experience with that?

The Lip mic will make you look like a sports commentator, OK in the pit lane or a football stadium. Great mic for that gig.

Here's the Cole Lip Mic and some information. It's "A voice-Over booth in your pocket!":
http://www.wesdooley.com/pdf/Coles_4104_Data_Sheet_web.pdf

More Info:
http://www.creativevideo.co.uk/public/view_item_cat.php?catalogue_number=coles_4104

At B&H for $859.95:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/356414-REG/Coles_Microphones_4104B_4104B_Lip_Microphone.html

Bill, nice post. Audio seems to be the most confusing part of video. :-)

Question: Where does the Symetrix 528 fit in if I record directly to computer and already have a USB or FW mixer? In my case I have an M-Audio 410.

Also, if I record direct to camera, could/would I still use the Symetrix 528?

Finally, is there a software equivalent of the 528, and what are the pros/cons of such an approach?

Thanks

Paul,

The whole point of a hardware instead of a software approach isn't which is better or cheaper or whatever-er. It's that people who regularly do VOs have learned that they MUST have constant and ongoing access to a reasonable recording chain that is dependable and omnipresent. That ENCOURAGES you to practice.

The simplest way to do this is to creating a physical mechanism for recording that, once setup, remains essentially constant day after day, week after week, year after year. A traditional hardware recording chain doesn't crash. It doesn't require "updates." It sits there and WORKS. As you learn its idiosyncrasies, YOU adapt. Subconsciously. Until you know how to use it really, really well.

If you're spending 95% of your time doing word processing and only 5% of your time booting your fancy VO software and actually doing VOs - sorry, but you'll NEVER really excel at it.

The work will go to the men and woman who ARE sitting in front of systems - whether hardware or software based is meaningless - and doing VOs EVERY day.

If I were to rate the top twenty most important things that make voiceovers successful and worth paying for, the "gear you're recording on" would come in at about number 35.

If you actually want to do professional level VO work - at some point you'll be standing behind double glass with MONEY on the line.

And you will face some time - probably 30 or 60 seconds but possibly longer - when a mic is keyed and you're IT.

With everyone watching and listening and judging everything you do... you're IT.

When that brief slice of time passes and the mic circuit gets closed on that particular take (or another in a reasonable and efficient sequence)...DOES A RECORDING EXIST THAT WILL SATISFY A KNOWLEDGABLE CLIENT?

Cause if it does - you are a voice talent.

And if it doesn't - you aren't.

Period.

That Bill Davis sure knows the mean streets of VO work. :)

And he's right, btw.

When I did the voice for Lt. Lo'Tal on the Legacy Star trek game, it was all work and no play. I was spitting out words and phrases like a Pez machine for an hour and a half straight, burning through a Exel spreadsheet formatted script. I think we did 4 second takes.

Regards,

Ty Ford
http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/xbox360/data/931493.html