Which Mic for Quality, Audience- including Voice Overs ?

RecordingRookie

New member
Hey Folks !

I am writing here, as I am new to the technical realm of audio recording and am looking for guidance on creating a setup for specific tasks.
The last two days, I have spent all my free time researching, listening and comparing, while I have gained some basic understanding and knowledge, there are simply some unanswered questions I need to ask someone experienced directly.

My needs and intentional use

I am planning to produce Videos with Voice overs, on almost a daily basis, at home, to then publish via youtube.
Now it is important to me that the Voice Overs are clear in quality, intimate in feel and audience inclusive, meaning the audience feels being part of the experience by feeling close to the narrator, think similiar to BBC wildlife documentaries.
My Budget is quite short, I am also not planning to do any instrumental recording or any kind of musical work, only Voice Overs.


I have looked at both USB and XLR Mics.
For USB, the Rode Podcaster is often recommended to me, I found the sound somewhat closed up and recessed when listening to samples, I wonder if that is a usb by product.

For XLR I at least managed to narrow it down to :
Beyerdynamic M 99 ( cheapest and preferred by me)
Shure SM7B (likely too pricey but hey)
RE 20 by electr. Voice (probably too expensive in the UK/ EU)


I facilitated the following page for sample comparisons and the M99 really does sound nice there :
Ultimate Podcast Microphone Shootout | recording hacks

I do understand that these XLR mics will also require a possibly expensive Pre Amplifier, on top of being pricey on their own for my narrow needs.

Before I go into specific questions, I run a Xonar Essence STX on my desktop :
Essence Hi-Fi Audio - Xonar Essence STX - ASUS

Questions

1. First and foremost, the big question : Does the M99 make sense for my goals and needs or are we talking overkill here and I should just go for the Rode Podcaster ? I understand that Youtube specifically has certain sound quality limits but I would expect the M99 to still shine through... possibly... ?

2. If going for it, I am having a hard time finding out what kind of Amplifier would be sufficient for my needs on the M99.
My needs are obviously limited, is there a cheap, simple solution for an amp which wouldnt compromise the sound quality of the M 99 ?

3. Would I connect the M 99 from the amp to the Xonar and would that work out well or would the Xonar bottleneck the quality ?

4. Do you think the M99 sounds like a good choice for what I am planning to use it for.



Thank you so much for reading !

I hope you can help me out, I tired to educate myself and find the right answers but often, specific articles busy themselves with musical and band recordings, not simple voice overs.
 
Hi there,

A couple of things to mention.
First, the environment is probably as important as the mic in this kind of case.
The reason so many youtube V/Os suck is because they're recorded in echoey or boomy bedrooms.

It's good that you're looking at dynamic mics because you can get very close to them and help to reduce the ambient sound ratio. Keep that in mind.

Next, you don't need a preamp. Well....you do but that's only part of it.
You need an audio interface which will handle everything from preamplification, digital to analog conversion, data interface, headphone/speaker monitoring etc.
There are stacks of them available in all sorts of price ranges. Search term "usb audio interface", or firewire/thunderbolt - Whatever you have.
USB mics have budget versions of all that stuff built in.

For dynamic mics it's best not to go too cheap on the interface. I wouldn't recommend the budget USB mixers, for example.

I'm a huge fan of the sm7b and re20 but, yeah, they're possibly overkill for simple V/O.
You could get away with a good sounding room and a reasonable usb mic, or an sm58 and reasonable audio interface.
I don't know the m99 so I can't really comment.

If you're set on a really nice broadcast sound then a 7b or re20 and a few rockwool absorption panels would be the way to go.

If you're ever likely to have more than one speaker think about that now. Pick up an audio interface with enough mic inputs to cover your future needs.
 
Thank you steenamaroo,

You are of course spot on with the reverb and I will build some sort of sound proofing/makeshift booth so eliminate that and create a nice, sound dry environment.


why do i need headphone monitoring exactly ?
How much should such an interface set me back ? I am only looking for a single input as i doubt I will have several speakers any time soon.


the M99 seems very similiar to the re20 and sm7b, check the samples for a small example.
 
why do i need headphone monitoring exactly ?
How much should such an interface set me back ?

You might not. If you're doing commentary over any computer audio like a film or game you'll want to wear headphones to stop the computer audio being picked up by the mic.
This might not apply to you.

How much should such an interface set me back ?
Have a google for "usb audio interface". Like I say, there's a whole range of them available.
For reference, the focusrite 2i2 gets decent enough rep and it's a hundred quid.

the M99 seems very similiar to the re20 and sm7b, check the samples for a small example.

Cool. I'm not going to recommend it purely because I don't know it, but maybe someone else will.
I have md421s too (I see they're on the list) and they do a great job.
 
You might not. If you're doing commentary over any computer audio like a film or game you'll want to wear headphones to stop the computer audio being picked up by the mic.
This might not apply to you.


I do use headphones actually but why exactly do i need to monitor the headphone audio while recording voice over the footage sound, such as games for example ?
 
I do use headphones actually but why exactly do i need to monitor the headphone audio while recording voice over the footage sound, such as games for example ?

You use headphones but you want me to explain why? Maybe I've missed something here. :confused:

A lot of people want to hear what's going on while they commentate. Reactions, cues, reminders...whatever.
Like I said. You might not.
 
I'd have to get the RE20, it's a classic for a reason, I prefer it to sm7b because of the anti sibilance features
 
I'd have to get the RE20, it's a classic for a reason, I prefer it to sm7b because of the anti sibilance features

It has a hotter output than the 7b which does no harm with lower level interfaces/preamps.
Not sure about anti-sibilance, though. Do you mean proximity effect? I know the re20 counters that.
 
You use headphones but you want me to explain why? Maybe I've missed something here. :confused:

A lot of people want to hear what's going on while they commentate. Reactions, cues, reminders...whatever.
Like I said. You might not.


I have never used a sound mixer before, the username is no accident :P

Cant i simply set my headphone sound on my xonar soundcard driver and the mic level on the interface/mixer? or how is this done ?
 
I have never used a sound mixer before, the username is no accident :P

Cant i simply set my headphone sound on my xonar soundcard driver and the mic level on the interface/mixer? or how is this done ?

Oh sorry, I should have explained better.
An audio interface is designed to completely replace any sound card that you might have.
It handles all audio input and output.

You headphones would plug into the front of your interface, if you need/want to use headphones.
 
If you want more bass to your voice you can use an eq plugin, or choose a mic that accentuates bass.
The electrovoice RE mics are specifically designed to reduce bass proximity effect, whereas an sm58/md421/sm7b will get bassier the closer you get to it.
 
Oh sorry, I should have explained better.
An audio interface is designed to completely replace any sound card that you might have.
It handles all audio input and output.

You headphones would plug into the front of your interface, if you need/want to use headphones.

Hmm, so i wont even use the xonar anymore, MY headphones are 250 ohms, so i would need a mixer which can drive fairly well.

would it be possible to use the headphones on the xonar and mic on the interface ?
 
Hmm, so i wont even use the xonar anymore, MY headphones are 250 ohms, so i would need a mixer which can drive fairly well.

would it be possible to use the headphones on the xonar and mic on the interface ?

Honestly, I'm not sure. I guess that depends on your operating system and recording software.
Most that I've encountered want to see input and output at the same device. Maybe someone else here can tell you better.
 
So, im still quite uncertain where to go from here, I heard good things of the Shure PG42 USB as well but for a similiar price I could likely grab a solid XLR and interface, really kinda lost and still dont know how an interface would work with my 250 ohms headphones and xonar soundcard.
 
I'm thinking you're going to be buying a USB mic or USB interface either which way.
If it plays nice with the xonar then that's great, but if it doesn't there was nothing you could have done about it anyway, right?

If that's the case, sell the xonar and pick up a standalone headphone amp, if you find the interface headphone output is lacking.

Can anyone here tell us a bit more about using two 'interfaces' on a pc?
 
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