Hoping for input re: my hard-limiting of a Vox Only file

[espritbonne]

Note: I couldn't post them earlier, but the links for the audio files (before and after the hard-limiting) are now posted below.

Thanks so much for any input regarding my settings for hard-limiting a voice only mp3 file. I’ve been a voice actor for over 25 years and have produced most of my own audio during that time. Originally I voiced from the radio stations I was jocking at, but in 2001 I built my own studio. Because I was hosting a talk show in Washington DC at that time but living 90 minutes outside the city, I wanted to be able to do my show from home via ISDN whenever necessary. So I built my home studio to be similar to the set up in the On Air studio at the radio station: an ElectroVoice RE20 mic, through a Symetrix 528e processor, using a Mackie Board and a DAL Digital Deluxe soundcard.

Many of my VO clients like me to send them nearly flat audio, for them to tweak as they like. But I’ve started voicing audio books, and my clients now have varied requirements. I’m currently voicing a book that requires mastering, and since it’s voice only audio, I’m hoping it won’t be too difficult for me to figure out what sounds best. But I’ve never totally trusted my ear. I’ve always had a sibilant S challenge, and my voice is lower than many females, but if I work too hard to correct those, I create other, possibly worse issues. Hope you can spare a few minutes to check out the links below for my :40 excerpt from my original .wav audio (as recorded, and using their requirements: 44.1kHz, 16 bit, stereo) and compare it to the hard-limited version saved (as they require for finished audio) as an mp3, at 192kbps. For the hard-limiting, I kept the max amp at -6 dB and boosted by 6 dB, with the look ahead time at 7 ms and release time at 100 ms. Thanks again, I really appreciate your time. And please don’t worry about hurting my feelings, I’m tough.

Here's the link for the original .wav file:
http://www.debraleigh.com/AsRecorded...PCMwavfile.wav

And here's the link for the mp3 file in the format the audiobook publisher wants, with the hard-limiting:
http://www.debraleigh.com/Hardlimite..._At192kbps.mp3

[espritbonne]

Okay, I can post the link for the original .wav file now. Here it is, and below it I'll post the link for the hard-limited mp3 version. Thanks again for your thoughts. Hoping the hard-limited version sounds okay, (see my post above for specs) but if not, don't worry about being brutal.

http://www.debraleigh.com/AsRecorded...PCMwavfile.wav

http://www.debraleigh.com/Hardlimite..._At192kbps.mp3

[DaleVO]

Debra,

The hard-limited version's quality sounds good to my ears. However, I am hearing the sibilance of which you spoke. Did you run a de-esser or EQ the mp3?
Dale

[espritbonne]

Thanks for checking out the files, Dale. I've wrestled with my processor settings for years regarding my nemisis. I mean, my sibilance. But nothing ever seems to solve the problem. Right now, my Symetrix 528e De-Ess frequency is set at about 3 o'clock, maybe 3:30. The threshold is set between noon and 1pm. When I try to De-Ess with software (any software I've ever used) I seem to only make things worse. By that, I mean the other problems I created while trying to lower the sibilance were even worse than the ssssibilance. (So you KNOW they were bad!) So I gave up trying. Do my Symetrix settings sound to you like they're exactly where they should NOT be? Thanks again.

[kip4]

Great voice btw. Im surprised it sounds quite so sibbillant given the mic your using (no offence). Maybe try using a differant mic. Idk maybe a ribbon or sm7b. Honestly i'm no expert but i'm sure theres plenty here that can help. Given that the text contains so many sibbillant sounds i still think it sounds good.

[espritbonne]

Oh wow, thanks for your kind words kip4. And thanks for the input. Over the years, I've tried different mics, but the RE20 actually works better for me than any others. So, it's just me being a bozo with my Symetrix settings. (When the engineers at radio stations I worked at controlled the Symetrix settings, my sibilance magically disappeared) I've been working on the settings this evening, and may have diminished it somewhat. Or may have worsened it. Thanks again for checking out the files and for your thoughts, I really appreciate it.

[grimtraveller]

And please don’t worry about hurting my feelings, I’m tough.

You might be, but I'm not ! Besides which, toughness is no defence against hurt feelings.

don't worry about being brutal.

But I do, I do....

I am curious about one thing though. Do you use a pop shield when speaking to the mic or do you ever speak off axis, that is, not directly head on at the mike but at an angle to it ? That might help a little. I found that it was quite sibbilant and the recordings were very 'bright'. In the old days, I would've called it 'trebly'.
But this is a new day !
Also, before you had your own studio, how were you recorded ? Was the sibilance noticeable then ? Is there any way of contacting any of the people that have recorded you and picking their brains ? It's just that you imply that you've had a sibilance challenge for a while and you've sent audio for others to tweak so they must have a way of ironing it all out to the satisfaction of all.
By the way, you have a very television voice.

[espritbonne]

Grimtraveller! What a GREAT idea! Duh, why didn't I ever think of this?! I've been supplying dry VO to the same 60 or so production houses for over 10 years, now - and clearly their sound guys have been working their magic successfully or they wouldn't have kept ordering audio from me! They probably have s-s-saved s-s-ettings just for me and my s-s-sibilance that they can pull up in a heartbeat and share with me. And I probably won't have to ask too many of them before I can determine what I'm doing wrong on my end. Thank you, THANK you!

And thanks for the other suggestions, too. Yep, I've got a nice windscreen on my RE20. And I've always angled my delivery to the mic because in addition to hissing, I'm also 'gifted' with the ability to pop not just P's, but pretty much any consonant. How in the world did I wind up a voice actor with all these 'gifts'? Jeesh.

From now on when I'm voicing at other studios here in LA, when there's a moment after a session, or during a break, maybe I could ask the engineer if he wouldn't mind briefly sharing with me what he's doing to correct my sibilance? And you've led me to another idea - during Source-Connect sessions occasionally the engineer on the other end will ask me to make a specific change to my De-Ess setting. Why haven't I kept notes about their requests?!? (Instead of just dialing back, after the session, to the "Duh Debra" settings that they were clearly trying to correct? Embarrassing, realizing how dumb this was) And finally, now I'm wondering if Symetrix has a service we can purchase, to hook up with them via Source Connect or ISDN and have them monitor us for a minute or so, then talk us through adjustments?

I know everyone's ear is different, so I'll probably get some conflicting info, but somehow, a pattern will begin to develop, I'm sure. I think I subconsciously or maybe purposefully really deadened my studio originally to counter the 'overly-bright' s-s-sound. But after getting suggestions to brighten it, I went to the other extreme? Several VO friends who work from their own studios recommended years ago that I trust my own ear, and that I never let people on the other end of a session make me change my settings. But my sweet friends were assuming my 'ear' was as good as it should be for my line of work, and boy is it not.

Thank you so, SO much Grim! And thanks also for your very kind words, and concerns about my feelings. But I treasure brutal honesty when it comes to something like this. You've been so helpful, though. As has everyone here. Thanks again!

[chuckduffy]

The solution of contacting an engineer you worked with in the past is probably the best. Barring that - when you are speaking into the microphone, how many dB of reduction is being indicated on the LEDs on the DE-ESS section of the Symetrix ? Repeat the same sibilant word (sibilance for example) over and over and watch the LEDs.

[DaleVO]

Debra,
I played your track in my DAW and found the "S"s hitting hard at 6200-6800Hz, if my graph didn't lie too badly. I am also curious about the DE-ESS reduction that Chuck asked about, and what are your EQ settings, especially the Parametric EQ High settings?

FREQUENCY
BANDWIDTH
CUT/BOOST

Dale