After nearly three months of research, experimentation/troubleshooting, and a bunch of expenditure, I have arrived at a brick wall in a quest to get the equipment & environment correct for decent voice over recording. I am hoping the sages here can point me in the right direction before I spend any more time or another dollar in waste.
In short, the problem I am encountering is a general mudiness/harshness in recordings and extensive presence of resonant frequencies regardless of microphone, input/recording device, or experiments with the design and location of my booth.
The booth I am troubleshooting is a 54" x 63" X 73" PVC cage lined with acoustic blankets and carpet over hardwood floor. I also constructed five 4" rockwool panels which are temporarily laid against the corner walls in attempt to absorb nearby wall reflections. I've conducted a bunch of unsuccessful experiments over the past few months including placing the rockwool panels inside the booth, loading up the booth with pillows and extra sound-absorbent stuff, relocating the booth in my garage, taking out all furniture and equipment, mic placement, etc...All to no avail!
Attached are pics of the booth and recording environment.
I originally purchased a Rode NTG-3 shotgun mike in hope of using it flexibly for both voice over and video work. The Rode treats my voice well outdoors, but in the booth the recordings are terrible! By the time I realized an MKH-416 would have been worth an extra $300, B&H would no longer accept a return on the Rode. So I purchased two other mikes to try: Aventone CV-12 & Shure SM7b. The resonant frequencies in the CV-12 recordings (all polar patterns) were full-spectrum, off-the-chart madness! I couldn't even isolate individual frequencies with surgical EQ. Although SM7b fared much better (when set for flat or performance-boost), the recordings are still muddy with pronounced resonance scattered throughout the 100-1400 hz range.
While experimenting with Audition and iZotope RX 8, I discovered that reverb may be playing a role. Running a de-reverb filter seemed to make the recordings more workable and didn't need as much aggression with notched EQ to reduce the resonant freqs. Nevertheless, no amount of surgical EQ, de-reverb, or de-noise seems to be successfully in salvaging them. Or at least that I’ve been able to accomplish.
I realize a PVC blanket booth in a living room isn't exactly an ideal studio set-up. But unfortunately, that's what I'm working with under current conditions. I can deal with poor sound isolation by recording late at night. I just need to get the audio quality under control. The recordings are for some online training videos and a separate personal project. They don't need to be at pro-level of perfection, but at least a level where poor audio quality doesn't distract from the viewer's experience.
I tried attaching links to a few sample files, but as a newbie the homerecording forum isn't allowing hyperlinks or attachments on my posts yet. I did post them on the Gearslutz web site in: Forums -> Studio Building / Acoustics -> "Help needed in resolving acoustic problem in vocal recording booth" by Craig G.
Any advice in remedying the recording situation or suggestions for successful post-production cleanup is VERY, VERY GREATLY appreciated!!!!
In short, the problem I am encountering is a general mudiness/harshness in recordings and extensive presence of resonant frequencies regardless of microphone, input/recording device, or experiments with the design and location of my booth.
The booth I am troubleshooting is a 54" x 63" X 73" PVC cage lined with acoustic blankets and carpet over hardwood floor. I also constructed five 4" rockwool panels which are temporarily laid against the corner walls in attempt to absorb nearby wall reflections. I've conducted a bunch of unsuccessful experiments over the past few months including placing the rockwool panels inside the booth, loading up the booth with pillows and extra sound-absorbent stuff, relocating the booth in my garage, taking out all furniture and equipment, mic placement, etc...All to no avail!
Attached are pics of the booth and recording environment.
I originally purchased a Rode NTG-3 shotgun mike in hope of using it flexibly for both voice over and video work. The Rode treats my voice well outdoors, but in the booth the recordings are terrible! By the time I realized an MKH-416 would have been worth an extra $300, B&H would no longer accept a return on the Rode. So I purchased two other mikes to try: Aventone CV-12 & Shure SM7b. The resonant frequencies in the CV-12 recordings (all polar patterns) were full-spectrum, off-the-chart madness! I couldn't even isolate individual frequencies with surgical EQ. Although SM7b fared much better (when set for flat or performance-boost), the recordings are still muddy with pronounced resonance scattered throughout the 100-1400 hz range.
While experimenting with Audition and iZotope RX 8, I discovered that reverb may be playing a role. Running a de-reverb filter seemed to make the recordings more workable and didn't need as much aggression with notched EQ to reduce the resonant freqs. Nevertheless, no amount of surgical EQ, de-reverb, or de-noise seems to be successfully in salvaging them. Or at least that I’ve been able to accomplish.
I realize a PVC blanket booth in a living room isn't exactly an ideal studio set-up. But unfortunately, that's what I'm working with under current conditions. I can deal with poor sound isolation by recording late at night. I just need to get the audio quality under control. The recordings are for some online training videos and a separate personal project. They don't need to be at pro-level of perfection, but at least a level where poor audio quality doesn't distract from the viewer's experience.
I tried attaching links to a few sample files, but as a newbie the homerecording forum isn't allowing hyperlinks or attachments on my posts yet. I did post them on the Gearslutz web site in: Forums -> Studio Building / Acoustics -> "Help needed in resolving acoustic problem in vocal recording booth" by Craig G.
Any advice in remedying the recording situation or suggestions for successful post-production cleanup is VERY, VERY GREATLY appreciated!!!!