Can you suggest a better bang-for-buck signal chain?

  • Thread starter Thread starter wheelema
  • Start date Start date
wheelema

wheelema

Boner-obo
I am going to bite the bullet and attempt to leverage my distintive 'radio' voice and extensive speech training to solicit voice over work. The signal chain I will be using will consist of...
  • Shure SM7B to
  • FMR RNP to
  • FMR RNC to
  • Kurzweil Mangler (via S/PDIF) to
  • a Gigabyte DAW with S/PDIF I/O back to the Mangler and then to
  • a pair of Wharfdale Diamond Pro 8.2a monitors

Excluding the DAW this should run me about $1,800. I have already purchased the SM7B, the rest in the next three weeks. I am open to other mics, but the total needs to come in under $2,500. I am looking for some validation and/or recommendations. This is the highest quality least expensive chain that I have been able to come up with. I only need one channel.

I am using Tracktion for now, feel free to slam that choice if applicable or if you hold deep religious feelings.
 
wheelema said:
I am going to bite the bullet and attempt to leverage my distintive 'radio' voice and extensive speech training to solicit voice over work. The signal chain I will be using will consist of...
  • Shure SM7B to
  • FMR RNP to
  • FMR RNC to
  • Kurzweil Mangler (via S/PDIF) to
  • a Gigabyte DAW with S/PDIF I/O back to the Mangler and then to
  • a pair of Wharfdale Diamond Pro 8.2a monitors

Excluding the DAW this should run me about $1,800. I have already purchased the SM7B, the rest in the next three weeks. I am open to other mics, but the total needs to come in under $2,500. I am looking for some validation and/or recommendations. This is the highest quality least expensive chain that I have been able to come up with. I only need one channel.

I am using Tracktion for now, feel free to slam that choice if applicable or if you hold deep religious feelings.
Click to expand...

Well, we could certainly help you spend the remaining $700. :)

Actually, it seems like you've got a solid setup planned there. I've heard nothing but good things about the RNP, however, if you only need one channel, you could possibly get a better (=more expensive) pre. Try some out if you can. I hear the Grace is crystal clear, but I really know nothing of these things. Good luck with the voiceover thing.
 
scrubs said:
Well, we could certainly help you spend the remaining $700. :)

Actually, it seems like you've got a solid setup planned there. I've heard nothing but good things about the RNP, however, if you only need one channel, you could possibly get a better (=more expensive) pre. Try some out if you can. I hear the Grace is crystal clear, but I really know nothing of these things. Good luck with the voiceover thing.
Click to expand...
I had considered upgrading to the Hardy M-1, but....
 
For one channel for $1800 ($300 already spent on SM7B) leaves $1500. I do this:

Speck 5.0 mic pre = $700 http://www.mercenary.com/speckmicpre50.html
Monitors = $300
Mangler = $500

I'd wait on the RNC 'till I had an extra $200. First, I'd go for the best pre I could afford, and I like your choice of the Mangler for the sounds and the reportedly great ADA conversion. Personally, I'm going for the Rumor, though.

Of course, If you can swing the Hardy... :D
 
The Rumour would be more useful to you as far as creating ambience for your demos. The Mangler is short on reverbs, really not the right choice for that type of work.

I personally would record directly into the DAW, bypassing pretty much everything except the preamp and converters. Then you can compress and reverb later if you want to. That's better than getting locked into a sound from the start.

If you need one channel of preamp, the Grace is definitely one to consider.

The SM7B mic is a good choice, but the EV RE-20 is also a very common vocal mic for voice over work. But since you've already ordered the mic, I guess this is a moot point.

Also, it should be noted that you can't use the Mangler converters the way you describe in your first post. The analog signal going into it is sent to both the analog and digital outputs. You can't send analog in to digital out and at the same time digital in to analog out. Doesn't work that way.
 
Thank you for all of the feedback. The info on the Rumour/Mangler is greatly appreciated. Assuming that I go with the Speck or Hardy M-1 I guess I can live with software compression until I can tack on the RNC.
 
SonicAlbert said:
Also, it should be noted that you can't use the Mangler converters the way you describe in your first post. The analog signal going into it is sent to both the analog and digital outputs. You can't send analog in to digital out and at the same time digital in to analog out. Doesn't work that way.
Click to expand...

I don't think he meant he would be doing both at the same time. I think he meant he would go Preamp > Mangler SPDIF out > DAW for recording, then DAW SPDIF out > Mangler analog out > monitors for mixing--not both at the same time.
 
tdukex said:
I don't think he meant he would be doing both at the same time. I think he meant he would go Preamp > Mangler SPDIF out > DAW for recording, then DAW SPDIF out > Mangler analog out > monitors for mixing--not both at the same time.
Click to expand...
That is correct.
 
I agree that the Speck MicPre 5.0 would be a much better choice than the RNP. Actually, for VO I think the Speck would be a better choice than the Hardy. I reviewed the Speck MicPre 5.0.

The SM7's going to need some juice. The Speck is a true high-gain preamp with 70dB of gain.

Edit: fixed link
 
Last edited:
I had to do some searching too before I found it. Oh well. Good info nonetheless.
 
I heard/played with a new preamp from a company called Chamelion Labs. This was at the NAMM show last weekend. It is a NEVE clone that looks a lot like a Chandler preamp (also a very notorius Neve clone). Anyway, I was very impressed with the sound and they have found a way to lower the costs and bring this in from overseas. It won't be available until April but the price is $799 with the power supply (external to keep costs down)

They had a real 1073 Neve set up for an A/B test and I have to tell you, I was very impressed. Keep an eye out for this one if you can wait awhile.

I have a Voicemaster Pro, RNP and rent a Great River about every 2 weeks and I can say the Chamelion exceeds the sound of all of these including the GR for vocals. This one is going to be my next purchase.
 
For VO work, check out the Symetrix 528e. It's got the mic pre, compression and EQ. I know several people who do VO work that swear by them. It will run you about $500 (www.bswusa.com). The SM7b is a solid mike for VO. Another choice for mic pre / signal processing is the Focusrite Voicemaster Pro.

Working with a flat mic (no processing) generaly yields a flat read - for me anyway. And you're going to need a VERY quiet place to record. I can't emphasise enough that your investment in equipment becomes worthless when you can hear traffic passing by, pets, or water running through pipes in the background.

Good luck. Let us know when you have some demos up and running.
 
Thank you Steve. I just can't tell you you guys how much I appreciate knowing that I am not stumbling through this thing alone. Thankfully we are living on six acres in the boonies and it is very quiet. Where we moved from we had ambulance sirens screaming by at least once an hour... we lived between the ambulance company and the the hospital.
 
wheelema - in that you're in southern Cailfornia, you may want to check out James Alburger's stuff at http://voiceacting.com/ He is putting on a seminar in February in San Diego about setting up a home studio for voice work. Can't comment on the quality of his seminars. I read his book and it was pretty good.
 
Steve Anthony....

I may have to roll the dice on this one... $250 by mid-February may be tough to swing. Also, some of the ad verbage that jumped out at me...
  • Essential audio equipment for recording voiceover (register for this workshop and you’ll receive information on how to purchase your studio equipment at a discount in several price ranges and capabilities. Purchase prior to the workshop and you’ll learn how to put it all together at the workshop.)
  • How to use basic recording software (it’s really easy!)
  • How to create MP3 files and send them over the Internet
    .
    .
  • etc..
Click to expand...
Gave me the impression that I may already have a fair amount of this nailed.

I feel that I have gotten a pretty good feel for esential equipment just surfing various voice-over provider web sites... for example, a phone patch seems to be pretty important (thanks Steve! :) ) . I would very much like to learn more about marketing and creating a killer demo, but I hope that by listening to what others are doing I can come pretty close there. After that, well, I'll most likely just slog along until I can scrape up enough cash to find help.

It just tough... there are so many needs. I guess I have until mid-February to figure it out.

I sure do appreciate the link, lots of good info and I think I'll see if the library has his book.

Web site should be up two weeks from Friday. If you are still interested I will leave you a note.

God bless.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top