Go-to Mic for Voice Over work

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Lemec

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Hi,

Any suggestions regarding the go-to mic (around 1000$ budget) for Pro Voice-Over work ?

Thank you in advance,
Lemec
 
What type of voice over work are you doing? Radio/TV? Corporate presentations? Youtube videos?

The EV RE20 and Shure SM7b are broadcast standards for a lot of radio and off camera TV work and would work perfectly fine for presentations and Youtube stuff. TV production use a lot of clip on lavalier mics to avoid being visible on camera.

Prices are under $500. Both have very controlled polar patterns which make them nice for that type of work.
 
The VO-Pros that I know have the Sennheiser 416 shotgun, for that price range.
Since I earn far less than they do, I get along with my RE-20 and SM7B for audiobooks, and AT-4033 and CAD e100S, when I need a condensor.
Dale
 
This is the third forum I have seen this exact same question posted ?????

High quality and affordable and around your budget - the Gefell M 930.

More expensive - the Neumann U 87

The MKH 416 is a gun mic. and best used for dialogue replasement when the original was also recorded with a 416 - a bit noisy by modern standards (the MKH 60 and 8060 are much better).
 
Another vote for the EV RE20 and Shure SM7b. I have the SM7b and it does a really nice job of rejecting background noise. It's relatively cheap ($399) and you can spend the rest on you money on signal processing. If you go wth the SM7b, make sure your preamp has enough gain. Some don't and the SM7b requires a lot. So you may also have to purchase a Cloudlifter.
 
Orson said:
Approx $1000 .... Neumann TLM 103.
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Or the TLM102 if you don't like the extra top end on the 103.

Thee are a ton of great mics out there for VO work. If you have a quite area then you might consider condensers mics. If not you would probably want to stick with a good dynamic. As stated the RE20, and SM7b are great choices. Rode makes a couple good mics for VO, both condenser and dynamic. I like one that is a bit cheaper but sounds very good, is the sE Electronics SE4400, it has nice detail without having hyped high end.
 
The term "pro voice over" now could mean so many things. We're in the middle of dozens of click tracks for a production coming up and we've got lots of very quick and critical voice counts over the click tracks, and I've got an EV and the Shure sitting here, and we selected an AKG 414 in the end as being better in IEMs and headphones. The intro starts were actually hard to call between them - SONG TITLE, GUITAR START, 1-2-3-4-1 PLAY for example work on any mic but in the middle when everyone is playing, we might have TEMPO - 2-3--4-- as a warning call, and the AKG simply cut through better when the live sound and the other ear mix were busy.

Your choice depends on what you are doing. The SM7, for example, I like on male voices, but it's quite weedy on higher female ones. You also need to consider the room. Close in an intimate is forgiving on room acoustics, dangled over the top of a desktop with papers and a greater distance might not work.
 
What kind of environment will you record in? A "studio" mic generally needs a studio with sound treatments. If you are working out of your house, you may need something totally different.
 
radi0j0hn said:
What kind of environment will you record in? A "studio" mic generally needs a studio with sound treatments. If you are working out of your house, you may need something totally different.
Click to expand...

Yes and no - you can work very well at home with a mic. like the M 930 (or U87, TLM 102/3, etc.) and a duvet hung over a mic. stand.
 
John Willett said:
Yes and no - you can work very well at home with a mic. like the M 930 (or U87, TLM 102/3, etc.) and a duvet hung over a mic. stand.
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I think the TLM 103 is down to 6 decibels. I do not know about the U87. How are you going to get that low with a duvet over your head?
 
I do have a full acoustic treated space (isolation/reflexion adn difusion wise) at home for all my VO works (audiobooks, E-learning courses, comercial promos, Audioguides, etc).

Thank you for all the input and replies that this thread has had so far, all very helpfull.

After some extended research i kind of narrowed my choices to 3 mics;

Stam Audio SA-87 ( a vintage Neumann U87 replica)

Neumann TLM 103

Lewitt LCT 540 S

Any remarks or feedback regarding these 3 would be most appreciated

Again thanks a lot for all the help
 
Lemec said:
I do have a full acoustic treated space (isolation/reflexion adn difusion wise) at home for all my VO works (audiobooks, E-learning courses, comercial promos, Audioguides, etc).

Thank you for all the input and replies that this thread has had so far, all very helpfull.

After some extended research i kind of narrowed my choices to 3 mics;

Stam Audio SA-87 ( a vintage Neumann U87 replica)

Neumann TLM 103

Lewitt LCT 540 S

Any remarks or feedback regarding these 3 would be most appreciated

Again thanks a lot for all the help
Click to expand...

If you have a 'fully acoustically treated space' and I assume that also includes fully insulated from exterior noise? Then those microphones will have a base level decibel specification. Claimed by some in tests? The Neumann 103 is I think approx 6 decibels. It is by some claimed to be an 'industry standard' (if there is such a thing) for professional voice over artists. I think this claim is by those people who do not have a higher spec Neumann U87? Anyway my wife has one and I can tell you it is very good and in her treatment room. It does go down to very low decibels. It is very crisp, clear and very good.........But more importantly will it suit your voice?

The low decibel reading will include any electrical noise how ever low and this can be vary with electrical connections and cables and plugs back to your interface. But this will apply to any microphone. So to get the best out of your chosen microphone. There are other factors to take in to account.
 
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What on earth is a base level decibel specification? 6 decibels of something? No idea what you mean.

Sound on Sound liked the Lewitt, which is good enough for me. I'm not sure about buying a copy of an original classic. I'd probably buy a second hand real 87 I suspect. It will still have value in ten years time.
 
I mean Rob that ......thats what some say it will register down to in a fully treated room. The noise level. So the microphone is basically silent.
 
Is that absolutely vital, I've never been in a circumstance where the microphone generates more noise than a pre-amp. My feeling is that it's one of those scientifically accurate claims that means very little in the real world, where pre-amp noise performance is the limiting factor. You're not adding a sonically perfect pre-amp into the buying spree are you?

I've never worked in an anechoic chamber, only real spaces with people. I'd suggest maybe buying one mail order and having a listen and then send it back if you don't like it. I suspect Lewett sadly are using the good noise performance as a sales aid, when ultimate performance at the bottom of the meter scale is in the hands of devices upstream of the mic in practically every 'normal' studio. I can see flicker at the bottom of my meters, yet normalising accidentally low recordings reveals no real noise at the b bottom end that gets in the way. I'm quite aware that using my SM7b means a bit more noise than the 414 I prefer now, but the noise component from the extra gain the preamp has to apply is really tiny compared with that generated by other analogue devices.
 
Specs for condenser mics sometimes have an "equivalent noise" rating. The TLM 103 is 17.5dB, which is actually a little higher than some (Miktek C7e is 14dB, for instance).

I don't think there's any such thing as a "silent" condenser mic.
 
rob aylestone said:
Is that absolutely vital,
Click to expand...

Dunno? He asked difference between microphones. I just replied with what I have seen on Youtube comparisons and the only one listed which we have. I did point out that 'noise' comes from other parts besides the microphone.
 
I'm an old sceptic, and when I cannot hear something, and see specifications that while accurate (sometimes) are often very misleading. If you get your phone and run a sound app, nowhere I can go with it is remotely silent - the noise floor on an apple is way, way down on maximum level - and once it drops below what you can hear, what's the point in chasing specs. Quite a few condensers have a reduced response as the supply voltage drops. AKG, for instance specify 48V phantom, but the also give a range of voltages for some of their mics that use a different polarising system - they might work down to below 12V, but their dynamic range is more limited. I don't think many people ever notice. Voice overs rarely have quiet rooms because of the scripts. How often do you hear paper rustles.
 
In response to an email that I sent, Robert Clotworthy (narrator for Ancient Aliens, The Curse Of Oak Island and SO much more!) said:

"I use a Sennheiser 416 for most auditions as it is the industry standard and the mic most likely to be used at a session. For narration or animation I use the Neuman U87. I run them both through an Avalon 737 pre amp."

I'm retired now but I use the SM7b with a Cloudlifter to voice documentaries, television/radio commercials/PSA's and you name it. Always worked wonderfully.
 
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