Voice Over Mics (Studio)

M

moxie

New member
I am setting up my first home studio for recording voice overs. I don't have the luxury of trying out any mics locally, so I wil be buying one blind.

I am a male with a semi-quiet soft voice, so if there are mics that would help get a deeper richer sound that would be great.

The two mics I have heard a lot of good things about are:

Electrovoice RE20
Shure SM7B

Based on what I have read/heard at this point I will probably be buying one of these, but I don't have any personal experience with either.

Are there any other suitable mics I should consider? I don't want to spend more than $500 (both of the mics listed above are sub-$400).

I will probably be recording straight into a Presonus Firepod hooked up to my pc. If I should be getting a preamp I am open to suggestions ont hat also.

Any comments/suggestions would be appreciated.
 
Electrovoice RE20 seems popular for that type of stuff. But I've heard the RE27 is better. There's one that bascially phased out the RE20 for broadcasting, might be the SM7b, but I'm not sure. I think the RE20 looks more impressive. About as big round as a Tuba mouthpiece. Although you may not "need" a $400 mic to do voice overs. You might try giving one of the $15 electrets a try first. I guess it depends on what your goals will evolve into or not.
 
I have both mics and either would work well. I see that the firepod has only 60db of gain. Both mics require quite a bit of clean gain with the SM7 requiring more than the RE-20. With the SM7 and a quiet voice, you would likely have the Presonus cranked up to the next to last position for gain. I don't know how quiet that pre is at that level. I might be inclined to go with the RE-20 just based on that concern. Both mics are quality voice over mics and standards in the industry.
 
This is WAY below your price range, so you may not be interested...but I've found it to be great for this sort of thing: an MXL V-67G. It adds a lot of depth to my voice, which is a lighter one, as you describe yours. I've used it for VOs, for videos and other projects.

It's inexpensive enough (and good enough) that you might consider getting one and having it on hand, as another option.
 
Thanks for the replies.

I think I will just go with whichever mic I can find a better deal on, probably the SM7B is a bit cheaper.

Would it help with the gain issues if I got a small preamp like Presonus BlueTube or TubePre?

Chris I tried to find that MXL mic you suggested but I don't see it for sale anywhere, do you have a link?

Thanks!
 
Here are a couple--sorry, should have included them originally:

http://www.zzounds.com/a--2676837/item--MSEMXLV67G
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/423685-REG/MXL_MXLV67G_V67G_Cardioid_Microphone.html
http://www.fullcompass.com/product/272182.html

By the way--I got mine on eBay, with a shock mount and a cable thrown in, for around $99. There are a bunch there right now, too, so you might want to look there, too.

Oh--and here's the page from the manufacturer's site, with a nice review from Harvey Gerst:
http://www.mxlmics.com/condenser_mic/mxlv67g/mxlv67g.htm
 
Thanks Chris. You certainly can't beat the price on those MXL mics. How is the build quality? I might get one just to play around with, but I don't want something that will fall apart.

Are any of the other MXL mics decent? They seem to have a lot of mics priced around $100.
 
I seem to recall other people on this forum saying that the Sennheiser 421 is good for voice-over work. I know the major radio station I used to work at used them for their mics.
 
moxie said:
How is the build quality? I might get one just to play around with, but I don't want something that will fall apart. Are any of the other MXL mics decent?
Click to expand...

The build quality is excellent. It's really good, solid and substantial. I have mine here as I type this, and it's heavy and solid and well-finished. Metal, not plastic. Nothing flimsy at all--it feels like a mic is supposed to feel; no chance they will fall apart (running out of ways to say "They're built well":))

They have some other mics that are hits--I have a MXL603s, and it's great on some instruments (like acoustic guitars, etc)--but it's too bright for my voice. There are other condensers they make that are popular, though I have no direct experience with them. Some are not as good as others, as with most things in life. Search the forums here and you'll come up with a wide range of discussions of them...
 
I'll admit I am with Chris on the V67g.
I have a few of them and they work well on quiet softer voices.
They are a condenser mic as opposed to a dynamic so it will sound different.
But the 67 is not as hashy and bright as some inexpensive mics and it has a nice bass boost when used close. The gain level is pretty hot so you wont have to run your Fire Pod wide open.

Somewhat in between the options of the SM7 and the V67g is the Kel Audio HM2D.
It is a condenser mic that is specifically voiced to sound like a broadcast Dynamic.
I have used one for a while and it is really nice. It comes in at half the cost of the SM7 and it works fine with nearly any mic pre that has phantom power.

I guess I would be remiss if I did not mention the MXL V69 tube mic, since you are looking at them. But at the price you may want to go all the way and get the SM7.
The only drawback to the SM7 would be the amount of preamp gain you use.

Keep away from the Blue tube pres, they suck.
 
If you need an inexpensive single channel preamp to use with the SM7, I'd suggest a VTB-1. Don't bother to use the tube feature.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top