What should I upgrade first?

[lockesilver]

Hi,

I've been doing voiceovers for some time and since I'm getting more jobs now I'm starting to think about upgrading my equipment. Right now it is pretty cheap (execuse me, it is BUDGET equipment). I would like to invest about $1000 for starters and I wonder whan should I get rid of first.

Mic: Rode NT1-a
Preamp: Behringer MIC200
Inteface: Cakewalk UA-1g
Headphones: Sony MDR7506

As to the mic, I quite like it so I think I will stick with my Rode for now. Besides, it's got quite a lot of positive reviews... On the other hand, I'm still not sure whether people praising it mean something like "it's a decent/good mic" or more like "it's a decent/good mic in it's price range but in comparison to the $3000 tube mics it's a piece of crap not worthy of being called a microphone".

The Behringer - most likely to be replaced. People have been telling me that as far as cheap preamps are concerned they'd always go with a solid-state rather than a crappy-tube one.

The audio interface - this has always been incomprehensible for me. I mean, if you have an interface by a known brand (it's not thompisonic/panamosic professional sound for 15 dollars stuff, right?) capable of pulling off all the 96khz 24bit thingies should you EVER replace it? Can an AI make a difference in the actual sound of the recording? Don't look at me, I don't know.

Headphones are fine, I guess.


I would like to know if upgrading my equipment is likely to lead to noticeable improvement in sound/quality. And I'd be grateful for pointing out where I have been terribly wrong or for any additional suggestions.

 

[miroslav]

For VO work...the Electro Voice RE20 has been a staple, you might try one out if you can demo it...though I don't think you can go wrong with one. There's also the Shure SM7...and the Sennheiser 441.
Seems that dynamic mics work really well for broadcast/VO purposes. They don't pick up as much transient "hash"...so you get that drier vibe, which is often desired for VO work.

AFA a preamp... you've got all kinds of choices that would improve on the Behringer...but you don't need a super-high end preamp for VO work, just something fairly clean and transparent will do.

I was never a fan of the Sony 7506...they have a horrible upper midrange spike that just cuts through my ears in a nasty fashion, but some people like them because they can cut through a loud/busy music mix. If you want a really sweet pair of headphones for VO work...check out the Fostex T20/T40/T50 RP...the 40 are closed back, which are good if there is music playing in the room, so you won't get any bleed into the mic...but if you are working only with sound in the headphones and not in the room...then I suggest the 20 or the 50, which are semi-open and sound really nice. I've not used the 20, but I have 3 pairs of the 40 and 50.

 

[lockesilver]

Thanks for the suggestions. I will definitely look closer on dynamic mics (which I always thought were not an option in professional recording inside a studio).

One additional question: I'm on a PC (all right, don't shoot). This fact doesn't get in my way by any means. Should I switch to a Mac? I noticed professionals (not only VO but all sorts of freelancers etc.) use Macs.

One more additional question: What I also noticed is that when you visit a studio of a pro VO artist (who is not a musician) it will very often use ProTools. I know that this is kind of an industry standard, but isn't using PT for this type of work like a total, unimaginable, ultimate overkill? Most often some simple audio editor like Audacity is more than enough for VO (as it supports VST plugins), not to mention Adobe Audition or Soundbooth or something similar. Why would anyone want to use PT, devouring gigabytes of memory, taking 5 minutes to launch and annoyingly waiting for you to input some MIDI notes?

 

[Massive Master]

I will definitely look closer on dynamic mics (which I always thought were not an option in professional recording inside a studio).

I'd still like to find out where this stuff comes from... Almost every classic vocal mic ever made is a dynamic. Just about EVERY voice-over mic / broadcast mic up to and including the "Golden EIB Microphone (say what you will about who's behind it - It's the most listened to mic on the planet) is an EV RE20 (I have to say that my personal preference for 90% of vocal applications is the SM7b, but that's followed closely by the RE20 or 27). And just about every professional studio's mic count is probably 3 or 4 to 1 (dynamic vs. condenser). So let's bury that myth right there.

THAT SAID -- If I "had to" use a condenser for VO work, hands down it'd be the NT1a -- as it has an almost 'dynamic-like' quality to it.

Your preamp -- Don't let that "toob" fool you -- That's as much a "tube" preamp as I'm Scottish. THAT SAID: I've used one, and as long as you bypass everything except for the head gain, you could do worse. Not much worse - But worse. Upgrade that. M-Audio's DMP3 at the very least, something more like True's P-Solo or FMR's RNP would be a bonus. And yes -- "Cheap" and "Tube" in the same sentence generally leads to "Crap" in the next -- But I tend to avoid tube gear at all costs whenever humanly possible anyway. There's good tube gear out there, no doubt -- But "tube" by no means equals "good" at any price point.

DISCLAIMER: I'm not "anti-tube" by any measure - But the whole "tube sound" thing is 95% marketing hype. Manley, TubeTec - Sure. Tubes and those tubes are making a difference. But if someone could make a compressor that did exactly what my VariMu did - but without tubes - I'd drop the Mu like a hot potato (pun intended, as the thing is like working over a pizza oven).

I'm with miroslav on the phones - The 7506's aren't too wonderful in sound department. THAT SAID - I'm assuming you're not trying to assemble mixes on them and they're just for cue and 'feedback' use, so not a big deal there. They have reasonable isolation (which I would assume is the point in your case).

Pro Tools -- Eh, it's a program. A lot of VO guys are working on projects given to them as PT sessions.

Interface -- No doubt, that can have a big impact on your sound. You might consider looking at a MOTU (Traveler, etc.) FW or USB interface with built-in preamps... They're not too shabby (no real usable headroom, but nothing at that price point actually has much in the first place), decent conversion, clock, etc. Even monitoring control to some extent.

 

[lockesilver]

Hey, thanks, that's why I love this forum - I have already learned a lot from these answers.

First of all, the Behringer must go away.
Second, the Rode will do for a while and then (having read your answers and done some google research) I have to get a RE20. I just have to. I have been doing VO for quite some time (as in doing it, for money), and I'm one of these guys who really like to read equipment reviews, see what's hot etc... and I hadn't come across the RE20. It's strange because now that I look around it turns out it's just THE mic to get. I don't know... either I was on a thighter budget back then or my brain just ignored everything with the word dynamic in it (which was SO MUCH of a mistake, as it turns out).

I think the stuff comes from tutorials about mics you read when you're totally new and trying to learn a lot about home-recording in short time: "microphones fall into two categories: dynamics - these are the cheap plastic ones attached to your headphones and used on stage; condensers - these are the heavy and shiny ones on shockmounts, with phantom power blah blah large diaphgram blah blah [double dutch] that studios use"

and replies by youtube know-it-alls:

"which mic should I get to do a podcast/record a song/sound like Don LaFontaine?"
"well you should look at condenser mics as these are the shiny ones with phantom power blah blah blah that studios use"

and from the fact that some top VO talents/legends use(d) condensers (the holy grails by Neumann, Manley etc).


Anyway, I think upgrading the equpiment will improve the sound in my case which is why I will definitely do it. I will leave the headphones alone for now because new ones are not that cheap and I use them only for monitoring the recording.

And well, maybe it's Captain Obvious Strikes Again but still, the bottom line in all this is that quality comes at a price and there's no such thing as a cheap, crappy, WONDERFULLY SOUNDING equipment. In other words, the more quality you want the more you must pay. BUT it doesn't seem to work in the reverse direction: the fact that you pay a lot doesn't automatically mean great quality.

Ok, bah, enough philosophy.
Also, good point about ProTools.

 

[Captain Ego]

I was with you up to that last paragraph. I love my SM57 for vocals, guitar amp, and drums. I got it at a pawn shop scratched and dented and used as all ghetto looking, for cheap! There is hope for poor bastards like me because of occasional gems like that.

I'm wondering what you do voiceovers for. I always wanted a job being a voice guy for TV commercials but wouldn't even know where to look.

 

[lockesilver]

I was with you up to that last paragraph. I love my SM57 for vocals, guitar amp, and drums. I got it at a pawn shop scratched and dented and used as all ghetto looking, for cheap! There is hope for poor bastards like me because of occasional gems like that.

I'm wondering what you do voiceovers for. I always wanted a job being a voice guy for TV commercials but wouldn't even know where to look.

Um, I think there is a difference between decent equipment bought cheaply and cheap equipment. Good for you with that SM57!

The voiceovers... I hope I won't sound patronizing because I'm still quite new in this field myself . Well I had exchanged a few e-mails with Don LaFontaine a few years back and that inspired me to give it a shot... I don't have a trailer voice but I do have a commercial/narration voice. Still, I think the proportions of a good VO are something like 20% voice and 80% delivery - so anybody can try.
I read a lot of tutorials/books/forums etc. and got pretty excited about it. Then I worked physically for a few months during holiday (I was still at univeristy) and finally I could afford the equipment mentioned in the first post. Then I was recording some mockup commercials and narrations as a hobby for some time just to see if I am capable of producing anything palatable (if it turned out it wasn't for me - I would just sell the equipment on eBay). I decided I could carry on with this. Then I started to look for some small jobs online. I did not have a professional demo of my voice so I just used a short recording of "hi, this is my voice, if you like it then youre invited to contact me" and some people responded. After some time I had a portfolio of my skills and could use that to get more jobs, even from quite well known companies. And that's basically the point where I am now. I'm planning to upgrade equipment, and move to a treated room instead of a room full of bed sheets on racks and other weird constructions (fortunately I live in a quiet neighbourhood but still I have to gate out quite a lot of background noise). I haven't earned much yet because on the way I bought things - like a music stand (for printouts), a reflection filter, some better cables (I was suprised that you can spend that much money on cables, I mean, come on, they are CABLES, they don't do anything) etc. etc. but I think someday I will put the money in my pocket.

Having said that, I must add that I do the VOs in Polish as I am from Poland... so the market for such things is probably different from the one in your country.
Well - good luck!