Voiceover mic for the home studio

Kyle · Post by **Kyle** » Tue Mar 06, 2007 9:16 am

I'm sure you have recommendations for me.

I'm in the market for another VO mic. At work I'm using a AEA 84 ribbon mic with the voiceover mod and it is great, I love it but I'm looking for something that I can keep at home. I'm looking for something around $500-700 tops that I can put in front of both a pro or an amateur (think corporate podcaster) and still get great results, all factors considered.

I recently read a thread about using a shotgun for VO work, which I can't find, but I would love to get a mic that has some rock applications.

I'll be using the A12 and C84 Seventh Circle pre amps where appropriate.

I have a few things in mind (RE20, SM7) but I would love to hear your opinions on these or any other mics.

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Thanks

juice · Post by **juice** » Tue Mar 06, 2007 9:18 am

I think the 421 sounds pretty great for speech too. You should just get a 421 and a RE20 for that money.

markmeat · Post by **markmeat** » Tue Mar 06, 2007 9:30 am

Heil PR40... read the reviews everywhere... I swear by this mic (works wonders on kick drums, too)

MEAT

doc · Post by **doc** » Tue Mar 06, 2007 9:30 am

I'll put in a vote for an re20. I love mine and use it for voiceover, kick drum, bass cab, floor tom, screaming vocals, and even cello once.

As much as I like my 421's, if I had to buy one mic that was going to be used for voiceover a lot, but other rock stuff too, I'd get an re20. Opposite of that (lots of rock stuff with a little voiceover) I'd probably go with a 421.

I have an sm7, but have never quite understood the hype that it's gotten on this board (which is the reason I bought it). To my ears, compared to the re20, it sounds thinner. It also needs way, way more gain than my re20 which could lead to some nasty background hiss for voiceover work.

-Doc

UXB · Post by **UXB** » Tue Mar 06, 2007 10:37 am

There may be something wrong with your sm7, doc. I have both and find the sm to be a tad meatier than the re20, but they're both old mics so there could be some variance.

I can second the sm-7, but was wondering, are you looking for a mic to record only your voice, or different people? I think any of the mentioned mics will sound great for you, and will respond nicely to comp/limiting for the broadcaster sheen (if that's what you want).

I believe Joel made mention about using a shotgun mic for such a purpose, and I kicked myself for not trying that myself!

Best,
H

nestle · Post by **nestle** » Tue Mar 06, 2007 10:51 am

AT4047

pscottm · Post by **pscottm** » Tue Mar 06, 2007 11:15 am

speaking of shotguns, alot of people use sennheiser 416 for VO. personally i prefer a hypercardioid and use a schoeps CMC4 w MK41 capsule 90% of the time. i have a pet peeve against 'voice-over' voice so the schoeps from about 2' away gives me the most natural feel of just about any voice type.

dino · Post by **dino** » Tue Mar 06, 2007 12:16 pm

Just the other day, I pulled out the one 416 we have here, and used it in place of the funky looking Sennheiser/Neumann dynamic the big boss made me buy to replace our trusty RE20. The 416 was obviously a completely different animal than a big dynamic, but on the young man I was recording, it really sounded great. I did notice if the narrator moved around during a take, you could hear it. The Sneumann, as I call it, ain't a bad mic at all, but? it's just doesn't sound like the hotrod it's trying hard to look like. It's rather lacking B?s, in favor of accuracy I guess. Our supposedly broken RE still sounds better, and I used the 416 only because it was hotter. What surprised me was that the shotgun had way more bottom than the Sneumann!

I have a 20 of my own that I usually use that is a bit hotter and brighter than this old one. I suspect there's some rotting foam in the old girl. That mic lives here in the nations capitol, so you know it's had it's share of hot nasty air, and then there's the bad weather. I almost hesitate to replace the foam because it's one of the most forgiving mics I have.

Unlike most of the people here, I rarely get to record music other than my own. At the same time, I do gazillions of narrations. If there's any message in my rant, it's to start with any of the quality microphones mentioned here, and then add a variety of others. Even those you would not think of as appropriate. You never know what you're going to face. Right now I carry, and have used, almost everything I own doing VO's. An RE20 is what I start with, but if needed I can grab any number of mainstream to oddball alternatives, and a few flavors of preamp.

Buy one nice one, bring everything you have.

dino

kayagum · Post by **kayagum** » Tue Mar 06, 2007 12:27 pm

The Oktavamod 219/319 actually works as a VO mic too.

dino · Post by **dino** » Tue Mar 06, 2007 1:35 pm

I love my Oktava's even though the two 319's I purchased six months apart, are for practical purposes, two different animals. One is certainly a bit brighter than the other. The darker of the two, along with an un-named crappy preamp, has become a favorite alternative in the VO booth. The best old school radio-voiced narration recording I ever did was through that mike. It didn't hurt that the guy behind the mike was a legend at his craft. I bet old CJ's doing voiceovers in heaven. Miss that guy.

Question: Is 319 still in production?. I don't recall seeing them advertised anywhere recently.

dino

kayagum · Post by **kayagum** » Tue Mar 06, 2007 2:09 pm

pouxhawk wrote:I love my Oktava's even though the two 319's I purchased six months apart, are for practical purposes, two different animals. One is certainly a bit brighter than the other. The darker of the two, along with an un-named crappy preamp, has become a favorite alternative in the VO booth. The best old school radio-voiced narration recording I ever did was through that mike. It didn't hurt that the guy behind the mike was a legend at his craft. I bet old CJ's doing voiceovers in heaven. Miss that guy.

Question: Is 319 still in production?. I don't recall seeing them advertised anywhere recently.

dino

You can buy the modded Oktavas (brand new) at http://oktavamod.com

JGriffin · Post by **JGriffin** » Tue Mar 06, 2007 3:34 pm

pouxhawk wrote:Just the other day, I pulled out the one 416 we have here, and used it in place of the funky looking Sennheiser/Neumann dynamic the big boss made me buy to replace our trusty RE20. The 416 was obviously a completely different animal than a big dynamic, but on the young man I was recording, it really sounded great. I did notice if the narrator moved around during a take, you could hear it. The Sneumann, as I call it, ain't a bad mic at all, but? it's just doesn't sound like the hotrod it's trying hard to look like. It's rather lacking B?s, in favor of accuracy I guess. Our supposedly broken RE still sounds better, and I used the 416 only because it was hotter. What surprised me was that the shotgun had way more bottom than the Sneumann!

Senn416 is one of a few "standard" mics we use for VO in the ad world. You do have to stay right up on it and not move around much. It's also less tolerant of "amateur" VO talent than, say, a U87. But it does have a heck of a lot of low end. I used one (into the GML pre) today for a legal tag following an announcer who was recorded with a U87 (into an Avalon) and I couldn't believe how much bottom I had to dump to get them to sound like they were in the same universe. Not that the U87 track sounded bad, not by a long shot. But the difference was astounding.

junkstar · Post by **junkstar** » Tue Mar 06, 2007 6:56 pm

421 for male voice is my favorite.

syrupcore · Post by **syrupcore** » Tue Mar 06, 2007 7:53 pm

unless you have a really dead room, I'd ignore the condenser recommendations. I just did a VO job last week with my 4047 and wound up having to make a 'vocal booth' out of mic stands and moving blankets. I mean, it was really fun building a fort again after all these years but I just went and bought a pr40 tonight.

joel hamilton · Post by **joel hamilton** » Tue Mar 06, 2007 9:01 pm

will the moor wrote:unless you have a really dead room, I'd ignore the condenser recommendations. I just did a VO job last week with my 4047 and wound up having to make a 'vocal booth' out of mic stands and moving blankets. I mean, it was really fun building a fort again after all these years but I just went and bought a pr40 tonight.

that is exactly why a shotgun can work wonders in a "not perfect" space.

Just aim it at someones face and go!

(i agree with scott, though about the sound of it, but when someone says "VOR" they usually mean "that" sound in my experience...)

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Voiceover mic for the home studio

Voiceover mic for the home studio

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