VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

Tina Hansen · Guest

My husband is my computer guru and will be handling all the audio engineering, websites and marketing for me. We're about to take the plunge and purchase an M-Audio Sputnik. From there we are considering a Grace 101 preamp, we were toying with the idea of a GT Brick but thought it might be "too many tubes" I'm mainly interested in Audio Books and Narration at this time.
Any advice from you pros would be highly welcomed. Also would you recommend a sound card or an external audio interface? Thank You for your time.

David Swinehart · Posted: Mon Feb 23, 2009 6:28 pm Post subject:

Tina,
That's a nice shopping list there, but a few questions...

How did you settle on the M-Audio? Have you used it; heard your voice on it? What other mic's did you test?

The Grace m101 is also very nice - as you indicated, it requires an external converter/interface. You might consider looking for a good quality pre/interface in one box. Perhaps an Apogee Duet if you're on a mac or M-Audio Firewire Solo if you're on a PC.

Just my $.02
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David Swinehart
an actual Dave
Kinetic Sound Labs

Rob Ellis · M&M Joined: 01 Aug 2006 Posts: 2385 Location: Detroit

Welcome Tina!

First and foremost, determine a realistic budget figure for your home studio expenditure.

Also, in the Gear section you may want to check out the FAQ section authored by our own Soundgun.

Tina Hansen · Guest

Thanks! My experience with mics has been with the dynamic mics my father uses when recording music. Like the Shure 57 and 58. It seems that in the VO world, everyone uses condenser mics, which I've never used.

After reviewing many different models, I'm leaning toward the Sputnik due to its versatility. I would love to be able to test the different mics, but don't know of a place near my area.

David Swinehart · Posted: Mon Feb 23, 2009 7:10 pm Post subject:

You might check out http://www.vocalimpactmedia.com/SoundStorage.html for some samples of the widely-used models. There are so many factors that go into creating the final "sound"... The mic itself, the room, the preamp, etc. Of course, there are as many opinions about what mic, preamp, & interface is best as there are voice artists!

I absolutely agree with the previous post - do your homework before you lay down your cash!
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David Swinehart
an actual Dave
Kinetic Sound Labs

Rob Ellis · M&M Joined: 01 Aug 2006 Posts: 2385 Location: Detroit

Tom Test · DC Joined: 23 Jan 2007 Posts: 629 Location: Chicago, IL

Hi Tina,

Welcome to THE best VO site in the universe. I owned a Sputnik for about a year, and overall, I would not necessarily recommend it to a voice talent. That’s not to say it would be a bad mic for you, and in fact I managed to make a good deal of money recording from my home studio using the Sputnik. But... I had to send it back twice in one year for replacement. And after having auditioned about a dozen mics over the past several years, I think there are better mics out there for VO talent in the Sputnik’s price range. (For example, I am MUCH happier with my Rode NTK after upgrading to a NOS tube). Finally, what do you need “versatility” for? Do you record music as well? Sure the Sputnik has a bunch of patterns, but for a VO you only need one.

I think you’d be best off by far by taking Rob’s advice and trying out several different mics from a place with a good return policy. That way, you’d know FOR SURE which one best suits your voice and your recording environment. Speaking of which, what IS your environment? If you don’t have a booth or a quiet room, most condenser mics will be too sensitive and pick up too much room noise.

Off the top of my head, mics in the Sputnik’s price range that I’d suggest trying out include the AT4047 or AT4050, Rode K2 or NTK tube mic, and a Shure SM-7B is a nice dynamic mic - good if you have a noisy room.

Also, the Grace 101 is a very clean-sounding preamp with a lot of gain, which is important for dynamic and ribbon mics. It is quite sterile though. The Groove Tube preamp is warmer because of the tube – but – it does NOT have a lot of gain. Could be a problem if you use a dynamic mic. If you want a tube preamp, I suggest a $300 ART MPA Gold and upgrade the tubes for another $25 or up to $150. It is much more flexible than the Brick and has more gain. And yes, I think it's best to use either a tube mic or a tube preamp, but not both at the same time.
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Tom Test
"The Voice You Trust"
www.tomtest.com

Jeffrey Kafer · Posted: Mon Feb 23, 2009 10:07 pm Post subject:

Hi Tina,

What's your experience level? You say you're a newbie, but does that mean you haven't had any professional work yet? What about training?

yes, this is related to the topic....
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Jeff
http://JeffreyKafer.com
Voice-overload Web comic: http://voice-overload.com

Tina Hansen · Guest

David... After reading more on the gear thread as well as your comments here, I'll be looking for a studio nearby to test out some mics in person. I'll have my husband check out the Apogee Duet and M-Audio FW Solo. I checked out the link you posted, great stuff! Thanks!

Rellis... We did just that, and are trying to keep our budget to under $2K (yay taxes!) Thank you so much for the info on the two companies. I'll be contacting them when I'm ready to make a decision on equipment. Having the option to return what may be unworkable is fantastic.

Tom... Thank you for the advise as well. My husband's first choice was actually the Rode NTK, and now he's taking a harder look at it. By versatility, I was referring to different VO styles, as it seems people use multiple mics for various VO work. If that's unnecessary, great!
We're setting up a studio/quiet room in our walk-in closet. Smile

Thanks for the recommendation on the preamps. I'll be checking them out soon.

Jeffrey... I have no professional experience as yet. That being said, however, I'm not completely inexperienced. During my last job (AT&T) I recorded the business and personal voice mail messages of hundreds of clients. Cheesy, I know, but surprisingly good practice.
Before that, I've worked both on stage and in studio with my father on his 4 music CDs. (He's moderately well-known in the folk music arena.)
I have a great deal of experience reading as well. It started out as simply reading to my husband and kids at night, but quickly evolved. My reading became highly animated, the characters came to life with their own distinct voices, and before I knew it I was being requested at schools and libraries to read to groups of children and their parents.

What really solidified the idea of pursuing VO as a career, was being approached by a Kmart executive recently with the possibility of doing some VO work for them.

Philip Banks · Posted: Tue Feb 24, 2009 7:52 am Post subject:

Make friends with a good local recording studio. Market yourself as a Voice Overist. Every time you get a job add the fee charged to you by the studio (plus 20%) to your fee. Why an extra 20%? Do you know any business person who sells something for less than it costs. There is no reason why you as a pro VO should have or need your own home based studio other than as the result of an informed personal choice.

There are two reasons why Voice Overists have home studios. One is to enable them to do low dollar jobs and make up for quality with quantity and the other is to cope with a volume of work without killing themselves travelling around. The latter reason made the Don La Fontaine more effective. The former reason is creating paupers.

Voice Over work is paid for by the client not subsidised by the artist.

Rob Ellis · M&M Joined: 01 Aug 2006 Posts: 2385 Location: Detroit

ooooohhhhhhh..... Ninja

Tina Hansen · Guest

Very good advice Philip, Thank you. We considered doing just that at first. The reason we decided on getting some equipment is two fold. 1st, I want to be able to practice on my own and record free projects to help get my foot in the door. We have 4 kids (8, 6 and twin babies) so our days are rather full. Second is that we're only here in Florida for about a year and a half or so. We're taking care of my parents retirement home for them until they retire next year and move down here. We will be moving to a rural environment in Northern Michigan on 20 acres and building a homestead living self sufficient and off the grid (Alaska style). We will be about 30 minutes from the closest small town and a few hours from anyplace that may even have a studio. If I have a big project I'll be able to travel, but I hope to get as much at-home work as possible. I know the homesteading idea sounds crazy to many people, but it's been our dream for many years.

KaseyKruz · Club 300 Joined: 18 Apr 2008 Posts: 336 Location: Michigan

Well hey there future Michigander. I myself grew up in Michigan, currently live in Fresno, Ca., but am planning to move my family back to Michigan.
Too many reasons to list why we are moving but the main reason is the economy and affordable housing, plus my extended family all live there, my wife's family is in Ca.
I did spend some time in Northern Michigan in Mackinaw and Gaylord. Quiet, peacful living 'up dare'.
You gonna be a yooper or a troll?
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Does life start at 40?

Ed Gambill · Posted: Tue Feb 24, 2009 9:10 am Post subject:

Tina

Tina Hansen · Guest

We're looking into the Cadillac to Manistee area, or possibly as far as Charlevoix. Considered moving to the U.P. but we left Alaska for a reason. We definitely want 4 seasons, we love winter and snow, just not 9 months of it. We're debt free and plan on building our own cabin to remain so. We'll be raising Rabbits, Guinea Fowl, Heritage Turkeys, Pigs and a goat or 2. We'll have a wonderful veggie garden and a few small fields of corn, wheat and barley. Hubby will be growing some hops as well, to make his own beer!