VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

[richgates]

Hi Guys,

Long time no see for those who remember me. I am settled into a new place and am looking for a short term solution to what I think is a problem recording area.

Here is a basic rundown of my chain:

Sennheiser MKH-416 > Presonus Blue-Tube PRE > M-Audio Firewire 410 > Mac.

I am using Pro Tools 8.0 and have my mic temporarily set up in a Harlan Hogan special (porta-booth).

I made a sample recording and was hoping to get some feedback on where you think I can make cost effective improvements that might at least give me the opportunity to find work short of plunking down 2k+ on a booth.

Here is a link to the recording:

http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/118434/roomtest.wav

I know you're all busy working professionals, so any feedback is greatly appreciated.

Just a note, I have the tube completely turned off in the recording and have the gain on both the Pre and 410 at about half way.

I am looking at picking up a better pre, but I know that it probably won't help much with what's going on here.

Thanks in Advance,

Rich

[Bruce]

I'm not a sound engineer like some folks here, but I've heard these things work:

At first glance (listen) your overall sound quality seems to be pretty good as far as equipment goes. The only problem is the ambient room noise...a tiny bit of exterior noise and a small bit of room bounce (I'm ignoring the dog).

My one cent solution is to use a tiny bit of gating in your editing software. That will cut out all the small noise in between your words and if you use a mild setting your words won't be clipped at either end. For many jobs that may be sufficient. But for work that requires a very non-bouncy environment I'd set the porta-booth aside and create a cheap sound-deadening wall around you on your front, left and right. Somewhere on this site are plans for PVC water pipe frames for hanging moving blankets with big cheap clips from Home Depot. If you don't have a rug or carpet consider the thickest, fuzziest rug you can afford. It doesn't have to cover the whole room's floor, just enough to cover your biggest, baldest spot on the floor and capture the excess noise.

B
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VO-BB Member #31 Enlisted June, 2005

I'm not a Zoo, but over the years I've played one on radio/TV. .

[bobsouer]

Rich,

Welcome back. It would appear your noise floor is somewhere around -55, not great but not horrible. In the "silence" you recorded (the second part, without the dog snoring) the main thing I'm hearing is some air handling (I think) noise in the background. Is there a heating system running? Or maybe a computer somewhere in the room?

To my ears anyway, the microphone and pre-amp sound mighty fine. You probably want to add a pop filter, but otherwise I think it sounds good. At least that's my 2 cents. Which is probably about all it's worth.
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Be well,
Bob Souer (just think of lemons)
The second nicest guy in voiceover.
+1-724-613-2749
Source Connect, phone patch, pony express

[Diane Maggipinto]

Hi Rich--

Good to see you again! Scruffles to the dog. Just wanted to say hi
That's all I got (I was eating loud crunchy crackers during the sound check).
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sitting at #8, though not as present as I'd like to be. Hello!

www.d3voiceworks.com

[richgates]

Thanks for the replies

Bob:

Hi, my friend. What do you use to sample the noise floor, and what am I shooting for ultimately to be broadcast ready? I'm talking long term, not the stop gap fix I need now? I would love to be able to test different changes to see if I can make improvements incrementally.

Bruce:

Thanks I will look into the deadening wall. As for the gate, do you have any recommendations on the amount needed? I am still pretty new to the whole plugin thing. I have the Pro Tools plugins as well as Izotope's Ozone.

Diane:

Hank says scruffles right back to you. So glad to see you are still around.

[Frank F]

From your description (I honestly did not listen because of the size of the download) I am going to say there is a simple fix to your problem.

In one word: Acoustics.

Determining the best settings on your equipment is going to be difficult without the proper acoustics. How much sound shaping material you need depends upon so much more than a simple piece of audio.

The simplest way to determine basic needs for acoustics is the "clap test". Leave your equipment turned on, and clap. What you hear can help determine where you need acoustic help within a specific environment. Do you hear an echo, where is the echo coming from, are they high pitched or lower in timber?

Checking "noise floor" is simple,,, record with the mic off, then record with the mic on, but do not speak or move or - for that matter breathe. The waveform produced on the screen will show at a peak level. The first recording level is the "self-noise" level. The second waveform is the "open mic" level.

Just for grins, turn the mic-chain equipment OFF, and record. see if there is a difference between the "self-noise" level and this new recording. It will give you lots of information to work with in determining if changes are needed to the current microphone-chain.

New toys are not the complete answer, I wish it were that easy. You need to decipher the current system and how it works. Determine how it can be better. Then fix it.

Good luck

Toodles

F2
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Be thankful for the bad things in life. They opened your eyes to the good things you weren't paying attention to before. email: thevoice@usa.com

[bobsouer]

[Bill Campbell]

I got your noise floor at -65 with your voice peaking around -12 to -9.
Not bad. If I recieved that file to produce a spot or promo, I would boost it, compress it, and expand it. So, that floor wouldn't bother me.

There is a reflection that's somewhat noticeble, though.

Using your 416, get in a voicing position where your back is to a wall, three to four feet away. On that wall, hang a U-Haul moving blanket. If you want, you can hang a curtain over that for a nicer look. Especially with shotguns, you want to remove the reflection that can bounce back into the capsule, that would be the wall at your back.

Like the others said, get a pop screen and work the mic at about four or five inches. If you use a music stand for copy, put a piece of Auralex foam on it.

The above works for me with a shotgun, and any mic really.
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[Eddie Eagle]

You might try angling the 416 down from above to avoid reflection as a quickfix and make sure you have carpet on the floor. I second the idea of treating the room with acoustic absorber.

[richgates]

Thanks all for your excellent suggestions. I have a lot to go on now. You're the best.