VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

[Sinocelt]

In 2008, I began translating my favorite author into French. He started as a playwright and his stories are a delight to play out -- an aspect of his writing I strive to preserve. I read all of his stories aloud before I send them for publication. On a whim, I did a quick recording (with a $20 webcam!) of the first page of one of his stories. He liked it enough that he offered to rent me a studio in LA (where his books are recorded in their original English) and/or to send me an MKH 416 (the microphone used by the voice actor for his latest books).

While I did some work as a voice actor in New York, it's been years and I feel rusty; so I'd rather build myself a home studio than fly directly to LA... only to discover that I can't work a mic anymore. My place is very quiet, during the night, though sound isolation and acoustic treatment could still be a problem; I've considered possible solutions, but that isn't what I want to discuss in this thread.

I need a mic. For long-form narration only. Therefore, I need a mic with low self-noise (since silences between words won't be covered by a musical background) and one that isn't fatiguing: a presence peak isn't useful here, since my voice won't have to cut through a mix. I'm a low baritone, by the way, though I'll also need to give voice to women and young children!

Ideally, I'd try dozens of mics. Realistically, in Taipei, I'm not sure I can rent any, though I can probably try a few, since, I've been told, they've got a dedicated room. Buying and selling again is also a possibility, as is flying to LA to do my shopping, but neither option is especially cheap. I'd rather not spend more than $3000 (for the mic and its amp).

I've already done some research, read a lot of reviews, and listened to as many samples as I could find (I discovered yesterday that I had accumulated nearly 6 Gb of microphone samples on my computer!). Here are the mics that I'm currently considering:

1. Oktava MK-139 modded by Michael Joly. Lukas Hajek's samples are very convincing -- enough so that I'm buying this mic anyway, to pit it against its more expensive competition.
   
2. CAD E100S (cheapest here). On paper, this one is a winner, with its high sensitivity and ridiculously low self-noise (3.7 dBA). Its sound has been described as polite and smooth, which seems to fit my non-fatiguing criterion. Joel Patterson has also reviewed it very positively and posted a convincing narration sample. He vaunted its intimacy and, for narration duty, ranks it above the Gefell M950 (a wide-cardioid version of the M930), which he also reviewed.
   
3. Gefell M930 is a favorite among voice actors: it is unobtrusive (very small) and its self-noise is low (7 dBA). The new M1030 is another possible contender: compared to the M930, it is bigger, thus less unobtrusive, but is apparently better suited to vocals. Reviews are currently non-existent.
   
4. Sennheiser MKH 416. A shotgun mic: normally a location mic, but now one of the two VO standards. It is, however, used for trailers and commercials more often than for long narrations. It has its detractors, but also its proponents: one of today's best voice actors favors it because it adds some density to his female character voices. Its self-noise is just OK (13 dBA) but this mic is very discreet -- and easy to carry around, should the need arise. Its high directionality is both a boon (in an imperfect recording environment) and a bane (for a lively voice actor such as yours truly).
   
5. Neumann U87 Ai. The other VO standard, and the one most used for long-form narration. Its self-noise if just OK (12 dBA), I've no use for its multi-pattern feature, and I've read time and again that better -- if maybe not as versatile -- can be found for that kind of dough (a Brauner Valvet X?). Still, it cannot easily be dismissed.
   
6. Audio Technica 4047/SV. This one keeps being mentioned. Some posters don't like it too much, but others love it to pieces, and most people who have tried it seem to have great respect for it. Its self-noise is low enough (9 dBA).
   
7. Shure KSM44A. It is supposed to keep the sound of the well-loved KSM44, but with a much lower self-noise (4 dBA!).
   

That's it for the short list. And I must keep it short, if I want to have any chance to decide (and, hopefully, to try and compare). I've more or less discarded dynamics (RE15, RE20, PR40, SM7b), as I've never heard a sample that convinced me that a dynamic could win over a good condenser for narrative work. I've shown greater interest in ribbon mics, in spite of their fragility, because of their mellow sound -- the R92, for its reduced proximity effect, and the ML-19, for its unidirectionality and good room rejection, have caught my attention.

So that's where I stand now. Do you have any opinion/suggestion?

[Eddie Eagle]

If they offered to send a 416....take it. They are more dynamic than you know. A highly directional mic that will cancel a lot of extraneous outside noises.

[SkinnyJohnny]

If you are considering the M930, you might also look at the M940. It's very similar to the 930, but is not as hyped on the upper mids and has a tighter pattern.
_________________
John Weeks Voice Overs
www.johnweeksvoiceovers.com

[Rob Ellis]

Bock 195 might merit consideration

[Mike Sommer]

[Sinocelt]

[Mike Sommer]

I'm afraid you're being a little vague in regards to your background, and since you're
hear looking for answers, I can only assume your background is very limited.

As I alluded too earlier you can have a have a $15,000 Brauner VM1 KHE (Klaus
Heyne Edition), and it won't make you sound any better than two tin cans and a pice of
string, if your room sounds like crap.

You can fly to LA or to Nashville, to find the best mic you can afford. This to me is
six of one and half a dozen of another, because your choices are subjective, and a
subjective choice is an opinion based on how you feel at that particular moment.

Allow me point out than when one walks into a studio session, you take the mic that's
placed in front of you. And the thing is, you usually sound great, if not damn good.
Why? Because of the room is well treated, "so that you are a single sound source in
that room." And on playback you're listening to the performance, not the timbre of
the mic, unless the mic is so glaringly ugly that it stands out above anything else.

When the SM57 and SM58 were given the Pepsi challenge, against a Telefunken 251,
Neumann U47, FET47, M49, 67, U87: AKG C12, C12A, C24, 414; Sennheiser 421;
Oktava MK219. The winer was the SM58 followed closely by the Telefunken 251 (a
$11,000 to $15,000+ mic).

Now this has it's foibles too, because it comes down to what flavor are you looking
for; what nuances of the mic are exciting you; how do you want to use the finished
audio? And when it's all together in the mix, can you really tell what mic was used?

The only thing that matters in the end is, does the finished product sound good. And
that judgement is usually based upon the performance of the actor, followed by the
contouring of the performance by the director, and lastly the skills of the mix
engineer.

Back to mics in general. All the mics listed here will get you to where you want to go.
But the mic you test in the studio, will not sound the same when you get it home.
_________________
The Blog:
http://voiceoveraudio.blogspot.com/

Acoustics are counter-intuitive. If one thing is certain about acoustics, it is that if anything seems obvious it is probably wrong.

[Sinocelt]

[Jowillie]

It's probably a good thing you extended your inquiry to this forum from the Gearslutz forum. There is much more experience here with your particular problem.
Some considerations:
1. Long form narration requires "consistency." Shouldn't chapter 12 have the same tonality as chapter 1?
2. Are you doing the "final edit?" How are you finalizing into your Digital Audio Software or other systems? Or are you sending your files to someone else who will put it the required form? If you are--ask them what they need. In most cases, the cleaner and less affected--the better. They may have suggestions from their experience.
Therefore:
The questions about your recording area are very valid. That "consistency" word keeps popping up. The recommendations to try dynamic mics is worth considering. Many, many audio books are recorded on EV RE20's and Shure SM7b's. Dynamics usually are very forgiving to changes in ambient room noise. That's one reason why most radio stations use them. The Heil PR30 is a worthy choice to test as is the Heil PR40. The PR30 is very clean. The PR40 has a "flavor" that adds a little "soul" to voices that need it. Your's may not.
Notes:
There are VOA's on this forum that are some of the foremost voices in the world of long form narration. A few of them use the Sennheiser MKH416 shotgun. The key to that mic is finding the "sweet spot" and staying in it. That takes lots of practice and a steady neck. (consistency)
A professional golfer or tennis pro is very particular about the club or racket they use. They develop requirements of their equipment as they use them and get the equipment company to adjust until it's right.
As a professional, you will sample, adjust and trim until it is right for you.
You have been given some excellent suggestions. Pick one you feel may be a close fit and start your adjustments. (I realize that your original question to the forums is "which one?")

Jowillie
VO MIC TESTS
_________________
Wild Willie Edwards
www.hometowntvtoday.com
http://vomictest.blogspot.com

[captain54]

[whalewtchr]

Hello. I do audiobooks and have used an SM7B Dynamic and it sounded great. Condensers will pick up everything; flea farts, lip smacks, tongue noise, bad pipes and air plus all the various emotions of a wonderful voice actor. Mike is absolutely correct in identifying the room acoustics as the key to making a great condenser mic even greater. You need to have a very low noise floor with a condenser or it will sound like crapola...you could gate the noise but of course most publishers do not like processing as it colors the presentation with noise that is, for some, unlistenable.

Good Luck in your quest.
_________________
jonahcummings

[Sinocelt]

[Mike Sommer]

[EDIT]
It does not matter whether someone is singing or speaking, the voice range
is still the same.
Just to prove my point:
http://www.coutant.org/sm3b/sm3bspeak.mp3
http://www.coutant.org/sm3b/sm3bsing.mp3

As you can hear, the mic does not know if you are sing or talking, it's all the
same to the microphone. The tone, timbre and the voicing of the mic are
the same.

Where the differences will fall is if you are comparing one mic with an
instrument and another with vox. Then you have an argument.

I've been in session were the SM58 has been used along side a U87 and an
RCA BK-5A. There were no music beds, or any crazy processing- it was
simple straight vox. And when all was said and done, you could not tell the
difference.

When you hand over your audio it will be contoured, adjusted and enhanced.
So when all is said and done, people are not listening to the mic, they are
listening to the performance.

All this "My mic is bigger than yours," is just that. So as long as you can capture
good clean audio, that's all that matters. Because at the end it does not matter
what microphone you are using in the VO application. There is no "Best" microphone,
only possibly "Better." And even that is a subjective appraisal.

The problem is that we have a brain that's wired in a particular way, and our hearing
is easily influenced. Once your brain gets passed the initial loudness analysis, everything
can be steered; everything will be steered even if you try not to. For example if you're
listing for high frequencies you will not notice the low frequencies. One focuses on a given
instance, at a given time. If one listens to something over and over and over again, you
will hear different things.

Think about this: How many times have you ever listened to a song you're heard hundreds of
times before, and suddenly noticed something different in it? Like a tambourine, or a voice in the
background. Then you'll hear the song again later, and you try to listen for that tambourine or
voice in the background. That's our brain at work, and our brain being influenced.

This is an important point of auditory testing:
If you listen to something differently (for different features or objects)
- You will REMBER different things (This is not an illusion)

If you have reason to assume things may be different
- You will most likely listen differently
- Therefore, you will remember different things
(Even if you have the same stimulus)

What all this means in effect, is that any test of auditory stimuli that wants to distinguish only
in terms of auditory stimuli must:
- Have a falsifiable nature, i.e to be able to distinguish between perception and an actual effect
- Isolate the subject from changes in stimuli other than audio
- Be time-proximate
- Have Controls
- Have trained, comfortable listeners

In other words it must be a blind test, because if your brain knows what the two things
are, you're brain is going to use that information. Because there is not an instance where
someone has not been able to avoid it.

Here are audio sample of different mics. Yes they do sound different, that's because they are not the
same. Even the same mic will sound different, depending upon its location, room acoustics and so on. My point
being, in the end, we are not listening to how the mic sounds, but the performance of the actor. And it is
the actor that makes or breaks the spell of the performance.

If the audio is of poor quality, then the listener can not and will not get past that. The message, and the story are lost.

So all we need is, good clean audio. That's all we expect as listeners.

Here are samples of the SM58 and the SM7B
http://www.coutant.org/sm58/sm58.mp3
http://www.coutant.org/sm7b/sm7b.mp3

Neumann U87
http://www.coutant.org/u87ai/u87.mp3

TLM 49
http://www.coutant.org/tlm49/tlm49.mp3

U47
http://www.coutant.org/u47/u47jq.mp3

TLM 103 (Note the sizzle in the "S's" on this mice, compared to the U47, which is smoother)
http://www.coutant.org/u47/tlm103jq.mp3

RCA BK-5A
http://www.coutant.org/rcabk5/bk5a.mp3

Electro Voice RE20
http://www.coutant.org/evre20/re20.mp3

Altec M-20 ("Lipstick")
http://www.coutant.org/altecm20/m20altec.mp3


By adding more and more options, you're just making it more difficult for
yourself to make a final decision. Boil it down to the top 3 or 4 VO mics
that you can afford and take the plunge. Then you'll need to find the
proper Preamp for the mic you decide to go with. I gets deeper and deeper.
_________________
The Blog:
http://voiceoveraudio.blogspot.com/

Acoustics are counter-intuitive. If one thing is certain about acoustics, it is that if anything seems obvious it is probably wrong.

[whalewtchr]

Go to my website. Heart of A Patriot is Shure SM7B.
The condenser I am using at the moment, because pennies are tight, is a Behringer B-1 for 99 bucks...it sounds fine to my ear, but hey everyone is different.
_________________
jonahcummings

[captain54]