VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

[Rob Ellis]

Room treatment and acoustics is kinda like going to the dentist.....
you gotta do it but it's not a lot of fun (unless you're an acoustics geek)
and can be expensive.

Not nearly as fun as the Fed Ex guy bringing a shiny new mic in a big box

But Frank is right.

[annaclaire]

Okay, this was a really helpful arc for this discussion to take.

Frank, your point is well taken. It seems like I am constantly "playing around" with the acoustics in my closet, but truly I have only the tiniest idea what I am doing. I keep thinking I'll put the right hunk of foam in the right area and it will all finally sound beautiful. An actual purpose-built booth will eliminate about fifty variables. I'll move that right up the calendar.

One other variable I wasn't considering at all is my computer. When I record with my old setup, it sounds much better. There are two differences: 1.) it includes a dinosaur of a C G5 that is 2.) in a room next door.

It is possible the old desktop simply plays a bit better with the Tascam, but it is also quite possible that having my laptop actually in the closet with me--as well as _where_I have it placed in there--is affecting the sound.

Thanks for the crowbar. This is helping to unstick my thinking about the whole shebang.

-c

P.S. Rob...heh, heh...mic in a box.
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[captain54]

I'm not sure the "sound" is going to be affected that much between the Laptop and the G5 Tower, unless there are noise floor issues... You should post a couple of dry examples of your room tone with the laptop in the room with you, and the G5 tower outside of the room...
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Lee Kanne
www.leekanne.com

[Lee Gordon]

[vkuehn]

I am going to do some testing of MY space later today. To keep room noise to a minimum, I began recording with a small notebook size computer because it is quieter, and it can be set on a sound absorbing pad in a place that severely hinders the travel of sound from the little computer to the mic. I was beginning to think about a partial enclosure to muffle the tiny beast. And then I began to notice some artifacts showing up in my recordings.

My current theory is that Adobe Audition is just a little too much for the processor on the little machine. Tonight I will record using a much simpler software to take the digital USB input and lay it on the hard drive.

I move the original recordings over to the big "high horsepower machine" for editing and producing.

Why all the push-ups? Is the noise level using the notebook computer that much less than the noise level with the high horsepower machine running? In measurable dB levels, no. BUT... when you take room tone of the two recorders and raise the tone level up to -12 to 15 dBfs and listen, the room tone of the big machine is abrasive, arrogant and agitated. The room tone of the small machine is quite mellow in comparison.

In stand-up belt-it-out voice work like radio production, etc, where the noise is down 50 to 60 dB below content, who cares, who knows if it is polite noise or not. But in book narration with with silent pauses and softer phrases in places, the true-color of the room-tone begins to show it's ugly face...... er... tone.

[Frank F]

annaclaire, I believe from your description you know more than you think you do. As you have described it sounds better with the PC in the other room. Not the laptop in the same small space. So setup your environment with the PC out of the box.

Second, As you have an area of desire in mind for your next "studio", consider portable Gobo's in and or around your space so you may use it as a normal room as well as a recording area.

Gobo's are simple to make and require a little skill, a saw, some screws, and some time (as well as some other materials). to create and they can look good enough to allow the room to be used for other things when not being used as a "studio". Plus with gobo's you can adjust the size of the environment to your daily needs.

You know what sounds good to your ear, how do your recordings sound to others?

It's easy to blame your equipment and then justify spending more money to work on the problem. It is always more difficult to actually find and fix the problem first.

Frank F
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[annaclaire]

Before, my setup only needed to be good enough for auditions and I book a decent percentage of those. That's still a far cry from "broadcast quality", especially since I don't know how to measure it against "broadcast quality".

The allure of gear is indeed universal. I, however, am a cheap bastard and that at least slows me way down on looking at more gear as the answer to my problems. I do not need to bring clients to my studio, don't need anything fancy. I generally prefer to work standing up, but I could stick a chair in there if I'm getting more long-form stuff. I just want it to sound nice.

No matter what I need to do to improve the recording space (and Lee, GOBOs are a great idea) I think my elderly Tascam input simply may not be up to the job anymore. I really hate having my mouth up against that pop filter and then still having to go in and use the "amplify" effect afterward to hear what I recorded. The Avantone mic actually sounds pretty nice with my voice, but I would like an interface that I can do something with. I can't even really play with the gain because I have to keep it turned up within a millimeter of maximum--that can't be right.

I was looking at the SoVoa requirements as a starting place and realized that I have no idea where to even look for answers on half their criteria. http://www.savoa.org/accreditation%20criteria/default.htm

---Ex: "Ambient noise and noise floor: This cumulative sound, ideally at or under -50dBFS, will be measured against ITU-R 468-weighting noise curve"
-Okay, so I can find an example of a 468-weighting noise curve on the Interwebs, but then I have no idea how to use it to compare to what I produce. I don't really know how to "read" the waveform. (Is that what I'd even do?)

---Ex: "finished dry reads should be delivered with a maximum volume level of -6dBFS"
-I can't figure out what my volume level is. I don't even know where to look for that. I just know that if I had to turn my headphones up to hear it, my agent complained and made me re-record the audition.

---Ex: "Room decay (reverberation, echo or ring should be below .07 sec with a decay of 85% from first test impact to a sound level at .07 sec.)"
-WHAT?!? Even after reading the associated footnote, I think this must take a team of unkempt, elderly men in white coats with atomic instruments to measure.

Also, is anybody working steadily without having ISDN in their studio? It appears to me they aren't. ISDN and /or its alternatives are a whole other deal to figure out.

This stuff right here is why I am completely dependent on my agent/local studios and am getting less and less work lately. It wouldn't matter if I booked 100% of the auditions my agent sends, if she is sending me fewer and fewer I can see where this is going.

Trying not to sound too whiny,
Claire
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[todd ellis]

hi annaclaire --- upload a short audio file with you talking then 30 seconds of room tone (mic open at normal gain & record) to soundcloud make sure to allow downloads - then post the link here. until then - we're flying blind.
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"i know philip banks": todd ellis
who's/on/1st?

[Scott Pollak]

Yet another CAD e100s owner/lover here.

Got mine at B&H Photo for the same price someone else posted earlier, $359.00:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?Ntt=cad+e100s&N=0&InitialSearch=yes&sts=ta
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Scott R. Pollak
Clients include Pandora, NPR Atlanta, Wells Fargo, Cisco, Humana, Publix, UPS, AT&T, HP, Xerox and more.

www.voicebyscott.com

[vkuehn]

[Jason Huggins]

[Pam]

annaclaire, I'm in the process of dropping my ISDN. AT&T has made it too expensive to maintain. And I'm also a fill time VO. As dear Bobbin Beam reminded me, I have to have faith I'll replace that (small for me) income.
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Pam Tierney
www.pamtierneyvo.com
imdb profile http://imdb.com/name/nm1941932/

Now what did I come in here for?

[Lee Gordon]

[annaclaire]

I'm not really thinking of joining SoVoa. (If I were, I'd just go use a friend's studio.) I was just trying to find some sort of set of standards to use--and I'm relieved to learn that even seasoned pros find them weighty.

I will post a sample this afternoon.


-c
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[vkuehn]