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Bill Campbell
DC
Joined: 09 Mar 2007
Posts: 621
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 Posted: Fri Mar 21, 2008 5:11 am Post subject: |
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I'd reccomend everybody to consider buying a DBX 286A mic processor.
It's a preamp/mic processor that is VERY good for $200.
Tasteful compression if you want it. An expander that easily drops your noise floor below -60 without hearing it work, and some nice EQ.
A professional audio consultant, Ty Ford, in his review, said the preamp was as good as the $1000 preamps he owned. I've used it for three years, and have tried others, and I think it's very good.
Don't let the price tag fool you. DBX has been in business for decades. They make and sell a lot of pro products. Unlike some boutique companies, they can make real good stuff and sell it at a reasonable price.
Run your mic to the 286A, then the 286A directly to your sound card "line in"
or into a USB audio interface. Done. Plenty of gain for a dynamic mic, too.
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Jodi Krangle
Contributor IV
Joined: 21 Nov 2007
Posts: 140
Location: Toronto area, Canada
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| Posted: Fri Mar 21, 2008 5:47 am Post subject: |
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Cool, Bill. So ... I could actually plug a unit like this into one of the line ins on my Omega (I'm assuming I'd use a stereo plug? I have xlr for my Rode mic)? Or is there a particular chord that would take a line in to a USB? I'm a bit confused about how I'd make this work with my laptop... The Omega plugs directly into the USB.
Also, how does an "expander" work?
(Sorry if that sounds stupid. I'm pretty new at this.)
Thanks for the suggestion!
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Bill Campbell
DC
Joined: 09 Mar 2007
Posts: 621
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| Posted: Fri Mar 21, 2008 6:24 am Post subject: |
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Yes Jodi, line out of 286A into line in of your Omega. No mixer required.
An expander, carefully set, gently cuts off the mic when you're not speaking. therefore cutting down on any ambient noise in your room or equipment.
It does have to be used conservatively, so that you don't HEAR it working.
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Jodi Krangle
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Joined: 21 Nov 2007
Posts: 140
Location: Toronto area, Canada
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| Posted: Fri Mar 21, 2008 6:34 am Post subject: |
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Ahhh. *That* thing. I've had that used as a gate in Pro Tools before (in the studio I do my recordings in when I actually am hired for a project. As mentioned, my home studio is mainly for auditions - though being able to use it for more would be nice.) ... I can just about always hear it working.
Does this create delay between what I'm speaking into the mic and what I'm hearing in my headphones? And wouldn't more equipment before getting into the computer, create more "noise"?
Just curious...
Thanks, Bill.
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Bill Campbell
DC
Joined: 09 Mar 2007
Posts: 621
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| Posted: Fri Mar 21, 2008 7:10 am Post subject: |
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A gate works abruptly, an expander gently. With the expander in the 286A, you can adjust while speaking and listening in your headphones. Can't do that in the software.
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ccpetersen
With a Side of Awesome
Joined: 19 Sep 2007
Posts: 3708
Location: In Coherent
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| Posted: Fri Mar 21, 2008 7:19 am Post subject: |
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Bill, so you don't hear that "breathing" that sometimes comes with aggressive expanders?
That would be cool to have.
I've been bugged by a very subtle noise that I hear in my recordings that I think is coming from my sound card, since my room itself is pretty quiet.
Now, nobody has complained of that noise and I have to admit that I hear it more through headphones than through speakers (of course), but it still bugs me.
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Jodi Krangle
Contributor IV
Joined: 21 Nov 2007
Posts: 140
Location: Toronto area, Canada
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| Posted: Fri Mar 21, 2008 7:20 am Post subject: |
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| Bill Campbell wrote: | | A gate works abruptly, an expander gently. With the expander in the 286A, you can adjust while speaking and listening in your headphones. Can't do that in the software. |
Ahh. Now that would *definitely* be handy. IS there a problem with the more equipment you have before it reaches your computer though? Can that cause more "noise" than should be there? Or does the 286A cancel that out simply by being what it is?
Thanks for your patience with me, Bill. 
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louzucaro
The Gates of Troy
Joined: 13 Jul 2006
Posts: 1915
Location: Chicago area
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| Posted: Fri Mar 21, 2008 8:26 am Post subject: |
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In general, yeah, every time you add to your audio chain, you have the potential to add unwanted noise.
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Lou Zucaro
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Jodi Krangle
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Joined: 21 Nov 2007
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Location: Toronto area, Canada
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| Posted: Fri Mar 21, 2008 8:49 am Post subject: |
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| louzucaro wrote: | | In general, yeah, every time you add to your audio chain, you have the potential to add unwanted noise. |
Kinda what I thought ... but I'm still going to keep this option in mind ... I wonder. Is there a way to completely bypass the Omega and just get some kind of plug from the line in to the usb of my laptop from the 286A? Or it just doesn't work that way?
By the way Lou, love your blog. I'm more of a computer person than a recording person at this point. I used to sell the hardware when the 386 SX was new. 
(We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming ... but I do have to demonstrate my membership in the local threadjacker union SOMEtimes... )
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Diane Maggipinto
Spreading Snark Worldwide
Joined: 03 Mar 2006
Posts: 6679
Location: saul lay seetee youtee
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| Posted: Fri Mar 21, 2008 8:52 am Post subject: |
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i discovered on aa 1.5 that in the effects list, under noise reduction, when one selects hiss reduction one can get the noise floor and adjust. i've not tried this; it was merely by accident that i happened upon it trying to fix some bad juju. IMO that's not possible. rerecording is best.
and by and large, again IMO, noise reduction in that audition version suxx bigg.
ben, a few years ago i had too many bullinis (red bull and gin) and was up all night, poaching a hot tub in jackson, wy. the rest of the week i felt like complete poop. and that was the end of the energy drinks. i suggest coffee.
with cake. mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm ....
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Last edited by Diane Maggipinto on Fri Mar 21, 2008 9:05 am; edited 1 time in total |
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louzucaro
The Gates of Troy
Joined: 13 Jul 2006
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Location: Chicago area
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| Posted: Fri Mar 21, 2008 8:57 am Post subject: |
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| Jodi Krangle wrote: | | Is there a way to completely bypass the Omega and just get some kind of plug from the line in to the usb of my laptop from the 286A? Or it just doesn't work that way? |
Doesn't work that way. The Omega is what's converting the signal from analog to digital so that your computer can work with it. But having those two things in your audio chain together shouldn't really give you any trouble.
| Jodi Krangle wrote: | | By the way Lou, love your blog. I'm more of a computer person than a recording person at this point. I used to sell the hardware when the 386 SX was new. |
Why thank you! Funny, I used to buy the hardware when the 386 SX was new! The SX20 as a matter of fact. That '20' was a big deal haha.
Diane you keep insisting on bringing cake into the mix. Are you sure your name isn't GLaDOS?
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Lou Zucaro
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Diane Maggipinto
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Joined: 03 Mar 2006
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| Posted: Fri Mar 21, 2008 9:05 am Post subject: |
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... bringing cake into the mix.
heh.
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Jodi Krangle
Contributor IV
Joined: 21 Nov 2007
Posts: 140
Location: Toronto area, Canada
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| Posted: Fri Mar 21, 2008 9:25 am Post subject: |
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| louzucaro wrote: | | Doesn't work that way. The Omega is what's converting the signal from analog to digital so that your computer can work with it. But having those two things in your audio chain together shouldn't really give you any trouble. |
Ahhh. I understand now. Ok. I didn't realize the Omega was converting the analog to the digital. But that makes sense.
| Quote: | | Why thank you! Funny, I used to buy the hardware when the 386 SX was new! The SX20 as a matter of fact. That '20' was a big deal haha. |
I actually started with an Epson Equity II. Don't know if you remember those. It was a high end XT at the time - actually had <gasp> a color monitor (cgi) and a 20 mb hard drive <further leGasp!). All that computer stuff led me to the Internet ... and the rest is, as they say, history (for me, anyway). But yeah - storage? Big deal for me. (I also have a 350 gig portable hard drive with my computer here.)
And nothing wrong with cake! Mmmmm. 
Diane, the noise reduction I use is in Audacity's beta version (I hope I didn't mention Audition by mistake? Or maybe you weren't referring to anything I said at all? In which case, my apologies. ) and I actually find it works quite well. I did a posting on the Voice-Overs.com "Leads & Reads" thread that was me doing an ad for a playschool - and folks commented that they could hear the breaths. That they were distracting. I went through and generated silence on each of them, and you couldn't tell the difference between the spaces in between the talking, and where I'd generated those silences. So not bad, really - especially for a free bit of software.
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Diane Maggipinto
Spreading Snark Worldwide
Joined: 03 Mar 2006
Posts: 6679
Location: saul lay seetee youtee
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| Posted: Fri Mar 21, 2008 9:27 am Post subject: |
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no, no jodi. i was futzing around with noise reduction in audition, which resulted in complete and total ca-ca.
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Jodi Krangle
Contributor IV
Joined: 21 Nov 2007
Posts: 140
Location: Toronto area, Canada
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| Posted: Fri Mar 21, 2008 9:31 am Post subject: |
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| Diane Maggipinto wrote: | | no, no jodi. i was futzing around with noise reduction in audition, which resulted in complete and total ca-ca. |
I see. Gotcha. You might want to actually try the free Audacity program for that sort of thing. Honestly. It's Audacity 1.3 Beta that you're looking for. (That's the one I'm using, anyway. They may have a newer version.)
I've tried just doing a high end pass (if that's what it's called) at 200 db ... but I find it takes away some of the depth of the voice too so ... didn't like it much. The sound lost something to my ears. <shrug> Could just be I'm imagining things. Maybe I have to do it at 150 db or lower? Not sure how that really works, to be honest. I know it takes out the low end hum that might be present on a recording.
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Jodi Krangle @ voiceoversandvocals.com
How does sound influence us?
Check out the Audio Branding Podcast
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