VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

[griffitd]

Aloha to you all----

I have a few questions.

I am using the latest version of Pro-tools, M-audio Firewire 410 interface, and a AKG Perception 100 mic. Is there anything else I need to complete my home recording studio? For starters, did I buy the correct microphone for this stuff? I am not too savvy with this stuff, but I am learning thanks to this great website. Are there specific microphones to use to do certain spots? In any event, I am excited to be here and learn from the professionals!

Mahalo-
Cam

[billelder]

Hi Cam,

Is everything working? If so, you're good to go. Is your room dead, as in the sound doesn't bounce off the walls? I read a user review of the M-Audio and it read that in order to get it to work you had to begin with:

[griffitd]

Hey Bill--

Everything works great... I am still learning how to engineer this stuff.. but in any event, thanks again for your response.

cheers!

Aloha
cam

[Edo]

Hi Cam,

Bear in mind that microphone placement in the room is far more important than the actual gear that takes care of the signal. Wrongly placed mics picking up all sorts of unwanted 'early reflections' in a room will never sound tight and neat but overall muddy and dull. If your room has treatment on the walls try to be as close to the treatment as possible. Especially take notice of the space BEHIND the mic capsule. That is the vital part of avoiding those reflections. If you have no treatment, try hanging a couple of heavy blankets loosely to the nearest wall (avoid corners!) or simply nail them to the wall. The more 'mass', the more absorption you will achieve, thus making your vocal recordings cleaner for no reflected noise hits the mic. I learned that recording on a budget is far more challenging and rewarding if you just follow some basic rules of getting the stuff into your microphone that you really want in there... avoid anything else by being smart. In other words... A Rolls Royce is a nice car, but it doesn't neccesarily make you a good driver.

Another way of improving vocal recordings, is to isolate the mic from the room by creating a small (or bigger) booth to sit the mic in. Remember... reflections from BEHIND the mic are the culprits, not the sounds hitting the mic from the FRONT. Whatever you do, avoid hard surfaces near the microphone... your tabletop for instance. If the mic is on a smal tabletop stand, lay a blanket or thick rag underneath it to absorb hard reflections from the table...

Use your ears and your brains before you hit record.

Best of luck!

[Yoda117]

I'm with Edo. A lot of the best talent here, and elsewhere haven't gone nuts with the gear, but made the most of what they have. A good talent on modest gear will always sound better than poor talent on expensive gear.

It's not about the gear. Anyone with the $ can get insane gear (I'm one of the worse culprits on this board for that). It takes some brains to take a regular room and properly use that as a recording environment.

The most important piece of gear you're ever going to own though are your ears. Use them, protect them, trust them. If you're happy with the sound you're getting then you're already ahead of the game.
_________________
Voiceovers by Gregory Houser
Philadelphia based Voice Actor

Blog - A man, a martini, and a lot of microphones

[SomeAudioGuy]

Um, ok, I'll just throw this out there.

All of your gear is perfectly legit for VO (it's almost exactly the same setup I had when I first moved over to my FW410). Though I will reiterate what Bill said, NEVER EVER plug in or remove the fw410 while the computer is on. I had a client fry his laptop's fw port by hotplugging a firewire solo.

The only thing you didn't mention is what you're using to monitor yourself with. I'm not of the mind that you need anything fancy, but you should try to avoid consumer speakers IF you can. Consumer gear, I feel, overly emphasizes bass, and that can be a bit misleading when you're recording. Professional monitors and headphones should help you hear a more accurate representation of what you really sound like.
I personally like the Sennheiser HD25-1 II. At $200 though, that might be a bit steep...
_________________
Hey! Whaddaya hear?
http://someaudioguy.blogspot.com

[Craig]

Does that rule of thumb apply whether the FW is the 4 pin non powered or just the powered 6 pin?

Same for USB?
_________________
Craig Park
www.parkvoiceovers.com

[Yoda117]

I'm about to incur the ire of several people for saying this, but the issue with the FW is indicative of poor design on the part of the manufacturer.

It shouldn't bugger up your system by coldplugging (plugging in a standalone device to a powered system; a lot of folks use the term hotswapping, but it's a misnomer) a FW device. It's part of the draft specs from IEEE. That it happens so often with M-Audio products keeps me from jumping in with both feet.

To answer the question though, with the 410, the rule applies for 6 pin and 4 pin (and most likely even the newer stuff on the horizion). Don't insert or remove the plug when the machine is powered on. You'll most likely save yourself a lot of time and trouble.
_________________
Voiceovers by Gregory Houser
Philadelphia based Voice Actor

Blog - A man, a martini, and a lot of microphones

[SomeAudioGuy]

M-audio's implementation of FW leaves a little to be desired, but quite a few devices I've played with (hard drives included) get a little wonky with FW hotplugging. It's technically supposed to "work", but never seems to the way it's supposed to. Kinda reminds me a little of the SCSI days, where if you weren't holding your breath and standing on foot to turn on your equipment in exactly the right order at exactly the right time, then nothing would work.

I haven't noticed the same issues with USB, but it's only been recently that USB devices have really been taking full advantage of USB2's bandwidth.
I decided on the FW410 because for half the price it gives the MBox 2 a serious run for it's money. Add in Pro tools compatibility, and it was a done deal.
When I got it, there were very few external soundcards that fully supported 24bit/96K recording (especially for the price), and Firewire's ability to daisy chain is always useful.
All interfaces have their quirks, the only serious one I've run into with the 410 is hotplugging.
_________________
Hey! Whaddaya hear?
http://someaudioguy.blogspot.com