VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

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I have been recording with a Rode nt-1 into a Joemeek VC3Q for a long time now and it was suggested by my current employers that there were some upgrades that might be good. After 'trying on" a bunch of mics I found the Pearlman TM-1. I absolutely love it and it fits my voice really well. I just recorded a book with it going into the Avalon vt737sp and it sounded great, but as I am about to set up my own rig at home for narration and VO work I have some questions. The Avalon 737 seems really good for VO and I am really not a gearhead but are there other pres I should be looking at for VO/narration?

[Gp]

Hi Ray,
I've not used a Pearlman but I have read posts from many who have. It seems to be a really good all around mic. The guy that makes the mic will even custom tune it to your specs. I've heard it sounds really well with a Pacifica pre. All that being said, take the time to demo several units and see what you really want. Unless of course you are absolutely blown away by the Avalon and you think it's the one. My guess is if that were the case you wouldn't be curious about what's out there. Talk to the people at Vintage King or Mercenary or several others who have demo programs. Good Luck. Let us know what you end up with. Let's hear some samples.

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I really like this mic a lot. Dave Pearlman was very helpful and he really does think about what you need from a mic. He makes two types of TM 1 microphone, one uses a german tube and one uses the american tube. The german version is $150.00 more. I was thinking about that and he said that it wasn't necessary for my purposes to pay $150.00 more for the german tube. The guy who makes and sells the microphone talked me OUT of paying more money. That's who Dave is. For my voice, I love it. I just finished recording a book with it that will be coming out in a few weeks, when it does I'll post the link so you can give it a listen. The studio is thinking about buying one now after hearing mine. I like the Avalon but I want to be sure (the money tree in our yard died last year) and it is really tough to find pre shootouts online that are just voice.

[Lance Blair]

I'm not a fan of channel strips for VO. If you have decent software and know how to use it you don't need hardware processing, and most of the time clients need just clean unprocessed files anyhow.

For under $1100, go with a nice clean solid state pre:

Great River $1075
John Hardy $950
Speck $780
Grace $600 or less
Daking one channel $675

The GR and JH sound the best. Speck and Daking are a step under but you get a sweepable High Pass Filter, and with the Speck you also can choose to have the output transformer in or out.

I don't think anyone would say with any of these pres "Hey, that doesn't sound as good as the Avalon, what did you do?" Mic placement and room acoustics will be more of a factor, especially since you've got yourself a tremendous microphone.
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[Jowillie]

Wow. Did you say your employer bought the TM-1?

Lance's suggestions are great. (I love the John Hardy, but I'm a power-trippin kind of guy.)
Maybe if you like the 737 you can try the Avalon M-5. Some love it--some, well, don't.
The key would be to TRY as many as you can before you decide.

Oh, the one I use the most for the widest variety of mics is the Rane MSb-1 -- <$150. But I am also a cheap kinda guy.
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Wild Willie Edwards
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