VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

Frank F · Posted: Sun Jan 23, 2005 1:18 pm Post subject: Audiigy II and Mic stands

Hey the Audigy II is not a bad little card. It's only real problem is in the interface (conncetors). Balanced is best (XLR when you can get it...) and for the price of the ZX - it' a great beginner card.

Mic stands - this is another of those personal preferance things and what space and kind of work you will be doing are factors as well.

If you have a large mixer on your desk, as well as monitors, speakers, etc., an off desk mic stand with boom is the best idea (at least for me). On-desk stands can introduce noise, booms attatched to a wall allows for limited mobility.

Mic stand with short booms can run as low as $20.00 plus change on eBay, or a bit more from some of the musicians stores. Even Radio Shack has some avaialble. I like the tripod leg stand with a 34" boom, some prefer the weighted round bottom stand... it's what ever your preferance and budget can afford is what will do for you.

Frank F

jrkaiser · Guest

I've got mine surrounded on the top/bottom/front/back by some acoustic foam. Has made a tremendous difference.

Justin

schaer · Posted: Sun Jan 23, 2005 2:18 pm Post subject: fan noise

I started out with a regular tower pc but the fan is a problem even if you use a high quality fan. The simple fact that I use 2 harddrive - one for the system and one for recordings - makes it necessary that the fan runs at fairly high rpm to keep the inside cool. I gave up and bought a Shuttle XPC which uses a fan but at much lower rpm because of the very ingenius design of cooling pipes that function like a duct system and lead the heat away from the processor and to the fan. Very clever design. Nonetheless, I still keep the pc outside of the immediate recording booth.

As far as mic stand goes I bought an On-Stage for about $20 which was not the best thing to do. The cheaper ones are not very well balanced. The counter weight is to small.

Bernard

Latech70 · Guest

Okay, so for those of you who have the PC sitting outside your recording area--do you have some sort of remote control to start/stop the recording? Or do you just have it set up so that the cpu is outside the recoding area, but the monitor, keyboard, and mouse are all still inside?

(where's that headscratching or shrugging emoticon when I need it? <g>)

jrkaiser · Guest

Long Cords.

Others have built a whisper room in a closet.

http://www.whisperroom.com/

If you're using Cool Edit, there is a cool peice of software called Red Rover that has the start stop functions.

http://namm.harmony-central.com/WNAMM02/Content/Syntrillium/PR/Red-Rover.html

There are other Control Surfaces that do the same thing.

schaer · Posted: Sun Jan 23, 2005 3:21 pm Post subject:

Monitor, mouse, keyboard and Digi 002 are inside. Only the pc itself is outside the area.

Bernard

kgenus · Posted: Sun Jan 23, 2005 7:19 pm Post subject:

Maybe it's just me, but I do not see how anyone does it for under $5000 and gets good recordings. By the time you spend money on a mic, conversion, the preamp, the compressor, the digital hybrid, room treatment, monitor, software, etc, you're at $5000 minimum. If you buy a Whisper Room, add another $3000.

Help me understand, please.
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Genus

Latech70 · Guest

jrkaiser · Guest

If you do your research and homework and are doing straight VO work in a good quiet location you certainly don't need to spend that much. Build up a decent clientelle and a name for yourself and you won't have to worry about the cost. In the meantime, be reasonable here. Go with the basics and don't overspend.

Put your money in the Mic and Pre...

Justin

Deirdre · Posted: Sun Jan 23, 2005 8:37 pm Post subject:

I didn't soundproof my room and I've gotten a thumbs-up from a couple of audio techs for the way I'm using full bookshelves as sound deflectors. There are about a thousand angles in my used-to-be-a-pantry studio, so sound reflection isn't a problem. I cover my big computer monitors and video monitor with towels.

My clients have all expressed delight with the sound I have-- saying it's not "dead" like some they've heard.

The twilight zone is a good place to be, I guess. Not too lively, not too dead.

Heh-- Not Too Dead. Sounds like a good name for a band.

fixed a typo
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kgenus · Posted: Sun Jan 23, 2005 9:48 pm Post subject:

I hear what you're saying, in the grand scheme I think its unrealistic, but it will not be the first time I have been proven wrong. I say this because in the long run there's still going to be an upgrade and it would be more cost effective to start with a final solution first ... unless you believe this to be a final solution.

Kevin
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Genus

Deirdre · Posted: Mon Jan 24, 2005 3:34 am Post subject:

Pretty final--!

I've been doing radio broadcasts and pro audio recording with this setup for nearly 5 years.

Laugh

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jrkaiser · Guest

IMHO once you find the equipment that makes you sound good and your cleints approve and they pay you for it... then you're apparently doing something right. Looking for the next upgrade depends on whether you are a tech junkie or not.

Pure and simple... you CAN do it on a budget and you CAN sound good. I know of several who have been featured in RAP, some who write for them regularly and submit regularly... and they are getting by and making money with a setup that cost them a fraction of what you're saying.

Justin

kgenus · Posted: Tue Jan 25, 2005 2:34 pm Post subject:

If it works then run with it. My first setup was suggested by an engineer who helped me get everything set up pretty cheap. Here's what we did ... I'll try to make it short and put a dollar amount where I can.

We went to Home Depot and bought a bunch of hollow core doors covered with absorbtion and diffusive material to mount on the walls using industrial strength Velcro. I didn't want to redo the room I was working on at the time and the solution worked great. Doors were $25 ea. Velcro was $60 for the roll. You can get the absortion material at Marker Tek fairly cheap. It was a huge difference. The room wasn’t dead at all; it had life without serious echoes. I started hanging moving carpet to rid the room of some of the reflective surfaces. I miss that room now! I bought a Shure KSM32 ($750), a Mackie 1202 VLZ Pro ($350), a Digi001 ($800), Waves Native Power Pack ($300), Mackie HR824 Monitors ($800 + a drive to NYC) and a studio desk ($175). All said and done, it was just under $4000. Then I sat around wondering how to reduce the fan noise in the computer.

Today, I still have the Mackie monitoring but the room is a dry vocal booth along with numerous other changes and hardware additions. These are reasons why I made my previous comments, while you can budget $1000 and get the equipment today, you still need to address the recording environment you’re in.

By the way, Radio and Audio Production magazine (RAP), great publication, every working VO artist should subscribe if you ask me. It always has great suggestions on everything broadcast and you meet a lot of great people. None of the articles I have read in the past year have discussed room treatment. I remember one of the guys I met through RAP mag hired me to do some work for the station he was at, then he had to produce something for TV. He called up and sighed, "Yeah, and <sigh> the other read is a cable spot <pregnant pause> you have got to get a booth if you want more tv work."
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Genus

Joe Whistler · Guest

You can get a '15 foot KVM extention cable for about $30. I ran it through the wall to the next room where the computer sits...no more fan noise.

It's only an inconvenience when you need to first turn the computer on, or if you need to insert a CD, but beats buying a new computer!