Voiceover system

[smash]

So... need to put in a VO booth in our little office, we've been sending it all externally, but we have a couple of fairly large jobs that will mean it's much more economical to do it in house.

Looking for equipment suggesions, currently thinking this:

Mic: Rode K2
Pre: Blacklion Audio B173
Audio Interface: Blacklion Audio modified Apogee Duet, running ProTools
Compressor: ??? Should we even risk recording compressed? The sessions will be often run by Video Editors, and not audio engineers, so not sure if it is worth risking recording too slammed?

Headphones: Sony MDR-7520 Closed Back headphones - looking for something to minimise spill to the mic when recording, not for any mixing purposes.

General Mixer: Mackie 402VLZ4
NOT FOR INLINE USE, only to be used for monitoring.

I'm thinking the monitoring signal path will be:
Mic -> Pre -> Duet ->Zero Latency Output -> Mackie Mixer (Summed with Talkback Mic) -> Talent Headphones.

The record path will be:
Mic -> Pre -> Duet -> ProTools / Media Composer -> SDI output -> Edit Suite Speakers & Headphones.

So, the talent gets to hear their voice in realtime, but the recording won't go through a mixer.

Any thoughts on this workflow anyone?

Thanks !!

Simon "Smash" Ashby

[walding]

Not sure about the K2

I'd suggest a Re20 or a SM7.

No need for a compresser either IMHO.

If non audio guys will be primarily using it, I'd keep it as simple as possible, hence the mic choices which don't need phantom..

My 5 cents.

[Kurt]

Perhaps a channel strip could work? Set the compressor how you'd like then tell the operator to turn up the input until you see Xdb reduction on the louder parts.

[Djembe]

K2 will work - just replace the tube with a good NOS one, and don't get too close to it.

[NathS101]

At ch9 we use a Sennheiser 416 shotgun with sock into an Avalon M5 (or you could use any clean pre) straight into an HD I/O + HDX and it works great.
Early on I asked one of the senior guys why they used a 416 and not an SM7 or RE20 to which he replied 'a 416 has the dialogue sound that is used 90% of the time over many years in film and television. It has that crisp top end and proximity effect without needing much EQ or Compression.'
We still give it a bit of a bump around 3.5k and 9k and comp up to 3dB as a starting point but don't need to do much else to it. Some times we use MaxxBass too if needed but that doesn't happen very often...
I think if you keep it simple it'll work just fine.

[mylesgm]

Clean and simple is the go. I wouldn't go valve, a 416 (or the rode shotgun or similar) would be a good option but also any low noise high quality LDC would work. Into a clean pre with one gain control (we're talking video editors right?) feeding direct into daw. Simple monitoring chain and simple diagram with target dB level underlined. Difficult to go wrong if your recording both is setup well. I like the sennheiser hd280pro for headphone isolation.

[jasound]

I agree with Nath 416 is the go, good for getting rid of boxy VO booth room sound, which an LDC can accentuate.
The supplied windsock is a good popper stopper.
Leave the compression until post.

[NathS101]

I should add to my following post (pardon the pun), that we add EQ and Compression as a plugin in Tools when mixing and not when tracking......

[HA_DA_JA]

Nice tip Nathan, I must get my Sennheiser km64 out and see how that compares as a voice over compared to the Sm7.
Thanks for the tip.

[Alastair Reynolds]

+1 on the MKH 416 or an MKH 60 ( basically the same with rolloff and attenuator switches)
You would hear more TV /film VO on 416 than anything else.

[Hookemeister]

Yeah, just about every VO/Post facility I've designed use 416's, it's like an industry standard for VO. Most of those facilities have a Neumann, but they very rarely get pulled up for a VO.

Prior to the 416's popularity the Sennheiser 421 was the go to mic for VO, but that was way back in the 70's. Of course it then gained a reputation for Tom duties. I still like the sound of a 421 on voice.

Long story short... if you want it to cut thru but still sound ballsy, then a 416 is the go. Strangely it was designed as a mini shotgun, never intended for closeup voiceover.

[adamcal]

I find VO talent tend to stay more in place with a shotgun (mic, not actual gun) than a LDC. Its quite clear they need to be at the end of the long pointy thing, and the volume in their headphones disappears if they go off axis. Whereas with a LDC they tend to wander around much more.

Personally I use a 416, standard foam windsock into a neve 1084, I bump up 100htz for more warmth, cut a bit of 350. and then into the computer, where I will have 2 deessor plugins running in realtime on the input (i.e. committing and being recorded).

[Paul Maybury]

We use EV DS35 mics at PBS, into Symetrix 528's for mic pre and limiting.
De Ess and compress in software.
Works well for us.
Cheers, Paul

[Analogaudioguy]

416