Sennheiser 816 diatribe

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I recall reading an article by a voiceover actor about why he hated the
sennheiser 816 for voiceover work. Does anyone know who the actor is
and where I can find this article?

KZ

[Marc Wielage]

Corey Burton -- who is an extremely talented voice-over artist who works
constantly here in LA -- devoted an entire page on his website detailing why
he dislikes the Sennheiser 416 (not the 816, which is unsuitable for VO work
because of its size).

You can find the page here:

http://www.coreyburton.com/sennheiser.html

As for me personally, while I see Burton's point, and I've generally tried to
use better, more appropriate mikes like the Shure SM-7 or the venerable
Neumann U87, I've heard talented VO announcers sound just fine on the 416.
But I suspect they'd also sound pretty good on an $80 Shure SM-58 or even a
$50 Chinese mike.

Really, the 416 was designed as a shotgun mike for use on location, and it
wasn't really intended to get close on a vocal performance in a booth.
Corey's opinion is valid, but I don't think the 416 sounds quite as bad as he
says. Still, if I had a choice, I'd probably want to use a different mike
for a VO session if I was recording an announcer, and I wasn't trying to
replace some dialog in a video or film that was originally recorded with a
416 (or a similar mike).

--MFW

[Ty Ford]

On Mon, 11 Jul 2005 01:01:19 -0400, wrote
(in article . com>):

> I recall reading an article by a voiceover actor about why he hated the
> sennheiser 816 for voiceover work. Does anyone know who the actor is
> and where I can find this article?
>
> KZ
>

I'm guessing you mean a 416. An 816 would be sort of weird.

The 416 works fine for some things and some voices.

Finding an article by someone who doesn't like a particular mic should be
pretty easy.

I have to ask, though, why bother?

Regards,

Ty Ford



-- Ty Ford's equipment reviews, audio samples, rates and other audiocentric
stuff are at www.tyford.com

[Ty Ford]

On Mon, 11 Jul 2005 02:51:09 -0400, Marc Wielage wrote
(in article >):

> http://www.coreyburton.com/sennheiser.html

Wow that's quite a rant. As a V/O person, I can't say I agree with it all,
but I'm sure he felt better afterwards.

Ty Ford

-- Ty Ford's equipment reviews, audio samples, rates and other audiocentric
stuff are at www.tyford.com

[WillStG]

Shotgun mics have a lot of proximity effect when you try to use
them close; the narrower the pattern the more you get. Generally I
have found shotguns work well on fewer people than a good LDC condenser
does, although the proximity boost works great for a few people.

Anyway a lot of guys prefer the 816 for capturing voice at a
distance, but I have never heard people get fanatical about the Senn416
for any reason. Some people really like the Neumann shotgun though.

Will Miho
NY Music and TV Audio Guy
Staff Audio/Fox News/M-AES
"The large print giveth and the small print taketh away..." Tom Waits

[Marc Wielage]

On Jul 11, 2005, Ty Ford > commented:

> Finding an article by someone who doesn't like a particular mic should be
> pretty easy. I have to ask, though, why bother?
>------------------------------snip>------------------------------<

In Corey Burton's case, I think he was so fed-up with the prominance of the
416 as a VO mike used by many video post houses, he felt he had to comment on
it.

In the examples he gives, I was appalled to hear that a post house would
actually argue with the talent and be reluctant to try another microphone on
a particular voice. I would think they'd have at least two or three
different mikes and would just use the one that sounded best; it'd only take
them 5 or 10 minutes, tops.

So I think he was justified in that case.

--MFW

[Steve King]

"Marc Wielage" > wrote in message
.com...
> On Jul 11, 2005, Ty Ford > commented:
>
>> Finding an article by someone who doesn't like a particular mic should be
>> pretty easy. I have to ask, though, why bother?
>>------------------------------snip>------------------------------<
>
> In Corey Burton's case, I think he was so fed-up with the prominance of
> the
> 416 as a VO mike used by many video post houses, he felt he had to comment
> on
> it.
>
> In the examples he gives, I was appalled to hear that a post house would
> actually argue with the talent and be reluctant to try another microphone
> on
> a particular voice. I would think they'd have at least two or three
> different mikes and would just use the one that sounded best; it'd only
> take
> them 5 or 10 minutes, tops.
>
> So I think he was justified in that case.
>
> --MFW

I disagree. For a long time I made my living doing VO. I'm wasn't in
Corey's class of busy, but I did okay, and I know the business. Corey
should come into the studio and read the copy into whatever is put in front
of him. That's his job. It's somebody elses job to do the recording.
Yeah, I've heard the Ernie Anderson stories about how his chauffer used to
carry his personal microphone in its little case from job to job. It was a
good promotional schtick for Ad Age, that's all. But, as a former studio
owner, where we did mostly national commercials, and a voice guy and now a
producer, I believe telling the studio what microphone to use is out of
line. He's going to do a few takes and walk away. No responsibility for
the recording whatsoever. He should get over it. Enjoy his boat. Enjoy
his Mercedes. Turn up the volume, when he hears his spots on the air. Be
grateful.

Steve King

[Marc Wielage]

On Jul 12, 2005, Steve King >
commented:

> I've heard the Ernie Anderson stories about how his chauffer used to
> carry his personal microphone in its little case
>------------------------------snip>------------------------------<

Actually, that's not true -- at least, not in the late 1970s or early 1980s.
I know, only because I recorded Ernie at least thirty or forty times during
that period.

The chief engineer of the company I worked for at the time in LA warned me on
my first Ernie Anderson session, "watch out -- Ernie hates pop filters and
windscreens, and he'll tear them off the mike if he sees any on them." Sure
enough, that's what he did at the start of the session, and actually stomped
on the foam screen from the U87 after it hit the floor.

He growled at me on the first couple of sessions I did, but on the third
session, he came in and I greeted him as "Gholardi" (his old character from
his days in Cleveland during the early 1960s). His face lit up, he actually
chuckled, and then reminisced for me for ten minutes about hosting that
horror movie show 15 years earlier. From then on, he was very pleasant to
deal with.

A terrific talent, and an absolutely dynamite announcer. Oh, and for the
record, he told me his favorite voice-over line wasn't "the LOOOOOOOVE BOAT,"
but instead was "AUTO-MAN!" Nobody had a voice like that, though Harry
Shearer can still do a bang-up impression of Ernie.

Finally, for the record, I bet Ernie would've shrugged his shoulders at a 416
and just done the session, taken his 3X scale paycheck, and gone home.

--MFW

[Ty Ford]

On Tue, 12 Jul 2005 22:50:01 -0400, Steve King wrote
(in article >):

>> In the examples he gives, I was appalled to hear that a post house would
>> actually argue with the talent and be reluctant to try another microphone
>> on
>> a particular voice. I would think they'd have at least two or three
>> different mikes and would just use the one that sounded best; it'd only
>> take
>> them 5 or 10 minutes, tops.
>>
>> So I think he was justified in that case.
>>
>> --MFW
>
> I disagree. For a long time I made my living doing VO. I'm wasn't in
> Corey's class of busy, but I did okay, and I know the business. Corey
> should come into the studio and read the copy into whatever is put in front
> of him. That's his job. It's somebody elses job to do the recording.
> Yeah, I've heard the Ernie Anderson stories about how his chauffer used to
> carry his personal microphone in its little case from job to job. It was a
> good promotional schtick for Ad Age, that's all. But, as a former studio
> owner, where we did mostly national commercials, and a voice guy and now a
> producer, I believe telling the studio what microphone to use is out of
> line. He's going to do a few takes and walk away. No responsibility for
> the recording whatsoever. He should get over it. Enjoy his boat. Enjoy
> his Mercedes. Turn up the volume, when he hears his spots on the air. Be
> grateful.
>
> Steve King

Damn it Steve, stop reading my mind! DO I need to put on another aluminum
foil cap on top of the first one to keep you out of my brain.

Who knows, maybe Corey has one of those weird voices a 416 does not help.
What talent hears in the headphones is usually not what one hears in the
studio monitors anyway.

Regards,

Ty Ford
(narrator and such)


-- Ty Ford's equipment reviews, audio samples, rates and other audiocentric
stuff are at www.tyford.com

[Steve King]

"Marc Wielage" > wrote in message
.com...
> On Jul 12, 2005, Steve King >
> commented:
>
>> I've heard the Ernie Anderson stories about how his chauffer used to
>> carry his personal microphone in its little case
>>------------------------------snip>------------------------------<
>
> Actually, that's not true -- at least, not in the late 1970s or early
> 1980s.
> I know, only because I recorded Ernie at least thirty or forty times
> during
> that period.
>
> The chief engineer of the company I worked for at the time in LA warned me
> on
> my first Ernie Anderson session, "watch out -- Ernie hates pop filters and
> windscreens, and he'll tear them off the mike if he sees any on them."
> Sure
> enough, that's what he did at the start of the session, and actually
> stomped
> on the foam screen from the U87 after it hit the floor.
>
> He growled at me on the first couple of sessions I did, but on the third
> session, he came in and I greeted him as "Gholardi" (his old character
> from
> his days in Cleveland during the early 1960s). His face lit up, he
> actually
> chuckled, and then reminisced for me for ten minutes about hosting that
> horror movie show 15 years earlier. From then on, he was very pleasant to
> deal with.
>
> A terrific talent, and an absolutely dynamite announcer. Oh, and for the
> record, he told me his favorite voice-over line wasn't "the LOOOOOOOVE
> BOAT,"
> but instead was "AUTO-MAN!" Nobody had a voice like that, though Harry
> Shearer can still do a bang-up impression of Ernie.
>
> Finally, for the record, I bet Ernie would've shrugged his shoulders at a
> 416
> and just done the session, taken his 3X scale paycheck, and gone home.

I think so, too. I worked with him a couple of times on some John Deere
spots. He was a real pro.

Steve King