My boss has approved $1000 to set up a makeshift voiceover studio. We
already have most of the hardware for a small television studio, but
nothing really to record voiceovers. Obviously, a grand isn't going to
go too far, but we were thinking of setting up a makeshift recording
booth in a supply closet using:

1.) Studio Projects B1 mic
2.) Some pyramid sound tiles (something like http://tinyurl.com/k2gmc )
3.) Foam board insulation as removable walls to attach the sound tiles
to
4.) An aural exciter, perhaps the Aphex 204

Knowing our budgetary constraints, does this sound like a decent plan?
Is there a better voiceover mic that wouldn't capsize our budget? How
about the aural exciter? Any input would be greatly appreciated.

-Ray

wrote:

Knowing our budgetary constraints, does this sound like a decent plan?
Is there a better voiceover mic that wouldn't capsize our budget? How
about the aural exciter? Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Get an RE-20. Ditch the exciter. Try setting up with no acoustical treatment
at all and see how it sounds... you're going to need to deaden the place,
but you'll know how much and how heavily when you roll tape the first time
and hear the playback.

A possible alternative is to go the Coles Lip Mike route and ditch the
VO booth altogether. It's limited, but it does what it's supposed to
and is a lot more effective than a typical makeshift booth.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

"Scott Dorsey" wrote in message
...
wrote:

Knowing our budgetary constraints, does this sound like a decent plan?
Is there a better voiceover mic that wouldn't capsize our budget? How
about the aural exciter? Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Get an RE-20. Ditch the exciter. Try setting up with no acoustical
treatment
at all and see how it sounds... you're going to need to deaden the place,
but you'll know how much and how heavily when you roll tape the first time
and hear the playback.

A possible alternative is to go the Coles Lip Mike route and ditch the
VO booth altogether. It's limited, but it does what it's supposed to
and is a lot more effective than a typical makeshift booth.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

I second to stay away from the Studio Projects mics. They seem to pick up
mouth noises (pops, lip smacks) better than any mic I've used. I hate them
in fact for spoken stuff because of this. Get ready to edit if you buy one.
I like the AT 3035 much better in this price range for VO.

Ray,
Have you thought of saving the thousand dollars and contracting a pro
studio to do v/o recording for you, passing those costs on to the client?

There are times when it just doesn't make sense to DIY.

YMMV.

Yours,
Dan Popp
Colors Audio
USA

it is great. please work hard.

You could go the route that a lot of radio stations have had a lot of
success with.
Electrovoice RE20 or Shure SM7B and a Symetrix 528E vocal channel.
Under what you budgeted for.
As Scott suggested, try it without spending money on room treatment.

On 8 Mar 2006 19:31:17 -0500, (Scott Dorsey) wrote:

wrote:

Knowing our budgetary constraints, does this sound like a decent plan?
Is there a better voiceover mic that wouldn't capsize our budget? How
about the aural exciter? Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Get an RE-20. Ditch the exciter. Try setting up with no acoustical treatment
at all and see how it sounds... you're going to need to deaden the place,
but you'll know how much and how heavily when you roll tape the first time
and hear the playback.

A possible alternative is to go the Coles Lip Mike route and ditch the
VO booth altogether. It's limited, but it does what it's supposed to
and is a lot more effective than a typical makeshift booth.
--scott

Mike Cleaver Broadcast Services
Voice-overs, Newscaster, Engineering and Consulting
Vancouver, BC, Canada

On Wed, 8 Mar 2006 19:26:55 -0500, wrote
(in article .com):

My boss has approved $1000 to set up a makeshift voiceover studio. We
already have most of the hardware for a small television studio, but
nothing really to record voiceovers. Obviously, a grand isn't going to
go too far, but we were thinking of setting up a makeshift recording
booth in a supply closet using:

1.) Studio Projects B1 mic
2.) Some pyramid sound tiles (something like http://tinyurl.com/k2gmc )
3.) Foam board insulation as removable walls to attach the sound tiles
to
4.) An aural exciter, perhaps the Aphex 204

Knowing our budgetary constraints, does this sound like a decent plan?
Is there a better voiceover mic that wouldn't capsize our budget? How
about the aural exciter? Any input would be greatly appreciated.

-Ray


Ditch the exciter. Buy an AT2020 and foam windscreen. To hear what one sounds
like, go to my site, click on the online archive, open the Video folder and
download the AT2020.mp4.

Ty Ford


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

In article ,
(Scott Dorsey) wrote:

wrote:

Knowing our budgetary constraints, does this sound like a decent plan?
Is there a better voiceover mic that wouldn't capsize our budget? How
about the aural exciter? Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Get an RE-20. Ditch the exciter. Try setting up with no acoustical treatment
at all and see how it sounds... you're going to need to deaden the place,
but you'll know how much and how heavily when you roll tape the first time
and hear the playback.

A possible alternative is to go the Coles Lip Mike route and ditch the
VO booth altogether. It's limited, but it does what it's supposed to
and is a lot more effective than a typical makeshift booth.
--scott

Sneaking in here... I had not heard of the Coles mic, so I did a search
and found the COLES MICROPHONES 4104B. It's a "lip mic" widely used by
the BBC and others, and said to reject much noise, and supposedly the
sound of a poor room.

Personally, I use a U-87 and an AKG 414 in a controlled environment, and
they sound great. But when traveling, they sound poor in poor rooms. And
hauling room treatment has proved to be unsuccessful.

I wonder if anyone has experience with the Coles.


C Adams

Charles Adams wrote:

Sneaking in here... I had not heard of the Coles mic, so I did a search
and found the COLES MICROPHONES 4104B. It's a "lip mic" widely used by
the BBC and others, and said to reject much noise, and supposedly the
sound of a poor room.

Personally, I use a U-87 and an AKG 414 in a controlled environment, and
they sound great. But when traveling, they sound poor in poor rooms. And
hauling room treatment has proved to be unsuccessful.

I wonder if anyone has experience with the Coles.

It used to be pretty much universal for radio remote applications. You
can hear it on all kinds of things. It's not the most exciting-sounding
mike and it looks very silly when in use, but it really does what it's
supposed to. It's a real lifesaver for sportscasters when they don't have
an isolated broadcast booth.

Mercenary probably carries it, and I know AEA does. They should be willing
to loan you one for a week or two if you want to check it out.
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

In article ,
(Scott Dorsey) wrote:

Charles Adams wrote:

Sneaking in here... I had not heard of the Coles mic, so I did a search
and found the COLES MICROPHONES 4104B. It's a "lip mic" widely used by
the BBC and others, and said to reject much noise, and supposedly the
sound of a poor room.

Personally, I use a U-87 and an AKG 414 in a controlled environment, and
they sound great. But when traveling, they sound poor in poor rooms. And
hauling room treatment has proved to be unsuccessful.

I wonder if anyone has experience with the Coles.

It used to be pretty much universal for radio remote applications. You
can hear it on all kinds of things. It's not the most exciting-sounding
mike and it looks very silly when in use, but it really does what it's
supposed to. It's a real lifesaver for sportscasters when they don't have
an isolated broadcast booth.

Mercenary probably carries it, and I know AEA does. They should be willing
to loan you one for a week or two if you want to check it out.
--scott

Thanks for the info. In your opinion, if used with a very good mic
preamp, would it pass muster for a "travel" mic fir doing commercial and
narration voiceovers? I doubt it will sound like a U-87, but might it
work decently for this application?

CA

Charles Adams wrote:

Thanks for the info. In your opinion, if used with a very good mic
preamp, would it pass muster for a "travel" mic fir doing commercial and
narration voiceovers? I doubt it will sound like a U-87, but might it
work decently for this application?

Absolutely. It's routinely used by reporters calling in radio programs
from hotel rooms, etc.
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

Knowing our budgetary constraints, does this sound like a decent plan?
Is there a better voiceover mic that wouldn't capsize our budget? How
about the aural exciter? Any input would be greatly appreciated.

-Ray


Don't forget to use professional voice over talent. That makes every voice
over studio sound better.