I have voice actors who are ready to go, but the group I'm working with need to fund some new gear to record their work to the required standard. Too bad they're all over the world.
Since we're working from a budget of about 6-7K and most of us are doing it for free, I want to make sure we get the best value stuff. Are there any alternatives to SM58 that wouldn't break our feeble bank account. I will need to provide a mic, small desk and all necessary cables to each performer.
I've done my research, of course, but welcome experienced opinions
Budget for whole package ideally less than £120 each.
At the same price point, if you're looking for dynamic mics, there's no big difference. If you want to go after a large diaphragm condenser at that price, the AT2020 is a good buy. I don't know how well it works for voiceover but it tops the SM58 for singers in the studio. The Electrovoice RE20 and Sennheiser MD421 are used very commonly in voiceover but it looks like they're out of your budget.
120 quid for a mic, cables and desk won't give you professional results. Your question implies they all have something to record to, so it's odd they haven't got desks and some sort of mics and certainly cables ready to go. If they have recording devices already, won't some of them already have pre-amps?
I like the SM7 for voice over work (i.e. nice dynamic like the RE20), but that would be out of your budget. A good all round stage condenser that could work well for voice over is the Electrovoice RE510 but I haven;t tried it as I have the SM7!
But I'm thinking are all these actors capable recording engineers? Will you get consistent results? Wouldn't you be better off hiring studios for them?
Do all these people have their own PC/Mac? If not, does the budget also cover some kind of recording gear?
For "desk", do you mean a mixer? If you're on a limited budget, and if everyone involved has got a computer already, you'd save a bunch of money by using one of those XLR-to-USB adaptor things. Something like the Blue Icicle, for example. Do be aware that if you get one of these, it needs to provide 48V phantom power - there are a few which don't, which is OK for dynamic mics like the SM58 (or RE20/SM7, for that matter) but is no good for condensor mics. You can get a separate phantom power supply, but that pushes the cost up more.
Thank you for the excellent replies guys! Many suggestions to look at.
No it's not a low standard at all, but the point was, if I can get them to use a reasonable amount of common sense with budget studio equipment we'll get way better than what some of them are doing now which is laptop mic, clipped everywhere, breath causing LF distortion etc. They're talented people and volunteers. Any amount of money I as a technician can spend will improve from the current state of things. Do you see?
Bob, I haven't considered sending them to studios, it's an interesting problem to solve. For the same price as getting the equipment and delivering it to them I could get them one studio session, yet we'll need many sessions.
I don't want to sit here justifying everything like a schoolboy - suffice to say if I can get the budget raised I'll do it!
Well if they have laptops, why not consider a USB mic? I'm not familiar with it but it would be worth investigating the Rode Podcaster and make sure you get them to use a hefty wind sock. You'd also need to prepare very clear instructions on how to use the mic and avoid clipping etc.
SM7B is a good option - but you'll need a good clean pre to get the most out of it, and get RIGHT up close to it. Built with voice over in mind that one !!!. One thing bearing in mind though - need a decent quiet acoustic for voice work.... so consider that too. One of my companies is a voice over and localisation service company and whenever we've got people to "do it themselves" it's invariably unusable. So consider carefully before delivering equipment to all and sundry !!
Other than that - we use U87 for most voice work - simply it's because what our client ask for. Bit too pricey for the budget being mentioned I guess..... RE20 is okay - but again, need a good space to work in. John W's suggestions are good too.
Yes the thought had occured to me that coaching would need to take place on the equipment, and I think I'll err towards the very simplest solution when it comes to it.
At the moment people are saying they can spend a bit of their own money, which is at least a start (as long as they let me provide a shortlist and don't just go down the market).
oggyb wrote:
No it's not a low standard at all, but the point was, if I can get them to use a reasonable amount of common sense with budget studio equipment we'll get way better than what some of them are doing now which is laptop mic, clipped everywhere, breath causing LF distortion etc. They're talented people and volunteers. Any amount of money I as a technician can spend will improve from the current state of things. Do you see?
That response cries out 'training' to me. They don't need more gear, they just need to know how to use what they've got. You need to teach them basic skills like talking across the mic.
My favourite mic for consistency in voiceover work is a Neumann TLM103. The new cheaper TLM102 might be an option too. SM7B is one of my favourite mics too, however I feel a nice mic amp is needed to get the most out of that.
As for budget condenser mics, SE are usually a very good option. You of course generally get what you pay for, and anything in the equipment chain is only as good as whats before it (yes, I managed to get 2 cliches in one sentence).
Thanks everyone. For the first episode I plan to try to get each to record with the best technique first (this may take a while), and then see who actually needs an upgrade and who was just a technophobe.
£125 is not really enough for decent results, but you could do it this way : A low budget large diaphragm condenser such as Behringer B1 (about £60) if you're really that broke using a budget mixer (again maybe behringer XENYX 1002, £60) with phantom power will give you better results imo. If you shop around and ring a few dealers such as Digital Village you could probably get them to throw in an xlr cable as well for a total spend of £125.
Also important is compression on voiceover work so look to add that at the final mastering stage if you cant buy a hardware compressor. Try and use a dead room, use blankets/duvets if you cant buy a reflection filter. If you have 5-6k to spend then use more on the equipment or you may be wasting your time and money.
ElecTrika-MixTek wrote:It's not what mic you have, but how you use it.
Very true. The microphone is one thing but how and where you record is just as important. Still, once you have got the environment and mic position correct, I'd still go along with the mic choice advice given here: Electrovoice RE20, Shure SM7, Neumann TLM103...
The SM58 doesn't quite have the frequency response for singers that have a lower voice range, a Baritone. It tops off at 15Khz, and although vocal range is strongest from 6Khz to about 10Khz, I find the SM58 a bit muddy for more voice. Yep, I'm a Baritone. I can hit a few notes in the Tenor range, but I can sing low parts very well. I switched to an EV N/D767a a few years ago and I like it a lot. However, I wouldn't give that mic to a female singer that sings high female parts. So your choice of mics is going to depend a lot on your voice range. The Shure Beta 58a has a mid range boost from 7Khz to 9Khz, so it should be better than the SM58 and a good general purpose mic. Also the Sennheiser E-835 has been recommended by professional sound men as a good dynamic vocal mic too. Bottom line, you should test a mic for your voice and in your PA system to get the best match.
Miket156 wrote:The SM58 doesn't quite have the frequency response for singers that have a lower voice range, a Baritone. It tops off at 15Khz, and although vocal range is strongest from 6Khz to about 10Khz, I find the SM58 a bit muddy for more voice. Yep, I'm a Baritone. I can hit a few notes in the Tenor range, but I can sing low parts very well. I switched to an EV N/D767a a few years ago and I like it a lot. However, I wouldn't give that mic to a female singer that sings high female parts. So your choice of mics is going to depend a lot on your voice range. The Shure Beta 58a has a mid range boost from 7Khz to 9Khz, so it should be better than the SM58 and a good general purpose mic. Also the Sennheiser E-835 has been recommended by professional sound men as a good dynamic vocal mic too. Bottom line, you should test a mic for your voice and in your PA system to get the best match.
Erm... doubtless all very true, but the OP question was about mics for voiceover - ie spoken word.
You might want to consider a desktop mic stand too, for a few extra pounds (£3) you can completely eliminate hand holding noise (put it on a rubber mouse mat). I have found a rolled up blanket placed behind the mic works well as a cheapo alternate to a reflection shield and an inexpensive (£7) generic pop shield will help smooth the way a lot. We record messages for phone systems and this makes a massive difference even with the extremely limited frequency response and massivly compressed files we use. We use some cheap (£50) sony mic into the pc's 1/8 jack, it makes a difference to even this. We record straight into Audacity... shareware.
Having said all that the single most important factor is the person recording... and some of them, well lets just shake our heads and sigh shall we.
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- suffice to say if I can get the budget raised I'll do it!
