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Poor-man’s audio studio. Please advise>
Hello,
We’re looking to add basic audio recording to our arsenal of services. I’m a video editor on a FCP with basic knowledge of audio production. We work with an audio professional here in town, but sometimes we have clients that can’t afford such high end services. We need to be able to record simple voiceover naration in-house but with professional results. We don’t have room to build a nice audio studio. I would love any advice on studio mics and small-scale audio configuration. Currently, I’m looking at a Sennheiser MD441U. Is this a good mic?Thanks in advance for any advice.
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14 Replies
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A 441 wouldn’t be my first choice for a VO mic.
“We work with an audio professional here in town, but sometimes we have clients that can’t afford such high end services”
So do you just give your time away?
Will you not be charging at least what they are charging for audio services?
Don’t you charge market rate for your video services? -
It’s not just price but time. This is a small market, and the audio guy we use is usually booked. So, for small scale projects involving quick VO and scratch tracks, we would like to move it inhouse. Yes, we would charge for it, but not as much as we would for booking an entire audio studio.
I’ve started looking at a Neumann BCM-104. Any thoughts on this mic.
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Hers an alternative thought. Insyead of trying to record it on mic in a space that is probably acoustically difficult, and where youre probably not going to get much control over sound, processing, monitoring etc – why dont you put an IDSN card in a PC with some audiotx software and link up to the entire worlds worth of voice over talent whove dealt with all of these issues for you.
Advantage
1) No need to buy mics and wrestle with it yourself
2) You choose from thousands of professional voices world wide
3) It arrives in your project sounding just like a pro studio did itDisadvantage
1) Cant think of any actuallyOver the last 10 years or so, Id say that the voice overs i record daily have grown to 99.9 % on the line rather than in studio recordings. Why would i want to restrict my choices to only those who can get to me. The world is bigger than that.
Peter -
Thanks Peter,
I’ve been looking to get an ISDN link, as we do use a lot of talent from around the country for most of our clients. Here’s the deal. One of our bread and butter accounts is an auto dealership. We are constantly doing updates for them and they continue to grow. They also strictly use a local voice personality which is out of our control. So, we need to make audio recording possible in our shop. I’d also like the ability to make scratch tracks to edit to. Any suggestions on mics, setups, and other equipment would be appreciated.Thanks,
Reins -
What kind of a budget do you have to work with,
and what gear do you already have, such as monitors, mixing console? -
Probably have $1K in USD to work with. Would be bringing it into a FCP machine. I have a Mackie 1604-VLZPRO mixer, 4 Tannoy Reveal Studio Monitors, and 2 Crown D-45 amps.
Looking for a good mic for voice over recording and advice on pop filters, sound baffles, or any other technique to get as good of quality sound with what we’ve got.
Thanks again. -
And what type of space will you be recording in?
Large soundstage, closet, edit suite full of gear? -
Edit Suite filled with purring gear. It does have a closet though!
I did take a look at http://www.whisperroom.com
It’s a stretch on our budget, but might be able to do it.
Any alternatives? -
Reins,
I would pick a Sennheiser 421 over a 441U…and I’ve used both. Studio Projects C1 and Rode NT1 ate some great sounding low priced mics. Do you want to do just voiceovers? You might just consider getting a Symetrix 528 and going from that to your computer input. The Expand/Threshhold will cut out lots of room noice. Or get a closet, slap up some Markertek Acoustic Foam and go from your mixer to your computer.
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