Microphone Selection

[Douglas Spotted eagle]

We did field V/O for ESPN using an AT 897 (Didn’t know we were going to do field V/O, or I’d have brought a different selection, but the 897 sounded great, and surprised the producer that it was done in an airplane hangar using a garbage bin and moving blankets.
🙂
I’d have carried an AT 4073 with me, or a Senn 416, both of which are exceptionally common for V/O work.

I’ve never heard of anyone using a shotgun for VO – that type of mic is really not designed for that type of work.

I hate to sound condescending, but such a statement is absurd.
Shotguns (even cheap shotguns) are perfectly designed for voice-over work unless you’re in small, highly reflective rooms. Even then, they can be managed very, very well. Michael Mason, a top recordist of hundreds (if not thousands) of theatrical trailers and documentary pieces, uses Senn 416’s almost exclusively, with a heavy lean to the 416. Many cartoon voices for “Barnyard Animals” (Posted by Lance Bachelder, who frequents this forum a lot) were recorded using shotguns. High rejection, warm and rich, and low self-noise in the quality mics make some shotguns ideal for voice-over, whether you’ve “heard of them or not.”
My own productions (a couple of Emmy’s and Grammy’s in there) have almost always used shotguns for V/O. For “The Way West” James Earl Jones was recorded with an AT 4073. In Harlan Hogan’s “Voice Over Success” training DVD, you can hear the differences between side address large diaphragms, shotguns, and the more “common” mics. I also demonstrate this in my “Now Hear This” training DVDs.
Google “Recording Voice-overs +shotgun mic” or “mike” and see the hundreds of responses you’ll find.
Or, check out places that specialize in V/O tools, such as The V/O store. To quote one of their columns:
On the West Coast the Sennheiser-416 is “The Choice” of more Voice Over Recording Studios and Engineers than any other Mic in the world. This short shotgun Mic is a great all-around performer for Home Studios as well as large professional recording studios due to its directional sensitivity, high consonant articulation and excellent feedback rejection. Sennheiser’s MKH-416-P48U3 is the right choice when you’re voicing jobs weekly or hope to be doing so in the near future.

It’s amazing the prejudices for/against mics that some folks seem to develop based on reading from the web.
Get out and try this stuff for yourself. it’s not hard, and it’s kinda fun.

Douglas Spotted Eagle
VASST

Certified Sony Vegas Trainer
Aerial Camera/Instructor

[Tim Wilson]

[Rick Wise] “If you don’t know who he is, it’s time to find out….”

When Douglas said that Harlan Hogan is one of the world’s most successful VO artists, I went to check him out. Wow.

I didn’t really hear it in his website welcome – his regular voice I guess. But when I listened to the first ad, I immediately thought of a dozen or more places I’d heard him, right off the top of my head. His resume is much longer of course.

You should really check him out.

His advice is going to be solid.

tim(at)creativecow(dot)net

My Cow Blog
Join my LinkedIn network

[Douglas Spotted eagle]

James, some of the USB mics are great for budget (and even non-budget) projects. The Blue Snoball is a very popular podcast mic priced right at $99.00 or so, and sounds terrific. I’ve seen these used in MTV field work. No, they’re not the greatest, but they’re also not the junk that an audio-snob will point to due to the price, either. The RodePodcaster sounds a little better, but it’s also nearly 3 times the cost.
Blaster’s external sound card will work with these mics, but bear in mind that the Creative products are somewhat noisy. What’s humorous is when someone purchases a 1K mic and plugs into a Blaster or similar mic, thus negating at least half the value of the mic they bought.
So…don’t buy real expensive mics unless you’ve got the back end to support them, IMO.

My personal front end FWIW…:
~John Hardy M1 with Jensen Xformers.
~Canare cables with EMC connectors
~Apogee Rosetta, usually at 48k/24bit
Our studio has other tools, but this is my personal kit.

Douglas Spotted Eagle
VASST

Certified Sony Vegas Trainer
Aerial Camera/Instructor

[James Williams]

Douglas, i appreciate the input very much. This is a lively discussion. I bought a NUVJ video mixer https://nuvj.arkaos.net/ only to find out my laptop did not have an onboard mixer so I had to add the external soundblaster sound card to make the NUVJ work correctly.
I want to do VO directly to the Vegas timeline. I have a small Beringer mixer. Should I remove the external sound card and go mixer to mic input using a top quality mic? I’ve been using a USB mic but I am now looking for a richer sound on my VO’s.
J. Williams

[Rick Mac]

[DSE/Spot] “Shotguns (even cheap shotguns) are perfectly designed for voice-over work unless you’re in small, highly reflective rooms. Even then, they can be managed very, very well. Michael Mason, a top recordist of hundreds (if not thousands) of theatrical trailers and documentary pieces, uses Senn 416’s almost exclusively,”

I must admit that I have never considered using a shotgun
for doing V/O work. Talk about thinking outside the box.
We do have a Senn 416 that I use for more
distant applications. Since we do quite a bit of V/O’s I
can’t wait to give the shotgun a try. Will let you know if
I prefer it over the 421.

As always your expertise is appriciated.
Thanks for the tip Spot.

Regards, Rick.

Rick Mac
Director of Audio Production
TCT Network – Directv 377

[Frenchie29]

It’s all a personal choice I love the fullness of a ribbon mic or a large diaphragm mic. I have a NGT2 and a boom that I use for field it’s sounds good but when there’s an option to sit down in an iso booth for VO , I’d rather have a nice neuman that I rent just for the occasion.

[Kevin Mccarthy]

Ric et al. I am by no means “Dissing” Douglas or anyone. I totally respect “Spot’s” suggestions. Mr Mason is a true professional and as such has his favorites he has used and learned to use. I spoke to the issue of someone who is trying to improve his overall sound with the least expense and tribulations. A Shotgun mic is not easy to use for the average person trying to do a quality V/O. I offered a professional opinion on a cost effective way to do consistant quality V/O’s. I’d be glad to offer you a sample if you like, drop me an E-mail. My work,over the past 30 years, includes Anheuser Busch, Voice of America, Armed Forces Network, numerous European and American radio and TV stations, Monsanto, the Orlando Magic, CBS and more. I have my own acquired ways over the years, but a shotgun mic for V/O’s is not one of them (unless I’m in the field) but if it works for someonelse, so be it.
I did offer a low cost suggestion for a regular guy to do great voice work.
I did not mean to ruffle anyones feathers…no pun intetended. Love Ya Spot!
Peace

[Randall Raymond]

[Rick Wise] “Guys, If Spot says he uses a shotgun for VO, you can be sure he knows what he’s talking about. If you don’t know who he is, it’s time to find out…. You may have good reasons to prefer a different mic, because no one size fits all. Just don’t diss the info.”

Spot’s info is correct. I just got an email back from Harlan Hogan on the subject. He said 90% of his work is on a Senn 416 shotgun. I was surprised. And stand corrected. I am going to pick up his book on the subject of setting up a home VO studio.

We use an AT4073a shotgun for dialog and it’s fantastic for that – but I NEVER thought of it as a VO mic. Live and learn and keep learning!

ps Harlan did say shotguns are not good for female voice-overs. So, maybe I got it half right…

[Frenchie29]

I would chose a regular SM58 or even a 48 or even a57 anytime anywhere over a shotgun mic for VO

[Douglas Spotted eagle]

I would chose a regular SM58 or even a 48 or even a57 anytime anywhere over a shotgun mic for VO

Obviously, this is your prerogative, but doing so is like cutting off your nose to spite your face. But heck…all those shiny awards and accolades guys like Michael Mason, Harlan Hogan, Michael Silvers, Warren Latimer, Brian Keane, Don LaFontaine, Joe Cipriano, and even small-time guys like me have taken home demonstrate our ignorance of the tools used in the trade, I suppose.

Lemme ask you…how many times have you recorded voice-overs with James Earl Jones, Nick Nolte, Jose Carreras, Rod McKuen, Glenn Yarborough, Alice Cooper, Robert Redford, Tom Moffatt?
I’ve used shotguns on every one of them. Quite successfully. Some of those voice-overs were recorded in hotel rooms with a portable V/O box. And still came out great.

The voice of PBS uses a shotgun on 90% of his work. But you’d rather use an SM57??? 🙂

Douglas Spotted Eagle
VASST

Certified Sony Vegas Trainer
Aerial Camera/Instructor