Sound Card

[John Rofrano]

1. With a good sound card, can Vegas record be used effectively to record voice overs?

This is something Vegas excels at above and beyond any other NLE. Look up “Punch-In and Punch-Out” in the Vegas Help. It will show you how to create pre and post-roll so you can listed to the audio before you punch-in and then record only the section you want. You can even loop and do several takes one after the other and then select the take that you feel sounds best. Because Vegas started as an audio DAW it is perfect for this sort of thing.

2. Any suggestions on a card of maybe $300 or so or do I need something more expensive?

I’m a big fan of firewire audio devices for three reasons: 1) They are outside of your electrolytically noisy PC so you don’t get interference from other electronic parts, 2) They can be moved from desktop to laptop with relative easy, and 3) The firewire bus does not consume any CPU cycles to transfer data unlike USB which is CPU dependent.

I personally use an M-Audio Firewire 410 which isn’t made anymore. The replacement is the M-Audio ProFire 610. Right now it’s $349.99 at B&H Photo and worth every penny. If that is too expensive I would look at the M-Audio Firewire Solo which is 1/2 a 610 and only $179.99 at B&H. The different is that the 610 supports 5.1 Surround while the Solo is only Stereo. Something to consider if you ever plan to deliver 5.1. Otherwise the Firewire Solo is perfect for audio replacement work.

Finally you’ll need good monitor speakers that give a flat response. You don’t want to use PC speakers because they color the sound to make watching movies sounds better. You don’t want that. I have a set of M-Audio Studiophile LX4’s but they don’t make those anymore. The Studiophile BX5a Deluxe is the replacement ($239) and match well with the 610. The M-Audio Studiophile AV 40’s at $145.99 paired with the Firewire Solo will give you a complete solution for around your $300 budget ($325.98).

The other place I would look is Echo Audio. They have some firewire audio interfaces at around the same price point. You want to be sure whatever you buy supports XLR balanced inputs with 48v phantom power for any condenser mics you might use and a good pair of powered, flat response studio monitor/speakers. You also want to be sure that whatever audio device you buy has Windows 7 64-bit drivers even if you are using XP, just in case you upgrade later.

~jr

http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com

[Scott Francis]

I would “Echo” a little bit of John’s suggestions. However I would look at the Presonus firewire interfaces as well. I have used them and like their preamps better than anything else at that price point. They build ALOT of preamps that are not interfaces and they excel at this.
As far as speakers, I use the M-audio B5’s on my 2nd video editing machine and they are OK, (they are a bit mid rangy and weak in the low end) but decent for the price…also look into KRK’s, Mackies and Yamaha powered monitors as well. I use a KRK 2.1 system in my recording studio and LOVE them, but that was a $1000 rig. I use EVENT ALPS for my main video rig with a sub, but they sadly, discontinued them. A good mic is also very important for voice overs and get a decent large diaphragm condenser mic for that, don’t forget a pop filter as well. CAD makes some nice ones that I use in my studio as well as Rode and Sterling….good luck!!

Scott Francis
Mind’s Eye Audio/Video Productions

[John Rofrano]

I had forgotten about Presonus and I even bought a Firewire Studio but haven’t had time to use it yet (too busy).

As for mics, Audio-Technica makes some great mics for the price. I’ve got an AT4033a that I use for VO which is quite warm and nice for a minimal investment ($399 street price).

~jr

http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com

[Roger Bansemer]

Whew! This is a lot of stuff to take in. I’m struggling but thanks everyone for advice. It is really appreciated.

[Danny Hays]

I have the Presounus Firepod, which is now the FP10. It has 8 xlr in and out, spdif in and out, Phantom power for just four or all eight inputs, plus two of the inputs can be used as instrument inputs. this important if you want to plug a guitar straight into it, as the impedance will match an instrument pluggin like Amplitube ot Guitar rack, ect. AND it can also be used as an eight channel stand alone mixer. Very versital unit. I love it. It’s a single rack space sized unit and has good quality preamps. It’s more than 300$ but they make a firebox for about that.
https://www.presonus.com/products/
Danny Hays

[Roger Bansemer]

I’ve purchased the ProFire 610 and am trying it out for the first time.

1. In Vegas, if I right click on the levels meter it gives me choices:
-12 to 0 db all the way up to -90 to 0 db. By changing these I seem to be able to eliminate background noise. What should I be looking for here? Not familiar with this at all.

2. The ProFire 610 came with a 110V power cord but no place to even plug it in. What’s that all about?

Thanks.

[John Rofrano]

1. In Vegas, if I right click on the levels meter it gives me choices:
-12 to 0 db all the way up to -90 to 0 db. By changing these I seem to be able to eliminate background noise. What should I be looking for here? Not familiar with this at all.

This is not doing anything to the audio. It’s just adjusting the sensitivity of the meters so it’s not eliminating any background noise, it’s just hiding it from your eyes. You should probably keep it at the default full on.

2. The ProFire 610 came with a 110V power cord but no place to even plug it in. What’s that all about?

Look on the back of the unit in the lower left corner is a 12v DC plug. That’s where the power cord plugs in.

Firewire has two basic connectors: 6-pin and 4-pin. 6-pin carries power so if you are using a 6-pin cable you don’t need the power cable. The Profile 610 will get it’s power from the firewire port. 4-pin (found on most laptops) does not carry power and you will need to use the power adapter in this case.

~jr

http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com

[Roger Bansemer]

Thanks. That clears it up about the levels.
Also, I just found the other part of the 110 cord in the box as a power adapter. I’m using the six pin.

The man who sold me the unit told me not to use the install CD and just get the new drivers which I did but no “onboard DSP mixer” was installed on my computer. Is this something I even need to worry about? It also came with a CD “Live lite”.

This is as my daughter says, “sweet”. Now I can finally fix some audio problems with my voice overs.