[Ilkka Aaltonen]

Wow, it’s been long time since I started this thread asking as a complete novice. Now with more knowledge (please note: hobbyist, not a professional):

I would advice not to worry about the 24-bit/192kHz option. You need more HDD space for the recording and the gain is so small compared to what you need to benefit from it (everything has to match those settings; software, interface, speakers and whatever else) that in my opinion it’s simply not worth it. It just eats bandwith with minimal benefit. As far as I’m concerned if you use USB with this microphone, it’s going to be downsampled to 16-bit/48kHz anyway. I like the studio thing you have planned. I build one in my closet with foams. It improves quality enormously if you have quiet place without any noise or echo around you. Acoustic foam works, but you could also get the same benefit from blankets, pillows and towels; basically anything fluffy and soft that absorbs noise. Here is one place to get you started https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acoustics. Also Googling around “How to get rich voice”, “– deep voice”, “– manly voice” or checking videos on YouTube won’t hurt.

I would have to agree with people here that don’t pay so much attention on numbers. It’s nice to have them, but they alone don’t make you good. But look at the bright side, at least you don’t need to buy new microphone for the next 10 years! The more knowledge you gain, you can always bump up the numbers to next level if you really need it.

I have a little quest for you. After I did this, I figured out that I’d rather go with 16-bit/48kHz. It’s closer to what I actually need. You look for DAW, speakers and interface which all support 24-bit/192kHz (I’d say at least finding one of these will fail). Calculate how much money you need to get the benefit and then think that many professionals use 24-bit/96kHz anyway. Is this all really worth it to get those highest numbers?

Don’t take this personally but I must point this out. It might end up that you simply suck. No numbers are going to improve that. Practice and knowledge of your tools and surroundings does.

I hope you will find your own way of doing things which you are most comfortable with. All the best with you in the future!

[Ilkka Aaltonen]

One model of 390X is actually cheaper than the old 290X! lol.

Anyway, I guess I’ll go with the new model as planned. Thank you for the input!

EDIT: With closer inspection it looks like 390X is simply same exact card as 290X, with the exception of 8GB memory and slightly higher clocking.

[Ilkka Aaltonen]

Bill,

Thank you for the example.
Indeed, not that much of of a difference. Personally I enjoyed the first sample more. Seemed to be a little more deeper. I have no idea which might have been the more expensive microphone…

I guess I’ll just get myself somewhat decent epquipment to start with and then later, if needed, upgrade to better.

Thank you all for the help!

[Ilkka Aaltonen]

Ty,

Thank you for the suggestion!
Could please tell me, that is there a huge difference between XLR cables? Because I have this obsessional thought about analog cables/signal that the more high quality the cable is, the better the outcome will be.

[Ilkka Aaltonen]

Peter,

Yes, you are correct and I agree with you.
However, as I said before, I am taking this as a serious hobby more than a try to get through as a professional voice over artist.

In other words, doing it for my own enjoyment, but if there’s something that comes out of it then it’s always bonus.

However, all that I currently am planning to get is preamp and/or audio interface but I don’t know which is more needed. I presume that the audio interface, since so far, I believe you can do the voice editing with PC/Mac OR with the preamp.

[Ilkka Aaltonen]

Looking at the specifications in the link you provided, it says that it has 2 microphone preamps.
Are they good? I have no idea.

Also, I’ve seen mixed opinions about whether or not to buy separate preamp. Some say that a separate preamp will lose some quality and therefore preamp within an audio interface would be better.
But as I am completely new to the voice recording, I can’t really say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to anything.

[Ilkka Aaltonen]

Thank you for the messages, awesome information!

I still have a question: Do I need a preamp if I buy external audio interface?
Also, what are the pros/cons of having both or just having one?

I’m probably going to get myself Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 audio interface, if you need to know.

[Ilkka Aaltonen]

Thank you for the posts!

I checked the video Ty mentioned. It was very interesting.
Haven’t gone through the whole thing yet, but will do the rest shortly.

However, I did some Google research and I have one question regarding the audio interface.
If the Blue Yeti Pro can accept audio via XLR in 24bit/192kHz, does that mean that if the audio interface accepts those frequencies that the same data will go through the USB to the PC/Mac, where I use a program (for example Audacity) to record the same audio using the same frequencies? In other words, if the mic and audio interface accepts 24bit/192kHz and the program that records is set to accept those signals, no data is lost even though it goes to the PC/Mac via USB?

This question mostly became to my mind due to the fact that I see people mentioning that “do not buy USB-microphones” very often, but it seems that many audio interfaces have USBs.

[Ilkka Aaltonen]

Anybody?

I also decided that I will use 10-bit 4:2:2 YUV since my RAID 0 configuration isn’t fast enough for the 4:4:4.
Anyways, I still need advice on how to keep the footage in lossless format.

[Ilkka Aaltonen]

I’m also suffering from the audio being out of sync with Intensity Shuttle.
Whenever I take the video file into Vegas for editing, it’s always shorter than the actual video as said above.

Changing the codec between MJPEG or 8-bit / 10-bit YUV somewhat affects the video, but it’s usually still more or less out of sync. Stretching the audio in the Sony Vegas sometimes work (mostly it doesn’t), but even those times that it works, it makes the audio being out of sync in the beginning of the video.

I tried once to record in 480p for little less than one hour, which seemed to fix the problem with audio but while in 720p or 1080i the audio is always out of sync after ~20 minutes of recording.