[Shady Manaa]

Hey Peter!

Thank you so much for all your answers you’re extremely helpful mate!
As for my nationality, no I’m not English, however I’ve been raised amongst the English and British Accent speakers ever since I was 13 years old, so I consider British English to be my 2nd Native language, I’m pretty much fluent at it till the degree that many of my British friends thought I’m actually British myself.

As for the voice over coaching, I’m not really sure if I’ve ever ran into any coaches around my country, yet if I found any I’m not hesitating for a second, I’ll join their classes for sure!

My experience in the field of presenting is quite fine, I’ve worked on face-to-face presentations with a crowd, I’ve also recording mini-university projects as a voice over talent for videos’ production, however I wanna move on to the professional grid rather than just the amateur students’ activities.

That’s exactly why I’m trying my best to build a convenient well-equipped home studio that could be massively used for self-improvement via training and moving on to professionalism in this field! ^_^

Thank you so much for your feedback mate!

[Shady Manaa]

Peter you’ve been of extremely great help!

I read all your feedback points and I am not offended by any of them, I’m extremely thankful for each and every single point that you’ve mentioned, I was wondering if you could provide me with some item of advise on how I should enhance the flaws you noticed in my recordings..

Is it my voice that requires enhancement?
Is it my performance? my distance from the microphone?
You’ve also mentioned something regarding the accent as in odd pronunciation, well this recording has been made for practice not being marketed as a project or as a demo yet.. However regarding my Accent, I’m speaking fluent British English accent ever since I’ve been 13 years old. Not sure if the way I performed the words gave the odd feeling or if you’re referring to the accent itself..

How can I reach the depth that the other sample had?
Finally, about the Mic would I reach a better quality if I implemented my Microphone along with XLR-> preamp?

Thanks a lot for your feedback and honesty!

[Shady Manaa]

Well, I’ve been recording (for practice purposes) some commercials that I made up, I started off by recording this simple ad for an “imaginary” hotel..

I used my Blue Yeti Pro connected on my laptop via USB, monitoring happened via Audio Technica’s M50X..

My acoustic space set-up happened to be as follows:
I have not yet built a home vocal booth, but I’ve been researching the topic and I’d really be thankful if you have any recommendation or suggestion in that context..

But the current set-up I used to record that is placing the microphone in a wardrobe cubicle (not a walking wardrobe) and surrounding it from all sides by pillows and clothes.. then wrapping up the wardrobe with a huge blanket/duvet thus I would go inside when I’m about to record and leave when I’m done.. (of course it feels like an oven inside there)..

However, I did not like the produced quality..
Here’s a link: –
https://1drv.ms/1DF5o2J

I compared my work to this professional recording demo from a site that I found on the internet, I really like the voice quality on this demo! I would really love to reach such a quality with my Microphone..
https://arabicvoiceovertalent.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/eng_british_male2_drew.mp3

Please provide me with all the items of advice you could give me, I’mma be taking every single one of them into consideration and act upon em’

[Shady Manaa]

Hey Brian,

Well, I thought that the higher the quality the better the recording should sound, isn’t that right?
I’ve been comparing a sample of my recording to some Demos that I’ve found on the internet, and there is a huge major quality difference, I thought it’s because of my recording quality..

I’m pretty much confused, I have the blue yeti pro USB/XLR condenser microphone, currently using it in USB, and I wanna maximise the quality produced by it..

What do you suggest?

[Shady Manaa]

Greetings Everyone,

I happened to come across this forum as I was searching about the exact same topic that our friend here was asking about, after reading through the whole thread I still would like someone to clarify something to me if you don’t mind.
I really hope I’m not bothering or annoying anyone with my questions though..

Here the whole story: –
I’ve always been into presenting ever since I was a university student, I’ve graduated in 2013 from the faculty of Informatics and Computer sciences, so in the context of pursuing my dream of becoming a Voice Over Talent/Radio Presenter, I started building a mini home-studio that is not yet done..

I’ve bought a blue yeti pro USB/XLR condenser microphone that goes by the quality of 24 bit/192Khz (Studio Quality), I’ve self-studied the DAW I’m going to be using for my recordings (Adobe Audition Cs6) from Lynda.com.
I’ve also bought a Blue Radius II shock-mount and a microphone stand, in addition to a pop filter and a foam microphone head-cover, I’ve not yet built a vocal booth, but I’m about to contact a carpenter to make me a wooden vocal booth of about 2 x 2.5 Meters that will be treated with acoustic foam from the inside all the way, and I’ll use a thick carpet on the floor under the stand. Moreover I’ve bought Audio Technica’s M50X Headset for studio quality monitoring.

However, I’m still confused about the quality of my productions, I’ve heard from so many sources on the internet that USB microphones are not of the quality that professional studios expect, so I’ve decided to use the XLR side of the Blue Yeti Pro, However I really have no idea which USB pre-amp should I be using for the utmost quality, I’m looking for a 24 bit/192Khz USB preamp that would take my voice overs from just “fine” to “excellent” in terms of quality.

I’d be greatly thankful if you could point me to what I should do to bring the best quality out of my set-up.
Should I use the Microphone in USB?
Should I use it in XLR? What Preamp should I get for utmost quality (of course on a budget)?
Is there any item of advice that you’d give me for the Vocal booth I’m going to build?
What settings should I be applying on my DAW and Windows’ Microphone Settings?
Please also provide me with any tips and tricks that you guys have discovered from your long experience that I could apply to have the best quality recordings in my Mini home studio..

If any of you would be able to help me via Skype I’m available at: –
Valiantshady (display name: Shady Manaa)

Thanks a lot!
Awaiting your response.