New mic to listen to & lavalier mics for VO's

[bigmouthmedia]

Hello all...I've just purchased a Rode NTG-2 shotgun microphone, and would like opinons from new ears.

I've included a couple of files of some basic tests I've done - i'm still yet to toy around with angles/distances - these are both done direct onto the microphone at about 3-4" away, with a SM Pro Audio "Mic Thing" behind it to stop the room reflections as much as possible.

UPDATE : I've toyed with a few variations, of which are here:

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This involves different distances, etc. I find it's better a few inches away from the microphone, otherwise it suffers from the proximity effect and sounds muddy, as per the first tests.

Then I did a test between the older sE (Mini) microphone, and the Rode, in both EQ/non EQ form.
1899
1900
1901
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Thanks for your help in advance again !

[JohnWeeks]

Hi Big,
I think you're right about needing EQ. I messed around with the "no eq" file and came up with this.
Good luck!
John

[Mike Sommer]

I don't want to be Debby Downer here but...
Shouldn't a mic sound good right out of the box?
I mean other then a 3db bump at 1.5khz for clarity, but if one must attach a setting every time you do a spot to make it sound good, then maybe that's not the mic. What will you do when you're sending direct on ISDN?

[lanceblair]

The EQ setting is too thin and sibilant. Shotgun mics work better from a distance greater than 4": that will get rid of the mud maybe this mic will sound better then.

[chris319]

The EQ file sounds too artificially crisp.

You mentioned a "24-LED magnetic light". Is it customary there to pronouce it "led" or do you spell out the letters "L-E-D"?


Just saw someone on Vimeo do a test with a Sennenheiser model, and sounded very nice and close/intimate.

Could you post a link to it?

[bigmouthmedia]

* John - thanks for having a play with it - it doesn't sound bad, but i'm always one for having a nice clarity - and methinks this might not be the perfect choice.
* MikeSommer - I don't have ISDN, only a phone patch - but you're right, it shouldn't need to corrected, but it's early days !
* Lance - I'm about to do a test of the distance, i've only just purchased it and wanted to do a quick rip and read.
* Chris319 - it is actually L-E-D, I re-read it for them this morning !

Will post something else soon !

[bigmouthmedia]

New files posted in original message !

[Mike Sommer]

Dump the Rode mate and try another.
The SE mini has an unpolished sound, not particularly flattering.

If there is a music store in your area that caries a host of mics, then I would go there and test drive a few mics and record the tests. Go home and listen for a few days before you purchase.

If you don't have a big budget try the Studio Projects C1 (my daily mic), and I've heard some good things about the CAD M177.

Your voice should sound wonderful on a good condenser mic, and that should be your aim --making your voice sound the best that it can, no matter the cost.

[bigmouthmedia]

Dump the Rode mate and try another.
The SE mini has an unpolished sound, not particularly flattering.

If there is a music store in your area that caries a host of mics, then I would go there and test drive a few mics and record the tests. Go home and listen for a few days before you purchase.

If you don't have a big budget try the Studio Projects C1 (my daily mic), and I've heard some good things about the CAD M177.

Your voice should sound wonderful on a good condenser mic, and that should be your aim --making your voice sound the best that it can, no matter the cost.

You know I'm starting to think the same too - the Rode is proving harder to sound clean without EQ, yet the sE proves quite nice bare-bones. I'm wondering if shotguns are the way to go - the Sennheiser 416 is almost $A2000 - too expensive for most !

I would love something that makes my voice resonate well in most environments and sound nice and pulling low end without much effort - but also with a tight pattern so that I don't have to worry as much about room ambience. I have heard the TLM103 Neumann get a lot of good reviews, as have their other models.

[lanceblair]

How is your studio acoustically treated, and what ambience issues do you have.

Secondly, what is your preamp?

Spend your money on those...and BTW shotgun mics only work well in large rooms and sound terrible in small areas.

Pick up a CAD 177, AKG Perception 100, MXL v87, or AT2020 and don't spend another dime on mics until you have a nice preamp and your recording area is well sorted out. TLM 103 are great mics that really capture the acoustics of a room and a very accurate picture of the source (under 3kHz at least, then there's a frequency response bump) so a 103 in any old space is going to sound terrible. Too many people grab one, stick them in their closet and speak from 3" away and then complain that it's harsh and unnatural.

Shotgun mics and TLM 103s (for example) pic up a lot of ambience, but their output can be hotter than other mics, so what are you really losing? My MXL v67 picks up little ambience, but you have to increase the gain 5db, so there's that issue.

When I'm really having ambience issues (travelling, remote gigs, etc) I use a dynamic mic, the Sennheiser e935. Shure and EV make broadcast standard dynamic mics for VO. I happen to like the hot output and brighter but natural sound (not like the Heil Sound harshness) of the new Sennheisers: plus, they're cheap.

[Mike Sommer]

Right on Lance.
As I noted in another post the 103 can be harsh but a great pre can be all the difference especially with such FET mics. The sound that comes directly off most any condenser diaphragm is rather unpleasing, Mr Neumann knew that the audio transformer smoothed out the tone- the very thing that's missing in the FET's.

It's all in the room.
Room treatment can often cost as much if not more then the gear. But if you want a professional sound at home, then by gum you'll need to tune your room. Otherwise rent a studio or sound like crap. And there's a lot of crappy sounding VO out there.

-RANT ALERT-
You are on an audio learning adventure, and most of the folks in VO have not one clue as to what they are doing when it comes to gear, mics and acoustics. I believe one needs to either become knowledgeable in production audio and acoustics, or you hire someone who is, to set up your studio. These investments "along with the skill sets of a solid Voice Actor" are what separates the consistently working pro doing 8 to 12 home gigs a day, form all the others. But making that investment in yourself and your studio environment is what it is all about. Because when a production house must spend half a day cleaning up bad audio at $60 an hour, that time and money comes out the budget needed elsewhere- you do the math.

[leeplaud]

"I'm wondering if shotguns are the way to go - the Sennheiser 416 is almost $A2000 - too expensive for most !"

I think your a little high on the price of the 416 by almost 1/2. I paid $1,100 for mine. I think you can easily get them for $1,200 -$1,300.

[Mike Sommer]

That is $2000 Australian, Lee

As I've pointed out before 1 out of 20 people really sound good on a 416. Unless you are doing a lot of TV promo work there is really no need for it.

[leeplaud]

Ahh...ergo the $A. ....glossed over that.
Yes, I saw your post on that but by that time...(1) On the recommendation of others, I already owned it. (2) For myself the price wasn't an issue. (3) I've read and heard objections to almost every mic made.
I know that everyone is not in that position but if I decide at some point that it has no use for me, I have film friends who can use it or I can sell it.
Anyway, my mistake...back to the topic at hand.

[chris319]

Lee -

I listened to your Laguna Bay Premium Lager tracks. No offense, but this whole discussion is for naught until you get those plosives under control. I hear popping on the "b" in "bay" and the "p" in "premium". If I were the client I'd be rejecting those takes out of hand.

[leeplaud]

Okay...well, I'm confused. I don't know whose tracks you listend to but I never did any "Laguna Bay Premium Lagar" tracks.

[leeplaud]

You might check again Chris. The only thing I have posted anywhere is my 1 and only 1st commercial demo. That is not one of my spots and I don't believe you will find any plosives on my demo.

[bigmouthmedia]

They were mine :) On the 1st demo...i've since edited the post to reflect the new audio. Yes I've noticed the popping quite a lot on those originals.

I've been taught by someone here in Oz that if you blow air onto your hand, it's only when you can't feel the breath reach your skin, is where you should place the microphone. I have since put a pop shield in front of it, which is making a difference.

[chris319]

Sorry for the confusion, Lee. It was BMM (Paul?).

[bigmouthmedia]

Hehehe....me ! me ! me !

I'm also about to trial out a Shure SM7B - very much a radio broadcaster's microphone, and i have a preference for top-end microphones, not the side-approach ones. I've heard it's quite good (is dynamic). Testing that and a few others, including a Studio Projects C1 in the next week or so.

Would appreciate if I could keep posting to get feedback - even though I know my ears will have the final say !