IVR-Phone-Voicemail Demo...looking for candid, honest feedback

[Bruce Gammon]

Hi all,

It's been a while since I brought something to the table for critiquing. Today I have for your review a new IVR-Phone-Voicemail demo. Please offer your feedback and critique on the following categories:

1 The read itself (I'm focusing on a warm, soothing, and smooth delivery as it is my signature sound)
2 Production quality
3 Any other sound issues if you hear them

http://soundcloud.com/brucegammon/phoneivr-demo-2012

As always, I do appreciate the feedback back that anyone would want to offer - thank you in advance!

BTW - if anyone would care to guess what mic I'm using, please feel free to throw in a guess; I will reveal the mic's identity after some guesses are ventured!

Bruce

[Dale]

Bruce,
I will leave the quality-critiques to the trained ears. However, I want to bite on the mic guess.

My guess is a Shure SM7B.

[Zuiki]

Hi Bruce,
You sound a little 'sing / songie'. You sound as though you're reading a script and trying to put a melody into it, rather than talking to the person who's on the line, giving them the information they need. This is true especially on the first two clips, where you are drawing out the ends of your words.

I would be more 'explanatory' in telling them where they are, what the company is and what their options are. Act like there's a person on the other end of the phone and you're speaking to them, not just someone you hope to greet at sometime. That way you can be friendly and informative in a very one on one way.

[Bruce Gammon]

Hi Dale and Zuiki,

Thanks for the listens!

Zuiki - I think I see what you mean...thanks for those pointers!

Dale - I won't give away the mic yet but I'll say this - you are in the right neighborhood!


Anyone else who would like to share their thoughts on the demo, please feel free. I can use the feedback and can handle constructive criticism!

[Dale]

Ah... Bruce..... You forced my hand- Initially, I was going to say; however I said to myself: Self? surely he wouldn't have one in his arsenal like you do, it sure sounds like one...

But I now have to amend my prognostication to the versatile, the indestructible, the old stand-by Shure SM58.

Regardless, it does sound good to my ears.

[Bruce Gammon]

Well, I was hoping for more input from folks but I think I will bow out now and say "Thank you" to both Zuiki and Dale for their contributions and feedback; it is much appreciated.

As for the "mystery mic" that was used...

Ah... Bruce..... You forced my hand- Initially, I was going to say; however I said to myself: Self? surely he wouldn't have one in his arsenal like you do, it sure sounds like one...

But I now have to amend my prognostication to the versatile, the indestructible, the old stand-by Shure SM58.

Regardless, it does sound good to my ears.

Dale, you were SO close! The mic I used was a Shure SM57 run through a PreSonus Bluetube with Tube setting at about 75-80% and then through a Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 interface. I recorded into Audacity for 24-bit/96kHz quality, applied some noise reduction (noise floor before reduction was between -60 and -65 dB), saved as a WAV and then transferred to AA 1.5 for editing and processing. Yeah, lots of work, but it was fun to see what I could do with my setup.

Again, thanks to Zuiki and Dale...

[Scott Pollak]

I use the PreSonus BlueTube, too, and really like the clarity and warmth it gives. Interesting that for the SM57 the gain would be close to 80%. For my RE20, a similar mike, I have it set around 45% or so.

[Yonie]

It's like comparing an AK-47 to an M16. One can be buried in sand, drenched in water, driven over by a car, and still function, though its basic functionality is not the best, the other one has more finesse, but far less durable.

[Bruce Gammon]

Scott - Sorry for the misinfo - I actually had my Gain set around 40-45 and the Tube Drive set at 75 for extra warmth. That seems to work nicely when I feed that into the Scarlett 2i2. I do like my other mics better though (AT2035 & Rode NT1-A).

Yonie - Totally agree with you on the comparison. I just wanted to see what I could with the SM57 and see how the results registered with other ears.

Again all - thank you for your time and help with this. I'm using received feedback to make adjustments accordingly with the Vox track here.