VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

Glenn Moore · Been Here Awhile Joined: 24 Jan 2005 Posts: 241

Looking for someone who might be willing to share their settings if you have an Avalon 737sp. I use a Sennheiser MKH 416 shotgun and a Neumnan TLM 103. Please send me a private message if you're able to. Thanks!

Glenn

Mike Sommer · Posted: Sun Apr 11, 2010 5:30 pm Post subject:

Well, the 737 is basically a full on channel strip with preamp, compression and EQ in a single box. If what you're asking is "How do I use it?", you maybe in way over your head. But ok there is always time to learn.

1. Don't over drive the preamp, keep it at 0.
2. Set the input to Mic.
3. Set the attack to it's fastest setting for this unit this is 2ms
4. Set release to it's fastest setting- for this unit it is 100ms. If it sounds unnatural, set a little slower.
5. Threshold around -15db to-21db is good.
6. Set Ratio to 2 (1= 1:1, 2= 2:1, 3= 3:1 etc..)
7. Use the highpass filter on the preamp side to get rid of low-end garbage. Set at about 75 Hz, so the compressor does not pump. (don't go higher than 80Hz)
8. Use the EQ sparingly. Although it's a great sounding EQ, once you record it, there's no undoing it. So add a touch in any band you feel needs some. The only thing you should really need to play with is the HIGH MID. Depending on the mic, you and your room. The most you will ever need is maybe a 2 to 3 db bump anywhere between 1kHz to 5kHz. (Give the mid a 2db boost, turn the Frequency knob until your voice has a nice presence, then you can reduce the boost a little or add more boost. You don't want it to sound unnatural, you just want your voice to sound clean and present. With the 416 you may not need any adjustment at all. except for REDUCTION. Which means turning the gain setting into the negative.) Going into the "Q" section maybe to much to deal with here but once you find your general settings you can then play with it later. But you'll probably find the broadband setting more useful.
9. Find a good balance between the input gain on the pre and the output gain to get a good level, so that it is not clipping into your program. You'll find the input gain "colors" the sound more than the output gain so use it to your liking.

These are general setting. It's all about finding what sounds good for you. Sometimes it all blurs into one big mess, and in the end you'll find you didn't really need any adjustments at all.
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Acoustics are counter-intuitive. If one thing is certain about acoustics, it is that if anything seems obvious it is probably wrong.

kgenus · Posted: Sun Apr 11, 2010 6:58 pm Post subject:

Avalon 737

1. Set Preamp Gain between 0. (adjust accordingly)
2. Set Input to Mic.
3. Set High Gain to On.
4. Set Output to 0. (adjust accordingly)
5. Engage Phantom Power.

EQ and Compression are quite subjective. Go with your gut but remember many producers want something dry, not something that sounds good to you. Some may send you specifics, but if you go dry, you're 100% better off.
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Genus

JTVG · Backstage Pass Joined: 21 Jun 2007 Posts: 433

And if you have kids, do yourself a favor and write down the settings somewhere once you find your sweet spot.
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Joe Szymanski
http://www.joethevoiceguy.com

Philip Banks · Posted: Mon Apr 12, 2010 1:16 am Post subject:

For most jobs and for most preamps the best setting is BYPASS. For more details see Kevin's post above.

kgenus · Posted: Mon Apr 12, 2010 6:49 am Post subject:

Rob Ellis · M&M Joined: 01 Aug 2006 Posts: 2385 Location: Detroit

Kevin Genus wrote:

kgenus · Posted: Mon Apr 12, 2010 7:09 am Post subject:

Nope.
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Genus

Philip Banks · Posted: Mon Apr 12, 2010 7:31 am Post subject:

But he's probably got a special digital "sounds like I don't use the high pass filter" plug-in. The only question is, would it be the tube plug-in, the unplugged plug-in or the special downloadable "I haven't got this because I don't need it" plug-in?

kgenus · Posted: Mon Apr 12, 2010 8:14 am Post subject:

Nah bro. I have, what we here in NJ call, "The Northeast Corridor Plugin."
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Genus

Mike Sommer · Posted: Mon Apr 12, 2010 9:17 am Post subject:

You only need the Hipass if you're using compression.

And you should use compression very sparingly, if at all, but you can get away with it for auditions to keep your audio from being peaky. This I personally feel compression is better than normalizing audio.

For production work, it should be dry.

You can use this sheet to mark your settings http://www.avalondesign.com/pdfs/737setup.pdf
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The Blog:
http://voiceoveraudio.blogspot.com/

Acoustics are counter-intuitive. If one thing is certain about acoustics, it is that if anything seems obvious it is probably wrong.

Rob Ellis · M&M Joined: 01 Aug 2006 Posts: 2385 Location: Detroit

I have a Behringer processor with a Limiter---I think I like the Limiter better than using the Avalon compressor

Mike Sommer · Posted: Mon Apr 12, 2010 11:33 am Post subject:

kgenus · Posted: Tue Apr 13, 2010 11:23 am Post subject: This truly sucks.

Bill Campbell · DC Joined: 09 Mar 2007 Posts: 621

Ouch!!! That's gotta hurt!

"Mike" may turn out to be a 12 year old boy living in his grandmother's basement with uncanny Google skills?

What do we know about "Mike"? Website? Demos? Social Security Number?

Just kidding Mike. Always enjoy your writings. Anyone who uses Boss Angeles
in their signature is alright with me. I, too, believe Tina Delgado is alive!

Wink

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