VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

Bish

Help me Obi-Wan(s)

I keep bouncing back and forth between two mics to the point where I can't differentiate. I'm in the middle of reconfiguring (faffing around with) my recording environment and set them up to record L & R and then split the file. Both are fed directly into channels on a Mackie 1202-VLZ3 with no treatment. The recordings are a little lower than I would normally use... the only thing I can say with any certainty is that mic 2 is a tad noisier (silence at the end).

Mic 1
Mic 2

Any input gratefully received
Cheers
Peter
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Bish a.k.a. Bish
Smoke me a kipper... I'll be back for breakfast.
I will not feed the trolls... I will not feed the trolls... I will not feed the trolls... I will not feed the trolls.

Mike Sommer · Posted: Fri May 06, 2011 3:53 pm Post subject:

What I'm hearing is a lot of room resonance and some ringing. So, you're going to have a hard time picking one mic over another.

Mic 2 is noisier and is covering up some of the ambient background noise.

If you can treat the room better and reduce the ambient noise you might find that Mic 1 may be the winner of the two.
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georgethetech · Posted: Fri May 06, 2011 5:00 pm Post subject:

Mic 2 is a dynamic mic, right?
I would choose Mic 1, but there is some early reflection comb filtering the sound. Watch out for nearby windows, desk tops, or doors.
Mic 2 is more directional so it avoids the issue, but I don't like the increased noise floor.
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Bish · Posted: Fri May 06, 2011 8:24 pm Post subject:

Thanks for the input guys. The recording space is a work in progress in my office area. I'm recording facing a hutch made of pegboard covered with pyramid foam. This is off the wall by a couple of inches. The only thing in front of me (atop the desk) is a carpeted music stand. Behind and to the side, I now have moving blankets to cut down some reflections, putting me in a 6 x 4 area. However, the floor is not fully covered (hard vinyl tile) and I have nothing above me except the suspended ceiling. I suspect those two areas need some drastic surgery!

The mics...
Mic 1 - MXL V88
Mic 2 - MXL V69me with a Mullard tube replacing the original MXL unit.

I keep favouring the V88 despite the fact that the V69 design/spec keeps telling me that it should be a better mic. The V88's compact robustness just makes me think it's more "workmanlike".

Again, thanks for the input.

Cheers
Peter
_________________
Bish a.k.a. Bish
Smoke me a kipper... I'll be back for breakfast.
I will not feed the trolls... I will not feed the trolls... I will not feed the trolls... I will not feed the trolls.

Mike Sommer · Posted: Fri May 06, 2011 11:09 pm Post subject:

My best advice is to get away from that hutch. Get away from desks and walls. You're coloring your files with resonance, and echo. Foam does very little, especially the no name stuff.

Move to the center of the room and make a moving blanket tent. That's you best bet for now.
_________________
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.

Philip Banks · Posted: Sun May 08, 2011 10:09 am Post subject:

..oh and stop A/B testing sh*t mics Laugh

Jacob Ekstroem · Posted: Sun May 08, 2011 1:28 pm Post subject:

I'm late to the game, but in a better environment Mic 2 sounds like the winner to me. I'm surprised to hear the V69 be so noisy, it's much noisier than my CAD which I ditched for VO because of noise.
Everything the others have said about your recording space is on the money. One other thing, I hear your computer aswell during pauses, at the end (the silent part) I even hear the harddrive working (sounds like a Maxtor drive - am I right?) Do a read-up on silencing your pc if you need to be in the same room with it.

But I really like your voice!
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Jacob - Danish Voice Overs (try it... it sounds really funny, too!)

Bish · Posted: Sun May 08, 2011 3:48 pm Post subject:

Sorry Jacob, no Maxtors in the house... unfortunately it's two Seagates, one WD and a Samsung... a fully populated MacPro Gasp

I have two issues here... the comments regarding my environment are well noted and I am working towards some major changes. Among other things, a cloud, removal of the hutch and some 703 are planned. The second issue is the hardware in the room. I have tried to silence it (without causing overheating problems), but 4xHDD & 6xfans just want to sing quietly in the background. Initially I was in an impossible position because of a four-drive Drobo in the office as well. Fortunately, I was able to move this to another space by punching through a wall and relocating it to a void... which silenced it completely. The Mac is destined for the same space.
_________________
Bish a.k.a. Bish
Smoke me a kipper... I'll be back for breakfast.
I will not feed the trolls... I will not feed the trolls... I will not feed the trolls... I will not feed the trolls.