VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

Benjamin Stovall · Posted: Wed Jul 31, 2013 10:04 am Post subject:

I know that it's a simple truth to say, “If it sounds good, it is good.”

But, what about when it sounds good, but it isn’t good? Has that ever happened?

Well, yes. It has. To me. Let me explain:

While happily churning out VO material for varied sources in the past, there was a point at which, before I got my Whisper Room, I landed a gig for a large corporation. I didn’t have ISDN which is what they wanted, so I set up a Skype phone patch which was settled for. All went well, and I prepared the files to be sent.

I was shocked to soon after learn that my files were considered noisy by their standards. I listened to them closely as I always did, with good studio headphones and it sounded good – to me. What I didn’t realize back then, was that they were mixing this together for a spot that had very quiet moments, and others with loud music and effects. So, what they did was compress the heck out of it, to cut through the mix, which in the quiet spots revealed the true nature of my recording space.

I didn’t give a rats hinder parts about knowing my noise floor level until that moment. It’s also why I continue my quest to get my environment as quiet as possible. Sometimes that means actually measuring things with equipment not just my ears.

There are a lot of people that record with a “quiet computer” in the same room and that works just fine for them for what the audio will be used for. But, if for whatever reason a lot of compression, etc. is ever aggressively applied to it, guess what will be heard?

As George rightly pointed out, even a noisy room can measure well, though, so really, I find it’s been helpful to eliminate noise at every level: equipment, external, plugins, etc., not just rely solely on what the numbers may say. However, not knowing where I was at has caused me some embarrassment in the past that won’t be repeated.
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Ben Stovall Voiceover
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"When you're nearing the end of your rope, tie a knot. Keep on hanging. Keep on remembering, that there ain't nobody bad like you." -- The Electrifying Mojo

Scolaidhe · Guest

This is why I don't record to my computer. My computer is in my space, but always off. I use a TASCAM SS-R100, recording to a CF card. Not only does it eliminate the possibility of computer noise, it also makes the space "feel" quieter.

vkuehn · Posted: Wed Jul 31, 2013 11:47 am Post subject:

Ed Fisher · Posted: Wed Jul 31, 2013 1:57 pm Post subject:

[quote="vkuehn"]

Monk · Posted: Wed Jul 31, 2013 3:45 pm Post subject:

Ok, just to join the fray.

My RadioShack Db meter, C weighted scale and A weighted scale had no reading at 60 db.

so I used an iPhone a Hobo Tounge

, and that said that my peak sound was 40Db with an average of 35Db.

Thats with all the gear running, from the microphone position.

Good? bad?
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Company, villainous company, hath been the spoil of me...

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Pam · Posted: Wed Jul 31, 2013 5:06 pm Post subject:

Ok I'll play because this is something that has been driving me nuts recently. Please be kind as I'm not a techie at all. My signal chain is mic-dbx286-mboxpro-macmini. I seem to have developed a noise floor problem that I don't know what to do with. Lots of crap below -120 that I can roll off but there is also garbage throughout the file. So I tried the same script without the dbx and while it's much lower in volume, it looks WAY cleaner. Could it be that my dbx has gone bad? Do I even need a dbx? I tried to post the images and the audio files on here but apparently this is above my pay grade. If someone can help me understand how to do that, maybe this conversation can get off the ground! Some days I get so tired of learning how to do EVERYTHING!

Any help in understanding this would really be appreciated.
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Pam Tierney
www.pamtierneyvo.com
imdb profile http://imdb.com/name/nm1941932/

Now what did I come in here for?

Ed Fisher · Posted: Wed Jul 31, 2013 5:41 pm Post subject:

vkuehn · Posted: Wed Jul 31, 2013 5:42 pm Post subject:

Scolaidhe · Guest

Ed Fisher · Posted: Wed Jul 31, 2013 6:25 pm Post subject:

If someone wants to know their noise floor, why not use the very thing by which others will judge you.

Your sound file.

Almost every audio editing program that I know of has a built in VU meter. Record yourself with some pregnant pauses in-between your words. Then you can see what your noise floor is...comparable to your peak levels. Ideally you should be recording as HOT as possible without peaking to get the most out of all of those little 0s and 1s.

Bob Stevens · Posted: Wed Jul 31, 2013 6:45 pm Post subject:

Hey Pam,

I cannot speak about your 286. I have never used one.

What I would do is post a new topic in Gear about your issue. I think a clean topic will attract some 286 users that may have already abandoned this floor thing.

Bob
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"Dialog is the painting on a canvas of silence"

Pam · Posted: Thu Aug 01, 2013 9:19 am Post subject:

Great idea Bob. I think I will. But to round out my issue here, I have everything turned off and the process bypassed but there is still a problem. I have the gain at +32 and the output at +4. I think I'm taking this thing offline and just turning the gain up on my mbox.
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Pam Tierney
www.pamtierneyvo.com
imdb profile http://imdb.com/name/nm1941932/

Now what did I come in here for?

Jason Huggins · Posted: Thu Aug 01, 2013 9:36 am Post subject:

There may be an issue. My 286a is always set around 30ish, all processing bypassed (which bypasses the output gain stage as well) and the hi pass on. I get almost identical noise with or without the 286a. If there is significant noise, that doesn't seem normal. In the other thread (providing you start one) post a with and without audio file for fun Smile

Benjamin Stovall · Posted: Thu Aug 01, 2013 5:25 pm Post subject:

Pam wrote: