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Neil K. Hess Contributore Level V

Joined: 13 Dec 2012 Posts: 184 Location: Washington State
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Posted: Wed Jun 28, 2017 1:54 am Post subject: DAW question |
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So, I have had a few different people recommend Pro tools and Audition for VO. I have been using reaper for years and I really like it, but (to this novice) it sounds like there may be more "automatic" sibiliance and plosive management effects and plugins that these other DAWs have to minimize manual editing. I was wondering what your guys thoughts were on this and if the automated audio improvements were worth the monthly fees in comparison to (What I see as...) a bargain in Reaper.
Obviously plosives and sibilance need to be minimized at the source (Ie the actor, first), but all things being equal, what would you say does the best job from an AUTOMATED standpoint to help with common VO issues like these and is it worth the price tag for their respective subscriptions?
Thoughts? _________________ http://neilkhessvo.com |
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VoxVirtus Contributor
Joined: 16 May 2017 Posts: 25 Location: Monterey, CA
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Posted: Wed Jun 28, 2017 7:23 pm Post subject: |
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I'll just sit right here next to you and wait for the wise council. |
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Bish 3.5 kHz

Joined: 22 Nov 2009 Posts: 3738 Location: Lost in the cultural wasteland of Long Island
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Posted: Wed Jun 28, 2017 8:41 pm Post subject: |
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My $0.02... Pro Tools is far too heavyweight for VO. Buying it for VO is total overkill. However, if you have had experience with it in music production (or whatever) you will have learned how to use what it offers and it will (justifiably) be your tool of choice. You don't need a Maserati to go to the shops... but if you already have a Maserati... it's a nice way to go shopping.
I use Adobe Audition. I subscribe to the CC version as I use a lot of Adobe stuff anyway. For straight VO, it is overkill if you aren't going to produce multi-track projects. The multi-tracking is nice, but I only use it once in a while... and I admittedly like playing around with audio production for fun.
If you are looking at having the use of good plug-ins, you don't have to go that far upmarket on the DAW to have third-party ones available. iZotope offer a good suite of tools that seem to meet VO needs well. You didn't say Mac or PC... but from the Mac standpoint, I'd say use Twisted Wave and if you want more than the (free) AU plug-ins, buy iZotope to go with it.
I like plug-ins... I have a few set up on hot keys where I can do some tweaking. Just a bit of ultra-mild compression, a hint of de-essing, and some de-crakling maybe if I've got a noisy mouth that day. I do NOT use any form of automated noise reduction or de-breathing. Adaptive noise reduction can work quite well, but I tend to not even think about it... the same with de-breathing... the algorithms are not perfect and it will destroy some syllables (s & f are particularly vulnerable). In my opinion, automated breath reduction is not ready for prime-time yet.
I thought Reaper used VST plug-ins? If it does, stick to the software you are happy with and investigate iZotope or something. There are loads of others out there for free if you want to look at the world of VST plug-ins.
Sibilance and plosives... technique is a better solution... but I feel you pain. A simple parametric (or 20/30 band) EQ should calm that a little once you've honed in on your troublesome sibilant frequency. I've never found a plug-in that would deal with plosives properly... you'd be better off using a pencil as a wind-break (better than a pop-filter) until you can fix that with technique.
Sorry... no magic pills  _________________ 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. |
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Lance Blair M&M

Joined: 03 Jun 2007 Posts: 2281 Location: Atlanta
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Eddie Eagle M&M
Joined: 23 Apr 2008 Posts: 2393
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Posted: Thu Jun 29, 2017 2:51 pm Post subject: |
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I use Audition 3.0 (I won the full version at the first Faffcon in Portland) and don't like the idea of paying monthly for CC when I can own the software. I also use Sound Forge Audio Studio 10. Relatively inexpensive and both do everything I need and accept VSTs. I also use Sony Vegas 6 or Movie Studio 14 to do any video editing these days. Once again I own them.
You can write your own scripts for plugins on Audition for VST processing. I have a few hotkeys for compression, mastering, EQ and gating. I typically only use the compression and mastering at any given time though as my preamp has an eq and hpf. My mic has a hpf and -10pad too.
Budget wise. Own whatever software you use. |
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Lee Gordon A Zillion

Joined: 25 Jul 2008 Posts: 6864 Location: West Hartford, CT
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Posted: Fri Jun 30, 2017 8:56 am Post subject: |
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Eddie Eagle wrote: | don't like the idea of paying monthly for CC when I can own the software. |
+1
I pay my cable bill monthly because I continue to get new TV shows to watch. I pay my electric bill monthly because they continue to supply me with electricity. The only reason I can think of to pay Adobe monthly is to enrich Adobe. No need for that. _________________ Lee Gordon, O.A.V.
Voice President of the United States
www.leegordonproductions.com
Twitter: @LeeGordonVoice
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todd ellis A Zillion

Joined: 02 Jan 2007 Posts: 10529 Location: little egypt
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Posted: Fri Jun 30, 2017 1:27 pm Post subject: |
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i'm also on the last non-ongoing-payment version od audition, and it's working just fine for me, thankyouverymuch. _________________ "i know philip banks": todd ellis
who's/on/1st?
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VoxVirtus Contributor
Joined: 16 May 2017 Posts: 25 Location: Monterey, CA
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Posted: Sun Jul 02, 2017 10:08 pm Post subject: Re: DAW question |
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Neil K. Hess wrote: | So, I have had a few different people recommend Pro tools and Audition for VO. I have been using reaper for years and I really like it, but (to this novice) it sounds like there may be more "automatic" sibiliance and plosive management effects and plugins that these other DAWs have to minimize manual editing. I was wondering what your guys thoughts were on this and if the automated audio improvements were worth the monthly fees in comparison to (What I see as...) a bargain in Reaper.
Obviously plosives and sibilance need to be minimized at the source (Ie the actor, first), but all things being equal, what would you say does the best job from an AUTOMATED standpoint to help with common VO issues like these and is it worth the price tag for their respective subscriptions?
Thoughts? |
Regarding sibilance (my handicap too), I tried a little freebie Plugin for Reaper called Spitfish. It's a bit tricky, and am not sure I maximized its potential. There are a few YouTube tutorials with it. Overall, I'd think once you can identify the HZ window your sibilance strikes (on whichever mic you're using, of course) it'll be easier to then just drop a very narrow EQ curve. Have I successfully done this? No. But after 30mins of trying, I got convincingly close.  |
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