VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

derlor · Joined: 05 Sep 2008 Posts: 20 Location: Los Angeles, CA

Hi, everybody.

I've been reading the boards looking for recommendations on lower-end priced mics to use for "on the road" VO auditions and/or jobs that don't call for high-end studio gear.

Firstly, WHERE can I go (in the L.A. area) to try out some mics? I went to Guitar Center and had to endure a "this isn't a sales pitch" pitch. The sales guy recommended the Sterling Audio ST55 or MXL 990USB.

There seems to be a half-dozen or so recommendations on lower-priced but still decent sounding mics here on this Board selling for $100-$200... Samson C01, audio technica 2020, shure sm58, MXL USB. Yeah... still not sure if I want to go the USB route or spend a bit more and do an XLR mic to an Mbox Mini or CEEntrance MicPort Pro.

I like the idea of something like the Samson "podcast" pack as it comes with a mic, shockmount, mic stand, etc. I'll be shlepping my MBP and audio gear between home and my work (where we have a fully padded sound room to test film camera "noise") so the lighter, the better.

thanks for letting me blab.

- Loren

Jowillie · Posted: Thu Oct 09, 2008 7:17 pm Post subject:

Only your ears and a set of headphones (to get around those lousy laptop speakers) will tell for sure. There are some really great places that feature a variety of mics in the LA area. Maybe others on the forum with good experience can refer some.
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melissa eX · Posted: Thu Oct 09, 2008 8:30 pm Post subject:

I don't really know LA so can't advise you there but when you DO find a place one mic you may want to put on your list to check out is the AKG Perception 120. It was recommended to me by a pro audio place in NYC when I told them I was looking for an inexpensive but good mic to travel with. They prefaced the recommendation by saying "we usually don't deal with mic's in this price range but it sounds really good" It costs $99. And for the price it sounds really good. I put it through a MicPort Pro and my clients said it sounded fine.

Just something to check out.

paddyo · CM Joined: 12 Jul 2006 Posts: 975 Location: New York City

Melissa,

Where in NYC did you go to test out mics? I'm planning on doing it soon.

Paddyo
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melissa eX · Posted: Thu Oct 09, 2008 9:04 pm Post subject:

Dale Pro Audio - 19th bet. 5th & 6th. They'll set you up to test a bunch of mics. They're really good - personal attention - I've been getting stuff from them for years. You'll never go back to the regular consumer stores again.

They keep regular business hours. M-F only.

http://www.daleproaudio.com/

Lance Blair · M&M Joined: 03 Jun 2007 Posts: 2281 Location: Atlanta

MicPort Pro & and a Perception (they're fine on female voices) or an AT2020.
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derlor · Joined: 05 Sep 2008 Posts: 20 Location: Los Angeles, CA

I went to Sam Ash tonight. They had the Perception, the Samson C10U, and MXL v67G.

@Lance... I've seen your post about the Perception and how it sounds better with a female voice than a male voice. As I'm a guy, and Sam Ash only had the Perception boxed and would not open it for me to try, I tried the Samson's XLR version and the MXL.

I listened to both through speakers as well as through headphones and the Samson had a lot more depth in the mids and highs than with the MXL. The MXL was very "full" in the lows. On the recommendation of the guy that helped me, I went with the $99 Samson USB C10U.

I'm going to continue researching before I open the box. But for the little time I tried it out, the Samson seemed like a fairly capable mic.

asnively · Posted: Thu Oct 09, 2008 10:23 pm Post subject:

I have a Perception 200, and I really like it! In fact, just used it for an ISDN session, and the engineer at the other studio was very pleased!

PS: I'm a girl.
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Lance Blair · M&M Joined: 03 Jun 2007 Posts: 2281 Location: Atlanta

My apologies, Loren.

Good luck. I have the v67g as my backup/travel mic, and it's actually a really good mic for the money (especially for male voices!), but really pulls away from the competition with a good preamp. In other words, the v67g often sounds better with a good pre than its pricepoint competitors do through the same preamp.
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Bill Campbell · DC Joined: 09 Mar 2007 Posts: 621

I own and use two Samson C03U mics. They sound very good and have been reliable. A friend owns the CO1U, and while it sounds good, the C03U is a little bit fuller and more detailed. The C03U has a high pass filter on it - very useful on the road.

My female partner and I do Toyota spots that air all over the place.
We had to do about a dozen from a hotel room in Barbados last month.
(tough job, I know)

For recording on the road, I reccomend a shock mount, learn to use the expander in your editing software. and utilize the four flimsy pillows in your hotel room for sound dampening.

If Sammy has a C03U, I'd get that one. Worth a few extra bucks. It'll sound great in your home studio, too.
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Tom Test · DC Joined: 23 Jan 2007 Posts: 629 Location: Chicago, IL

I have a Samson USB mic as well, and was surprised at how good it sounded. But I have to say, I love, love, LOVE my AKG 200 Perception. For my voice at least, it's the best mic I've heard for under $500, maybe even for under a grand. I think it's OOP now, but you can try eBay.

(If you go to http://tomtest.voices.com/ and listen to my Political demo, that will give you an idea of my sound through the AKG 200. I know for sure that the 1st spot and the last cut were from the AKG, and most of the rest was.)

So I say the the AKG Perception 120 may well be worth checking out. Oh yeah, I'm a guy too!
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derlor · Joined: 05 Sep 2008 Posts: 20 Location: Los Angeles, CA

Thank you to everyone's suggestions. Sam Ash has some kind of "no return" policy on mics so it looks like my first mic was/is/will be the CO1U. I didn't know that the included Cakewalk software is PC only and that Samson's "preamp" software does not work with Leopard.

It's too bad that I never got to find a place to try out more mics. But this is going to be an audition mic and if I can do some smaller jobs with it, than great.

BTW, I'm not familiar with audio sweetening, i.e. compression, etc. Are there web sites with good information? Any programs you recommend to do basic audio production and tweaking? I've got Garage Band on my Mac but have not yet explored what it can do.

- Loren

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

I never downloaded Samson's preamp software. You don't need it.
I plugged mine in, Windows recognized the device, and off I went.

Sorry to hear your using a Mac. My first computer was a Mac and then I moved up to a PC. Not familiar with their software.

Sweetening audio requires some experience and skill and the best way to learn is through experimentation. Garage Band probably has a discussion forum. Go there to learn some basics.

If you're just doing voice-over work, you don't need to sweeten the audio, just good mic technique and ....a good "performance"..
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Jowillie · Posted: Mon Oct 13, 2008 6:04 pm Post subject:

Lance Blair · M&M Joined: 03 Jun 2007 Posts: 2281 Location: Atlanta

I believe Bill meant that the PC was kept on a taller desk. Right? Inoccent

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