VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

[Hestoft]

To celebrate the near completion of my studio (Thanks again Mike Sommer!!!), I wanted to offer up a shootout in my new acoustics. Thanks to Mike's tireless help and unending patience, I have gotten my ringing and reverberations down to acceptable levels and am just awaiting delivery of four more RealTraps Bare Traps for my back wall. It is kind of amazing how much bass trapping you need in an 8' x 12' studio, especially if you construct it WITHOUT checking in with Sir Mike first and make TONS of newbie mistakes!

Anyway, I thought it might be interesting to test my current mics with my current preamps and perhaps expose the community to gear they may not have previously been familiar with. Naturally, I would appreciate hearing from any and all as to which combination they prefer with my voice.

I have the following mics in the test: Sennheiser MKH 416T, Gefell M930 and Gefell UM70s. The preamps are: Great River ME1-NV, John Hardy Jensen Twin Servo, SPL Channel One with Lindhal input and output transformers and a Bees Neez Para 1 tube preamp.

I thought it might be fun to "blind" the preamps, especially since folks around here may not have have heard of them, other than the Great River. So I have grouped the files by microphone, with four cuts of the same copy in each file, one for each preamp and preamps are in the same order in the three files. After a bit, I will "unblind" the preamps and we can see if there are any surprises or if the venerable Great River will triumph over all.

The files are as follows:

Gefell UM70s: http://db.tt/2hsGSL

Gefell M930: http://db.tt/msQCLk

Sennheiser MKH 416T: http://db.tt/RNccC6

Happy listening and thanks in advance for any and all comments!
_________________
Ralf-Finn Hestoft
The Great Dane

[Mike Sommer]

The room sounds much better.

Now you just need to work on the acting, breath control, and enunciation (the enunciation should improve with the breath control) and you'll have a total package.
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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.

[Lance Blair]

Okay, let's see how wrong I can be.

The 416 files all sound the same because of how that narrow but long throw is still a touch tubby. The MGs sound better to my taste. That's still a good sound for the 416, though.

Preamp 1: distorted and some buzz, unlike the others. So I'll guess it's the SPL not quite set optimally.

Preamp 2: A little flabby, relative to the others, but nice...could be the settings again since there are many variations. Beez Neez.

So much for the Tube Preamps, how about the SS???

Preamp 3: Great River a bit forward sounding. Too much low end. Sometimes a GR can sound so big it gets in its own way. Depends on the settings.

Preamp 4: Mr. Hardy's Dandy Pre. Cleanest and most defined.

I fully expect to be wrong on all counts and opinions.

Final Verdict: You have a sweet gear set up with lots of options.
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Skype: globalvoiceover
and now, http://lanceblairvo.com the blog is there now too!

[Hestoft]

Mike,

I am glad that you think the room is sounding better. It is all thanks to you! I also know I have a ways to go in the acting department, but wanted to get the room fixed and gear chosen before I started in earnest.

Lance, thanks for the detailed observations. I will wait a bit to let others have a go before revealing the pre's. However, I was wondering if you had any favorite pairings that you felt work particularly well for my voice (assuming, of course, that my skills will gradually improve). I am also wondering if it is worth keeping the 416. I can't figure out if it just doesn't like my voice or room, or if I just need to spend some more time re-positioning it and doing more tests.
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Ralf-Finn Hestoft
The Great Dane

[Lance Blair]

I like the UM70 with preamp 4 the best. 3 is a close second.

I'm very biased against the MKH 416, (used to own one) so my opinion should be taken with a heap of salt. I think its a decent but not great shotgun mic on its own right (outside of VO) so it seems to be used just as part of a greater consensus than rather its quality...the consensus is correctly based on Bang-for Buck, availability, and its "flat but cuts through a mix" quality. The MKH 60 and 50 are better VO mics (and mics in general) to me.
_________________
Skype: globalvoiceover
and now, http://lanceblairvo.com the blog is there now too!

[Rob Ellis]

I like the UM70 best

[Hestoft]

Rob,

I guess it was a good buy then javascript:emoticon('')

Thanks again!
_________________
Ralf-Finn Hestoft
The Great Dane

[Lance Blair]

Which preamp was which ?
_________________
Skype: globalvoiceover
and now, http://lanceblairvo.com the blog is there now too!

[Hestoft]

Lance, I have to hand the "golden ears" award to you!

1) Bees Neez Para 1 in "Warm Modern" mode

2) SPL Channel One with Lundhal input and output transformers

3) Great River Me-1Nv with Loading on (probably the cause of the excessive bass)

4) John Hardy Jensen Twin Servo
_________________
Ralf-Finn Hestoft
The Great Dane

[Lance Blair]

Wow. Thanks for the award!

Lately I've been convinced "mics matter more than preamps". They do, but boy do preamps color the sound.
_________________
Skype: globalvoiceover
and now, http://lanceblairvo.com the blog is there now too!

[Rob Ellis]

Lately I'm having more and more days where I like my M930 straight into the Apogee Duet or Mackie 1202 instead of my high-$$$$ Avalon 737....at times the Duet and/or Mackie seem truer and more present, and believe it or not, bigger