Dear Master VO,
I'm a British actor, and have been doing voiceover work on and off and am now taking the plunge into setting up my own mini home studio. I've been researching on your great posts and via other sites the type of mic to go for and am wavering between the Samson C01U or the C03U. A review I read said that the '3' is best for multi-instruments and that the C01U is great just for the voice. Am I right in thinking I'm not losing out as a voice artist in any other way by buying the earlier model and can happily go for the C01U without fear of missing later techno improvements?

Just thought I'd best check these things before making the purchase. Your help would be great - thankyou! :O)

Greetings and Salutations Ian!

Thank you for your compliments.

OK, the CO1U....."As time, keeps flowing like a river, to the sea," as
Alan Parsons once put it, Master VO's philosophy evolves with the
changing technology in our industry.

5 years ago, the CO1U was a great leap forward for beginners to start
learning the use of digital audio creation and editing software,
without breaking the bank. The CO1U was surpassed by its next
competitor, Blue's "Snowball," and then over time, every microphone
manufacturer entered the marketplace with a USB microphone. Another
development was USB adapter modules for ANY Microphone, most notably
the CEntrance Mic Port Pro, which is VERY easy to use, Blues, "Icicle"
and Marshall's "Mike Mate." The Mic Port is truly amazing!

There's one major drawback to these mics though. They are notorious for
introducing background "white noise" because of the difficulty in
getting enough input volume from some less than perfect digital
converters. The Mic Port Pro has great digital converters and totally
eliminates that problem!

I'm now recommending that people can start off with a CO1U or CO3U, the
Snowball or one of Marshall's USB models if dollars or pounds is your
top criteria for selection. If not, go through any of the retailers
catalogs and see the price ranges of the other more expensive USB
condenser mics, like the Shure, or the SE Electronics models. They are
an improvement.

OR...

Buy a good $200 condenser, like say Harlan Hogan's VO: 1-A, which is
excellent for voice over (too many others to mention) and get a Mic
Port Pro, which is $150 US, and you'll be set for some time with a
simple set-up of a quality mic and digital interface that will work as
well as anything else.

You can spend a fortune on mics and complex digital interfaces, but
today, it really isn't necessary, because you can get competitive sound
from these more budget oriented models and simple set-ups. its your
wallet and its your sound. the choice is yours.

Master Vo.... out ((((GONG)))))

Greetings Grasshoppers!

I'm constantly astounded with the e-mails I get from home studio consultation clients. Most are pretty simple and involve a misplaced mouse click in a preference menu. "My mic won't work," "My levels are too low," "Why does my sound, sound distorted?"

I learned the art of troubleshooting from my, yes, 9th grade Power Mechanics teacher, Mr. Sohmann. A classic, brush cut and bow tie kind of a guy who was a true "teacher" in every sense of the word. He must have caught my 15 year old self's usually lacking attention. Those lessons learned in process checklists on how a lawn mower works and can malfunction apply across several technical disciplines. I see his face every time I'm faced with a troubleshooting question.

Those of you who are familiar with computer programming know what an algorithm is. "This- then this- if this- this -if not- this," is the essence of an algorithm. If something in a chain of events does not work properly, the chain ends there and the end function does not occur as expected, or at all.

Troubleshooting is an algorithm. In Mr. Sohmann's example, a lawn mower or any internal combustion engine, you need three things for the motor to fire up and do its "work." Fuel, air, and spark. If the motor won't run, you go through that checklist. Do you have gas? Is it flowing to the carburetor? If yes fine. If not, why not? Fix the "why not." Do you have air? Is the throttle working? Is the air filter clogged? If no problem there, check the spark plug...etc. etc...and down the line until you find the missing or malfunctioning link in the chain.

In a home voice over studio, the same logic applies. What does your computer need to record that audio? Your voice, a microphone, a cable to take the microphones analog signal to a digital interface, which converts the analog audio signal to the bits and bytes your computer and software understand, and can use to magnetically imprint on your hard drive. Each device has a function and has its own algorithm to function. Knowing those individual functions, without necessarily knowing how that function works, only that it does or does not work, is usually enough to go through the checklist and find your problem. Having been around sound processing equipment my entire life, the checklists are ingrained in my mind. If you really have no idea how your voice gets from your vocal chords to the hard drive, you call me.

When I got this e-mail from my client "Jim," it was so unusual, you would think that this logic would be thrown out of kilter. You have to hear and see this in a waveform in order to really get an idea of what I was presented.

Hello Master VO,

I closed the closet door so nothing was inside but the mic and stand and recorded about 10 seconds. I then normalized it so you can really hear the demon that has possessed the thing. The click in the background was my wife locking me up so disregard that part. Please, help. Any suggestions as to what might be causing this?

Listen for yourself....

Noise Problems.mp3

The algorithm still applies though.... I solve it by asking questions...I had a hunch based on prior knowledge of something. My line of questioning proved my thesis.

Hi Jim,

You screwing around with me? I'm not a doctor (But I've played one on TV) and that sounds like Atrial Fibrillation.

Have you had any power surges lately? Sometimes the electronics can be zapped by that and screw things up. (MY HUNCH) There's only one way to find out. You have to use something else to track down the source. For instance, what are you using for a Digital interface, a Mic Port Pro or is the Microphone a USB mic? You have to have a an alternate input device to see if its the mic, the D/I, or your just really excited when you get in the room.

What are you using? I can make a suggestion when you tell me.

:-3)

Oh Master VO,

I'm using an M-Audio Mobile Pre.

Hi Jim,
You're using a Mobile Pre USB. Guess what? I think it's fried. How do I know? A few years back, after a big ice storm and lots of power surges in our neighborhood, my M-Audio MobilePre did something similar and started sending "Snaps" into the audio. I replaced it and away went the problem. I used it a few weeks ago for something and its still doing it. How long have you had it? It may be a design flaw.

That said, It may be time to get yourself a CEntrance Mic Port Pro or something I just started using, an Apogee ONE. The Mic Port works great for $150. Really!

I'm 99% sure that's it.
:-3)

Dear Master VO,

Thanks for the advice and trouble-shooting. Strange, you diagnose the same way most Southern California Doctors do - except for the plastic surgery suggestions.
I ordered the CEntrance Mic Port Pro you suggested so now you'll have that on your conscience. I also tried plugging the mic into the #2 port on the Mobile Pre and all the blips went away. Proves once again, how on target your diagnoses are. I'll have that to use until the new one arrives and as a back-up if the new one fails.

Jim

Needless to say, I'm still buzzing over that one. Unlike the beliefs of some, there are no "demons" in electronic equipment. Everything has a logical explanation, except perhaps Michael Jackson and his odyssey.

Master VO out (((((GONG)))))

Dear Master,

I'm not an engineer, but I could portray one in a radio play!

Dan Deslaurier

Hello Dan and a Very Happy 2010! This will be the best year ever in the voice biz!

Noise huh?

Well, giving a listen to your demo I can clearly hear the background hiss. What causes that "White Noise?"

These old ears can tell the difference between the background hissing of a fan or furnace. Those sounds are of a lower frequency. This is electronically induced. Its a function of too much gain from the Mackie. I'll venture one step further and take a guess, (As you have not provided this information) that you are routing the mixer's output directly to the "Line-in" or "Mic-In," and that you are not using a digital interface. That'll do it. While the pre-amps in the MicroSeries 1202-VLZ are reported to be very good, they are good for "Live Performance" and not recording mono-channel voice. Mackie makes great band stuff. Fairly heavy duty and functional, FOR BANDS!

I see this over and over. The equipment we use is designed primarily for making music. Unless you're recording The Dave Matthews Band's latest CD, you only need to record with one channel. So whats the deal with the other 11 channels the1202-VLZ provides you? Are you mixing music live under your voice? I don't think so, or at least you shouldn't be. One thing at a time.

First, as I said, you should be using a digital interface to input the audio into your computer and recording software. A CEntrance Mic-Port Pro or Apogee ONE is a simple, one channel, USB digital interface that takes direct mic input and converts it to the bit and bytes that your computer recognizes as audio. Otherwise, your computer is doing the conversion through the "in's," and its own sound card, and, it basically sucks at it.

The digital converters in these little devices are fantastic and reduce the length of your audio chain. Remember, the more analog devices you have in your chain (You should only have one. Your mic) the more "white noise" introduced.

We discussed the use of mixers in an entry exactly a year ago, entitled "Mix It Up" where I poo-pooe'd the use of mixers for voice work. You're not running a multi-track recording studio. You're laying down mono voice tracks. Aside from perhaps controlling your mic's level, which DI's also do, and some routing that you might require for a phone patch, an analog mixer is really not needed for the type of work most of us do.

The Electro-Voice RE-20, a classic, dynamic broadcasters microphone may not be the best choice for "Voice over" or narration. Lots of guys use them, but they require techniques that are not optimum for what we all do. Best to use a studio condenser mic for that.

This confusion over what to use is common and I think people need to do more research on Home Voice Over Studio techniques and equipment instead of asking the guy behind the counter at your audio retail store.

Try those DI's and see if that doesn't make a difference.

The only "white Noise" I want to hear right now is the sound of falling snow.

Good luck Dan!

Master VO out! (((((GONG)))))