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Post by spearcarrier on Aug 9, 2017 1:15:55 GMT -8
Which can be a strength and a weakness. cbdroege already pointed out one of the issues with going this route: Your RF rejection depends entirely on the quality of the components you put in your signal chain. One bad cable is enough to ruin the ride. The other weakness is that once you have this box plugged into your computer that can talk to practically ANY microphone out there, it's very very easy to fall into the trap of becoming a microphone hoarder. (See? You're already wishing you could get your old mic back! Here there be dragons!) Oh sweet gods, if I'm already becoming a hoarder without even having an interface I can't imagine if and when I get one! (But you have to admit, having those extra mics have to be handy if you're traveling or if something happens to one of them.) Kamran, pretty awesome you got to do something for Disney. The closest I've ever come to that was some flatting work for Boom Comics. I thought about getting a VoxGuard when I was looking at my setup, but ultimately I chose to go with a curtain arrangement from soundboothstogo.com. I was also reading an article the other day talking about how, with today's technology, you want to make sure you're recording in an environment that has a lot of stuff in it. It recommended couches and other items. My office is pretty full up, so I've got that covered. And I can tell a difference from just last year's quality - got complimented the other day on an audition's quality which made me beam. LOL We just hung another curtain (folded) on the wall behind my desk, though, to act as a semi-boom trap. I mean, you never know. I've been using Audacity and Adobe Audition for recording. I've actually discovered that Audition is good for some things, but Audacity is better for others so I tend to have hybrid-created files. When it comes to post work I tend to stick with noise removal - which I have to be less aggressive with these days woo hoo!! - normalization and hard limiting. I used to try to do more than that, but I've found I tend to hurt the sound of the file itself when I do that. I'm just not good at it. I know I'll get better with practice, but in the meantime.... I've also gotten mixed messages from people I've recorded for. I've been told frequently don't touch the file except for noise removal, so I've gotten into the habit of delivering things raw. This apparently has had a negative effect on my last performance, as my vocals were not compressed when the audio was put together. So I've been pondering how to approach the issue. I do like the idea of getting to the point where I'd need a more high end microphone, but right now I'm happy with learning the trade and getting the occasional role. I'd love a voice role in something like Elysian Fields! Oh to play a completely insane villain!!! But one thing at a time. But to get back on topic, would any of the other USB mics mentioned be an improvement over the Yeti? Obviously I'm not going to buy one right away. It just helps to have a mental graph built in my head of where things stand for when the time comes.
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Post by Lady Stardust ★ on Aug 15, 2017 0:57:39 GMT -8
I've also gotten mixed messages from people I've recorded for. I've been told frequently don't touch the file except for noise removal, so I've gotten into the habit of delivering things raw. This apparently has had a negative effect on my last performance, as my vocals were not compressed when the audio was put together. So I've been pondering how to approach the issue. If you suspect it may be an issue, you can always ask if they prefer you send them "finished" files or whether they'd rather do it themselves. I think it's something a lot of producers don't really think about unless they are also audio engineers or otherwise experienced in audio editing. I personally don't use compression when I turn in files as I don't really know how to do it properly and don't want to end up making the audio inadvertently sound worse, but I ALWAYS do basic noise reduction and normalize (or at least make sure the audio is at a decent volume, not too loud or quiet). I use a noise gate as well just to get out all the extra breaths and what not but that's just kind of an optional thing that I found was a nice shortcut making my editing work easier. The only time I would ever turn in a file with all the background noise still in is if they specifically request it (once in a while you will find someone who is experienced in audio and wants to do the noise reduction themselves but that's generally not the case.) As long as it's not someone who doesn't know how to do non-intrusive noise reduction and turns in a file with that tinny metallic sound...yuck! (LOL) I don't think most people expect you to compress your audio necessarily, but unless they seem really experienced in audio they might not even notice if you wanted to do it lightly on your end.
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Post by spearcarrier on Aug 15, 2017 8:33:25 GMT -8
Well I do noise reduction and normalizing - but that doesn't always bring up the sound. I'm terrible at audio compression. The quality is going to be effected no matter what you do, and I've got this knack for doing strange things without really trying. LOL. I've asked in the past, but all I get is they wanted it "louder". So I recorded louder as per request. And then after the fact (when it's too late) I realize, oooooooh.
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duffyweber
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Posts: 220
I Am A(n): Professional Voice Actor, Semi-Professional Voice Actor, Audio Engineer
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Post by duffyweber on Oct 1, 2017 9:43:48 GMT -8
A) I know I'm late to the party here. Sorry! ^_^ I'll say this about USB mics. I'm a huge fan of them. NOW; They GENERALLY don't make the grade when compared directly and in a super-high-precision head-to-head to a $3000 studio mic. That said, the number of times I've been in a project that NEEDED that level of super-high quality, I can count on one finger, and that mic - and here's the important bit - WAS NOT even being used to record VOICE. USB is fine for voicework. And I mean actual, professional, for-broadcast voicework. Provided, of course, you know what you're doing.
Provided also that the person doing the recording is doing so in an acoustically treated environment, working the mic properly, and in general using the mic to its fullest ability, there's no reason why some higher grade USB mics aren't completely acceptable for professional-grade audio. (Even an XLR mic such as an AT20XX or AT50XX with, say an X2U interface sort of counts as a USB mic, in my book, and they work GREAT). IF you use, say, ANY decent USB mic* and you don't have pops, background noise, and your area is acoustically "good," there's no reason a competent sound engineer can't make good use of the audio. I've done a few podcasts about cleaning up eepie-cheapie mics to illustrate this. That said, I personally use and like Shure's PG42USB and PG27USB (they're both out of production, but you can find one easily enough still.) As I said, you can also convert ANY mic into USB with an X2U (I PROMISE I'm not a Shure rep. I've just had good luck with some of their stuff.) If you ARE looking to step into the XLR realm (giving you more freedom to select from a lot of mics) A Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 or 2i4 is cheaper than an X2U, much nicer and much more versatile. For the audio engineering stuff, I've got a couple tutorials: voiceacting.boards.net/thread/88/great-audition-noise-floor-removalvoiceacting.boards.net/thread/94/recording-environment-tin-whybut if you've got specific questions and would like me to go over some of your audio with you, gimme a shout and I'll give it a listen. ; ) Cheers! -Duffy *Disclaimer: By "decent" usb mic I'm talking one capable of capturing a full spectrum of sound at high quality without any digital artifacts or oddities in the sound. A Blue Yeti is acceptable. A Logitech desktop gaming mic IS NOT.
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duffyweber
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Posts: 220
I Am A(n): Professional Voice Actor, Semi-Professional Voice Actor, Audio Engineer
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Post by duffyweber on Oct 1, 2017 9:48:50 GMT -8
P.S. I don't like working with the Blue Yeti. That's a PERSONAL preference.
If you asked me if it can be used to create high-quality, professional grade, usable sound for production of radio/TV commercials or game audio? Absolutely.
I find it more difficult to do so that with my studio setup, because I have to "play with" the audio just a bit, rather than take it as it comes from my more upscale stuff, but if you record PROPERLY with it, then indeed, it can produce EXCELLENT results.
After all, in the original heyday of radio/TV/music recording, a lot of speakers and musicians used ribbon mics. Give THAT a try and tell me what you think of working with the result. XD
Professional sound is simply the result of knowing how to use your equipment. Expensive equipment makes it much EASIER, and yes, it IS higher quality, but over a certain threshold, the end result heard by the consumer will be the same. After all, Pandora ads are STILL played over an iPhone/Droid's soundcard. ; )
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