Our facilities allow for broadcast quality voice-overs to be attained with the minimum of fuss using Neumann microphones as standard, coupled with award winning sound interfaces such as RME Fireface, and Digidesign Pro Tools.
The audio path can be altered on a per-job basis for either direct to digital recording (clean reproduction), or via the outboard chain utilising Class-A compression and EQ. Simple, no fuss, no bother.
In Depth
Given the scope of application for voiceover work, it is often important to ensure that the audio chain is kept to an absolute minimum to maintain the utmost level of quality. The key areas to look for are AD/DA conversions, and microphone frequency response. Whilst many project studios use cheaper microphones which are perfectly adequate for 90% of audio projects, these will often be inadequate for broadcast level requirements.
Neumann M149 Features
- Warm and yet transparent sound gives volume and presence to a vocalist.
- A wide range of adjustments provide the most subtle differentiation of sound, especially in the range of proximity effect.
- Standard for broadcasting, dubbing, and voice-over.
Obscuresounds uses the Neumann M149 (variable dual-diaphragm microphone) for all voiceover requirements, and this is considered among many industry figures to be the best vocal microphone currently on the market.
Whilst having a good microphone is important, it will often suffer at the hands of conversion over to the digital domain. For AD/DA conversion, we often find that the RME Fireface 800 offers ample features to ensure that the dynamics of the vocal are kept under control with its own inbuilt limiter. Furthermore the unit offers unparalleled amounts of clarity and low-noise tolerance due to its ADI-8 converters.
The Setup
We typically record a voiceover in a dry manner before tweaking the EQ and dynamics of a vocal track. Once a clean signal has been placed in to the digital domain (Pro Tools, or Nuendo), the track is processed through Waves compression, gating, and SSL equalisation for the typical speech response. Once editing has been achieved, the signal is passed back out in to the analogue domain and in to an Avalon Class-A compressor for final mastering. Finally, we use the UAD Precision Limiter for audio maximisation to ensure that the signal reached the uppermost dB level without introducing digital clipping (distortion).
