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REX ANDERSON

VOICE OVER ACTOR

VOICE OVER GEAR

Gear Talk: Universal Audio LA-610 Mk. II

VOICE OVER GEAR

I love gear mostly because most things have crazy anime robot names. The UA LA-610 Mk. II is, in picture form, this:

Rex Anderson Voice Over Actor RAVO Uala610

Ignore those guys on top. We’re not talking about those guys.

The Universal Audio LA-610: Good for Voice Over?

This sleek, sexy little unit is what I was primarily trained on at CCM Studios in Denver. We used on vocals, guitars, as a bass DI..it was used on pretty much every session in some capacity. A lot of folks beat up on it because its compressor can be too dark, too extreme, too flattening, and those are valid concerns. But since we’re focusing mainly on VO, I can attest, it treats the voice very well. In my humble opinion.

So on the left side, you’ve got a gain knob, which adds tube warmth to the sound. I like a little bit to help fuzz out otherwise offensive mouth noises, and to give my sound a little character, since that’s what I paid so damn much for. (By the way, I’ll say this now – if you’re starting out, or are ONLY interested in voiceover, this unit is too much and not really what you need. It’s just awesome and does a lot, and I’m very familiar with it, which is why it’s in my house.) Experiment to taste; works well with some voices, other benefit from a more solid-state sound.

Outboard Compression and EQ Options

The big knobs are your input level, compression, and output. For voice, I go .5-1.5 on the compressor, depending on what I’m doing. Sometimes I turn it off entirely. I can’t imagine a voiceover situation that would require more compression than that going in, unless your voice is an actual bass guitar.

This unit’s served me very well over the years. I’ve given it some different output tubes to open up the sound a bit, giving it more headroom and letting the compressor breathe a little more. It does come on very strongly very quickly, and there aren’t any controls like knee, attack, or release to fine-tune, as they’re all tied into the unit’s algorithm. It’s definitely not the most intuitive unit in the world, and for voiceover, you can get away with a lot cheaper and easier to use. When it works, it’s solid as hell, and it works well on singing vocals and it’s a wonderful bass DI.

Consider it a dark chocolate preamp flavor in the world of similarly metaphorically-flavored gear. Not for everyone, but you can get a lot of really cool sounds of it.

<3

Rex

Gear Talk: AKG C414 XLS

VOICE OVER GEAR

I assure you, that smattering of letters and numbers means something. I’m talking about this guy right here:

I have two of these in my studio; one is my main VO mic, the other is my backup. Needless to say, I rather like the sound of these on my voice. I’ve also seen its ilk out in the wild, recording on it in several studios before deciding to pick one up. They can be found used for very reasonable prices. I say reasonable when in fact I mean microphones probably cost a lot, but I collect guitar and studio gear so my sense of reality is, in fact, warped beyond repair.

Using the AKG C414 for Voice Over

This small condenser picks up a ton of detail. It’s fairly flat, with a little too much hiss at around 3.9 khz and too much butt somewhere between 250-500 hz, where one would expect butt to be. I cut both of these as a default template in my VO sessions, and with those two frequencies cleaned up (I also hit 4.5k hz with -1.5 to -3 dB on the way in with my UA LA-610, which I’ll talk about next time), It sounds clean and balanced, with a pleasantly even low end and a non-grating, if not exactly shimmering, sibilance. They’ve been great for podcasts, trailer work, explainer work…I’ve even done a few national commercials with it.

Now, of course it won’t transform a starter DIY space into a multi-platinum (what the hell does that mean, btw?) studio on its own. Proper treatment of the space around it is also key, as is what it’s running into. But I will say, I’ve used this guy in a lot of different rooms with different rigs, in basements for podcasts, in whisper rooms for cartoons and audiobooks, and out in the field, and it’s never let me down. Everyone sounds good to great on it, it’s got detail to spare, and it’s small and cute.

Clear, Detailed, and Balanced Sound

Beyond the couple of not-so-great frequencies mentioned earlier, I will say this mic has almost too much detail. Make sure to pair this mic with an excellently treated room if you’re to do any kind of compressing or limiting of the source audio. I can catch dogs barking down the street if I’m not careful. I’ve been upgrading my studio around this mic for years, and room #4, aka, permanent room because I bought it, is going to be undergoing some drastic changes this year as I basically build a big booth around my mixing desk/recording area.

Transformer-less Sound with Roll-Off and Polar Pattern Options

Also, this particular model, of which there are several others including the XLII and XL, does not seem to have any fixable parts. It’s a circuit board, and that’s about it. I took my first one to a tech when it started making weird mechanical hissy sounds, and he couldn’t do anything about it. I later fixed that problem with some of those little salt packets they put in the pockets of coats and such to pull moisture off the capsule, but yeah. Word of caution: if it breaks, you pretty much have to toss it.

All in all, it’s cheaper than spending a ton on a mic. You get a great sound that sounds consistently great in many different applications. It also has a low end rolloff and dB reducer if you’re recording drums or something. I don’t use either unless there’s something low end-y going on outside my door. They’re handy and very noticeable. Pro tip for the baritones – don’t roll it off to affect a teenage voice then forget to turn it back to 0 for two weeks. Your trailer work will not sound quite so impressive. And stick with the cardioid or supercardioid patterns for solo recording. If you have two folks reading together, I love using the figure-8 pattern for just such an occasion.

Next week I’ll tell you what I like and don’t like about the Universal Audio LA-610. Good times.

<3

Rex

When to Get New Gear

VOICE OVER GEAR

I’m a gearhead. I love talking about new plugins, hardware, the best mic for what kind of job, and the argument of old vs. new when it comes to AKG C414/C12 models (I write as I eagerly await my new AKG C414). So when it comes to figuring out what hot new item I need to improve my sound, I’m all about research, trying things out, and consulting with my fellow engineers Dave and Mike. There are different thresholds of gear when it comes to voiceover, and I’d like to try to map those out today.

Your Phone (Or a Tape Recorder)

Obviously, at the very least you need something to capture the sound of your voice, record it, and spit it back out to you. A simple tape recorder will do this (or, to update this past 1995, an iPhone can do this). I recommend, if you’re at the very outset, starting there. Record yourself, listen back to your voice, and practice. Show people your recordings and get feedback. The performance is by far the most important link in the chain, so make sure you have chops before investing any further.

USB Mics and Laptops

Next would be the increasingly popular laptop and USB mic combo. It’s likely you already have a computer with USB ports, so you only have to invest in one thing. But now that you have a mic, you’re invited to the world of arguing over what sounds better. It’s the first step into an endless journey of compressors, EQ’s, condenser and dynamic mics, and much, much more.

In other words, on to the fun stuff. A USB mic like the Blue Yeti will make it so you can work. You can get a free DAW like Reaper or Audacity, make tracks, and send them to clients. In essence, that’s all you really need, at least at first. Coming from a music and engineering background, I came into VO with the bug for better stuff. At the studio at which I interned, I got to play with the Neumann U87, the AKG C414, the Blue, and a host of great preamps and plugins. I saw firsthand what a difference hardware compressors and EQ can make over plugins, and why things like authentic tape emulators are so hotly sought after.

There’s a legacy of sound to live up to, and a USB mic and some plugins aren’t going to cut muster.

Down the Rabbit Hole

When you get to the point where you want to be able to dial in very authentic tones, or expand your abilities to audio production, it’s time to get the ole wallet out and make friends with places like Craig’s List and Sweetwater.

At this point, the sky’s the limit. There are a handful of classic mic choices. The Neumann U87 is a near ubiquitous choice for smooth, clear, authentically replicated male and female vocals. There’s the AKG C414, the son of the legendary C12, which is widely used in broadcast and audio production. Other mics in more modest price ranges include the Shure SM7B, which can take a beating and half, the Audio Technica 4050 Broadcast, and Sennheiser’s MD 421 II. These are a few mics I’ve used over the years and ones I recommend trying out. There’s something worth using in every budget bracket, you just need to do your research.

Currently, my setup is an Apogee AD-8000 AD/DA converter, two API VP-26 class-A preamps, Cubase Artist 7, and my trusty new AKG C414 XLS. This is in addition to a ton of plugins that I go through different rotations with, but I can definitely recommend Waves’ SSL and L series compressor plugins. I’m already planning on my next big purchase, which will be a 500-series compressor/EQ with tape emulation, made by the people who made my favorite compressor in the world, the Distressor. The hard part is just waiting until I can justify another gear investment into my business. But hey, you feed the monkey, the monkey feeds you, as the old saying goes.