Can Anyone Recommend a Good Microphone for Recording Narration/Voice Over?

V

Vince27

Member
HI -

I need to record Narration for my film...

I have a 2011 iMac, & use FCPX -

I simply need to Narrate the film (basically watch the film, & narrate as I watch it) -

Can any of you recommend a good microphone for this?

I definitely want good quality, as this film is headed to festivals...

I think also, I want the type of microphone that's a head-set - but really have no idea where to start with this...

Any help & recommendations is appreciated!

Brand? Model? where to purchase? etc...

Thank you!
 
The mic is only 1/2 of it, you need great room acoustics for your recording to nail the other half. The best rig we've come across is this one from Harlan Hogan.
This works very well .. play his demos.

He has a PRO version out but we have the older one, pictured. We bought it with the compression sacks for travel. We rent ours out, it's nearly paid for itself.

http://www.harlanhogan.com/portaboothArticle.shtml

Our best narration mic is the Rode Podcaster, it plugs directly into your computer.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/con...il&Q=&sku=450171&is=REG&si=rev#costumerReview

Cheers.
 
I have been doing professional voice work for over 30 years now and can honestly say its more the talent of the artist than the microphone used. That being said, you are going to get a number of recommendations. My first suggestion... Set a budget! How much do you have to invest in for example... microphone/interface/software/acoustics for festival ready audio? Second, what do you see as acceptable for your festival audio? Wearing a headset microphone while setting at your computer, or voicing with a high quality mic from an ultra quiet sound booth? That decision will have an impact on your budget. Another option, if you don't want to invest a large sum in a high quality sound chain, would be to record at an established studio.

All the Best!

Dave
 
Hello Vince,

Try a Countryman E6 with a Centrance Mic Port Pro to get it into your Mac.

Here's what a Countryman E6 sounds like.

You won't sound like James Earl Jones, and what Allan and David say are relevant. I'm not a Harlan Hogan portabooth fan.
If you have that much noise in your environment, blocking sound from the side and back of a mic that has limited acceptance from the sides and rear still leaves the front quite open to ambient noise.

The Rode Podcaster is a good piece of gear and has a built in headphone amp, as does the Mic Port Pro.

The Podcaster is a directional mic. The Countryman I linked for you is an omni, but there are directional versions as well.

If you are big time, you go to a studio that has a video display on the other side of the studio glass from the VO booth and you use something like a Neumann U 87 or Senneheiser MKH 416. That way, your dog bark, the neighbor's lawnmower and other sounds don't invade your voice track.

So you can do it, or pay someone else to help you do it right.

Regards,

Ty Ford
 
Edit_ I just caught that you want a headset mic. I don't know why you would want that, as for narration a large diaphragm condenser is a good tool for the job.


I like the Rode NT2000 for VO, but the Rode NT2a is the exact same mic with less variable pattern adjustments, and a much lower price. Same capsule. It comes with a pop filter, shock mount and cable. Put that into a good preamp and you're golden. I found a really great boutique preamp called the Black Lion Audio B12a. It's an API 312 clone for a reasonable price.
 
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Hi

Test - use your ears.

First get any old mic and plug it into your mac, record. Hear what you got. You now have a baseline.

You have four main variables to play with.

1 Your own voice talent. Practice a lot. It's free!

2 Your enviroment. Background noise and room accoustics. Listen for background noise. Your brain normally filters it, your audience won't...
You may need to go somewhere else. I have heard that the inside of a parked car can be an excellant location. Park somewhere very quiet.
You have two choices accoustically. Record it as dry (no echo) as possible and add reverb in post or record it like you want it. Try a little
test of both. Don't forget a pop shield and playing with your distance from the mic. Omnis won't deepen your voice as you get nearer,
other types will. Again perform some little tests of a few seconds, improve your baseline.

3 Preamp. I have a Zoom H4N and a Sound Devices 702. I can HEAR the difference between them. It's the preamp.
I suggest renting for your actual recording. Good preamps can be several hundred dollars. Rentals are cheap however.

4 Mic. Also rent. Cheap to rent.

I have listed the above in order I believe they will affect your work.
I would also suggest that after improving your baseline as much as possible you contact some studios and see what they have to offer.
What you will learn from them for the price of using them for your project will give you a great project (that's the goal right?), teach you a ton of new stuff and give you a new very high baseline. Then you will know what to buy next time and why, or know to stick with a studio.

Hope I run into your film at a festival and love your sound solution.
Good Luck.
 
I agree with Blit on everything but recording in a car. That sounds boxy with the voice bouncing off the big reflective windshield. I can always hear when something's recorded in a car. I say just find a "dead" environment. Carpeted floors, bookshelves, couches in the room help. If you can't get away from the tower, point the mic away from it, and maybe put a heavy winter coat over the tower.
 
I recorded a VO in a car once... out of necessity since no other option was available and we only had the 'talent' for a short while.
As I recall, the talent was in the backseat, the producer and I in the front. Sounded OK, though a little boxy, but not much more than some iso booths I've had to work with. The mic was likely a 416T since it was the only mic I had at that time. (early 1990s)
Addendum: Mistake- FWIW, the mic was a 415T not a 416.
 
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The AT2020 USB(not xlr) is about the best mic you can get for starting out in voiceover. It's usually under a hundred bucks on Amazon. Don't use a windscreen. Go to Target and get a 100% cotton ankle sock without the reinforced toe and heel. Put that over the mic. This setup is used by many VO artists I know to record everything from auditions to audiobooks.
 
There's always the gobo. HERE is a great plan for an easy and affordable sound booth. I built one a few years ago and use it often. Makes a great space within a not-so-great space. Of course, it always helps if the rest of the room is treated, but this will improve results.
 
If your into cheap dead spaces you can always do the NPR trick of recording sitting on a bed with a comforter over you like a tent. Ot probably a bit more comfortable a coat closet with lots of coats in it. Both will give you a very dead space that is useful for getting that in your face VO sound.

I have heard the "record in a car" recommendation before and? Dialog in a car always sounds like it's in a car, but I suppose you could make it work. It probably depends on the car. A big soft upholstered car probably is OK but your old VW buss is going to sound like a phone booth. And you do get a lot of bleed from the outside world so... YMMV
 
Hi

While I did say that I heard recording in a car may be a good solution, and a good lawyer might get me off on this technicality, I am guilty of offering advice that I have heard of rather than advice I know about recording in a car. Of course I am rightly called out on it. In the future I will try to stick with what I know or be very clear that I am relaying others advice, rumours or whatever it is.

Thanks in advance for everyones understanding.

Best Regards
 
It's interesting that no one has asked to hear his voice, yet lots of mic suggestions. For me to recommend a mic, I always want to hear the voice (and tell me what you used to record it with). That's like asking what size pants to buy, without measuring your waist or seeing a picture of you. VO is more intimate than location work. It's basically treated like a recording studio session. A generic approach to it will result in generic sound.

But my go-to's are: SM57, BV-1, and CR14. That's my starting point for choosing a mic for VO talent. Occasionally, I use a RE20, and a TLM. I have one mic that I use soley for one artist (D4T). It fits no one else but him. Mics are like paintbrushes, you wouldn't use a detail brush to paint a house, and you wouldn't use a 3" brush to paint a small portrait.

But without hearing your voice, I cannot begin to suggest a mic that will give you what you want. You have been given suggestions of mics, and the ones mentioned are not bad, but you fit the mic to the voice.......not the other way around.

And frankly, I disagree with the ankle sock idea. Cotton does absorb sound in the higher frequencies. A pop filter or even nylons stretched over a coat hanger frame, will give you a better recording.
 
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Doc Bernard said:
It's interesting that no one has asked to hear his voice, yet lots of mic suggestions.
Click to expand...

Probably because he hasn't got a mic yet Doc :) By the sound of it, the OP is going to watch his film on his Mac and narrate it as he goes. He doesn't say he has any semi/pro voice experience so he won't project his voice with the pix 1' in front of him.

So it won't be a charity plug, pushing foodstuffs, painkillers, car sell or even a character voice, and keeping an even delivery over an hour will be difficult.
There'll be drop-ins, drop-outs and occasionally dropping the ball. He's going to need to wear headphones and some people can't listen and record their voice at the same time .. repeatedly pulling cans off/on/off eventually becomes a pain.

No offence to the OP, but I'd call his local pro recording studio and get some advice there. Ime most studios are only too happy to help and they could give him advice on mics, delivery, local producers, voices etc. They might even let him take his film along in their downtime and set his Mac up.

Many people are shy and self conscious about doing that, but they shouldn't be.
The advice, help and results can be worth their weight in gold awards at film festivals.

Cheers.
 
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Since Vince27 decided not tp participate in the conversation beyond his original post. I'm out. No help for the unappreciative.
 
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