WHAT MIC SHOULD I GET? [VOICEOVER]
Here’s the latest in a series I’m posting to answer the question I so frequently hear: “What mic should I get?” In this particular entry, we’ll take a look at mics for voiceover.
As in each entry, it’s essential to get familiar with the intro/ index of the series to get a foundation for our inquiries. To reiterate, there are intersecting ideas in each entry, so I recommend digesting the entire series, and following up for more info with some robust online searches.
There are many, many different makes and models of microphones useful in the craft of voiceover. We’ll just be scratching the surface here, and people have lots of different preferences. As mentioned so often elsewhere, there’s no right or wrong– only what’s right for the voice you’re recording. Make sure to ask around to get recommendations from as many experienced VO artists as you can. For the most part, you’ll probably want to look at studio condensers. But there are exceptions to that, as we’ll see.
As far as reasonably budget options go, it’d be helpful to take a look at the previous entry on podcast mics. Here as there, the Shure SM7B and the EV RE20 come to mind– for the same reasons mentioned there. (And to reiterate, the more uses you can find for one piece of gear, the more valuable that gear becomes.) The AKG 414 is also a versatile mic for voiceover– it tends to work on a wide variety of voices, and comes in handy for recording a range of musical instruments as well.
And of course, everybody’s all about the Neumanns. Pro VO folks get all serious about Neumanns. If you ever want to pull off a heist, just host a voiceover panel at somebody’s house, and get the group talking about Neumanns. Believe me, the discussion will get so intense that you can pull up a van outside, load up all the valuables, and be miles away before anybody notices you’re gone. Neumanns are pricey though, so make sure you can unload all those stolen goods for a decent return if you want to buy one.
On the other hand, many engineers take a completely different approach and use a boom mic instead. While this may seem counterintuitive at first blush– a boom is generally thought of as more useful in a location sound context like a film set– a mic like the Sennheiser MKH 416 can provide a full sound that’s helpful for commercials and promos where a “big”, authoritative voice is desirable. The Audio Technica AT8575R and Sennheiser’s MKE600 also come to mind. A boom might also come in handy in a less than ideal recording situation, if you want to filter out reflections or unwanted background noise in your recording space.
Again, let this guide be one of many info sources you consume. Good luck!
= = = = =