Buying a New VO Mic: The Winter of Our (Microphone) Discontent

Maybe it’s the season. Perhaps we’re all feeling the long period of self-isolation. You may feel stuck in a creative rut and want to shake things up a bit. Whatever the reason, in recent weeks there has been a definite spike of voice actors in a microphone buying mood.

People have been asking about new microphone models, whether upgrading everything will help them book more, or my thoughts on the potential for a “better” mic to create a better audio result. Whatever the reason, VO’s seem to have microphones on the brain right now.

That certainly is understandable. Being stuck at home with more people in our immediate surroundings, noise and interruptions have increased. Many clients have found that the sonic landscape surrounding their studio has changed. In my neck of the woods, the general midday auto traffic has definitely increased, with louder delivery trucks more prevalent. In some cases, a more directional microphone can help (or experimenting with a Figure-8 pattern).

What has not changed are the basic rules of acoustics and isolation. As you’ve likely heard me comment, a microphone will never sound better than the space it is in. As a corollary, a more sensitive microphone will always reveal more flaws in your studio.

But there are some reasons you might benefit from a microphone upgrade…

Reason 1: The Placebo Effect is real.

Think for a minute about the classic sports tale theme – a young athlete discovers the actual bat, bike, glove, shoes or other tool that belonged to a Famous Idol. With this touched-by-the-divine device, they dominate events and rule the competition. Then, through a minor plot device, the equipment is broken, stolen or somehow disappears. Then comes the big reveal: It turns out that the equipment wasn’t ever actually used by that Idol, but was merely a normal, run-of-the-mill garage sale find. The truth comes out… the young athlete did it on their own. The gear had no actual mojo. It just let them believe in themselves and helped them rise from the mire of self-doubt – the placebo effect in action.

If a specific microphone model lets you lean into an audition or a session with more confidence, the result will be that you have more confidence. Everyone will hear that in your audition. That could be the difference between booking and not booking. It’s not so much that the mic sounds better. It’s that you sound better. As you move into the professional world where everyone has talent, an edge is an edge. If it’s within your budget, I can’t find any flaw with that approach.

Reason 2: Quality equipment may signal a professional level of commitment.

These days, you can purchase a microphone for less than the cost of home dinner delivery. Some VO’s emphasize that – stating how they have a $45 microphone and use free software. But in the eyes of many producers and agents, that essentially-zero-budget approach signifies a lack of professional commitment.

I’m not saying that impression is correct, or that you can’t use less expensive gear and deliver a pro-quality product. But the quality of equipment (just like being Source-Connect ready) does send a signal that you are working at a certain level.

But don’t make it all about your gear

Therein lies a trap.

Emphasizing only your equipment can work against you. It’s one of the reasons I encourage voice actors not to list specific equipment on their website. Often, the only people it impresses are other VO’s. Most clients generally do not care. It can even hurt you. From a gear-snob perspective, having a Rode NTG5 means you don’t have a Sennheiser 416. Having a TLM103 means you don’t have a U-87… there’s always one “better” model which is not the one you have.

To offset this, emphasizing “Production Quality Sound” in your marketing (as nebulous as that is) has less downside than listing particular gear. Saying you have a “fully equipped VO studio” should lead to a conversation with a client describing how you’re able to choose the right equipment for their project. If a client asks that you have a specific model, that’s a great time to invest in that precise one. For the most part, however, the models often referred to in audition requests are examples, not requirements.

Just don’t lose sight of the basics: If it sounds good, it is good. Ultimately no one cares how you got there.

That means you should buy “good enough” gear to be competitive. Compared to even a few decades ago, quality microphones and decent interfaces are ridiculously cheap. Investing around $500 in a mic, interface, and necessary widgets should last you a long time in your VO career. After that, there’s the typical curve of diminishing returns, where spending twice as much might only sound half again as good, if that.

Remember:

1. You are the sound source.
2. Much of the tonality which the microphone captures is dependent upon the space.
3. Even the least expensive good quality interfaces sound good.

There’s an Equation for that

Which leads to the equation:

Source is greater than Space is greater than Microphone is greater than the Interface
or
Source > Space > Mic > Interface

I flip between two different mics in my booth. They do sound different than each other. But they still both sound like me in that space. One is a quality large diaphragm condenser, the other a commonly requested shotgun mic. I may lean to one over the other for certain types of projects and auditions.

But I’m also modifying the acting choices which I bring to those different tasks. That’s what makes the biggest difference.

A few more thoughts on mics:

• A new mic will likely sound bad the first time you put it in your space. Spend the time and play with placement in room and your position with respect to the microphone.
  
• Once you dial in the placement/position, realize that you have to “learn” the mic a bit. The more hours you have, the better you will know how it reacts as you change tone and modify your distance.
  
• When you are working through either of the above steps, change one variable at a time. It’s important to know why it suddenly sounds good or bad.
  
• Keep your performance energy and choices consistent while dialing in the sound. Use familiar scripts so you have a good baseline.
  
• When you listen back, don’t be fooled by playback volume (I wrote about this here).
  
• Be open to “happy accidents” – if something suddenly sounds really good when you are messing around, figure out why.
  
• No matter what, the microphone is only there to capture your brilliant performance. Acting and choices always come first.
• I talked about this before in “The Myth of the Microphone”.
  
• All about Microphones for Voiceover
  
• All about Audio Interfaces for Voiceover.

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