Home Voiceover Studio Setup: Listening With Studio Monitors – Tuesday Voiceover Tech Tip

I don’t talk much about freestanding audio monitors in the home voiceover studio because they aren’t really my go-to gear for editing. Closed-backed headphones will isolate the audio playback from the environment and remain my favored tool for detail listening.

That being said, there are times when they may be of use. For a quick playback of an audition to evaluate performance, monitors can sound a bit more natural. When listening to the performance on headphones, it can be easy to get distracted by small technical flaws in the recording, rather than focusing on the acting. And there are times when it’s nice just to be able to take off your headphones.

What to Look for in Studio Monitors

Setting up a pair of monitors on the desk can add some complexity to your setup, especially if you are slightly space-challenged. Not all monitors are designed to be in close physical proximity. When choosing a set of monitors, look for “near-field” type. This allows them to be located near to your location and provide an accurate sound. Best practice is to mount them at head height. Viewed from above, the monitors should be positioned as the corners of an equilateral triangle with you at the apex. 

Most monitors have a port to direct air pressure out of the cabinet. I tend to avoid rear ported designs as those can increase the bass response if placed too close to a wall. The models listed below all have front porting. 

When considering features, “active” monitors will have integrated amplifiers inside the units, which means less hardware to wrangle. Some models only require one of the speaker pairs to be connected to a wall outlet, which can simplify power cord routing. Most studio monitors will provide a “balanced” input connection to connect with the balanced output from most audio interfaces. That will usually require a 1/4″ Tip-Ring-Sleeve (TRS) connector at your interface and either the TRS or an XLR connector to attach to the speaker itself. 

Using Monitors in your VO studio: Understanding the Challenges

The main challenge in using freestanding monitors is that the sound will be heavily impacted by the room in which you place them. Remember all that treatment and tuning we did to our booths? Few people will take the time to do much acoustic treatment to the room where the speakers sit. That means the listening space will tend to over-emphasize and/or reduce certain frequencies. Be very careful about adjusting balance and EQ based solely on what you hear over monitors in the listening space. 

Though some use speakers to ease the fatigue on their ears, I often find the opposite to be the case. With speakers, I tend to listen back a bit more loudly if I’m trying to identify VO-specific issues such as edit point transitions and mouth clicks which tends to fatigue my ears more quickly. With headphones, I can usually listen at a softer volume and still hear those details. 

Of course, to state the obvious, playing back on monitors means that everyone else nearby gets to listen to everything you are playing back. 

Voiceover Studio Monitors: Three Good Options

The models below are solid choices which give a good balanced sound and have a small footprint. The Presonus and KRK both use a traditional design with a 5″ woofer to provide the lower frequencies. The IK Multimedia model takes a different design approach but renders impressive sound. 

Presonus Eris E5
Balanced XLR and 1/4″ inputs plus unbalanced RCA inputs provide all the connections you may need. Acoustic tuning controls to adjust for your room, and a variety of balanced, unbalanced and RCA connectors will work with any audio interface. (left above) Sweetwater – Amazon

KRK Rokit 5 G4
App controlled digital signal processing includes room correction, visual EQ, and advanced controls for calibration. (center above) – Sweetwater – Amazon

IK Multimedia iLoud
Small footprint but big sound. EQ controls. Uses RCA connectors (no balanced input) (right above) – Sweetwater – Amazon

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