VO Recording Basics: Setting Up Your Setup – Part 1

Even if you don’t want to be an audio engineer, understanding the basics of the VO recording signal chain will help you fix and diagnose problems quickly when recording voiceover auditions or produced work.

Knowing the basics of audio input lets you figure out what needs to be fixed in your home VO studio. Even if you don’t have a specific problem, it’s helpful to have a good sense of how sound gets into your computer.

VO Recording – Audio Input Basics

Let’s talk about how sound gets from your mouth into the recording software. This first step is the “Input Chain” of your audio. While actual hardware will differ, sound has to follow a specific path to get inside of your recording software. 

This may be a bit of a refresher topic for you, but I think it always helps to return to the basics. 

Having a strong understanding of what happens between you and your computer helps when tracking down issues in your recordings. As I mention in my Intro class, no one thing we do in recording is particularly complex, but when we string all these steps together, we end up with a fairly complicated system.

…no single thing we do in recording is particularly complex, but when we string all those simple steps together, we end up with a fairly complicated system.”

Me. In every “Intro to VO Home Recording” class I teach

Understanding the sequence lets you break things down into manageable chunks. If there’s a weird problem in your audio, this often shows where to start looking.

More importantly, focusing upon these basics – getting things correct at the source first, then using only what you need to capture the performance – is the key for the best quality recordings.

Three Rules for Audio Input

There are three rules which guide my approach to setting up a reliable audio input chain in your voiceover studio.

First rule: Simple works

Keep things simple.

I’ll admit, this is a personal bias. I like single speed and fixed-gear bicycles. They are reliable and fail in predictable ways. There is power in simple. It forces choices and reduces clutter and distraction.

There are fewer things to go wrong. When things do go wrong, there are less places for problems to hide.

My first VO mic would get a little extra noise and buzz every once in a while. What I found was that unplugging the cable and laying my thumb across the contacts of the mic grounded whatever circuit happened to be misbehaving and returned things to normal. 

When my first interface started failing, emitting pops and static, swapping over to the second input allowed me to squeeze a few more months out of that hardware. 

In both cases, solving these issue had few variables. The microphone issue got worse when I increased the input gain but only happened when the mic was plugged in, so that suggested something happening before that step. The interface’s popping and static did not go away when I unplugged the mic, but did stop when I unplugged the interface. It reappeared when I plugged the interface into a second computer.  That narrowed things down to that piece of hardware.

If you understand what each piece is and what it does, that gives you more confidence.  We have enough stress as voice actors. Let’s not let our “instrument” add to that. I love to see when new voice actors begin to feel confidence in their setup.

Sure, you can call the auto club when you have a flat tire, and sometimes that’s the best way. But there’s something empowering about being able to change it yourself. Or at least know that something is amiss if the mechanic starts opening up the engine compartment to fix it.

Rule two: Things fail

Yep. Gear breaks all the time. Typically on a Sunday night. Against a Monday deadline. And until that large retailer in the Pacific Northwest can deliver a time machine, this will continue to be a problem for any self-contained voice actor working in their studio.

The primary defense against this?

Cheap Insurance: Redundant systems against failure

If my interface dies, I’ve got a decent USB mic which I can use in a pinch. Or, I can make some calls around town and track one down from another voice actor. Though I have a dedicated Mac Mini happily humming away in the corner of my studio, any other computer in the house can be swapped in – they each have a current copy of Twisted Wave and Studio One installed. Internet goes down? Use my phone as an emergency hotspot .

I’m not saying you have to go out and buy two of everything right now, but as you upgrade equipment, it may be good insurance to at least hang onto a few key items. As long as I can get quality audio into a recording device, then my business is never dead in the water. 

Every part of your input chain is a potential problem. That sounds a little more cynical than I mean it. The physical components – shock mount, mic stand, pop screen, and cables. The electronics – mic, interface, power supplies, computer, headphones. And the software – which has issues in both in the programs you use, and the computer operating system. 

A simple input chain limits the number of things which can fail and lets me easily lateral to an equivalent working environment. If your studio sound relies upon narrow purpose external hardware or more specific software effects, you may find it difficult to match your sound if something breaks.

Rule three: Your setup should serve your performance needs

Simplicity extends to the environment in which you record. That’s one of the things which I love about studio sessions. Everything is reduced to what needs to be there. You have a mic, copy stand and a set of headphones. Water is at hand, along with a a pencil or two. But not much else.

Take a look around at your current recording setup. Has stuff collected in your booth or around your workspace? It’s easy to let stuff accumulate. Minor shifts and tiny adjustments tend to happen without noticing, until we suddenly find ourselves pushed over to the side, or threading our way through foam that’s tilting down every time we have to get to our mic.

Do you have the lighting you need? Or are you squinting at copy because the batteries in your micro-lamp are well past their prime? Is everything so crunched together that you have to contort yourself to see the copy while staying on mic?

All those little distractions, all those tiny compensations you have make, each one gets in the way of your best performance. Those only increase with time. Because we are often under deadline, things tend to accumulate. We are unaware of it because we are on to the next thing. It takes a conscious moment to recognize and address this. 

What do you actually need in your VO booth?

What equipment actually needs to be in the booth with you?

I’ve had clients who had to have their computer in the booth so they could hit “STOP” right away. (I usually encourage them that “tape is cheap…” Though I may have to redo that joke soon…it’s starting to fall into the “Kids, ask your parents” category.)

My first setup had the computer 43 seconds away from the recording space.  That was at the beginning and end of every take I recorded. Highlight and delete is your friend.

Granted, if you are producing audiobook projects, you likely will need a screen somewhere for punch in reference. But for voiceover auditions or most other projects you are likely to be doing, there’s not that much need to have that extra hardware around. 

Extra stuff only distracts your attention. Most know that using  headphones while recording can lull an unwary voice actor into listening to themselves – in most cases guaranteeing an unfocused take.  Having a waveform rendering onscreen or a track scrolling visually from right to left pulls our attention away from the needs of the script. 

For most audiobook narrators, shifting those non-story items out of the visual field can be really helpful. Raise the monitor up or move it to the side. It will be there when you need it. 

Final Thought

If your performance area has only the mic and the copy, where will your focus be?

This article is one of several in my “Booth Basics” series. If this is the first article you have read, I’d recommend also reading “The Myth of the Microphone”.

JustAskJimVO.studio Podcast

This article originally published through the JustAskJimVO.studio Podcast “Setting Up Your Setup – Input Chain Part 1”. The full podcast episode also covers your questions and other VO tech topics.

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