Voice-over / Podcast Recording Studio Equipment Reviews & Tips I record voice-overs for all manner of things - phone lines, store announcements, radio, websites, etc. and along the way I learn a lot about what equipment is useful and what is superfluous to requirements or overly expensive. The following rambling diatribe is a description of the equipment I use and techniques I have learned. I do not claim to be an expert, which is why I'm not selling you an ebook! However I do like value for money and so the equipment I buy will not 'break the bank'. I only record voice-overs, but the information and equipment suggestions on these pages may also be useful to those who record podcasts, audio books, and also community radio stations, RSLs, AM news/talk stations, 'home-based' internet radio stations, and more. Please note: These are independent reviews. I am not paid in cash or in kind by any microphone manufacturer, nor given any free equipment to test (NB manufacturers - contact me to make this happen and I'll happily remove this sentence!!!). I bought all the items that I review with my own funds. ADVERT FREE - I'm not selling you anything! If you are setting up a studio and would like to contact me for advice or suggestions, please do and I'll try my best to advise - but please read these six pages before you do! Previous interesting questions and answers of note are on pages 5 and 6 of this article. Microphones For a long time I had just three main microphones - an AKG C414 B-ULS, an Electrovoice RE20 and an Audio Technica ATM31a.

I've been a microphone collector since I was 5, but these were the ones I aquired specifically for doing voice work.

I had a great plan to use an AKG D202 with my Studer A807 reel-to-reel tape recorder to get an authentic 'vintage' sound, but that's another story! Microphones discussed in this article: Page 1 (this page):

Shure SM57

Shure SM7B

Shure SM81 Page 2:

EV RE20

AKG C414

ATM31a / AT8031

AT2020

Oktava MK319 Page 3:

Shure Beta 57A

Shure Beta 87A

Beyer M201

Sennheiser MD421

Sennheiser MD431

Sennheiser MD441

EV ND767a

EV RE50B

Studiospares S1000

Sennheiser MKH416

USB / misc mics

Retro mics

Page 4:

Acoustics

Mixer & EQ

ISDN

PCs

Conclusions

Page 5 & Page 6 are reader comments and responses

L to R: EV ND767a, ATM31a, MD431, M201, SM57, MD441, AT2020, S1000 Shure SM57 Type: Dynamic.

Polar Pattern: Cardioid.

Frequency Repsonse: 40 - 15,000Hz. The Shure SM57 with the huge A81WS windshield (which cost nearly half as much as the mic itself! photo below right) pleasantly surprised me. It is not (nor ever has been) purported to be a voice-over mic. Yes - you do see them on every US President's podium since 1965, but this is more for their ruggedness than anything else. It is officially an instrument mic used for snare drums and other instruments, and is essentially an SM58 (the classic vocal mic) with a different head and therefore has a slightly different sound. The SM57 has a very different tone to that of the more 'clinical' condenser mics. I have to say I bought my SM57 more for fun than serious voice work, but read on to hear how it's now my most used microphone.... It will 'pop' a lot from plosive 'p' sounds without a windshield fitted. It's highly directional - rejecting sound from virtually everywhere except directly in front. The large A81WS windshield has a sort of scouring pad material inside it, presumably to give it better structure and a less muddy sound than if it were made entirely of foam. It's a mid-grey rather than black, fits the SM57 snugly, and eliminates all popping - you will never pop the mic with this on! It's also nice to know in the specs that it is suitable for use when the wind is over 15 mph (which is rare in my studio unless I've had a lot of sprouts for dinner). You often saw SM57s on 1970s/80s rock concerts as the main vocal mics. They have a different sound to the SM58 because they don't have the ball-type grille - this means extended response in both low and high end because you can get closer to the diaphragm. Don't get me wrong - it's not a condenser mic sound, but in a blind studio test I read online featuring a great many mics and blindfolded people, a great number preferred the sound from the SM57 to the legendary Neumann U87 condenser mic (which is over 15 times the price)! There is a well known modification which involves putting the mic body in boiling water to melt the epoxy glue that secures the output transformer inside so that it can be removed making the mic sound more like the SM7B (promoted by Shure as a radio / announcer / voice-over mic - see below) but with 10db lower output (= more noise) but this could arguably be achieved with simple EQing on your mixer. I have been informed that the SM48 is actually a transformerless version of the SM57 with more distinct highs (but the different basket shape), so that modification isn't really necessary. I now use the SM57 as my main voice-over mic for non-broadcast recordings (i.e. phone greetings, store announcements, etc.). I honestly never thought I would - I feel I'm almost 'going back a step' with my microphone arsenal after using the clinical AKG C414, and I know some audio purists may be shaking their heads, but I really like using the SM57, and for the non-broadcast work I do it works perfectly. The big windshield is a must - I can't pop it, it sounds nice and warm, I don't necessarily have to worry too much about acoustic treatment for these recordings as you would with a sensitive condenser mic, and I don't feel I have to molly-coddle it like the AKG C414 so as not to damage it. You'll need a mixer to be able to properly EQ it and hear it 'live' before the signal goes into your computer (rather than use one of those direct USB audio converters). The telling thing is, ever since I've started using it, I've been receiving 10 times as many compliments for the voice work I've done - which never happened nearly as much when I was using condenser mics. It doesn't quite have the top-end frequency response of condensers, but if you EQ it well, and bear in mind that us humans can only hear audio frequencies that go so high, if you're recording an on-hold message for a telephone system - who would really notice?! Telephone frequency band = 300 - 3300 Hz, SM57 pick-up = 40 - 15,000Hz. You're well covered! I do use it without a windshield sometimes, but carefully so it doesn't pop, and the recordings have a slightly crisper high end because of this. For voicing radio ads, I use my AT2020 or S1000 (mentioned later) so that I sound just as crisp as other voice-over's voices in other ads played around the ad I'm voicing who will all be using condenser mics. UPDATE - It's well known that the SM57 (and the SM7B below) requires a lot of gain from the preamplifier in your mixer, and you will likely have all of the trim and gain knobs on your mixer maxed out to get a usable recording level. It hasn't been an issue in my experience, but admittedly the gain is topped out on my mixers. A new device which wasn't around when I originally wrote this guide many years ago is a “microphone activator”. This uses the phantom power supplied from your mixer to increase the level of your dynamic microphone so that you don't have to have the gain knob on your mixer anywhere near as high as you may without said microphone activator.

I looked at a lot of reviews, and ultimately decided on the Cloud Lifter unit, made in the USA. There was also a model from SE called the DM1 Dynamite, which looks like a stick of dynamite that plugs into the XLR connector of your dynamic microphone and again uses the phantom power from your mixer (which normally your dynamic microphone would not use or need) to greatly amplify the signal from the microphone. It does make a difference, and most noticeably on my USB audio interface which really did need the help much more than my mixing desk.

So I would recommend these in addition to the microphone itself. Remember, you need your mixer to have phantom power for these to work at all, but it does give you the option to potentially use a Phantom powered condenser microphone with your mixer in the future. If you are just starting off, I would certainly recommend the SM57 as a first purchase. You may find you'll still have it in your studio when you become a pro!

SM57 with smaller, more 'standard' locking A2WS windshield SM57 with smaller, more 'standard' locking A2WS windshield

The A81WS is a large windshield The A81WS is a large windshield Shure SM7B Type: Dynamic.

Polar Pattern: Cardioid.

Frequency Repsonse: 50 - 20,000Hz. A visitor to this website sent me an interesting email regarding the Shure SM7B (pictured left) - a voice microphone seen in many radio studios. I knew they were dynamic and expensive here in the UK, but the visitor informed me they were a lot less in the US. I thought that if it was better than the SM57 and specifically designed for studio voice work (rather than for instruments like the SM57), I'd give it a try because it would be more appropriate for the work I do - in theory it would perform better. So I imported one from the USA. It has built-in bass roll-off and presense peak switches, and its frequency range goes all the way up to 20,000Hz, but it's not a smooth frequency response graph by any means and looks a lot like the SM57's graph. The pick-up zone seems larger than the SM57's. It comes complete with two windshields - the slender one which is the same girth as the mic body itself (see below), and a larger one which is fatter but makes it un-poppable (photo above). In many ways the SM7B is a modern version of the SM5B (pictured right) which was discontinued in 1986 yet still in active use in certain American radio station studios. I assume they clean the spit off the foam windscreen every decade or so...! My verdict after testing: ...I think the SM7B and SM57 are very similar. There is not enough audible difference between the two mics which would make me think that one costs more than 6 times the price of the other. The SM7B seems to have slightly more bass and more top end, but only if you really concentrate can you hear the difference (it's not like the difference between an SM58 and a Neumann u87 - it is not easy to hear the difference between these two Shure mics). I'm sure you could easily EQ this out so they sound the same. The difference is the visual appearance - having the mic in a permanent yoke makes it perfect in radio studios where mics get mauled about - along with the roll-off and peak switches. I have since seen a user-tested frequency response graph of the SM57 and SM7B absolutely side by side, and the results were uncanny, with the same peaks and troughs. The SM7B did have more gain at lower and higher ranges, but as had been said, nothing that could not have been adjusted with EQ to make the SM57 sound the same. I'm comforted by this, and it confirms that the SM57 above is indeed a valid microphone for voice recording.

This from Shure themselves: "The SM7, the SM57, and the SM58 are all based on the Unidyne III capsule design. The SM7 capsule is not identical to the SM57 or SM58, but it is similar." I personally found the SM57 gave a superior, crisper sound to the SM7B with the equipment I use.

Above, the SM7B with the smaller thinner windshield fitted, and next to it is the supplied larger windshield that you can swap it with for lip-miking I sold my SM7B to a music producer in London. As an aside, a Shure SM7 was used by studio engineer Bruce Swedien for most of Michael Jackson's vocals on his Thriller album (including Vincent Price's rap!), and on Red Hot Chili Peppers albums. Shure SM81 Type: Condenser.

Polar Pattern: Cardioid.

Frequency Repsonse: 20 - 20,000Hz. I also bought a Shure SM81 on a day when I was feeling particularly extravagant. With another A81WS windshield, I used this condenser as my main mic for a long time. I find it crisp and clear, with less proximity effect compared to large condensers. It is also more directional. It is very long! I also used it with the A81G, which is a plastic grille. This was the set-up used to record Brian Cobby's wonderful baritone voice for the UK's speaking clock back in 1985.

SM81 with the A81G veriflex grille

The top three items come with the mic, but I bought the grille and the rubber suspension as extras

Here's the A81G grille (which IS made of plastic, no matter what all the websites say it's made from!)

'Naked' SM81. Ooooh!

The rich chocolate tones of the late Brian Cobby at a filming of him reading the speaking clock

(for this filming it was a mock-up, as the most used phrases were only recorded once).

(You'll need to turn the volume up, and the sound is only on the left channel)

In the photo at the right, you can see in the background 2 x SM81s with A81WS windshield as guest mics. The presenter is using an SM7. I queried this directly with Shure, as the SM81 has not really been promoted as a speech mic. Shure told me, "You are right, SM81 is not highlighted for voice-overs in our catalog. As a general statement: small condenser microphones produce an accurate recording, i.e. the recording will not sound 'warm' and 'full' like recording with large condenser microphones or with a special radio microphone like the SM7, specially designed to give a very 'warm' sound.

If you use the PG81 for voice-over recording you might have to use the EQ in your mixing desk to 'warm' up the sound, i.e. using a microphone which is recommended for a specific application makes life much easier." However, when I re-read the HW International catalogue (Shure's UK distributors) from 1994 (I promise I'm not a hoarder), in a mic selection guide table recommends the SM7 as the "premium mic for VO / announce (dynamic) but the premium mic for VO / announce (condenser) is the SM81". I suppose this was long before they started the KSM large diaphragm condenser series, but still...! Next page > Part II: More Microphones > Page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 < Prev 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 Next >