V/O mic and signal chain for TV?

[RKrizman]

I know most of you guys don't do broadcast audio, but I'm hanging out this question one more time before I have to make a purchase.. If you could pick a mic/preamp/compressor chain for a voiceover booth in a tv station, what would it be? Imagine that the engineers are not highly trained. Some people have suggested an RE-20, which seems reasonable, foolproof and should work somewhat on everything. What about a preamp and eq channel? Anything typically being used for this? Should some compression be dialed in?



Thanks in advance,
-R

[Micgiver]

u87 and universal 6176
-mac

[lasso]

Everything broadcasted, TV or radio, involves heeps of heavy compression

[RKrizman]

Originally Posted by lasso

Everything broadcasted, TV or radio, involves heeps of heavy compression

Indeed. But is a voiceover typically compressed on the way in? And if so, with what? And how about eq?

-R

[RKrizman]

Originally Posted by Micgiver

u87 and universal 6176
-mac

Is that typical for a broadcast voiceover booth? I'm sure it would sound great, but it needs to be idiotproof as well.

-R

[lasso]

Originally Posted by RKrizman

Indeed. But is a voiceover typically compressed on the way in? And if so, with what? And how about eq?

-R

I have been at many V/O studios and generally the same rules apply in V/O work as in "ordinary" studio work: whatever works.

Signal is always compressed a little in, and in heavy dozes during mix. Any clean preamp / compressor will do. Some of the big use Avalon pres, others use TLaudio valve pres...It's all about the V/O talents voice really. Any good mic will do too. Here, in Denmark, I haven't seen a single RE-20's actually. Some u87's. A good V/O talent will sound good on any decent mic. I find (my) tube pres to be a little on the muddy side for V/O work.

[James Lehmann]

After years of sitting behind the glass speaking into dozens of different and expensive mics I am of the opinion that the Brauner Phantom C is a wonderful choice for voice-overs that won't break the bank - it's a massive, neutral and natural sound that you could do almost anything with in post-processing without worrying that what went in was in any way compromised or affected.

Regarding pre-amps and EQ etc, every engineer I've worked with seems to have a favourite 'trick' that they swear makes their commercials stand-out that extra 1% more than the next studio's! This ranges from hugely expensive boxes to some surprisingly cheap ones - all can work well in the right hands. However, if the "engineers [you plan to use] are not highly trained" I would almost certainly set a priority on getting a box that features decent soft-limiting, such that if there is a level-setting cock-up during "the take" you will still have useable material. Depending on budget I highly doubt you could go wrong with something like a Focusrite ISA220 for this kind of application which features EQ compression and limiting, while the dbx 786 is a unit that looks simple to operate and has basic EQ plus their Type IV conversion and soft-limiting, and from what I've heard sound very classy too. There are many other choices.