Terrible Vocal Room Sound!

BrettPortzer · 2nd July 2007, 12:38 AM

I am editing some VO stuff this weekend, and wow...

Some of the worst sounding stuff you can imagine. It almost sounds like they have the mic facing the wrong way or something, except there is still annoying sibilance mixed in with the bathroom-ish reverb.

I am wondering if the SPL Transient Designer or the Sony Transmod are able to rescue something like this, and if perhaps someone would be interested in running a short clip through the device or plugin to see how well it does.

These are really terrible, so an experiment like this could be interesting for alot of people... I am curious because I don't have an iLok, and it's Sunday evening, so I can't download the Sony demo or buy the SPL unit, but if either worked, I would probably pick one up tomorrow.

I attached a 24bit mono wav example of a bit of it, if anyone was interested.

Thanks!

salomonander · 2nd July 2007, 03:21 PM

hi

yes...that really sounds quiet bad :-)
i don't know the sony plugin but a transient designer will definitely not help here. rather make things worst...it's not designed for vocals.
first thing i'd try would be eq. find the nasty resonating frequencies and take them out carefully. that will help a bit.
perhaps re-record if possible. on the other hand - if the client provides a recording this sloppy no one can blame you for not turning it into a masterpice...i guess.
sh*t in - sh*t out :-)

lasso · 2nd July 2007, 03:27 PM

A nice expander might help, but it's never gonna sound good. If it doesn't need to be matched to other voices, you might try adding some GOOD early reflections, say from a CSR room reverb or similar. It'll not be dry like the VO's supposed to be, but the good reflections will sound better than the bad comb filter ones, that are present now. The VO talent was too far away from the mic for sure.

salomonander · 2nd July 2007, 03:47 PM

i did not refer to the performance quality with my statement. purely the sonics.
and i have no idea about what standard is expected in commercials .
i was judging from a music standpoint... so you might want to ignore my post :-)

gurubuzz · 2nd July 2007, 04:01 PM

Really, seriously...

It's not that bad.

Have your clients raised concerns???

If not they won't mind at all - I don't know why others are saying that
it's so bad????

I have a client who insists on doing recordings in their offices and wow they come out bad..

With the sibilance just use a de-esser... play with the frequency until you knock it out.

I was going to suggest a gate but she is talking so fast it would be of no use except at the end of her sentence but there you could just fade out...

It's not that bad .... I have had lots worse and the client was still overly happy...

lasso · 2nd July 2007, 04:34 PM

It's ofcourse way worse when listening on head phones...on speakers, I agree it's not THAT bad.

matucha · 2nd July 2007, 07:56 PM

My CR is still on the live side, so I can't hear ambience until it is over certain level... and it sounded "normal" on the speakers... just a bit weird, but nothing bad.

However on the phones it's another story... it it sounds wierd because of quite loud early reflections and combfiltering asociated with it.

The only cure is rerecording, but if you're stuck with it, just eq it a bit and adios, don't spend your valuable time on a thing you can't help and that is going to be on air only about a week or two.

Brent Hahn · 3rd July 2007, 12:43 AM

Just sounds like an unpleasant voice recorded on cheap gear to me. The room's the best thing about it.

u b k · 3rd July 2007, 04:59 AM

it's not that bad. it sucks, but it's not that bad.

you're overfocusing.

gregoire
del
ubk
.

glitch · 3rd July 2007, 06:24 AM

Yeah, sounds like the mic was in Omni or F8.

Use a Q10 or something pretty surgical and cut the worst frequency as much and as narrow as possible. Repeat with a lesser cut the next two octaves up.

glitch · 3rd July 2007, 06:25 AM

I forgot to add that the transient designer MIGHT help. Some of them have been known to improve the focus/reduce the room tone in a recording.

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2nd July 2007, 03:27 PM	#3
lasso Gear addict Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Denmark Posts: 316	A nice expander might help, but it's never gonna sound good. If it doesn't need to be matched to other voices, you might try adding some GOOD early reflections, say from a CSR room reverb or similar. It'll not be dry like the VO's supposed to be, but the good reflections will sound better than the bad comb filter ones, that are present now. The VO talent was too far away from the mic for sure. __________________ Cheers, Lasso. www.tonekontrol.dk www.inspiteofme.com

2nd July 2007, 04:34 PM	#6
lasso Gear addict Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Denmark Posts: 316	It's ofcourse way worse when listening on head phones...on speakers, I agree it's not THAT bad. __________________ Cheers, Lasso. www.tonekontrol.dk www.inspiteofme.com

2nd July 2007, 07:56 PM	#7
matucha Lives for gear Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Prague, Czech Republic Posts: 1,936	My CR is still on the live side, so I can't hear ambience until it is over certain level... and it sounded "normal" on the speakers... just a bit weird, but nothing bad. However on the phones it's another story... it it sounds wierd because of quite loud early reflections and combfiltering asociated with it. The only cure is rerecording, but if you're stuck with it, just eq it a bit and adios, don't spend your valuable time on a thing you can't help and that is going to be on air only about a week or two. __________________ Matous Godik

3rd July 2007, 12:43 AM	#8
Brent Hahn Gear addict Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 372	Just sounds like an unpleasant voice recorded on cheap gear to me. The room's the best thing about it. __________________ Brent Hahn http://www.radioactive.la

2nd July 2007, 03:21 PM	#2
salomonander Gear addict Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 339	hi yes...that really sounds quiet bad :-) i don't know the sony plugin but a transient designer will definitely not help here. rather make things worst...it's not designed for vocals. first thing i'd try would be eq. find the nasty resonating frequencies and take them out carefully. that will help a bit. perhaps re-record if possible. on the other hand - if the client provides a recording this sloppy no one can blame you for not turning it into a masterpice...i guess. sht in - sht out :-)

2nd July 2007, 03:47 PM	#4
salomonander Gear addict Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 339	i did not refer to the performance quality with my statement. purely the sonics. and i have no idea about what standard is expected in commercials . i was judging from a music standpoint... so you might want to ignore my post :-)

2nd July 2007, 04:01 PM	#5
gurubuzz Lives for gear Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Melbourne, Australia Posts: 558	Really, seriously... It's not that bad. Have your clients raised concerns??? If not they won't mind at all - I don't know why others are saying that it's so bad???? I have a client who insists on doing recordings in their offices and wow they come out bad.. With the sibilance just use a de-esser... play with the frequency until you knock it out. I was going to suggest a gate but she is talking so fast it would be of no use except at the end of her sentence but there you could just fade out... It's not that bad .... I have had lots worse and the client was still overly happy...

3rd July 2007, 04:59 AM	#9
u b k Lives for gear Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: m a n h a t t a n Posts: 5,081	it's not that bad. it sucks, but it's not that bad. you're overfocusing. gregoire del ubk . __________________ . . m i x _ a r c h i t e c t . . __________________

3rd July 2007, 06:24 AM	#10
glitch Lives for gear Join Date: May 2003 Location: USA Posts: 1,264	Yeah, sounds like the mic was in Omni or F8. Use a Q10 or something pretty surgical and cut the worst frequency as much and as narrow as possible. Repeat with a lesser cut the next two octaves up. __________________ I can't hear specs.

3rd July 2007, 06:25 AM	#11
glitch Lives for gear Join Date: May 2003 Location: USA Posts: 1,264	I forgot to add that the transient designer MIGHT help. Some of them have been known to improve the focus/reduce the room tone in a recording. __________________ I can't hear specs.

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