Upgrading my VO Setup

Allen Craig

New member
Sep 8, 2021
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South Florida
Hi Experts,

I do voiceovers for tech videos (among other things) and am looking to up my game from my present setup. Currently have:

- Yeti Blue USB mic with boom arm and pop filter
- Untreated room/office in below image (carpet floor but computer fan noise and some street noise at times)
wcqSvvh
https://ibb.co/wcqSvvh
- MixPre 3 II (used for non VO work on location presently)
- SM58 and other dynamic mics

Looking for suggestions on...

- How I might treat the room or if I should move my VO work to my walk-in closet. I am planning on remodeling the computer room anyways shortly.
- Which XLR mic might be most ideal. Top contenders are SM7B, TLM103, MKH416. I’m in South Florida and would love to test/rent these before buying. Plan would be to use the mic with my MixPre (either direct or as an audio interface)

Any other tips or suggestions greatly appreciated.

Thanks!
 
Improving the acoustic environment will make the most noticeable difference in the finished product. Spending a few thousand dollars on acoustic treatment and remoting your computers would probably have about the same end result as doing your VO takes in a closet with a blanket over your head. You decide if it's worth the investment. After that a good broadcast mic like an SM7, RE20 or Sennheiser 421. Just for reference NPR uses U87s but condensers are over rated for podcast or VO type work to me.