Micro Studio Suggestions

Are these expensive? KIND OF! But aside from blah blah blah investing in your career — it’s more important to note that you can buy most of this gear used at Reverb.com. Pretty much everything I own is used. Make sure you get the correct power supply. I received a preamp with the wrong power supply, and even though it fit, it was insufficient power and it made the unit seem broken. Also, Amazon will have deals — we ended up getting a bunch of mics on discount because they were packaged with some video game that nobody wanted, or discounts because the mics came in ugly colors. You don’t NEED a black and silver microphone if you can save $30 by getting it in red.


The Cheap Package ($328)

This is a solid basic package. With a decent computer and some headphones, it’s the bare minimum you should have. The mic can be upgraded to the ‘pro’ version, but this is basically made for an unfussy podcaster rig. The mic has a preamp built in, and it sits on your desk. Acoustic treatment is a must. I’d rather you have your phone jammed into a properly treated space than for you to have a $10k microphone in your untreated bedroom.


The Easy Package ($1393)

A really nice deal from Sweetwater that has everything you really need. It’s a U87 clone with a great reputation and nearly everything else you need in a single box. You still need the acoustic treatment. The interface is overkill for voice work, and while the interface has a great mic pre included, you could use that $ toward a pre that will make you happier (in package #3) — but I include this package because it’s quick and easy to order and you can get almost all of it in a single box. Still need a decent computer and headphones.


The Pro Package ($1325)

CM87’s are being used for Marvel and WB animation right now. U87 is the industry standard, but if Marvel is purchasing these, then you can be sure they’re good enough. And you can tell your clients so. The mic pre is a clone of the Neve 1073. The owner of Advanced Audio, who used to work at Ocean Sound recording animation said that he prefers Neve style pre’s, and when he checked with someone recording My Little Pony for confirmation, he said the guy

prefers transformer coupled preamps. Like the Neve 1073 or a good clone, API 512, or the River ME1NV. We recorded voice actors during my tenure at Ocean Sound and either used the Trident Series 80 preamp or Neve 1073 that I had racked. These are all transformer coupled preamps.

You may read that a 1073 colors the sound too much, but it won’t if you’re using it properly — the main benefit is consistency thanks to the stepped gain knob. It’s stepped in increments of 5db, so if you get to a loud line, you can drop it down 5, 10, 15db — click, click, click—record the line, and then put it back up click click click! Easier than being like ‘hold on everyone, we’re at 2:30, and we’re going to try this line out at 11:45-ish…shit, where did we begin? let’s do a quick mic check.’

I feel like the Audient is a secret weapon. People love them and barely anyone knows about them. It’s solid, and I used it to replace my Apogee Duet (which has well-known wiring problems) and my SSL Nucleus.

Bonus

Isovox: we’ve only used this on one actor, and I’m pretty pleased with the results. The Kaotica Eyeball’s biggest issue is sometimes it can cause weird coloration if you, it, and the mic are not aligned properly. The big issue with this, which we haven’t had enough time to experiment with, is low-end buildup — it gets loud in there.