What is the best microphone for a bass voice and noisy pc?

Zach Clift

Hi everybody. I'm just getting started in voiceovers and I need a lil help with buying a microphone for my first home studio. I'm wondering if anyone can tell me the best mics that are under $200 for someone with a deep voice? From what i've read in these forums, it sounds like I at least need a condenser mic. Also, should I worry about getting "too good" of a mic? The reason I ask is that I read that the better the mic is, the more sensitive it is to picking up noise from your pc & other things and I have a big noisy pc with whirring fans and a soundblaster x-fi soundcard (which some think can cause humming or hissing in mics) that i'll be plugging it into. I do plan on building my own 10" x 10" Porta-Booth with acoustic foam panels so hopefully that'll cut out the noise but will that help much if i'm only a couple feet away from the pc?

Jacob Ekstroem · Posted: Sun Feb 03, 2008, 19:08 (GMT) Post subject:

Zach,

I think you should do a little effort in silencing your pc instead.
A good condensor microphone doesn't work well with a noisy pc nearby.

Jordan Reynolds · Posted: Sun Feb 03, 2008, 21:46 (GMT) Post subject:

Hi zach,

I agree with what jacob is saying. I'm guessing you are a computer geek that built his own computer like me? Smile

.

I have 12 fans in my full-atx tower and I've tried to make it as quiet as possible but my older intel CPU family is one of the hottest. Luckily, I have a spare closet at my new house right behind my desk. I converted this into my sound booth and it still barely picks up my computer which is 10 feet away, behind a closet door, and thick moving blankets! But you cannot hear it the recordings at all, you can just barely see it on my monitoring levels.

I wouldn't recommend doing any thing professionally until you either quiet down your pc, relocate your mic away from your pc, or get your soundbooth setup.

If you need any recommendations on quieting down your PC let me know. You may already know how so I apologize in advance if you do Smile

. I don't know your level of computer knowledge Wink

.

Scott Paxton · Posted: Mon Feb 04, 2008, 02:11 (GMT) Post subject:

Zach,

Try an SM-7B and utilize the bass roll-off. It is easy to tweak and the mic is is not that much.

Jacob Ekstroem · Posted: Mon Feb 04, 2008, 04:15 (GMT) Post subject:

Zach Clift · Posted: Mon Feb 04, 2008, 05:20 (GMT) Post subject:

Zach Clift · Posted: Mon Feb 04, 2008, 05:41 (GMT) Post subject:

Chris Clementson · **Voice Seeker** Joined: 14 Jan 2008 Posts: 216

http://www.silentpcreview.com/

http://www.endpcnoise.com/

Jacob Ekstroem · Posted: Mon Feb 04, 2008, 16:14 (GMT) Post subject:

Zach,

Building a pc suitable for voice-over work is, IMHO, a question of compromise. A system originally built for gaming, with the best graphics-card, lots of ram, lots of storage etc. is not a good starting point. What you need is a pc capable of doing what you need it to do, while running as silent as possible.

Six fans or more in a system is bad, if you want a quiet system.
I'd like to hear what specs your pc have to be able to give better help, but for starters, change the fans.

If your pc is new-ish (Core2 Duo or similar), it may be able to run with a very quiet cpu-fan, or maybe even with a fanless heatsink.

Try and physically stop the fan (momentarily!) on your PSU. Does the noise come from the fan, or the PSU itself? In the first case, replace the PSU-fan with a quiter one (note: not exactly an easy task), in the second case, replace the entire PSU (much easier, but see below).

Does your graphics-card have a small, high revving fan? Replace your card with a fanless card.

How many Hard Drives do you have? If more than one, do you really need it? Hard drives generate heat, and maybe you really don't need two 100+ GB drives, but could do with only one drive?

Replace the case-fans with bigger and fewer fans. Two 120mm fans are probably more effective and quiter than four or more 80mm fans. Use a temp. monitoring software like ASUS Probe to check your temp. status, and one by one replace the case-fans. Make sure airflow is efficient inside the case - you want air to be pulled in from the front and pushed out of the back. Having a lot of regular flat IDE-cables will obstruct the airflow, so get round IDE-cables instead.

Also important, think about what kind of components your system have, that you really don't need, or could replace with external gear. Your soundcard is not exactly the best for professional use. Ditching that, and instead using an external interface is one more component in your system, that doesn't generate heat inside the case. If you need lots of storage, you could use an external harddrive. Do you have seperate CD-ROM drives, DVD-drives, burners etc.? Then get ONE drive that does it all instead. The fewer components, less power is needed for the PSU to output, and maybe you really don't need a 600+ W output PSU, but could do with a 400 W - again, less is better here.

Not to forget, the location and surroundings of the system is important. If it's stowed in a desk cabinet, noise will be enclosed and amplified. And it's not a good idea to stowe it inside a closed cabinet in the first place, as this will make it more dificult for the system to breathe.

PC-silencing is generally not a question of tucking the system away behind a closed door, but more a question of giving the system the abilily to breath with as few cooling-components as possible.
I'd be happy to help you any way I can.

Gregory Houser · Posted: Mon Feb 04, 2008, 18:49 (GMT) Post subject:

Jordan Reynolds · Posted: Mon Feb 04, 2008, 21:24 (GMT) Post subject:

Joseph Sinclair · **Voice Seeker** Joined: 20 Jan 2008 Posts: 17

My PC has 3 fans, and I thought it was a hot item. But 6 fans and 12 fans? Might as well have a jet engine.

In any event, try putting a heavy towel (doubled over) over your case. Be careful not to plug the air intake. That cuts the noise significantly, although you will have to use other measures as well.

Jordan Reynolds · Posted: Tue Feb 05, 2008, 06:59 (GMT) Post subject:

Chris Clementson · **Voice Seeker** Joined: 14 Jan 2008 Posts: 216

One approach I am starting to favor is the use of compact flash recorders instead of monkeying around with PCs which sound like vacuum cleaners. They run absolutely silently, no fans, no hard drives and as far as I can tell, no moving parts. I have a Fostex FR-2LE which is a little pricey as these things go. Over the weekend I benchmarked it with Rightmark Audio Analyzer and the results weren't half bad, PROVIDED you don't use the built-in mic preamps or mics. RMAA considers its audio performance to be "very good".

http://www.fostexinternational.com/docs/pro_products/fr2le.shtml

You record your track on the CF recorder and then transfer it via USB cable to your PC and do your editing there.

As for a mic preamp, which you will need, there is this:

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/DMP3

I fixed up an announcer friend with one and he and I are both pleased with it -- nice and quiet, plenty of gain and great bang for the buck. Of course if you want to spend much more on a mic preamp, I'm not stopping you.

I plan to put several other CF recorders under the magnifying glass of RMAA and post the results on miclisteningroom.org.

Shoot, I should get a sales commission for this.

Joseph Sinclair · **Voice Seeker** Joined: 20 Jan 2008 Posts: 17

I think the test of whether you can use a towel or not is to touch your metal case. If it's cold to the touch before and after applying the towel, it's OK. If it gets warm, you should try something else. The bigger the box, the less likely it is to warm up.

But a towel does considerably dampen the noise radiating from the metal case, which is a substantial part of the noise problem. I have a year-old motherboard in a large case with normal fans, and the towel cuts the noise about 75% (in the recording --- mic about three feet away). With quiet fans---which I will install soon---I believe the noise will almost be eliminated in the recording.

As others have pointed out, this solution is not for everyone. Yet it can work well. But remember not to cover fan intakes or exhausts, and keep the exhausts pointed away from the mic, preferably with the mic on the table (desk) and the case underneath.