Help please . . . .

Clinton Nobles · **Voice Talent** Joined: 25 Mar 2008 Posts: 197

I am trying to combat the fact that I have a VERY bright room. The StudioProject B1 mic that I am using has a High Pass Filter (goes up to 20 dB but I am only using the 10) Please tell me what you think and give advice if you will. Note that my back foam is about 4 inches away from the mic. Thank you all very much.

Clinton Nobles · **Voice Talent** Joined: 25 Mar 2008 Posts: 197

please note there is no editing done on this recording.

John Weeks · **Voice Talent** Joined: 04 Jun 2005 Posts: 186

Hi Clinton,
IMO, the second setting really helps with the room noise and to me doesn't hurt the high end. Between the two, I vote for the second setting.
Good Luck!
John

Clinton Nobles · **Voice Talent** Joined: 25 Mar 2008 Posts: 197

Scott Pollak · Posted: Thu Apr 17, 2008, 19:18 (GMT) Post subject:

If your room is too bright I'd suggest dropping down to 40 watt bulbs.

Wink

Okay, seriously?
It's a matter of aural taste, AND also bear in mind my 53 year-old ears may be sensitive to wildly different frequencies than others. But personally I think the 10db hi-pass filter is too much. Not only is it muffling too much of your mid-to-high end frequencies, but it's simply reducing your VU overall and giving your audio a very subdued, or flat and nearly-muddy (not quite) sound.

I personally liked the unfiltered setting MUCH better. If you feel you MUST cut back on your highs, try fine-tuning elsewhere, rather than using a rather severe 10db off/on switch. If you're running thru any sort of mixer or pre-efx unit, roll back the mid or hi-frequencies there just a tad. Otherwise correct it in post-production using the EQ options built into whatever recording software you're using.

David Oxford · **Voice Talent** Joined: 09 Feb 2007 Posts: 505

Clinton:

I'm leaning more towards agreeing with Scott. I like how the mic sounds without the filter. HOWEVER, I have to say I like how the ROOM sounds WITH it, i.e. there's less room noise. Is that your computer fan? You might try isolating your computer and getting it further from the open mic, then trying it without the -10db pad. I really don't hear that you sound too bright - maybe just a bit on the ultra-high frequencies - but, as Scott said, you can control that if you're using a mixer with EQ (or if you have a separate outboard EQ)....or you can fix it in post-production.....but I wouldn't tweak it too much from where it is. Other than the background noise, the 1st version sounds pretty nice to my ears!

I would go on to say that the 2nd version (with the pad) sounds a little more 'natural' (less driven) and might be a nicer setting for narration, e-learning, documentaries, etc.

David

Don Randall · Posted: Mon Apr 21, 2008, 01:34 (GMT) Post subject:

See if this sounds better to your ear.

John Weeks · **Voice Talent** Joined: 04 Jun 2005 Posts: 186

Greg Houser · **Voice Talent** Joined: 12 Mar 2008 Posts: 174

ACK!!! Major artifacts on that one.

Please see earlier comments in another thread. I'm going to have to respectfully disagree with my colleagues on this one.

Clinton Nobles · **Voice Talent** Joined: 25 Mar 2008 Posts: 197

Thank you all for your help this is really such a learning experience. I have built a sound box and it is picture below. Also, I did a quick read and posted it here. What do you all think?