The Pro Audio Suite

Recently listed in Listen Notes top 5% of podcasts globally, and named in Welp magazines list of the 20 top Audio Podcasts, the Pro Audio Suite is a podcast that covers everything to do with voiceovers and audio production. We feature interviews with key players from within the industry including studio engineers in music and post-production, manufacturers of gear, plugin designers, in fact, all aspects of audio and production.

The Pro Audio Suite is different to most other podcasts. With the highest of production values, unique sound, and produced like you were listening to a real radio show.

The Pro Audio Suite will not only bring you interviews with some of the leading lights of our industry but also tips, techniques and tools to hopefully make your work life more productive and creative. Most importantly we understand you don’t want long-winded, half-assed production values, so we keep it as short, sharp and value-packed as possible.

Hosted by voice-over and audio pros, George ‘The Tech’ Whittam, Robert Marshall from Source Connect and SUM1, Darren ‘Robbo’ Robertson from Voodoo Sound and Andrew Peters a voice-over talent home studio expert.

The Pro Audio Suite features interviews with key players not just in VO but anything to do with audio and voice over.
They also talk about tech stuff, VO tips and industry news!
The Pro Audio Suite is delivered weekly.

Is there actually such a thing as the best voice-over microphone for women?

It sounds like a simple question, but once the Pro Audio Suite starts pulling it apart, things get much more interesting.

This week, George, Robert, and AP look at why choosing a microphone based on whether the talent is male or female probably misses the point entirely. What matters far more is what the voice is actually doing.

Is it bright or dark? Sibilant? Mid forward? Deep and chesty? Does it have a lot of mouth noise? And does the microphone complement those characteristics, or simply exaggerate them?

The crew gets into why a bright voice may benefit from a smoother or darker microphone, why a big baritone does not necessarily need even more bottom end, and why certain microphones can sound fantastic on one voice and downright horrible on another.

Along the way they get into the Sennheiser 416, RØDE NTG3 and NTG5, Austrian Audio OC818 and CC8, Audio Technica AT4047SV, Neumann U47, U67, U87 and TLM 149, ribbon microphones, the Gefell M930, Grace M101 and even the dark art of matching microphones with preamps.

They also look at how much you can fix with a little sympathetic EQ, why ribbons can sometimes be a brilliant solution for bright or aggressive voices, and why auditioning a few microphones on your own voice, in your own space, still beats buying something because somebody on the internet called it “the best”.

In this episode

• Why there really isn’t a “male mic” or “female mic”

• Matching the microphone to the characteristics of the voice

• Bright and sibilant voices versus darker microphones

• Why deep voices don’t necessarily need more bass

• The 416 versus the RØDE NTG3 and NTG5

• Why the Austrian Audio OC818 makes a compelling desert island VO mic

• The AT4047SV and transformer character

• Why an expensive U87 can sound awful on the wrong voice

• Using ribbon microphones for difficult or aggressive vocal tones

• Condenser versus dynamic microphones for voice over

• How microphone transient response can expose mouth noise