When starting down the Voice Over (VO) path, as with any new hobby/career, we are often unsure of how much we want to invest to really get started.  But let’s get straight to it.  I’m going to assume that your starter budget lies anywhere from $100 to $300 and I’ll try to provide advice to accommodate a range of options.  As I make my recommendations, I will do my best to highlight some key considerations to take when selecting recording gear and setting up your recording environment.

INTERFACES & MICROPHONES

USB Microphone or USB Digital Recording Device?

You might be thinking right off the bat, “why limit ourselves to USB hardware? I already have a sound card in my computer!”  Generally speaking, you will appreciate having dedicated hardware for your recording.  Either of these two options guarantees, at the very least, that you’re using a sound card (built into the USB device) that was designed with digital recording in mind.  Could you substitute USB for Thunderbolt?  Sure, but as far as we’re concerned, that’s just another cable that essentially does the same thing for us, hook a dedicated piece of digital recording hardware into our computer.  Let’s have a look at the difference between these two options.

USB (or Thunderbolt) Interfaces

Pros

• Flexibility.  Having a USB interface opens a world of possibilities since you can now plug in a massive variety professional microphones, pre-amps and other “audio chain” hardware through the interface and therefore into your computer.
• Upgradability.  With the initial investment of the interface out of the way, it becomes very easy to upgrade your microphone (and other components in your chain) in the future.

Cons

• So many choices!  This could be considered a con as well.  Realizing the amount of hardware that exists in the professional audio world can seem daunting at first.  This is why we have to live off of a combination of recommendations and personal experience to decide what options are the best for us.
• Price:  A good USB interface might cost about the same or more as a good USB microphone, and will still require you to buy a separate microphone.

Recommendations

USB Interfaces

Blue Microphones Icicle XLR to USB Mic Converter/Mic Preamp – (~$50) Super simple and inexpensive and will work with any XLR mic.  Might not have the greatest preamp in the world, but if you’re using a condenser mic, you should should be good to go with this guy. Good quality @ 16-bit/48KHz.

Avid Fast Track Solo – (~$125) This interface has some extra features on the Icicle above.  First of all, it can table both XLR and 1/4″ stereo (guitar) input so it’s generally more useful for a recording environment.  More importantly though, it has monitoring features so you can hook a pair of speakers and some headphones into it, which can be very useful and handy in your recording space.  The live monitoring can be very useful for catching problems in the audio over your headphones while you’re recording.  Better quality @ 24-bit/48KHz.

Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 – (~$150) Similar to Fast Track Solo but with two XLR inputs and a good bit more durability (metal body instead of plastic).  Also, many will swear by the Focusrite preamps over the Avid/M-Audio ones in terms of quality, though I won’t pretend to have an opinion on this.  I personally know a lot of voice actors who use this exact interface at home, including myself. Best Quality @ 24-bit/96KHz.

XLR Microphones

Studio Projects B1 – (~$120) This was my first, and I have no regrets.  It’s a great beginner mic, and arguably rivals some name brand mics that cast 2-3x as much.  It even comes with optional 10 and 20 dB pads in case you think it’s recording too hot.

Audio Technica AT2020 – (~$82) A low-cost staple of the recording industry and a nice little workhorse.  While I’d argue that I prefer the sound of the B1, I’ve used this mic on numerous occasions and it gets the job done.  I’m not enough of an audiophile to cite a reason to get the B1 over this other than my own personal history.

Monoprice 600800 – ~($70-80) Another really solid and often overlooked affordable microphone.  Costs only $70 on Monooprice or closer to $80 on Amazon (though that comes with Prime shipping).

Quick Note on Condenser Microphones/Phantom Power: The microphones listed above are condenser microphones which means they need some form of 48V phantom power in order to work.  Fortunately all the interfaces listed above provide this through the XLR cable.  All you need to do is hit the +48V or Phantom power switch on the interface to provide this.

USB Microphones

Pros

• Simplest beginning solution.  One device that handles everything, and is typically plug-and-play.
• Usually less expensive, because of only having to buy one device.

Cons

• Limited selection.  The vast majority of high-quality microphones use an XLR cable.  If you want a USB microphone, you will have a smaller selection to choose from than someone with a separate audio interface.
• Higher end microphones will NOT be available as USB microphones.  This limits your upgradability, and you might eventually want to switch to a separate interface anyway.

Recommendations

Blue Microphones Yeti USB Microphone – (~$100) I would probably recommend this one the most out of all USB microphones if you’ve got the $100 to spend.  It has a lot of the features that you’d get from a real audio interface like a built-in headphone jack and volume knob, plus an actual recording gain knob and multiple pickup patterns (cardioid, omni, figure-of-eight and stereo).  If you don’t know pickup patterns are, don’t worry.  I’ll explain them in another section later on, but all you really need for 98% of voice over is a cardioid (or hypercardioid, as you’d get from a shotgun mic) pickup pattern.  Every mic I’ll ever mention on this site will support a cardioid (or hypercardioid) pickup pattern.  Also, it has built-in stand and threading so it can be used with a conventional microphone stand as well, bearing in mind that it’s heavier than most microphones.  Good Quality @ 16-bit/48KHz

Blue Microphones Snowball USB Microphone – (~$57-70 depending on color)  I you wanted something a bit cheaper, this is as cheap as I recommend you go.  It’s still a solid beginner mic, it looks really cool, and comes in an impressive variety of colors.  Like it’s big bro, the Yeti, it comes with a stand and supports multiple pickup patterns (cardioid and omni).  Decent quality @ 16-bit/44.1KHz

Audio-Technica AT2020 USB Condenser USB Microphone – (~$130) A plug-and-play all-in-on version of the AT2020 mentioned above in the XLR section.  It’ll get the job done and for the extra $48, it won’t require a USB interface and it comes with a simple yet functional desk stand.  I’m mentioning here because it’s still good deal and has that pro mic “look”, but honestly, I think the Yeti is a better overall choice if you’re taking the USB Mic route.  Decent Quality @ 16-bit/44.1KHz

SPACE (Noise and Echo)

Recording right at your desk, without anything to block noise and echoes, is a BAD idea.

Many uninitiated seem convinced that high quality recording is merely the result of more expensive audio hardware, but this is simply not the case.  The most essential part of getting good clean sound is ensuring that you’re recording the voice and ONLY the voice.

Sources of Noise

Noise can result from any of the following:

• Fans.  Ceiling, upright or computer fans… they all have motors, and without the right precautions, they will all add unwanted noise to your recordings.
  • Solution:  Turns off any room fans while recording.  If you’re recording from a computer that’s making a considerable amount of noise try to isolate it as best you can from your microphone.  An isolation booth (discussed later) may help a bit with this as well.  I will include, later on, an article on how I designed my own super-silent recording computer.  Still, I recorded without one for years with very good results.  You should be able to get this under control with my tips and common sense.
• Air vents.  Air conditioning and heating systems that rapidly force air into a room generate audible noise as well.
  • Solution:  As suggested above, temporarily turns off any central air or wall A/C heating units that are producing noise in your recording.  One very key thing to point out.  Home recording on a budget is not always comfortable so you have to make the best of it so that discomfort doesn’t affect your vocal performance.  I have spent very many hours recording with my shirt off to make up for how stuffy it can get while recording sans A/C on a hot summer’s day.
• Electronics.  Some electronics, especially large TVs, fridges, dryers, etc generate an electromagnetic field that can interfere with your microphone (which is typically based on magnetism) and create hums and buzzes.
  • Solution:  Try to turn off large electronic devices in the room that aren’t required for your recording.  You’re probably noticing a pattern here by now:  TURN EVERYTHING OFF.
• People.  Unfortunately, sometime our families, roommates and neighbors don’t quite appreciate what we’re doing and add their own soundtrack to the background.
  • Solution:  This is often more of a timing thing, getting your recordings done at times when you have the most privacy/quiet, which will vary depending on the habits of your family/roommates/neighbors.  Sometimes simply asking folks to quiet down (aka: turning them off) can help, but do this at your discretion.  You know better than I do how those close to you react to being stifled.
• Handling.  As a general rule, it’s bad to rely on headset or handheld microphones because of the noise created when they move around.
  • Solution:  Use a microphone stand (either a floor stand, desk stand or, if you want to get fancy, one of those nifty movable arms).  It’s even better if you use one of these with a “shock mount” which can absorb external noise causes by subtle vibrations in the floor/furniture.  Shock mounts are often custom-tailored to a given mic, so it’s hard to recommend a particular one.  Fortunately, some mics actually come with a free shock mount by default.
• Breath.  When we pronounce certain syllables, particularly those involving the letters S and P, we create wind noise in the microphone with our own breath.
  • Solution:  Vocal technique and a Pop Screen/Filter.  The vocal technique part falls on you, and I’m not going to go into too much details here as this is often more of an art than a science.  I’ll just mention that you should be mindful of when you choose to breath in your recording and that sometime the key to reducing certain unwanted noises is to just point your face slightly off mic so that the air coming out of your mouth isn’t rushing directly into your microphone.  As far as the pop screen, just get something that fits your budget.  The simple practice of having one versus not having one can save you a lot of grief.  Most with come with some sort of screw of clamp that will make it attachable to any conceivable microphone stand.  There are also plenty of tips out there to make you own using, say, a wire hanger and a pair of ladies stockings.  If you want to do that, be my guest.  I’ve been using the same pop screen for the past 8 years, and it’s never steered my wrong.

Echos

Echos, without getting too much into physics, are the result of your voice bouncing off of flat surfaces (such as walls, floors, ceilings, etc.) and then going back into your mic.  This is undesirable because it gives the listener a sense of the room (it’s size, the types of walls, etc), which is the vast majority of cases in VO is very undesirable.  If an audio engineer/mixer wants you to sound like you’re in a certain place, they can add in their own reverb/echoes in later.  Removing those echoes to, say, make it sound like you’re outside, is no easy task and most people will write you off immediately as having poor audio quality, no matter how many hundreds or thousands of dollars your hardware setup cost.  While we’re not going to delve into something as expensive and complicated as actual soundproofing, there is a lot we can do, on a budget, when it comes to echo reduction.  One thing I feel like I ought to point out is this great video by my esteemed colleague Mick “Rice Pirate” Lauer on the topic of cheap echo reduction:

This, of course, assumes that you have a “room” to dedicate to recording, but I understand that for some people, this isn’t always the case.  Another option is a portable sound booth, which goes great with a desk mic stand.  I got the idea from this article by Jake Ludington a while back, but rather than using expensive Auralex foam, I use “much less espensive”, but still effective acoustic foam from Foam Factory.

Make a Portable Sound Booth

Essentially, I recommend getting the 12 pack of 12″ X 12″ 2-inch wedge foam squares and using it to cover the sides, top and back of a Whitmore Cube, leaving area clear for your mic stand to sit on the bottom.  While Ludington mentions in his article that he did any necessary re-sizing of the foam with a bread knife, I found that a plain old large pair of scissors does the trick just with the Foam Factory foam.  If you’re feeling especially lazy though, just cramming 4 pieces of 12 X 12 inch foam without any additional effort worked just fine for me starting out.

I used essentially this exact design for all of my recordings between 2006 and 2009.  If you really want to but Auralex foam, feel free.  I’ve heard plenty of audio snobs say that Foam Factory’s foam is crap and does nothing and that you should only ever use Auralex.  Based on personal experience, I can say that’s bull and that it works just fine.  Foam factory is going to be one of the few product links I put on this site that doesn’t pay a commission, and that’s because I just like saving money and hope that you’re able to do the same.

Make a “Proper” Closet Sound Booth

Another solution, as this site’s name suggests, in making a closet into a sound booth.  While Mick’s approach in the video above is perfectly valid, I think both of us ultimately decided it still looks a lot less messy (and probably takes up less space) to properly treat the inside of a closet with foam/bass traps/hanging quilts/etc.  However, I think doing this merits its own article and might not be an ideal commitment for a beginner, so I won’t be discussing it here.

RECORDING SOFTWARE

Free

Audacity – This seems to be the default solution of most home-based VO artists I know.  Audacity is free, open-source and supports a wide variety of plug-in types.  I will give it all that, but let me be very clear.  It is ugly.  Oh, so ugly, and when it comes to long-form mixing and other things when I start to care about the “feel” of the software, it just doesn’t do it for me.  Don’t get me wrong, it’ll record in the same quality as anything else I’ll recommend to you here and it’s fairly easy to figure out and use.  I just have to throw in my two cents and say that I pretty much never use it, cause I don’t want to and I don’t have to.

Cheap

Reaper – Not so many people know about this guy, but it is a GREAT recording suite.  It looks good, feels good and has tons of features and great plugin support.  They don’t waste money on crap like advertising or fancy copyright protection, so their trial period is indefinite and a license is only $60 which is a steal for pro-grade recording software.  They politely ask that you buy a more expensive license if you are making upwards of $20,000 off your business, but if you actually are doing that well, you can probably afford to fork over the $225 for a full commercial license.

Pricier

Adobe Audition – This is what I use, but I’ll add that I use an old version (1.5).  Long ago this software was called Cool Edit Pro, but it was eventually bought by Adobe and renamed.  The software stayed about the same up to version 1.5 and then had a major overhaul from version 2.0 and forward all the way up to present day.  The only way to buy the latest version is by subscribing to it on the Adobe Cloud, which costs $19.99/month if you commit to a year in advance or $29.99/month if you don’t.  It also comes as part of the full creative cloud suite if you happen to use a lot of other Adobe software already, so if you already have that, I highly recommend using it as it is my favorite software between it’s ease of use, features, plugin support and feel, but it’s a little harder to justify the cost nowadays.  Finding a legit copy of Audition 1.5 or Cool Edit Pro 2.1 is quite difficult, but there are copies available out there.  I’m not sure if helping people find old versions of software is considered piracy though, so I’m just going to stay away from that topic on my site.

Pro Tools – Let me start by saying that I am not recommending that beginners go out and buy Pro Tools.  I have to acknowledge however that it is considered a standard in the recording industry.  A full copy of pro tools is going to costs you somewhere in the neighborhood of $650 or if you’re a student, you can get it for around $275.  If you think you might ever want to go into the field of pro audio engineering, maybe you’ll eventually decide it’s worthwhile to buy this but otherwise, I’d recommend that you don’t.  Some audio interfaces might also come with light version of Pro Tools with names like Pro Tools SE, LE, M-powered, Express etc…  I’ve tried a bunch and they are all quite deliberately crippled and I DO NOT recommend them.  You are probably better off with Audacity.

CONCLUSION

Well, that does it for my basic overview on beginner home recording.  I hope you are able to get something out of the recommendations I’ve made based on my own history in home VO recording.  If you have additional questions you’d like to ask, feel free to get in touch with me via email at jtomar ^AT^ gmail ^DOT^ com (trying to throw off a few spambots here).  If your question is particularly relevant, I’ll happily add the answer to my articles or an FAQ on this site.  Thanks for reading!