My Microphone!

 

 

 

Hey there!

 

I wanted to bring up a topic that many voice actors question when starting out: what should I buy? What equipment should I use to get into voice acting? Is there a specific starter set that you should get? Questions like these have interested me during my entire time as a voice actor. I wanted to use the best equipment, I wanted to use the best Digital Audio Workstation (also known as DAW), I wanted to know what to use to get my foot into the door. Tricky thing is, there isn’t one specific set of equipment to use. You can use practically anything when you’re starting out! As long as you’re getting your voice out there, you’re making progress. So, I want to share how my personal journey was and still is for finding my equipment.

 

Contrary to what may have been popular at the time, I first started voice acting on a USB Headset. You know the ones that are usually associated with gaming or for skype? I started off on a cheap pair of headphones I got from the bargain store. Understandably, the quality wasn’t great, but I did get cast for several projects with it! When I found out how much I enjoyed voice acting, I wanted to put a bit more money into it to improve my quality. That’s when I bought my USB mic, the Blue Snowball. The Blue Snowball is a one capsule condenser microphone that I got for roughly $60 dollars. With this microphone, I was booking more auditions, and I was loving the quality I was receiving. It’s not as good as the famous Blue Yeti microphone, but it suited my needs just fine. I even started a few of my own projects with this microphone, having friends and family get in front of the microphone to learn more about audio editing and the creative process. Although I loved my time with this microphone, I wanted to improve more. That’s when I bought myself my first XLR microphone and audio interface: the Audio Technica AT2020 and the U-Phoria UM2 from Behringer. Oh boy was there a difference! I really started feeling proud of the work I was presenting, even though I was only making small changes at a time. The Audio-Technica AT2020 is a cardioid condenser microphone that was roughly $100 with the Behringer audio interface costing around $50. Around this time, I also bought the MXL 990 condenser microphone for around $90 dollars. When testing the two, with the headphones that I had at the time, the AT2020 and the MXL 990 sounded roughly the same, with the AT2020 sounding a bit cleaner when listening back. Now we lead to my current setup, with my new audio interface, the Audient iD4 and the Rode Nt1 Signature Series. These two have been an amazing addition to my repertoire where I have begun to receive more paid work opportunities. The Audient iD4 is around $150 and the Rode NT1 microphone is around $160.

 

Overall, the biggest thing I have learned on my equipment journey so far is to take your time and experiment with what best suits your voice. Just because it’s ‘good’ or ‘popular’ doesn’t always mean that it’ll suit your voice. So, make sure to experiment and enjoy the process!

 

Happy Voicing!