In order for you to proceed with our remote voice over demo creation service, we need to ensure you have equipment that is up to par. This enables us to provide you with the best service and ultimately a professional sounding demo that will get you jobs.
Microphone
We define a 'decent' microphone as a condenser microphone with a cardioid pick-up pattern. Any of that make sense? In case it doesn't, below are 3 of our recommended mics.
An important difference between the AT2020 and Yeti compared to the Neumann above is that the AT2020 and Yeti are USB microphones. It means that they're powered by the USB in your computer and also have build-in sound cards. They are in short, 'plug and play'. You can plug them into your computer and essentially start recording with them immediately (assuming you have the software). The down side is that the volume control of the mic (on the At2020) has to be done through the software (as opposed to a physical knob). The headphones also have to be controlled via your computer volume.
These mics we recommend for somebody who perhaps doesn't know the technical side of things as well or who may be on a budget. They're not the best mics in the world and we always recommend the highest quality equipment where possible but we're also realistic about how much things cost. To be clear, these mics will provide a good, professional sound if used correctly but there are better microphones out there if you have the money to spend.
With the Neumann, it requires a third party sound card. This is NOT 'plug and play'. Now, we know you may be thinking, "but this is more expensive and has less functionality than the AT2020", and you wouldn't be wrong. However, this is what professional studios use, and for good reason. This brand has been around forever and their mics last forever. If you want a long-term, quality mic purchase, Neumann is the brand. The TLM102 is their least expensive of their products but still produces excellent results.
The third party sound card can be in a lot of different forms. The simplest and cheapest are below.
CEntrance MicPort Pro (approx. $200)
Shure X2U (approx. $100)
Both of these require you to use a mic cable (XLR) to attach your mic then a USB (provided) connects to your computer. These little devices have the advantage that you can use any mic with them (in case you upgrade) and you can also connect your headphones to them. Another handy feature is the volume controls of both the mic and the headphones. Having this gives you a little more freedom if you are in a session and you need to separately turn yourself or the client up or down in the headphones.
Headphones
You can use any headphones you like really. We recommend you use closed back over-ear headphones to prevent bleed-through into the mic. This means that the sound of your voice feeds back into the mic from the headphones and causes feedback or a weird phasey sound that isn't pleasant. Below are recommend or at least this style.
Sony MDR-7506 (approx. $130)
Computer
We're going to assume that you all have one of these. It can be Mac or PC, laptop or desktop, as long as it was bought in the last 5 years then we're certain it will be good enough to record. You do have to make sure that there's a fair amount of hard drive space on there though, audio files can be large and take up space.