Express Yourself Through Voice-over
- ANIMATION
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- COMMERCIAL
- NARRATION
- AUDIOBOOKS
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It’s hard to know where to spend and invest in recording equipment especially when you are just getting started as a student or working professional. We hope this guide provides a decent selection of product options and how an increase in spending leads to a huge increase in quality. Keep in mind this is designed for students and newer professionals, and does not include the usual ultra high end professional recommendations, aiming at a range of between $500 – $1000, whereby you can assemble a competitive home studio setup.
Annex Pro and On The Mic Training partnered up to bring you the best deals in the market!
The advantage of these bundles are their starting places: as your career grows you can upgrade item by item as needed, the interface and headphones will still work if you end up getting a better microphone down the road.
SCARLETT SOLO STUDIO PACK MK2 Gen 3
$329
I’ve heard of working professionals using what’s in this box years into their career with no issue. This is a fantastic starter bundle that future proofs you for a while as you can upgrade any part of the kit individually over time.
$269
M-Audio is a great brand for making solid audio equipment, I have heard some good things about this bundle as a good starter option.
$499
Rode is a fantastically reliable brand with amazing customer service and the NT1 microphone in the box is an amazing microphone for the price. What’s really cool is that you can go directly into a lightning input with this mic for ipads and macbooks.
$299
A good option that is made by a really well known company, I would put the Scarlett and Rode bundles ahead of this package only because I’ve had a lot more positive reviews from previous students.
$499
Universal Audio is well known as a producer of top end recording equipment but they are now making entry level sound equipment under their ‘VOLT’ name. These interfaces have a ton of cool features that you don’t see on any interfaces of this price range including a compressor option for when you’re getting loud. This bundle is at the higher end of basic gear bundles for price but will likely exceed the performance of some of the less expensive options.
USB microphones are great for newcomers but don’t necessarily future proof you due to the all in one nature of the microphone and preamp.
$219
I’ve used this as my go to office microphone for 2 years, it’s solid but wouldn’t recommend it for anything more than casual recordings. I find that the small body doesn’t allow for a really full sound through recordings.
$179.99
A solid entry level USB microphone which is a little more price suitable to compete with the yeti, rode, and M-audio USB microphones
$139
This is one of my favourite sounding USB mics on the market, it also happens to be the cheapest of the main companies listed. I have heard a half dozen recordings off these little microphones and they provide a really rich sound for a little mic.
$259
If there is any USB microphone that comes within shouting distance of a regular mic + interface setup it’s this one. It’s the priciest USB mic on the list but definitely the best. I think the best thing about this mic is the mobility it provides since it can connect to a phone or ipad.
Condenser cardioid microphones are amazing for voice-over they give the performer a rich quality which is fantastic for animation and commercials. Just be aware that with a cardioid microphone you will want to acoustically treat the room really well to get the best sound possible.
$149
An amazing microphone for newcomers to voice-over. I find that every at2020 has a slightly different quality but you get some that really do sing and sound great even amongst microphones 4 times their price. My one knock on the AT2020 is that it doesn’t come with a shockmount, just a basic stand attachment, which is fine for the price.
$339
A great mid-level microphone with a warm sound, it has a nice build quality and will stand out from the $200 – $300 microphone range.
$449
We have used these mics in our studio for 4 years and they are durable with a bold and warm sound. I can’t recommend these mics enough as a solid entry level professional microphone.
$589
This mic is fantastic for the price, I mean really fantastic. For my money it gives a sound that competes with mics a few hundred dollars up in price range. It’s well made and has a great voice profile that works exceptionally well in both animation and commercial records.
$469
This is a great in between mic from the NT1A and NT2A, it’s incredibly well made with a low noise floor. It gives a rich vocal tone. My only knock for a mic of this price range is no shock mount included, just a simple ring mount. This means you’ll likely have to buy one which brings the price up to bring similar to the NT2A.
$299 USD
Based on the famous 47’ style microphones that have been a staple of recording for decades. This is a great alternative to some of the other $300 CAD microphones on this list at a slightly higher price point. Solid build quality, good parts, and most importantly a warm sound on vocals.
$599 USD
I have used quite a few of the 87’ style microphones and this one definitely stands up to some of the even more expensive alternatives. These have such a clean but distinctive sound that just pops on certain vocals. Definitely worth a look even though it’s the most expensive microphone on this intermediate level list.
$295 USD
I love the advanced audio microphone sound, it’s super clean. And this 47’ inspired microphone is absolutely amazing for the price. Plus it’s great to support a small Canadian microphone company that constantly makes amazing products.
$395 USD
Just like the CM87 the sound on this microphone is just amazingly clean. I love using this microphone for animation voice-over but it’s just as good for more announcers like reads in a good room. Great on body options and delivers a super professional sound.
$389.5
Sennheiser makes excellent audio equipment and this cardioid microphone has a great tone and super low noise floor. Sennheiser’s part of the microphone market is generally very much on the high end so consider this microphone a kind of first step into their product line. This microphone will do good work for a newcomer into voice-over and probably handle any job you through at it.
Why choose a shotgun microphone for voice-over? The beauty of a shotgun microphone is the noise floor is incredibly low, which means recording voice-over at home or in an apartment even with the odd sound from neighbours, roommates, and family you can get a good record without worrying too much about having the perfect recording setup. My only knock on using a shotgun mic for voice-over is that they are very prone to plosives due to the directional sensitivity.
$349
This is a solid entry level shotgun microphone that I’ve found to work great for home studio recording. The cost is great and the shorted body makes it great for smaller home booths.
$369
This is also a great entry level shotgun mic from Audio Technica, a little longer than the AT875R but this is a great solution for home studios where you might not be able to get away from outside sound 100% of the time.
$169
Why this interface? It’s rugged and has amazing sounding preamps for the price. This interface has two channels but the second is only for trs (tip ring sleeve) cables plus its really well priced.
$239
Why this interface? Like the solo it’s rugged with great preamps but for the extra money you get 2 inputs that can take either an xlr or trs cable. Which means you can have your two microphones plugged in and ready to go for any session.
It’s really important to have a pair of headphone monitors that gives you an accurate representation of your voice and level when you record and when you listen to takes.
$69
A super solid set of headphone monitors, well built, with accurate monitoring. As a testament to the build quality of these headphones, we’ve used these in the studio for over 3 years and only had a couple sets of headphones fail.
$149 – An outstanding set of headphones for the price, they have an amazing frequency response and really accurate sound. Comes with multiple cable options.
$219
A step up on the M40x’s in build and options, although from testing in studio they sound very similar. These are really known for their comfort over the M40x’s.
$129.95
Rugged with amazing sound, these directly rival the ATH M40x’s. You can’t go wrong with either.
Sometimes it can be challenging to get a good feel for your reads through headphone monitors, this is where having a pair of studio monitors comes in. Don’t feel like you need to break bank on studio monitors, unless you are going to be mixing fully produced projects on them, a basic $100 – $200 set will allow you to hear your voice accurately outside of your studio.
I highly recommend looking for a floor stand with an adjustable arm as it will allow you to get the perfect angle for your microphone when you use it. Some voice-over professionals love desk clamp stands from companies like Rode because of the space saving but in most cases a floor stand is standard.
A music stand is an important addition for a voice-over artist, it helps you not lose takes due to paper ruffling sounds
I’m not going to list prices here since there are so many different subscription styles and such but I really put this up to personal preference.
Free
It’s free, it’s easy to use, it does everything that’s needed for voice-over. Sure it could have more functionality and a cleaner ui, but it’s everything you need for voice-over at the best possible price.
Free
It may come pre-installed on your apple device, but it still allows you to record voice-over, edit, and export.
License
Amazing functionality and pretty much the industry default DAW. Just be aware that it’s a challenge to make full use of this DAW without formal training. The big selling point of Pro tools is the amazing array of plugins that can be installed to allow for easy post production workflow.
Got a recommendation? Send it our way and we’ll add it to the list.
*Prices listed as an average price listed for major Canadian retailers in November 2020
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