Rejected Application Acoustics/Fidelity
My application to be a part of this website was rejected for the aforementioned reasons in the title. Unfortunately, I'm all very new to this and I just don't know what exactly is wrong with the reasons given. If anyone could give me some advice on what to work on, in detail, I'd greatly appreciate it. Voice acting is something I've always wanted to do, but it seems that my audio is never good enough no matter how good my delivery is. I really don't know what to do since I quit my job to do this, so I obviously cant be spending hundreds of dollars on new equipment.
Speaking of, my equipment is as follows:
Blue Yeti USB Mic (Cardioid setting, gain turned to minimum setting)
Basic Pop Filter
AudioTechnica M50 Headphones
Audio is here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/8tn8wq4pu7h9prn/audition.wav?dl=0
Thanks,
Robert
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Hi Robert!
Thank you for sharing. I am going to give you my feedback for both takes. I believe this will help you understand which problems are present in both recordings and you should take a look into before making changes.
Take 1: There's a lot of room echo in your recording. This means that there's a lot of the room noise present in the recording. This happens when you're recording in untreated spaces or when you don't have appropriate acoustic isolation devices to reduce this effect. There's also some hiss that may be coming from the internal circuits of the microphone. USB microphones tend to have a high noise floor which is not desirable for professional voice over applications.
Moving on to the performance, there are some sentences where the reading sounds quite forced. For example, "Step by step, we created a digital service to bring the voice over industry into your home" has some awkward pauses and that makes it hard to follow the intention you're trying to convey. Something similar happens to several sentences after that one, too but I used this one as an example as I think it's clearer there.
Take 2: The performance is great! Much better than the previous one. I think this could be because you're using more your natural voice tone. The whispering part sounds very similar to the original tone. You could try whispering more to make it more noticeable.
However, when it comes to acoustics, it sounds very similar. It does improve taking the previous one as a reference, but not quite at the level we require. I can tell that the cube does help, but it's not enough. Also, the hiss is still present and the quality of the recording itself is not very good probably because of the microphone's quality. I can also notice several edits that are not well executed. The cut is easily distinguishable due to the amount of hiss and ambiance noise on the recording.
I suggest you make some changes to your setup. As your main issue is in regards to acoustics, why don't you give a read to our article on basic acoustic treatment. We've compiled some easy treatment options you can try out to improve your setup: https://help.bunnyinc.com/hc/en-us/community/posts/203461624-Tip-5-Basic-acoustic-treatment-is-easier-than-what-you-may-think-
I personally would also suggest you get yourself a microphone + interface combo. We don't recommend USB microphones as they usually don't give a good result for professional audio applications. We also have some recommendations on that from here: https://help.bunnyinc.com/hc/en-us/community/posts/218024227-Tip-2-Choose-a-microphone-that-fits-with-your-voice-tone- and here: https://help.bunnyinc.com/hc/en-us/community/posts/203362904-Tip-4-Choose-a-good-interface-for-your-needs-
Hope this helps but let us know if we can do something else for you :)
Hey Robert!
The Dropbox file gives us an Error 500. Can you update the link? The QC manager and I will check it once it's working!
Thank you :)
Hi, Robert!
I get a 500 error when trying to access the link you provided. Please modify the privileges and let us know so we can check it out!
Best,
Juan
Sorry it took me so long to get back to you guys! Here's the actual audio from that audition: http://www.filedropper.com/audition
However, this is now out of date. I actually reapplied after I set up what I call a recording cube, a fabric cube with acoustic foam on the sides. I think the audio sounds much better and clearer than before, but apparently, it's still not good enough. Link: http://www.filedropper.com/voicebunnyaudition
Hi Robert!
it sounds like the room where you recorded is not acoustically treated there is some reverb on the audio file, maybe the material used in your cube is not adequate, you can put something to defuse these reflections and get rid of the echo by putting something like Auralex on the walls.
Hope this helps!
Thanks for the feedback Angela! Unfortunately though, I just don't have the ability to treat the room that I'm recording in, and don't have the money to afford anything better than what I have. I suppose the only other thing I could possibly do would be to use blankets around myself, but I doubt that would still be enough. The hiss itself, I'm not sure if it's from the microphone or the ambient noise my PC makes. I really have no idea what to look for!
In the article I shared we give you options you can try that are cheap and you can use household items. A good substitute for Auralex foam is egg boxes. You can try that. You can also try to get inside your closet if you can.
About the noise, it's tricky as it will depend on where the hiss is coming from for me to give you a recommendation. Try the acoustic alternatives I gave you first and see if that changes something. It may work!
The way my room is set up, it's not physically possible to record in my closet due to the shelving. As far as the egg boxes go, how would I actually go about using them? Should I just tape them onto the walls? I'm also very close to a window, would hanging a thick blanket over that help at all, or is the space just unusable at that point? I'm also planning on moving, so I'm not trying to set up anything too permanent.
You can try both things, Robert. The window is definitely a problem as glass is one of the most reflective materials out there. I suggest you also move the microphone around the room. Maybe it's also the spot where you're recording at that is affecting the quality.
Maybe you can try a corner and put the egg boxes in the walls around you as well as the cube you mentioned before.