Fed up of QC department
After emailing the QC department a few times I have been told that I can communicate with the QC department through the community.
well I am writing to complain about the fact that I don't think the QC department all know what a good recording is? I have a very high end sound booth with a top of the line neumann mic that runs through a GA pre amp and condenser into a thunderbolt focusrite. the botth was set up by a tech from rockymountain recorders and I record for companies and studios all over the world. I work on voice bunny to keep my skills sharp, but I constantly get revision requests for "Boxiness" which infuriates me. I listen to other records that get approved and the sound quality if far less, I really do not think that some of the QC department really know what a great recording sounds like and they are returning records to make it look like they are doing something?
are other people finding this?
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Hi Matthew,
Thanks for your feedback. I've looked for your profile and only see one rejection regarding boxiness in the last month. Remember that audio is tricky and not all recordings are the same, recording even one inch further can change the perception of sound.
However, I've listened to this rejected audio and will discuss this case with the team as I feel it shouldn't have been rejected straight away. We've removed this rejection from your stats.
I assure you the members of the QC team are also experienced voice over talents and sound engineers who have listened to thousands of recordings so we trust their judgement (and we hope you do too!) when deciding if a recording is the best it can be for our clients.
Remember that if you don't agree with a rejection, you may request a second opinion to get the rejection removed from your stats.
-Seb
Can you tell me how this job this morning got rejected for Boxiness? 24633B5A3A68AF2A00E0
I don't know how to attach the record to this thread?
Are the QC department mistaking condensing for boxiness? my set up reduces peaks so the tech can mix the audio how they wish.
this is a reply i sent yesterday but didn't post it:
I had another contest rejected for boxiness a few days ago, maybe a week. And the boxiness thing has been continual. It’s happened a lot. It gets frustrating as I want to trust the qc dept but it must be a couple of people as when it happens I resend either the original audio as a revision and it gets approved or I turn the volume down by half a dB and it gets accepted. I’m sure you can understand my frustration as I put the effort I. To record and remove breathing and it gets rejected for boxiness. At least on a specific job I can just resubmit but on the contests I put the effort in and then lose the audition payment. I have sent in records before for managers to listen to and also as you can see from my reviews the clients are happy. It makes it very frustrating to work with vb which makes me sad as I enjoy the little jobs because it keeps me on my game.
Hi Matthew,
I understand the frustration. We're working with the team to lower those kinds of rejections. Boxiness is used to describe a recording that has a particular resonance. Normally it occurs on the low-mid frequencies (250Hz to 1khz) and is caused by recording in small rooms/booths or spaces with insufficient acoustic treatment. Pre-made booths tend to have this kind of sound because well, they are boxes. In your case, there's a bit of a boost in the lower register of things, but it's nothing that can't be fixed with a little bit of EQ.
I see the audition for the project you mentioned above has been approved.
Thanks again for your feedback,
-Seb
Yep, I renamed the take sent it back in and it got approved. I made no changes to the record?
They did it again and rejected a speedy for being "boxiness". i played to some studio tech friends of mine who listened to it and can not figure out why it would be rejected, and these people record the vo for major movies?
the job number is 81673F79A253CDEC12C9
Please take a listen and tell me i'm not delivering professional records every bloody time!
really getting sick of this, especially considering how much money i make for your company. I am wasting my time and money recording these for you to have them rejected.
sorry if I am coming across as rude but this is out of control and something needs to be done.
Hi Matthew,
There's still a resonance in your audio towards the lower end of the frequency range. Our clients expect more natural sounding recordings, hence this rejection. Remember that speedies are designed to deliver in the quickest way possible and if the quality is not up to par it might take longer for the client to fix it in post.
As I said before, this issue could even be addressed with a simple EQ.
Well that’s my voice? I have a small booth but it is completely sound proofed, you tell me how to get rid of the so called boxiness?
Hi Matthew
I responded on a different post you created but I do have to agree the recording sounds very boxy. Keep in mind that just adding soundproofing materials to a recording is enough to ensure you have good acoustic treatment. Depending on the size and shape of the room as well as the materials it's built with, the acoustic treatment and mic positioning may vary.
It would also be a good idea to review your mic as maybe the one you're using is also reacting incorrectly to your room's frequency response.
We can help you if you share with us which equipment you're using and sharing some pics of how you have your space set. We can give you some recommendations based on that.
I just did a job this morning and ran a high pass on it as stated to try. can you tell me if it helps?
job number 81EF29D7F9AF36670645
as for the studio, its 5ft by 3 1/2ft. it was built with a hollow space connected to a sound proof exterior wall.
the mic is a Neumann TLM 103, it runs ito a GA Pre 73 MKIII, then to a Focusrite Clarett 2Pro.
here is the mic in the booth