Rejection process
Hello, my audio was rejected because of 'hiss / white noise". If this audio was rejected due to the split second hiss right at the top (which is not audible in my DAW, but only in the output file), I would say your QC team needs to be retrained, or simply be empowered to request or DO an audio edit that would take 5 seconds. Rejecting a project on that basis makes no sense. This should never have been rejected especially considering the substandard audio (in my opinion) that is routinely approved on this platform. https://drive.google.com/open?id=1z5ewt9U91GhmV5p_4RI-X4Yk4z7jLqlE
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Hi Nick,
We've reviewed the project and determined that the main issue with the read is sibilance and this was unfortunately omitted from the review. Our apologies!
In terms of how to improve on the sibilance issue make sure you are not boosting high frequencies with an EQ and try using a de-esser to attenuate frequencies around the 9kHz area.
Hope that helps.
No it does not help Sebastian. Were you the QC individual who reviewed and rejected the audio from the original project?
I asked you a question Sebastian: WAS IT YOU WHO REVIEWED THE AUDIO IN THE FIRST INSTANCE? When should I expect a reply?
Hi Nick,
I personally didn't check the project. I checked with the agent who did and he gave me his feedback which is what I told you.
If you are not comfortable with rejections we suggest you disable contests and speedies from your profile. We're glad to help you improve your quality through this space.
I'm not comfortable with inappropriate rejections. Your rejection standards are arbitrary and extremely inconsistent. After this last round of rejections (all from the same set up and EQ for months and dozens and dozens of accepted projects on this platform), I reset all my settings for Voicebunny and this morning get rejected again for a different reason, that I also disagree with. I listen to the approved files in the 'recently approved work section' and can honestly say I find many to be unacceptable in audio quality. I am supplying audio constantly to other clients and through other platforms that are never rejected.
Perhaps you could provide a full and actually consistent audio profile to which I can tune my system for Voicebunny projects, rather than this arbitrary process of uneducated QC staff and playing wackamole while wasting my time? That would be very helpful.
Also, have you recently changed your approval criteria because what is happening right now has never happened before. It would be helpful to know what is going on.
Hello Nick!
I'm the ogre/agent who rejected this audio and I stand by the comments made. Even for the sibilance issue which I omitted to list in the original rejection (but which Sebastian has already cleared with you).
I'd be happy to help out if you're open to constructive criticism over the myriad of issues present in the aforementioned audio file because I can assure you, they do not meet the VoiceBunny standards and future submissions that sound this way will keep on getting rejected.
Speaking of other platforms, clients, and standards: we're not other companies. The reason behind VoiceBunny's QC process is precisely to only accept top-notch voice-overs and our criteria are constantly evolving, refining and improving. That's one of the cornerstones of quality control in any industry: improvement is incremental and relies on not settling for standards that might have worked before.
I too am a voice talent who's always looking for ways to improve on my quality: over the past 20 years of work in this industry I've learned the hard way that better is always possible and 'the best' is yet to come. Listening to other pros and their amazing work has humbled me into learning what can be improved with what I considered "my golden sound", many, many times.
Now, as for a stack or profile for you what I can say is this: less is more.
When our microphone, preamp/interface and most importantly: our recording environment are all totally on point, equalization, compression and processing become superfluous and quite unnecessary for most VO work. In your case, there's a boxy quality that indicates less than ideal acoustics in your booth/studio/room. Your mic technique/diction are allowing for harsh sibilants to take the forefront in your read and the lack of attention to those details is very much exponentiated by whatever processing you're using, I'm sorry to say. Oh and by the way, there is audible white noise in your audio, which is most likely an issue stemming from incorrect gain settings in your recording gear and a contributing factor in the loud sibilants and the rest of issues.
Now, for the final tuning tip: you know how mix engineers use reference mixes when making a hit record? Well, for us in VO it's super useful to have a reference sound. In this link, you can find one of the samples from another pro's work which I use as a benchmark for quality: https://we.tl/t-jwRftuxS9Y . Sometimes the first thing we need to tune is our own set of ears.
Thanks for reaching out to us, I'm looking forward to continuing this dialogue!
Héctor Adolfo Ituarte (VoiceBunny QC Agent).
Hi Hector, thank you for this detailed response - it is much appreciated and apologies for my slow response. There is a lot to unpack here and I'd like to more fully respond shortly. The info you've given is very helpful personally (and I have no issues with correcting/adjusting audio quality, believe me), however there are still issues with the Bunny QC process that I don't feel have been adequately addressed. I'll respond in detail ASAP. Thank you, Nick