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I want my audio quality assessed given that my profile has been deactivated. Please find attached a link to a recent sample of mine:
https://soundcloud.com/the-joshest-young/voicebunny-hebrew-messiah
Best,
Josh
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Hi Josh!
A few issues come immediately to mind, but first, can you share with us your recording conditions, equipment, and DAW settings?
In your case, since there's some 'boxiness', a photo of your booth/studio/recording space will be of great help!
Thank you!
Héctor Adolfo Ituarte (VoiceBunny QC Agent)
Hi, Héctor,
You'll find attached an image of the same recording setup I've used for the past 3 years. I use a Blue Yeti USB mic and Audacity, receiving a 44100 Hz signal at a recording volume of .2 or 20%. These settings have been uniform for all of my work for VoiceBunny and Audible. The location is a small rectangular closet. There is some clothing hanging behind where I stand to record, furthering noise insulation.
I have found your QA process to be alarmingly inconsistent, only accepting a small number of my pieces over my time with this site. The sample I linked you was extremely well-received by the client, and it was one of the VERY few accepted by VoiceBunny. I simply do not understand where the issues you refer to lie.
Please reinstate my account.
Hi Josh!
Before reinstating your account, let me be clear about a couple of issues: I was able to notice room echo and I now see where it comes from.
Furthermore: USB microphones as the one you're using are not compliant with VoiceBunny standards. We encourage all of our talents to use a proper condenser microphone, interface (and good mic-preamp doesn't hurt), plus appropriate acoustic treatment of the recording space.
Now, don't get me wrong: this is not an issue that gets resolved by throwing money (or gear bought with said money) at it. I've had the chance of working with pros who have very expensive setups in poor acoustic conditions and they sound as janky as a cellphone being recorded in the middle of a kitchen.
You don't need to spend large sums of cash to get a proper setup with better quality: a couple hundred dollars can get you a microphone with better capsule quality, a proper interface with higher sample rate capabilities and the necessary microphone stand, acoustic panels (which can be DIY and do a better job than most off-the-shelf solutions) and try that before trying to fine-tune with plugins. Room acoustics is the sort of issue that won't get better with any amount of in-the-box processing because the reflections captured by the microphone might be in frequencies analog to those of our voice (in your case in the 200-5000kHz range) and processing will also hurt your vocal quality.
Please, come back to us when you've improved the setup. Alternatively, upload a file with absolutely no processing and I'll be able to manipulate it to try and achieve recommended settings that might sustain you a bit longer.
In the meantime, click here and listen to this pro. Can you spot 3 differences between his sound and yours? I can and they make a world of difference.
As for the perceived inconsistency, keep in mind our QC processes and criteria are not static or immutable: they change along with our client's demands, technology advances, etc.: what was great quality from our pros 2 years ago is no longer acceptable and most people who have embraced this changes have evolved along with us. I'm living proof of this: VoiceBunny has helped me improve my sound in less than two years, in more ways than what 15 years of radio production did before. That's what has set VoiceBunny apart from competitors: we're the only company doing QC this way because our clients demand it now and we'll never be them, although most would love to be us.
Looking forward to hear from you!
Is this any better?
https://soundcloud.com/the-joshest-young/water-for-voicebunny
Josh
Hi Joshua
Have you had the chance to try out a different microphone? A balanced signal can definitely help as well in these cases.
Unfortunately, I don't think there's a noticeable improvement from the previous recording.
Let us know so we can help you out with more detailed feedback.
Regards,
Oscar