Brief guide to microphones

Even more than that: it both presents and represents them as storytellers while they’re making the sale – whatever that sale may be. It follows by implication that the better a voice actor is at the art and craft of making the sale, the more likely a client is to book them for voice overs repeatedly. That’s why we’re bringing you tips and advice from VO pros! 

As the heading suggests, even a question like ‘what microphones do professionals use?’ can be problematic. Some pros use microphones that are eye-wateringly expensive. Others don’t. Some even swear by their Blue Yeti’s ability to get them jobs.

So what does that mean for you? It means sometimes you’re going to hit the jackpot, and sometimes you’re going to end up with a mic you’d like to upgrade as soon as possible. Luckily, the differences between good mics aren’t so dire that they will jeopardize your job. But they will affect how your voice sounds, depending on your natural pitch and tonal quality. 

Your best bet would be to sample, compare, explore your options, and see what works best for you. And since no one has a whole day to spend browsing the stores for the best voice over mics, it’s best to familiarize yourself with the reality of choosing a mic.

For starters, if there’s anything you take away from this microphone guide, don’t make the mistake of thinking that by simply investing in a microphone that professionals seem to prefer, you’re ready to record voice overs. Like most simplifications of complex ideas, that kind of logic can only get you so far when it comes to choosing the best mic for your professional voice over career.

While there’s so much to say on which mics are best and why XLR is better than USB, ultimately it’s important to remember one thing. The voice over microphone is just a tool. It’s a tool for a voice actor to use, to emote with the voice and provide an auditory experience. What is it that makes the experience an excellent one? Is it the shiny nickel sheen of the Neumann TLM103, the shape of the Sennheiser Shotgun, or the passion and authenticity that’s heard and felt in a voice over? 

While it’s important to feel good about your purchasing decisions, and to feel good about equipping yourself with the best you can in order to succeed, it’s also important to remember that having a successful voice over career is going to rely much more on your skill as a voice actor, and as a business person. No amount of money spent on a super premium mic can save someone if their voice acting is subpar, or they procrastinate on running their voice over business. The mindset has to be both artistically inclined, and business-oriented.

Ultimately, not everybody is going to know how to get the same value out of a top-quality, premium mic like the Neumann U87 — retailing at around $3600 USD. Buying it as a beginner is like giving a grand piano to a child who’s still taking piano lessons. Unless the voice talent is like a child piano prodigy, they’re not going to get the value from a premium mic.

So no matter which price point you’re at, whether it’s entry level at $200, or premium at $3600,  knowledge and skill are what elevates performance on the mic. Which brings us to our second point. Voice over entrepreneurship is the foundation of a successful voice over career, not fancy gadgets and top-tier equipment, although they certainly help when you’re at the appropriate level.

Experimenting and sampling microphones is your best bet when determining the best mic for you. Otherwise, it’s helpful to watch mic comparison videos with a voice similar to yours, and to imagine how your voice might sound if you were testing them. It’s even more helpful to remember that hearsay about the best microphone for voice acting can only mean so much to your mic choosing decision. 

The COVID-19 pandemic has definitely made it hard to do anything in person… so for us, finding this resource has been incredible & we’d like to highlight it:

The Women on Mic Project is creating a free to access audio resource of raw spoken word audio samples recorded by women on various types/brands of microphones that they have access to. The aim is to help women (and others) hear a reference of other female voices on different microphones to help them make decisions when they are purchasing or deciding which microphone to use.

As said at the beginning, the microphone guide will equip you with the necessary knowledge for you to make your own decisions. Let’s touch up on some technical knowledge – dynamic and condenser voice over microphones. 

In short: a dynamic microphone operates almost like your home stereo speakers, but in reverse. Instead of an electrical input signal moving the speaker’s diaphragm to produce sound, the sound of your voice moves a small diaphragm to produce an electrical signal. Behind the protective grill is the microphone capsule, and inside the capsule is a magnet. Around the magnet is a small and movable induction coil that is attached to the diaphragm. When sound waves vibrate this diaphragm, it moves the coil – and this movement creates a voltage as a result of the magnetic field. That tiny voltage is amplified by a transformer inside the microphone housing and sent to the output. 

Condenser microphones operate quite differently: the principle of variable capacitance is involved. In simple terms, variable capacitance can be explained as “storing energy in an electric field between two conductive plates”. The diaphragm of a condenser mic is one of these plates. When sound makes it vibrate, the distance between the plates changes. These minute changes vary the capacitance and thus, the output voltage of the microphone.

Dynamic mics are tougher and better for stage use. Condenser mics are much more sensitive and better for studio and voice over work because they have a wider dynamic range; their sensitivity allows them to pick up every nuance of the voice across the entire audible frequency range.

Our recommendation for voice overs is to look for a condenser. While more expensive than a dynamic mic, you’ll find pretty decent ones at most reasonable budget levels.

The audio recording chain is a chain that goes from mic to audio interface, to digital audio workshop (DAW). This 3-part chain is important to note, because the mic, audio interface, and DAW are all variables. And they’ll all affect how your voice over sounds. 

The DAW for example, can certainly influence the way your mic sounds. Kabir says that “each DAW has its own plugins, stuff that makes your mic sound better, or make your [voice] sound better.”

“A plugin might have a noise gate, and that’s important for certain microphones.Like I mentioned, if you had a certain microphone that’s picking up [sound from] all directions, and you didn’t have the [recording studio] like I did… then you might incorporate a plugin such as noise gate. The noise gate might help you cut that noise out in the background.”

So the idea of the best microphone has its importance, but it’s only a part of the bigger picture.

Relative to microphones, it’s important to remember that every voice will sound different on every mic. That’s the nature of the beast that is the human voice. Just as the uniqueness of human voices is infinitely varied, be open minded with your mic selection, and recognize that each purchasing and trial experience will be different. But whichever voice over microphone you pick, take care of it, and it’ll serve you well for years to come.