Need Some Help With Vocals

I think Carl, who always here anyway, needs to tutor us on how to properly use Stereo Tool.. His voiced audio always sound punchy and full-frequency too.

You could also ask Tim how he does it.

I was thinking specifically of the vocals.  I do audio processing (compression & limiting mainly) on the entire audio stream.  Everything sounds fine on FM, and the music portion sounds good on AM.  Whatever Tim and Carl do, their vocals come out sounding great on both AM and FM.

@ Artisan Radio  Ever since I saw this new thread asking about microphone voice quality in recording and broadcasting I have been tossing around ideas about how to condense what I have learned over the years so that this doesn't end up being a book. There's more going on than you might suspect. I think the best thing I can do is release bits of information in chunks, rather than trying to say everything all at once. Let's start with microphones.

MICROPHONES -- Microphones have 'patterns'. Cardioid patterns are directional because they null-out sound from the backside and pick up mainly from the front 'lobe'. This can help reduce unwanted sound being heard while the mic is in use. But to my ear an 'omni-directional' microphone makes the voice sound better than a cardioid mic, so any unwanted sound would need to be controlled by altering the surrounding acoustics with sound-absorbing wall treatment or building a special isolation booth.

This has been CHUNK I in a Series on Voice Microphones.

Carl, my gut tells me the primary reason for the high quality of your audio is based more so on your methods of proccessing with Stereo Tool than anything else. I recall you were using a homemade microphone that consist of very cheap components for awhile, which I thought was amazing because it sounded great!

No. I think your secret sauce is in knowing how to properly use stereo tool in your broadcast. But I'm still willing to listen to you about microphones and wind screens and egg crates on the wall, if that's the route you want to go.

@ Mark  It is reasonable to suppose that StereoTool is the secret potion explaining my microphone sound, but it is not.

I record my voice using Audacity and do not have StereoTool in the audio chain for recording.

One instance of StereoTool is used in my Zara Playlist output to process audio for distribution to AM & FM transmitters and Icecast Stream Server.

I continue to use my self-made microphone, but there are commercially available microphones which provide excellent voice quality.

@ Artisan-Radio  In the opening post in this 'Help with Vocals' thread, Artisan said, "I've tried boosting frequencies around 300Khz with a software equalizer during playback and it does improve things some, but not nearly enough."

Double check that number. 300 kHz is a long-wave radio frequency way above the audio spectrum. You probably mean 3 kHz, which is a very good place to place a slight boost to give the voice more presence.

You're right.  My bad.

@ Artisan-Radio  There are mainly 3 kinds of microphone, each with its own set of strengths and weaknesses. Dynamic, condenser, and ribbon.

My self-built mic (named the Alpmic) is an electret-condenser mic, and because condenser mics are delicate it is not suitable to be carried around in weather or hand-held mobile situations, so is mounted on a desk stand. When I want to walk away from the desk and move around I reach for my EV-35b omni-directional dynamic which has a Lectronics Wireless Mic Transmitter block for cable-free use. It is amazing how similar these mics sound thus making transition between the 2 very smooth.

Some ribbon mics are great for voice work, such as the RCA 77-DX, but ribbons are easily damaged and need to be firmly mounted in a studio setting.

There is more important information about quality vocal micing, but we are stalled right now while I search for some technical papers I have stashed away.

@artisan-radio  DO NOT TUNE OUT!  WE ARE FAR FROM FINISHED!

We have so far said a few important things about the technicalities of vocal mike-ing, but there are more very key points yet to be made, so watch for future installments yet to come.

Things are very active and busy here at KDX Worldround Radio, but there is a very serious spot in the back of my mind where I am thinking about how to best express what I have learned about microphones over years of in the broadcast and recording business.

Today let's visit this chunk of advice...

Use only one microphone on one voice. The voice is a monophonic acoustic instrument. Therefore only one microphone best captures the sound produced by one voice. If the voice is being mixed together with, let's say, stereo music, then use a pan control to place the voice in the center of the mix.

Using two microphones will cause phase distortion on the L+R signal, as heard on mono radios. This happens when sound from the voice reaches the two mikes at slightly different times, caused by the varied spatial difference between mouth and each mike, causing some cancelations at certain frequencies.  

@artisanradio   In my submissions on aspects of microphone quality for voice broadcast I am going to limit the discussion to professional grade microphones with balanced XML outputs. 

We will not address unbalanced mics, even though there may be some good ones.

We will not discuss USB mics simply because I have had no experience with them, except that I hope to learn about them.

The closest thing to USB mics that I have are two mics attached as part of a Zoom Digital Recorder, wired in an X-Y stereo configuration. Oddly those mics sound horrible and sound like they are wrapped in a towel sealed inside a cardboard box, even though the Zoom device otherwise is a professional product.

More to come.