December 19, 2024 • 31 mins
Here are links to the products I mentioned. REMEMBER... these are producsts I use and believe in but do not get PAID to sell you these. YOU should test and choose what works for you but I trust and use these items daily!!
875R Microphone https://a.co/d/5euNjzO
MK4 Microphone https://a.co/d/9wgTp7C
Audient id4 Interface https://a.co/d/elJC9vy
Worlds Best Cables 6’ https://a.co/d/479xTig
MOUNT-IT Mic Arm https://a.co/d/06pu3XN
Pre-Sonus Eris 3.5 Monitors https://a.co/d/30PZIxj
Furman Power Conditioner https://a.co/d/64bn1BU
Weilisi 10.2” Desk Light https://a.co/d/eGJ40Er
Visit my website to sign up for workshops, coaching or an evaluation OR my free 15 minute "Get to know You" session!
troyholdenvoices.com
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Troy (00:01):
Hey. It's Troy, and this is the VO life.
Jake Sanders (00:05):
This podcast was produced under the authority of
the podcast police, who may ormay not have investigated the
host and guest prior tobroadcasting. Any unlawful
statements will be investigatedfurther and persecuted to the
fullest extent of the podcastlaw.
Troy (00:28):
Today, we're talking about some start up products. And if
you're new to VO, you you maybehaven't even set up your space
yet. And let me again say asI've said in 100 of episodes or
at least 20 of them, get yourspace ready, kind of first, then
(00:49):
you can start practicing, andthen you can up your game with
your equipment as needed. But,I'm a believer in why go buy 3
things, when you can buy onething upfront and use it for a
long, long time, especially ifit's not that big of an
investment. So today, we'regonna be talking about when
(01:09):
you're starting your VObusiness, let's make sure you're
not buying the same things overand over.
Hey. This is Alicia Bake from VOBooth Besties, and you're
listening to the VO Life withTroy Holden. Well, first off,
let me give you a disclaimer.This is not sponsor based.
Nobody's paying me to sell youthese items.
Nobody's endorsing anything.This is straight up things that
(01:33):
you probably need to start outwith and what worked for me.
Everything I'm gonna tell youabout today are things that I
ended up using more towards thethe 2nd year of of my voice over
journey. And had I bought themearly on, I'd have been better
off. One thing you gottaremember with some of these
(01:54):
things, especially microphones.
They sound different ondifferent people. If you can,
test them or buy them where youknow you can send them back. Be
careful because you don't wannaget saddled with, you know, an
expensive or semi expensive, andstarting out early, they're all
expensive, microphone. You don'twant that. You wanna make one
(02:17):
purchase and be done if you can.
But if you can't, be sure youcan send it back. Well,
equipment is the drug that allof us force actors have. Most of
us have way too many ofeverything. But we buy things.
We try things.
Sometimes we fry things and haveto have a new thing. Or we just
(02:40):
want another something else toput in the, what we like to call
the mic locker or the storagecabinet or whatever you wanna
call it. So first off, let'stalk about those magical
microphones. The thing that putsyour voice into that DAW. And I
don't care which DAW you use aslong as you're happy with it.
I use Adobe Audition. You usewhatever you want. I started out
(03:02):
with Audacity. I just not gonnapreach about DAWs. You just have
to make m p threes.
It's pretty easy. But let's talkabout the mics really quick. If
you've been in this just longenough, you know there's a
difference in mics. The favoritemic of many is a shotgun mic.
(03:23):
When I first started out, Ibought a Senko d 2 pretty early
on.
And to me, it was muddy. Verymid rangey muddy. It did not
enhance my voice at all. I hadto sweeten it a lot in
processing. The goal with yourmic and your setup is that you
(03:43):
don't have to do anything to thetone and the sound.
You're maybe only working on,some mouth clicks or some noise.
And maybe your your your flooris not where it needs to be,
under your feet. No. I'mkidding. But you know what I
mean.
Your your noise, your noisefloor. You know, if you're 60,
(04:05):
57, 63, you know what I'mtalking about. But the
microphone, it can pick upeverything. So what was one of
the first mics I bought when Imade some money? A t l m 103.
It's the Kwan. It's the best forvoice over. This guy uses it.
(04:26):
This guy uses it. It's great.
I put that thing in my studio,and I swear I could hear
crickets in my neighbor'sgarage. It's that sensitive. It
sounded great on my voice, butit was way too sensitive. So
about 6 months later, I I wassearching around on Facebook,
(04:46):
and a guy in Nashville had aSennheiser 416. For a very good
price.
He had gotten into voice overand said it wasn't for him, and
I bought it. And I'm still usingit. And I will continue to use
it until it craps out, which I'mwhat I'm hearing, they just
don't do that. So I'm excited tohave it. I'm happy with it.
(05:07):
It sounds good on my voice. Idon't have to do a bunch of post
processing, and it works. And Igot a deal. But let me give you
the twin brother, in my opinion,for a lot less money. As as our
new president will say, for alot less money, way less money,
(05:28):
won't cost you near as much.
Anyway, the the 875 r, to me, isthe best value for anyone
starting in VO. I had justrecently posted that in the
group. To my ear, it is notmuddy on my voice. The Senko was
muddy, but it's very crisp andvery close to the 416. I've done
(05:51):
side by side comparisons.
I cannot tell the differencehardly at all. If there is one,
I'm not hearing it. My ear isnot tuned enough to hear it. I
love it. It's a great mic.
It's a great price. You'll savea lot of money. Go get the 875
r. Now you may say, I don't wanta shot gun. My space is really
(06:15):
good, and I'd like to have thebig large diaphragm, fancy
smancy, you know, bigger mic.
I don't want a shot gun. Well,that's okay too, but don't go
buy the TLM 103 yet or the 102.Don't don't go spend a ton of
money on something like that.Let me tell you the best starter
mic, and I still have one. Idon't use it anymore, but I
(06:37):
still have one.
And that is the MXL990 m x l990. You can buy these things
anywhere from 49 to $99. The $99usually is brand new with a
shock mount. And I'm gonna tellyou, for the money, it's one of
the best microphones that you'llplug into. I made a lot of money
(07:02):
with an MXL 990.
A lot of money. Now after that,and you say, well, I want a
large diaphragm, but I wantsomething a little better. I
don't know if it's better, but Ireally like the Sennheiser m k
4. I have one of those, and Istill use it occasionally. More
for video game stuff maybe.
(07:23):
But I've gotten to the pointwhere I can work this 416, and I
don't have to pull out that m k4. This 416 will do everything I
need to do. I've never had acomplaint in a video game
session when I run the 416. ButI will say the m k 4 is my next
choice when I'm I'm going to asecond mic because it almost
(07:47):
sounds like my shotgun, but Ican do different things with it
as far as moving off axis orgetting more intimate with the
mic. But I have learned toadjust my volume with the 416
where I can rise and fall, whereI can do the yelling scenes,
where I can do all of that withmy 416.
(08:07):
But the m k 4, around $400 forthe mic and mount. And and, hey,
for all of this stuff or as muchof it as I can, I'll put links
in the show notes. If you'll gointo the show notes, you'll see
the links. There they are, to golook at this stuff, and it's all
just about all Amazon links. Ido I am not an Amazon affiliate.
(08:28):
These are just straight links. Idon't make any money off this.
Don't wanna. I'm just trying tohelp you. Alright.
So now let's jump over tointerfaces. Interfaces, you hear
stories on top of stories on topof stories about interfaces that
Apollo is the only interface youshould ever have. It's the
greatest. It has all this stuffbuilt in, and it puts everything
in there up front. It is good.
(08:50):
I'm using one right now. I havenever had one up until,
recently, and I actually soldit. And I didn't know it did not
work on, well, I I didn't knowthe person I sold it to was
gonna try to put it on a Mac,and it was for a PC. He sent it
back, and I said, you know what?I'm gonna give this thing a try.
And now that I set it up, I likeit, but my audience is still on
(09:15):
my desk because I'm not positiveI'm gonna stay with it. I I
promised myself I would try itfor a month. I wanted to see how
audition sounded. Was I gettingbetter feedback on audio,
whatever? I don't think I'llhear any difference on the
audio, but I'm trying it.
And the only reason I have it isI took it on barter. I wouldn't
(09:36):
have bought it because I lovethe Audient ID 4. I have 2 of
them, and they're they're justmoney. I'll just tell you.
Alright.
So let's let me let me get backto the, the whole ball of wax on
interfaces because I'm gonna getahead of myself if I don't slow
down. The Audient I d four hasone of the quietest preamps on
(10:00):
the market. I think it isequivalent to or better than the
Apollo as far as the quietness,where I can run the the gain and
the noise floor would be good,and I don't have any preamp
noise or or anything. Now Istarted with another interface,
and I gifted that to my verygood friend, Jake Sanders, who
(10:21):
is still using it. He uses itdaily, and he just booked a
national spot with it.
It's a Presona Studio 24 c. Theyare a $129. Also, excellent
preamps. But why didn't I keepit? I hated the gain buttons and
(10:43):
the way I had to switch back andforth and do things on it.
I just didn't like it. It was ithad little knobs on the front,
and I had to to try to tilt itup or put it up at eyeball
height where I could see it. Butthe audience has this huge gain
knob on it, easy buttons to pushto mute the monitors, easy to
(11:06):
reach over and switch anotherknob to to go from line to mic
or mix it in in your speakers orin your headphones where you can
hear yourself and other people.Very easy to use. I just the the
PreSonus, if you're reallyactive doing different things
during the day, you're on Zoomcalls, you're doing this, you're
doing that, you had to work withit all the time, and you it was
(11:27):
hard.
The audience is easy. And sofar, the Apollo's been easy. The
thing I have to watch on theApollo is the I have this the
solo model, and you can push thegain knob, and it will mute the
monitor. But if you jump on aZoom call and you forget and you
can't hear the other person andyou forget you muted that
monitor, you'll be going, whycome I can't hear them? You
(11:49):
know?
And they're trying to figure itout on their end, and then you
go, oh, sorry. It was me. Clickclick. And that's the only
thing. I just haven't gotten inthat habit.
I was used to the ID 4. Therewas a light on. If the monitor
was muted, I could see that redlight. And for this, I can too.
The the entire, gain meter isred, but I'm just not used to it
yet, but I'll get there.
(12:11):
But it's a great unit. ThisApollo solo is a great unit.
Alright. So let me let me circleback again. That was the,
Presonus Studio 24 c.
If you don't have to makeadjustments all the time, it's
awesome for a $129, and itsounds fantastic. Very good
preamps, very good unit, littletiny knobs. The I d four is
(12:37):
almost a $100 more. It's $210. Ithink this solo is around 400,
if I'm not mistaken.
But, again, the I d four, thegain knob, the ease to mute
things, the plug and play. Imean, it was it's just great.
Either of those is a great buy.I'm gonna put the link in there
for the I d four, just because Ijust like it better. And while
(13:03):
we're talking about thosethings, let's not overlook
cables.
My cables are crap, if you'renot careful. Mainly, mainly, the
the plug ins are crappy cheap.Sometimes, the wire is also, but
it's usually the connectors. Sowhere did you get ones that are
(13:26):
great? Well, Megami is the best,the Megami golds.
You can buy those SweetwaterAmazon wherever. If you wanna
buy Megami, buy Megami. Do it.If you'd like to get the exact
same thing for less money, go toAmazon or wherever and get
world's best cables brand. Theymake a pro brand, which is the
(13:48):
same as the Mogami Gold or aworld world's best cables
regular, which is dang goodenough, for your studio most
likely.
These are the same cable, samequality, less money. The same
components go into the Megamithat go into the WBC, pro
version. And the regular WBCjust has a little more
(14:12):
lightweight cable, but you stillget the same connectors, and
that is very important. Mine are3 years old, that are in my
booth. I've never had a problem.
I've never had a glitch, aunplug them pretty often and
switch things around. Never hada problem with a frayed cable.
Nothing. I went through I don'tknow how many cables my first
(14:36):
two years because I had a bigbag of mic cables back when I
was a musician, and they were Iprobably went and bought the
cheapest, longest ones I could,and I had, you know, 50 foot
cables and whatever everywhere,25 foot ones. I also recommend
get them short.
Use the 6 inch or 6 inch, 6 footin your booth if you can, you
(14:57):
know, and and buy 2. Get asecond one maybe for travel if
you travel much and wanna have asecond one, or keep it as a
backup. You should never nothave a backup of pretty much
everything. I have at least 3interfaces. 4.
I have 4 interfaces here, in thehouse. And, you know, if
something goes out, I gotanother one. And if something
(15:19):
goes out, I got another one. Ihave extra cables for everything
except my monitors because Ihave 2 pair of headphones. I can
I can use my headphones to getme by till I get more cables?
But be sure you have backups.You need a backup interface. You
need backup, you need a backupmic, sadly. And that's why as
you buy more equipment, retirethat other one as to your backup
(15:42):
because you've used it and itworked. It made money.
Right? Save it. And and let meroll over to into your cables
and say also, don't cheap out onyour, PC cables, especially your
HDMI cables. Use good cables.You just won't have to replace
them.
And, you know, a lot of peoplemaybe don't mind buying a a
(16:06):
bargain sack at Amazon wherethey're $2 a piece. But, you
know, if I'm looking at thedifference in $2.12, I'm buying
the $12 cable because I want itto last. I don't wanna replace
it. I don't like getting inbehind stuff with flashlights
and re you know, hooking it upagain. Spend the money.
It'll be worth it. Now let's getinto some other stuff that's not
(16:28):
as important, but can be, youryour mic stand. And I don't it
depends on where you are andwhat your setup is, but I use
the clamp on that clamp onto thedesk. I I did have a weighted
stand. It was a gator that had aa small arm on it.
It was a really good stand, butand I still have it. Don't throw
(16:51):
anything away. Right? But when Iwhen I first got going, I was
like a lot of people. I bought acheaper mic stand off Amazon,
and it had those springs in it.
And those things are junk. Theythey'll work, but they're
they're just kinda junk. Theymake noise. Those springs
reverberate. They they makenoise.
Your mic may pick that up. Butwhat I found after some
(17:13):
research, I knew I looked at theroad stand. I knew I wanted
something without springs. Ilooked at the gator. They were
all a $100 plus.
And then I found this one onAmazon called mount it, m o u n
t dash I t, exclamation point,mount it. It is, built almost
(17:35):
exactly like the RODE and theGator mounts, and it's half the
price. It's, $59. It's easy toto mount because the clamp goes
on by itself. And then the micstand has a pin, and it sits
down in that clamp.
And then it swivels, rotates,does everything you want it to
do. Now it's not like some ofthose, and and the Rode may be
(17:57):
more touch sensitive that youcan lift it and lower it. You
can lift and lower this one, butit does have tension adjustments
in 3 places. And once I get itset, I'm mainly just swiveling
it back out of my way and andswiveling it back. And that way,
the angle and everything staysthe same all the time.
(18:18):
$59. I have 2 of these, 1 on myoutside desk where I do editing,
and I do some, you know, TikTokvideos or or, you know, Zoom
calls and things out there alot. I I I think for $59, it's
the way to go. It's a reallyheavy duty, well made stand.
(18:40):
Mine is 3, 4 years old, youknow, and I'll I'll wipe it off
every now and then to try tokeep it clean, and it works just
like it did the day I got it.
So go get the mounted fromAmazon. There'll be a link down
in the show notes. Monitors.Some people don't need monitors.
(19:06):
I could not get by without them.
I like to hear things open room.I love my headphones. I have the
Sennheiser, d t 7 seventies,the, 80 arms. I love them.
They're comfortable, and theysound very realistic.
But I'm not I don't wear them asmuch as some coaches told me I
(19:26):
should wear them. But it's justbecause I don't like them. I
don't wanna hear myself when I'mauditioning, so I don't put them
on. I I I leave that to theroom. Maybe a mistake, maybe
not.
Is that why you're not bookingso much? No. I don't know. I
mean, I do okay. But, monitorsto me are important because I do
(19:51):
a lot of radio imaging that Imix.
I do full production. I do a lotof commercial production that I
do for companies that I my I dothe whole commercial. And I
wanna hear how it's gonna soundcoming out of speakers, like, in
a car or somewhere. And I evensometimes sometimes put stuff on
my phone, listen to it on myphone, and then go listen to it
(20:13):
in the car on my phone. I havedone that for a client's project
before I sent it because Iwanted to make sure no matter
where I played it, it soundedgood.
And that's just being picky. Butmonitors in my studio, in my
booth, and my booth is 6 by 6.So it's not huge in here, but I
(20:34):
used to be in one that was about3 by 7. And monitors have not
changed. These are the same onesI had when I was, in my other
area.
And they are the Presonus. Oh,there's Presonus again. They are
called the Eris, ERIS, poweredmonitors, and they are the 3 and
(20:55):
a half inch. You don't need muchbigger than that in a small
room. They make these, in inother sizes.
I think of maybe the 5, andthere may be another one. I
can't remember. But I do knowthere's a 5 because I've looked
at them several times thinkingI'd like to have some that are
just a little bit bigger, butyou don't really need it. In
(21:16):
here, these things are crystalclear. I cannot say enough about
their clarity.
I run them at about 60% gain onon the monitor itself, and, you
know, I don't have to crank mymy volume at all. They they
deliver real sound to me, likewhat I would hear in the car,
(21:40):
what I would hear on a TV. It'sthat it they're just that good.
They're very, very good. 3 and ahalf inch Eris PreSonus.
You can get these Sweetwater.You can get them at Amazon or
wherever. But here's the thing,$110. And they're heavy little
speakers, but you will have tobuy a couple of quarter inch
(22:02):
cables depending on how yourinterface hooks up, but they
have 2 quarter inch that plug inthe back. One goes to the to the
to the interface, and the otherone goes to the other speaker.
And, you know, it's the samething there. Get get good cables
and get the ones that aren't 12miles long. Mine are too long,
(22:23):
and I probably should up upgradethem. It's a good time of the
year too, Christmas. Right?
I should upgrade those. But, youwill love these PreSonus Eris
3.5 inch power monitors. They'reexcellent. Excellent. Now I have
a few other things hangingaround that I'm gonna tell you
about, that you may not need,but the these have been
(22:45):
lifesavers for me in this pastcouple of years.
And as you know, like I said, Ido quite a bit of Zoom stuff.
I'm on Zoom a few times a day,it seems like. I'm doing
podcast. I do some greens notgreen screen, but long form
stuff, but I do I do some livestuff, you know, where I gotta
(23:10):
have decent lighting or I gottahave this, that, and the other.
So here's some of the thingsthat I've done to help me in my
booth to cut down on cabletraffic, to cut down on lighting
issues, etcetera.
I have an Anker, a n k e r. It'sa 10 port USB hub, and that's on
(23:30):
my desk. That keeps me fromrunning cables out of the booth
over to the PC or to the back ofthe PC or having this outside
the booth, and I can controlwhat's plugged up in here. My
dongles, like, for my keyboardmouse, are in here that feeds
right back to the PC. Thingslike that, it makes it a lot
easier.
I bought a cheaper one when Ifirst started out. It may only
(23:53):
had 5 ports. I don't know whatit did. It didn't it wasn't
powered. This one is powered.
It it just saves a lot ofhassle. And I think it's around
$40, you know, but like I said,I had a cheaper one. It it
caused me a lot of issues. I doI did not put a link in there
for this. It was just somethingI kinda thought of, but it's the
(24:16):
Anker, a n k e r, 10 port USBhub.
And and it's and it's somewhereright around $40. If you look on
Amazon, you'll find it. I alsobought a Furman power
conditioner. Furrman, s s 6 b,it is only $35, but there are
power conditioners priced up to$500. And I studied it, and I
(24:40):
studied it, and I looked at it,and I looked at And I said,
look.
I'm just gonna plug my PC intoit. That's it. I just wanted to
make sure that anything that ranthrough my PC was not picking up
the house's electrical buzz. Andthis thing does the job. I was
having issues, and once Istarted using this, it stopped.
I would get a in my monitorsometime, or I'd get a in my
(25:04):
headphones. And all of that wentaway with this power
conditioner. And like I said,they come in all prices and
types, but the Furrman SS 6 b,about $35. There will be a link
in here. Check it out.
It it was worth it for me, andit works. And somebody might
say, there's no way a thingcould work for $35. It works. If
you do, any videos much oryou're on Zoom much, and you'll
(25:29):
notice this when you're inworkshops and stuff, some
people, well, you see theirtheir face up there, and it's
all so nice, and it looks like aprofessional or whatever.
Sometimes it's their camera, buta lot of times, it's just they
have, some decent lighting inthe room.
And one of the things I ran intowas I wanted my desk to have
lighting, but I didn't want itto be bright in my studio. So I
(25:51):
have a a, a light that is verysimilar to the Elgato lights
that are very expensive, wellover a $100 each, I think. And I
looked at those, and I almostbought just one. And I said,
well, you know what? Here's someright here.
It says they're comparable, $39.Let me try this one. I ended up
(26:12):
ordering a second one because itreally did a good job. The brand
is Wielisi. It is spelled w e Il I s I.
And I will put a link in forthese. $39. It is a 10.2 inch.
They call it a desk ring light,but it's not a ring light. It's
(26:35):
it's the flat round panel, andit will change tone, I guess, is
a way to put it.
It'll go from a more of aportrait looking tone to a more
fluorescent light or a brighterlight. You can adjust, the dim
on it. You can dim it. You canbrighten it. You can change the
(26:55):
setting.
And it comes with a nice deskclamp, and it also is you can
let it up and down, and it andit folds back and forth. It's
just for the money, a dang goodlight. The link's in there, and
like I said, $39. And you canget these things adjusted where
you got it set if you're doing aa Zoom call or whatever or if
(27:18):
you're in here working. And I'vegot just enough light in here to
see my desk if I need to writesomething down.
It doesn't blind me looking atmy computer, and it works great
with my camera. So that's it forthat. If you do, like I said,
any video stuff, get get get acouple of these. You know? $39.
(27:39):
Get one. Just put one on yourdesk and put it right up behind
the middle of your PC. One willdo the trick. I only bought a
second one from my other desk.And and had I not wanted one for
the other desk, I wouldn't havedone it.
Yeah. It's just great. You don'tyou don't really have to have 2.
Just have 1 and have it centeredat you, and, you know, I've got
(28:00):
some backlighting anyway, and itworks great. Is there more?
Heck, yeah. There's a lot more,but these are some basics and a
couple of extras that I threwin. And, hey, the links are down
in the show notes for all theseproducts if you wanna check them
out. And remember, like I said,I get nothing from this if you
buy them. I'm telling you, I usethem because they're it's good
(28:20):
stuff, it's reasonable stuff,and it works for me.
Now, so thanks for, catching upwith me on all that, and I hope
it helps, because I don't wannasee you throw away money on
stuff you don't need to throw itaway on. Hey. I got one more
thing coming up right afterthis. It's still me, but listen.
I just wanted to tell you.
If you're needing a little bitof a boost in your career,
(28:43):
you're ready to book more, youwant to feel more confident in
your reads, I want to invite youto sign up for Train Your Brain.
It's a workshop that I'm doingseveral times this next year.
1st one is in January. Sixpeople, and we will dive into
making sure you are getting andunderstanding what the copy is
telling you to do, and how youcan deliver solid takes. This
(29:06):
may not change your world, butit will open some doors, start
you thinking, and help you bebetter.
I will be offering Pick A CardCoaching this year. That is my
new coaching that I'm coming outwith. This will be the 1st year
that I've done this. It is a 3session minimum. You have to
take 3 sessions.
(29:26):
I will help you develop a methodwhere you can make good choices
in your auditions that will helpyou choose and execute a good
read. If you've never beenprivately coached before, this
is a great place to start. It'sa great starter package. I'm
also offering a 30 minuteevaluation for new talent, where
you read for me and we'll talkabout your natural sound, and
evaluate where you should gofrom there. Or, I may tell you:
(29:48):
this ain't for you.
I'm going to be straight withyou. You can also get a free 15
minute consult on my website, ifyou just want to ask a few
questions about the business.Look, I'm gonna tell you, it's
not easy out there. But if youhave the talent, determination,
and the time and patience,that's number 1. It takes time,
years, not weeks.
(30:09):
If you have that patience topersevere, learn and grow in
this very competitive business,we'll figure that out. Well,
reach out and schedule time withme, and we'll talk about it. I
won't steer you wrong. If you'repast start up coaching, you've
already been coaching, I canrecommend some awesome coaches
that I think you should talk tonext that have done wonders for
(30:29):
what I do. So, be watching forthat in the VO Life group, or,
come check on my website fromtime to time,
troyheldenvoices.com, and besure and sign up.
I'd love to work with you.Alright. Enough of that. It's
very uncomfortable for me tostart doing this, but, I know
(30:50):
it's time. Hey.
I hope this episode helps younot waste money. Don't like, you
know, don't do what I did, endup with all this stuff you don't
need, because you either have togive it away or put it in the
closet if it doesn't work foryou. And remember, not every
mic's for every voice, and yourspace may not allow that TLM
103, but start slow, invest inyou more than you invest in
(31:12):
stuff, and you'll see that itleads to a good place. I'm Troy
Holden. Hey.
I hope to see you next timeright here on the VO Life. I'm
Casey Hock, and you're listeningto Troy Holden on the VO life.
Hey. It's Troy, and this is the VO life.
Jake Sanders (00:05):
This podcast was produced under the authority of
the podcast police, who may ormay not have investigated the
host and guest prior tobroadcasting. Any unlawful
statements will be investigatedfurther and persecuted to the
fullest extent of the podcastlaw.
Troy (00:28):
Today, we're talking about some start up products. And if
you're new to VO, you you maybehaven't even set up your space
yet. And let me again say asI've said in 100 of episodes or
at least 20 of them, get yourspace ready, kind of first, then
(00:49):
you can start practicing, andthen you can up your game with
your equipment as needed. But,I'm a believer in why go buy 3
things, when you can buy onething upfront and use it for a
long, long time, especially ifit's not that big of an
investment. So today, we'regonna be talking about when
(01:09):
you're starting your VObusiness, let's make sure you're
not buying the same things overand over.
Hey. This is Alicia Bake from VOBooth Besties, and you're
listening to the VO Life withTroy Holden. Well, first off,
let me give you a disclaimer.This is not sponsor based.
Nobody's paying me to sell youthese items.
Nobody's endorsing anything.This is straight up things that
(01:33):
you probably need to start outwith and what worked for me.
Everything I'm gonna tell youabout today are things that I
ended up using more towards thethe 2nd year of of my voice over
journey. And had I bought themearly on, I'd have been better
off. One thing you gottaremember with some of these
(01:54):
things, especially microphones.
They sound different ondifferent people. If you can,
test them or buy them where youknow you can send them back. Be
careful because you don't wannaget saddled with, you know, an
expensive or semi expensive, andstarting out early, they're all
expensive, microphone. You don'twant that. You wanna make one
(02:17):
purchase and be done if you can.
But if you can't, be sure youcan send it back. Well,
equipment is the drug that allof us force actors have. Most of
us have way too many ofeverything. But we buy things.
We try things.
Sometimes we fry things and haveto have a new thing. Or we just
(02:40):
want another something else toput in the, what we like to call
the mic locker or the storagecabinet or whatever you wanna
call it. So first off, let'stalk about those magical
microphones. The thing that putsyour voice into that DAW. And I
don't care which DAW you use aslong as you're happy with it.
I use Adobe Audition. You usewhatever you want. I started out
(03:02):
with Audacity. I just not gonnapreach about DAWs. You just have
to make m p threes.
It's pretty easy. But let's talkabout the mics really quick. If
you've been in this just longenough, you know there's a
difference in mics. The favoritemic of many is a shotgun mic.
(03:23):
When I first started out, Ibought a Senko d 2 pretty early
on.
And to me, it was muddy. Verymid rangey muddy. It did not
enhance my voice at all. I hadto sweeten it a lot in
processing. The goal with yourmic and your setup is that you
(03:43):
don't have to do anything to thetone and the sound.
You're maybe only working on,some mouth clicks or some noise.
And maybe your your your flooris not where it needs to be,
under your feet. No. I'mkidding. But you know what I
mean.
Your your noise, your noisefloor. You know, if you're 60,
(04:05):
57, 63, you know what I'mtalking about. But the
microphone, it can pick upeverything. So what was one of
the first mics I bought when Imade some money? A t l m 103.
It's the Kwan. It's the best forvoice over. This guy uses it.
(04:26):
This guy uses it. It's great.
I put that thing in my studio,and I swear I could hear
crickets in my neighbor'sgarage. It's that sensitive. It
sounded great on my voice, butit was way too sensitive. So
about 6 months later, I I wassearching around on Facebook,
(04:46):
and a guy in Nashville had aSennheiser 416. For a very good
price.
He had gotten into voice overand said it wasn't for him, and
I bought it. And I'm still usingit. And I will continue to use
it until it craps out, which I'mwhat I'm hearing, they just
don't do that. So I'm excited tohave it. I'm happy with it.
(05:07):
It sounds good on my voice. Idon't have to do a bunch of post
processing, and it works. And Igot a deal. But let me give you
the twin brother, in my opinion,for a lot less money. As as our
new president will say, for alot less money, way less money,
(05:28):
won't cost you near as much.
Anyway, the the 875 r, to me, isthe best value for anyone
starting in VO. I had justrecently posted that in the
group. To my ear, it is notmuddy on my voice. The Senko was
muddy, but it's very crisp andvery close to the 416. I've done
(05:51):
side by side comparisons.
I cannot tell the differencehardly at all. If there is one,
I'm not hearing it. My ear isnot tuned enough to hear it. I
love it. It's a great mic.
It's a great price. You'll savea lot of money. Go get the 875
r. Now you may say, I don't wanta shot gun. My space is really
(06:15):
good, and I'd like to have thebig large diaphragm, fancy
smancy, you know, bigger mic.
I don't want a shot gun. Well,that's okay too, but don't go
buy the TLM 103 yet or the 102.Don't don't go spend a ton of
money on something like that.Let me tell you the best starter
mic, and I still have one. Idon't use it anymore, but I
(06:37):
still have one.
And that is the MXL990 m x l990. You can buy these things
anywhere from 49 to $99. The $99usually is brand new with a
shock mount. And I'm gonna tellyou, for the money, it's one of
the best microphones that you'llplug into. I made a lot of money
(07:02):
with an MXL 990.
A lot of money. Now after that,and you say, well, I want a
large diaphragm, but I wantsomething a little better. I
don't know if it's better, but Ireally like the Sennheiser m k
4. I have one of those, and Istill use it occasionally. More
for video game stuff maybe.
(07:23):
But I've gotten to the pointwhere I can work this 416, and I
don't have to pull out that m k4. This 416 will do everything I
need to do. I've never had acomplaint in a video game
session when I run the 416. ButI will say the m k 4 is my next
choice when I'm I'm going to asecond mic because it almost
(07:47):
sounds like my shotgun, but Ican do different things with it
as far as moving off axis orgetting more intimate with the
mic. But I have learned toadjust my volume with the 416
where I can rise and fall, whereI can do the yelling scenes,
where I can do all of that withmy 416.
(08:07):
But the m k 4, around $400 forthe mic and mount. And and, hey,
for all of this stuff or as muchof it as I can, I'll put links
in the show notes. If you'll gointo the show notes, you'll see
the links. There they are, to golook at this stuff, and it's all
just about all Amazon links. Ido I am not an Amazon affiliate.
(08:28):
These are just straight links. Idon't make any money off this.
Don't wanna. I'm just trying tohelp you. Alright.
So now let's jump over tointerfaces. Interfaces, you hear
stories on top of stories on topof stories about interfaces that
Apollo is the only interface youshould ever have. It's the
greatest. It has all this stuffbuilt in, and it puts everything
in there up front. It is good.
(08:50):
I'm using one right now. I havenever had one up until,
recently, and I actually soldit. And I didn't know it did not
work on, well, I I didn't knowthe person I sold it to was
gonna try to put it on a Mac,and it was for a PC. He sent it
back, and I said, you know what?I'm gonna give this thing a try.
And now that I set it up, I likeit, but my audience is still on
(09:15):
my desk because I'm not positiveI'm gonna stay with it. I I
promised myself I would try itfor a month. I wanted to see how
audition sounded. Was I gettingbetter feedback on audio,
whatever? I don't think I'llhear any difference on the
audio, but I'm trying it.
And the only reason I have it isI took it on barter. I wouldn't
(09:36):
have bought it because I lovethe Audient ID 4. I have 2 of
them, and they're they're justmoney. I'll just tell you.
Alright.
So let's let me let me get backto the, the whole ball of wax on
interfaces because I'm gonna getahead of myself if I don't slow
down. The Audient I d four hasone of the quietest preamps on
(10:00):
the market. I think it isequivalent to or better than the
Apollo as far as the quietness,where I can run the the gain and
the noise floor would be good,and I don't have any preamp
noise or or anything. Now Istarted with another interface,
and I gifted that to my verygood friend, Jake Sanders, who
(10:21):
is still using it. He uses itdaily, and he just booked a
national spot with it.
It's a Presona Studio 24 c. Theyare a $129. Also, excellent
preamps. But why didn't I keepit? I hated the gain buttons and
(10:43):
the way I had to switch back andforth and do things on it.
I just didn't like it. It was ithad little knobs on the front,
and I had to to try to tilt itup or put it up at eyeball
height where I could see it. Butthe audience has this huge gain
knob on it, easy buttons to pushto mute the monitors, easy to
(11:06):
reach over and switch anotherknob to to go from line to mic
or mix it in in your speakers orin your headphones where you can
hear yourself and other people.Very easy to use. I just the the
PreSonus, if you're reallyactive doing different things
during the day, you're on Zoomcalls, you're doing this, you're
doing that, you had to work withit all the time, and you it was
(11:27):
hard.
The audience is easy. And sofar, the Apollo's been easy. The
thing I have to watch on theApollo is the I have this the
solo model, and you can push thegain knob, and it will mute the
monitor. But if you jump on aZoom call and you forget and you
can't hear the other person andyou forget you muted that
monitor, you'll be going, whycome I can't hear them? You
(11:49):
know?
And they're trying to figure itout on their end, and then you
go, oh, sorry. It was me. Clickclick. And that's the only
thing. I just haven't gotten inthat habit.
I was used to the ID 4. Therewas a light on. If the monitor
was muted, I could see that redlight. And for this, I can too.
The the entire, gain meter isred, but I'm just not used to it
yet, but I'll get there.
(12:11):
But it's a great unit. ThisApollo solo is a great unit.
Alright. So let me let me circleback again. That was the,
Presonus Studio 24 c.
If you don't have to makeadjustments all the time, it's
awesome for a $129, and itsounds fantastic. Very good
preamps, very good unit, littletiny knobs. The I d four is
(12:37):
almost a $100 more. It's $210. Ithink this solo is around 400,
if I'm not mistaken.
But, again, the I d four, thegain knob, the ease to mute
things, the plug and play. Imean, it was it's just great.
Either of those is a great buy.I'm gonna put the link in there
for the I d four, just because Ijust like it better. And while
(13:03):
we're talking about thosethings, let's not overlook
cables.
My cables are crap, if you'renot careful. Mainly, mainly, the
the plug ins are crappy cheap.Sometimes, the wire is also, but
it's usually the connectors. Sowhere did you get ones that are
(13:26):
great? Well, Megami is the best,the Megami golds.
You can buy those SweetwaterAmazon wherever. If you wanna
buy Megami, buy Megami. Do it.If you'd like to get the exact
same thing for less money, go toAmazon or wherever and get
world's best cables brand. Theymake a pro brand, which is the
(13:48):
same as the Mogami Gold or aworld world's best cables
regular, which is dang goodenough, for your studio most
likely.
These are the same cable, samequality, less money. The same
components go into the Megamithat go into the WBC, pro
version. And the regular WBCjust has a little more
(14:12):
lightweight cable, but you stillget the same connectors, and
that is very important. Mine are3 years old, that are in my
booth. I've never had a problem.
I've never had a glitch, aunplug them pretty often and
switch things around. Never hada problem with a frayed cable.
Nothing. I went through I don'tknow how many cables my first
(14:36):
two years because I had a bigbag of mic cables back when I
was a musician, and they were Iprobably went and bought the
cheapest, longest ones I could,and I had, you know, 50 foot
cables and whatever everywhere,25 foot ones. I also recommend
get them short.
Use the 6 inch or 6 inch, 6 footin your booth if you can, you
(14:57):
know, and and buy 2. Get asecond one maybe for travel if
you travel much and wanna have asecond one, or keep it as a
backup. You should never nothave a backup of pretty much
everything. I have at least 3interfaces. 4.
I have 4 interfaces here, in thehouse. And, you know, if
something goes out, I gotanother one. And if something
(15:19):
goes out, I got another one. Ihave extra cables for everything
except my monitors because Ihave 2 pair of headphones. I can
I can use my headphones to getme by till I get more cables?
But be sure you have backups.You need a backup interface. You
need backup, you need a backupmic, sadly. And that's why as
you buy more equipment, retirethat other one as to your backup
(15:42):
because you've used it and itworked. It made money.
Right? Save it. And and let meroll over to into your cables
and say also, don't cheap out onyour, PC cables, especially your
HDMI cables. Use good cables.You just won't have to replace
them.
And, you know, a lot of peoplemaybe don't mind buying a a
(16:06):
bargain sack at Amazon wherethey're $2 a piece. But, you
know, if I'm looking at thedifference in $2.12, I'm buying
the $12 cable because I want itto last. I don't wanna replace
it. I don't like getting inbehind stuff with flashlights
and re you know, hooking it upagain. Spend the money.
It'll be worth it. Now let's getinto some other stuff that's not
(16:28):
as important, but can be, youryour mic stand. And I don't it
depends on where you are andwhat your setup is, but I use
the clamp on that clamp onto thedesk. I I did have a weighted
stand. It was a gator that had aa small arm on it.
It was a really good stand, butand I still have it. Don't throw
(16:51):
anything away. Right? But when Iwhen I first got going, I was
like a lot of people. I bought acheaper mic stand off Amazon,
and it had those springs in it.
And those things are junk. Theythey'll work, but they're
they're just kinda junk. Theymake noise. Those springs
reverberate. They they makenoise.
Your mic may pick that up. Butwhat I found after some
(17:13):
research, I knew I looked at theroad stand. I knew I wanted
something without springs. Ilooked at the gator. They were
all a $100 plus.
And then I found this one onAmazon called mount it, m o u n
t dash I t, exclamation point,mount it. It is, built almost
(17:35):
exactly like the RODE and theGator mounts, and it's half the
price. It's, $59. It's easy toto mount because the clamp goes
on by itself. And then the micstand has a pin, and it sits
down in that clamp.
And then it swivels, rotates,does everything you want it to
do. Now it's not like some ofthose, and and the Rode may be
(17:57):
more touch sensitive that youcan lift it and lower it. You
can lift and lower this one, butit does have tension adjustments
in 3 places. And once I get itset, I'm mainly just swiveling
it back out of my way and andswiveling it back. And that way,
the angle and everything staysthe same all the time.
(18:18):
$59. I have 2 of these, 1 on myoutside desk where I do editing,
and I do some, you know, TikTokvideos or or, you know, Zoom
calls and things out there alot. I I I think for $59, it's
the way to go. It's a reallyheavy duty, well made stand.
(18:40):
Mine is 3, 4 years old, youknow, and I'll I'll wipe it off
every now and then to try tokeep it clean, and it works just
like it did the day I got it.
So go get the mounted fromAmazon. There'll be a link down
in the show notes. Monitors.Some people don't need monitors.
(19:06):
I could not get by without them.
I like to hear things open room.I love my headphones. I have the
Sennheiser, d t 7 seventies,the, 80 arms. I love them.
They're comfortable, and theysound very realistic.
But I'm not I don't wear them asmuch as some coaches told me I
(19:26):
should wear them. But it's justbecause I don't like them. I
don't wanna hear myself when I'mauditioning, so I don't put them
on. I I I leave that to theroom. Maybe a mistake, maybe
not.
Is that why you're not bookingso much? No. I don't know. I
mean, I do okay. But, monitorsto me are important because I do
(19:51):
a lot of radio imaging that Imix.
I do full production. I do a lotof commercial production that I
do for companies that I my I dothe whole commercial. And I
wanna hear how it's gonna soundcoming out of speakers, like, in
a car or somewhere. And I evensometimes sometimes put stuff on
my phone, listen to it on myphone, and then go listen to it
(20:13):
in the car on my phone. I havedone that for a client's project
before I sent it because Iwanted to make sure no matter
where I played it, it soundedgood.
And that's just being picky. Butmonitors in my studio, in my
booth, and my booth is 6 by 6.So it's not huge in here, but I
(20:34):
used to be in one that was about3 by 7. And monitors have not
changed. These are the same onesI had when I was, in my other
area.
And they are the Presonus. Oh,there's Presonus again. They are
called the Eris, ERIS, poweredmonitors, and they are the 3 and
(20:55):
a half inch. You don't need muchbigger than that in a small
room. They make these, in inother sizes.
I think of maybe the 5, andthere may be another one. I
can't remember. But I do knowthere's a 5 because I've looked
at them several times thinkingI'd like to have some that are
just a little bit bigger, butyou don't really need it. In
(21:16):
here, these things are crystalclear. I cannot say enough about
their clarity.
I run them at about 60% gain onon the monitor itself, and, you
know, I don't have to crank mymy volume at all. They they
deliver real sound to me, likewhat I would hear in the car,
(21:40):
what I would hear on a TV. It'sthat it they're just that good.
They're very, very good. 3 and ahalf inch Eris PreSonus.
You can get these Sweetwater.You can get them at Amazon or
wherever. But here's the thing,$110. And they're heavy little
speakers, but you will have tobuy a couple of quarter inch
(22:02):
cables depending on how yourinterface hooks up, but they
have 2 quarter inch that plug inthe back. One goes to the to the
to the interface, and the otherone goes to the other speaker.
And, you know, it's the samething there. Get get good cables
and get the ones that aren't 12miles long. Mine are too long,
(22:23):
and I probably should up upgradethem. It's a good time of the
year too, Christmas. Right?
I should upgrade those. But, youwill love these PreSonus Eris
3.5 inch power monitors. They'reexcellent. Excellent. Now I have
a few other things hangingaround that I'm gonna tell you
about, that you may not need,but the these have been
(22:45):
lifesavers for me in this pastcouple of years.
And as you know, like I said, Ido quite a bit of Zoom stuff.
I'm on Zoom a few times a day,it seems like. I'm doing
podcast. I do some greens notgreen screen, but long form
stuff, but I do I do some livestuff, you know, where I gotta
(23:10):
have decent lighting or I gottahave this, that, and the other.
So here's some of the thingsthat I've done to help me in my
booth to cut down on cabletraffic, to cut down on lighting
issues, etcetera.
I have an Anker, a n k e r. It'sa 10 port USB hub, and that's on
(23:30):
my desk. That keeps me fromrunning cables out of the booth
over to the PC or to the back ofthe PC or having this outside
the booth, and I can controlwhat's plugged up in here. My
dongles, like, for my keyboardmouse, are in here that feeds
right back to the PC. Thingslike that, it makes it a lot
easier.
I bought a cheaper one when Ifirst started out. It may only
(23:53):
had 5 ports. I don't know whatit did. It didn't it wasn't
powered. This one is powered.
It it just saves a lot ofhassle. And I think it's around
$40, you know, but like I said,I had a cheaper one. It it
caused me a lot of issues. I doI did not put a link in there
for this. It was just somethingI kinda thought of, but it's the
(24:16):
Anker, a n k e r, 10 port USBhub.
And and it's and it's somewhereright around $40. If you look on
Amazon, you'll find it. I alsobought a Furman power
conditioner. Furrman, s s 6 b,it is only $35, but there are
power conditioners priced up to$500. And I studied it, and I
(24:40):
studied it, and I looked at it,and I looked at And I said,
look.
I'm just gonna plug my PC intoit. That's it. I just wanted to
make sure that anything that ranthrough my PC was not picking up
the house's electrical buzz. Andthis thing does the job. I was
having issues, and once Istarted using this, it stopped.
I would get a in my monitorsometime, or I'd get a in my
(25:04):
headphones. And all of that wentaway with this power
conditioner. And like I said,they come in all prices and
types, but the Furrman SS 6 b,about $35. There will be a link
in here. Check it out.
It it was worth it for me, andit works. And somebody might
say, there's no way a thingcould work for $35. It works. If
you do, any videos much oryou're on Zoom much, and you'll
(25:29):
notice this when you're inworkshops and stuff, some
people, well, you see theirtheir face up there, and it's
all so nice, and it looks like aprofessional or whatever.
Sometimes it's their camera, buta lot of times, it's just they
have, some decent lighting inthe room.
And one of the things I ran intowas I wanted my desk to have
lighting, but I didn't want itto be bright in my studio. So I
(25:51):
have a a, a light that is verysimilar to the Elgato lights
that are very expensive, wellover a $100 each, I think. And I
looked at those, and I almostbought just one. And I said,
well, you know what? Here's someright here.
It says they're comparable, $39.Let me try this one. I ended up
(26:12):
ordering a second one because itreally did a good job. The brand
is Wielisi. It is spelled w e Il I s I.
And I will put a link in forthese. $39. It is a 10.2 inch.
They call it a desk ring light,but it's not a ring light. It's
(26:35):
it's the flat round panel, andit will change tone, I guess, is
a way to put it.
It'll go from a more of aportrait looking tone to a more
fluorescent light or a brighterlight. You can adjust, the dim
on it. You can dim it. You canbrighten it. You can change the
(26:55):
setting.
And it comes with a nice deskclamp, and it also is you can
let it up and down, and it andit folds back and forth. It's
just for the money, a dang goodlight. The link's in there, and
like I said, $39. And you canget these things adjusted where
you got it set if you're doing aa Zoom call or whatever or if
(27:18):
you're in here working. And I'vegot just enough light in here to
see my desk if I need to writesomething down.
It doesn't blind me looking atmy computer, and it works great
with my camera. So that's it forthat. If you do, like I said,
any video stuff, get get get acouple of these. You know? $39.
(27:39):
Get one. Just put one on yourdesk and put it right up behind
the middle of your PC. One willdo the trick. I only bought a
second one from my other desk.And and had I not wanted one for
the other desk, I wouldn't havedone it.
Yeah. It's just great. You don'tyou don't really have to have 2.
Just have 1 and have it centeredat you, and, you know, I've got
(28:00):
some backlighting anyway, and itworks great. Is there more?
Heck, yeah. There's a lot more,but these are some basics and a
couple of extras that I threwin. And, hey, the links are down
in the show notes for all theseproducts if you wanna check them
out. And remember, like I said,I get nothing from this if you
buy them. I'm telling you, I usethem because they're it's good
(28:20):
stuff, it's reasonable stuff,and it works for me.
Now, so thanks for, catching upwith me on all that, and I hope
it helps, because I don't wannasee you throw away money on
stuff you don't need to throw itaway on. Hey. I got one more
thing coming up right afterthis. It's still me, but listen.
I just wanted to tell you.
If you're needing a little bitof a boost in your career,
(28:43):
you're ready to book more, youwant to feel more confident in
your reads, I want to invite youto sign up for Train Your Brain.
It's a workshop that I'm doingseveral times this next year.
1st one is in January. Sixpeople, and we will dive into
making sure you are getting andunderstanding what the copy is
telling you to do, and how youcan deliver solid takes. This
(29:06):
may not change your world, butit will open some doors, start
you thinking, and help you bebetter.
I will be offering Pick A CardCoaching this year. That is my
new coaching that I'm coming outwith. This will be the 1st year
that I've done this. It is a 3session minimum. You have to
take 3 sessions.
(29:26):
I will help you develop a methodwhere you can make good choices
in your auditions that will helpyou choose and execute a good
read. If you've never beenprivately coached before, this
is a great place to start. It'sa great starter package. I'm
also offering a 30 minuteevaluation for new talent, where
you read for me and we'll talkabout your natural sound, and
evaluate where you should gofrom there. Or, I may tell you:
(29:48):
this ain't for you.
I'm going to be straight withyou. You can also get a free 15
minute consult on my website, ifyou just want to ask a few
questions about the business.Look, I'm gonna tell you, it's
not easy out there. But if youhave the talent, determination,
and the time and patience,that's number 1. It takes time,
years, not weeks.
(30:09):
If you have that patience topersevere, learn and grow in
this very competitive business,we'll figure that out. Well,
reach out and schedule time withme, and we'll talk about it. I
won't steer you wrong. If you'repast start up coaching, you've
already been coaching, I canrecommend some awesome coaches
that I think you should talk tonext that have done wonders for
(30:29):
what I do. So, be watching forthat in the VO Life group, or,
come check on my website fromtime to time,
troyheldenvoices.com, and besure and sign up.
I'd love to work with you.Alright. Enough of that. It's
very uncomfortable for me tostart doing this, but, I know
(30:50):
it's time. Hey.
I hope this episode helps younot waste money. Don't like, you
know, don't do what I did, endup with all this stuff you don't
need, because you either have togive it away or put it in the
closet if it doesn't work foryou. And remember, not every
mic's for every voice, and yourspace may not allow that TLM
103, but start slow, invest inyou more than you invest in
(31:12):
stuff, and you'll see that itleads to a good place. I'm Troy
Holden. Hey.
I hope to see you next timeright here on the VO Life. I'm
Casey Hock, and you're listeningto Troy Holden on the VO life.
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