What's Wrong With This Picture?

We currently live in the right place and time for a variety of creative pursuits.

If you've ever wanted to do something with your voice – sing, act, narrate – there's no better time than now to build a career and get paid to do what you love.

But in order to be successful, it helps to do the research and learn how to do it the right way. You can avoid a lot of costly mistakes and prevent wasted time/opportunities if you do things right the first time– especially when it comes to professional voiceover work.

I spend a lot of time reaching out to amateur voice artists online to help them learn more about essential voice acting tips; recently, I ran across the above image via the #voiceover hashtag.

In the interest of preventing harassment, the account that uploaded this picture will not be credited. However, I wanted to highlight several mistakes he or she made when setting up their home recording setup, and offer some better alternatives.

Mistake #1: Computer too close to the microphone

In order to record high-quality audio, you need to eliminate as many forms of noise as possible. Yes, it's possible to eliminate some background noise with post-processing through a program like Audacity. However, it's extremely unprofessional and will make some unlucky audio engineer's job much harder!

In order to ensure clients will want to work with you again, delivering clean audio without resorting to post-processing is extremely important.

And one of the most common sources of noise in a home recording space is a desktop computer– especially if it's a gaming PC. These computers have lots of sensitive components that can run hot, necessitating heat management via cooling fans.

Do you see the large fan in the top-left corner of this picture? I estimate that it's about two feet away from the microphone, which is well within its capture range. Also, there's probably at least one more noisy fan in there from the high-end graphics card in the bottom-left corner.

How do I fix this?

To fix this mistake, there are a number of possible solutions:

• You could log into the computer's BIOS to manually slow down its cooling fans. This can be effective if you're experienced at PC building and maintenance, but it can potentially cause damage to your expensive computer parts from overheating.
• You can switch to a liquid cooling system to reduce noise. This would work pretty well too, although it's pricey and also requires advanced PC-building knowledge to do it correctly.
• You can turn the computer off while recording. This solves the problem unless you're powering/recording the mic through your computer. However, you can potentially still pull this off if you have a quieter capture device like a laptop or tablet.
• You can increase the distance between the microphone and computer. This will prevent its fans from being picked up in your recordings, but it can be difficult if you don't have a long enough cord.

Personally, I recommend the last two options. In particular, increasing the distance between your mic and other noise sources is especially important when you look at the next mistake:

Mistake #2: Close-range/open acoustic padding

The second mistake I noticed has to do with the tiny semicircle of foam surrounding part of the microphone. Don't get me wrong– this is a professional-looking setup and it looks like they're using good foam.

However, an acoustic treatment method like this is counter-intuitive. First of all, it's bad at preventing reflections from pretty much every direction– not to mention how it can't even prevent noise from the computer fans I mentioned earlier.

Second, having acoustic padding so close to your microphone can sound good when talking in a quiet voice. But what if you need to project when you record, like singing a song or screaming as a video game character?

In these cases, this setup will make your audio sound dead. and can actually decrease the quality of your recordings!

How do I fix this?

Read our blog post on setting up the perfect home recording space. Keep in mind the word "space," because you're going to want a lot of it.

Try and create a recording space that lets you confidently project your voice without catching any reflections. If you know what you're doing, this can be accomplished quickly and cheaply– and you should immediately notice an improvement in your recording quality!

Now for the last mistake I noticed:

Mistake #3: Using a USB microphone

I immediately recognized the mic in this setup as a Blue Yeti. This is one of the most popular USB microphones for YouTubers, Twitch streamers, and other online content creators.

It's a nice mic for the price and has some good qualities, but here's the thing: it's not the right tool for the job.

If you're a predominantly video-based/web-based content creator who just needs something for livestreaming or podcasting, this could be a good choice. But what if you're trying to convincingly portray a character for a TV show or video game? What if you're trying to sing well enough to convince people to listen to you on tour?

In either of these cases, the Yeti simply doesn't offer enough sensitivity and conversion quality to really bring out everything your voice has to say. But what does?

How do I fix this?

Instead of getting a USB microphone, look for a good audio interface and XLR microphone. Personally, I recommend the Steinberg UR12 and Audio Technica AT2020 for beginners.

Don't know how to use an audio interface? It's not as complicated as it looks; also, learning how to use this equipment will make you a more appealing choice for potential clients since it helps to build your talent stack. (You can read more about this in a post I wrote for Substack here.)

Again, I want to make it clear that I didn't write this article as an insult. I just want you to keep this information in mind when setting up your own home recording setup for professional voice acting work. Doing things right the first time will save you so much time and money, believe me!

Check out VA Nutshell for product reviews, interviews, and educational blog posts and learn more about becoming a professional voice actor.