The Studio
I have spent years collecting the very best professional equipment for my studio.
The WhisperRoom
Here's where you'll be recording. This WhisperRoom is situated within a well-treated room, and the double-walled construction prevents any external noises from interfering with your recording. Basically, this 1,000-pound behemoth is a very well-insulated box, which, on its own, makes a recording sound very boxy. That's why it's filled with ASC TubeTraps, large cylinders that are strategically placed to absorb, diffuse, and otherwise treat the sound within the booth. This turns the WhisperRoom into a null space that sounds like nowhere or anywhere. With some crafty production work, recording in this non-space room allows me to place you in an office as easily as a busy street, or whatever the script calls for.
Neumann U87 & U87ai
This is the gold standard in commercial voice-over. For the last 50 years, the vast majority of voice-over you've heard on TV, on the radio, and in movies was recorded on a U87, and with good reason. This big, warm, open mic perfectly captures the sound of the human voice in the most pleasing way.
Sennheiser MKH 416
This shotgun mic is the king of the West Coast sound. This is the workhorse mic that captures on-camera sound in most movies, TV shows, and commercials. For that reason, it's the go-to mic for animation, ADR (automated dialogue replacement), and dubbing. If you're doing a character demo, you'll probably use this microphone at least part of the time. It's shotgun design also means it's very forgiving with larger movements and gestures that go hand-in-hand with animation work.
Warm Audio WA-47
This giant tube mic has a huge sound. If you've got a “radio voice” and you are recording an announcer or spokesperson spot, this is my go-to mic. It's big and warm and sounds larger than life.
Other Microphones
I have many more options available, including the AKG 414, Blue Bluebird, Electro-Voice RE20, Electro-Voice 664, Shure SM57, Shure KSM137, Shure SM5B, Astatic D-104, and others. These are only used for very specific recording situations.
Sony MDR-7506 Headphones
The Sony MDR-7506. That's it. This is the industry standard for the last 40 years for a very good reason. These headphones don't sound good, they sound accurate. There are much more expensive headphones that sound much better, but that's a trap. You don't want headphones that sound good, you want headphones that accurately reproduce what you sound like so you can properly monitor yourself. For enjoying music, they're awful. For monitoring yourself, they are the best.
Preamps
Vintech Audio X73i
Amek System 9098
Universal Audio 610
Vintech Audio X73i This is a classic Rupert Neve 1073 design with a modern twist. Nothing sounds better for voice-over than the classic combination of a 1073 and a Neumann U87 mic.
Amek 9098 Another Neve design, the Amek 9098 pairs very well with the Sennheiser Mkh 416 mic for animation, dubbing, and ADR work.
Universal Audio 610 This ancient preamp is great for that big announcer sound and I often use it with the WA-47 mic for just that.
Universal Audio Apollo Interface
This interface has great analogue-to-digital/digital-to-analogue converters, but I really love how it can sound as clean or as dirty as it needs to.
Compressors
Drawmer DL241
JDK R22
Drawmer DL241 Compressor Having tried hundreds of compressors, this is my go-to. For a voice-over compressor, I've never heard anything better. It sounds natural and clean and is very easy to use.
JDK R22 Compressor I mostly use this for music work, but sometimes it comes in handy for animation work that needs a more dramatic spin.
AVID Pro Tools DAW
The industry standard for all audio production. I've been using it since tape stopped being a thing.
Other Gear
M&K MPS 2510 & M&K LFE-5. My favorite audio monitors of all time. These giant monitors are accurate and detailed enough to do any kind of audio work.
Heritage Audio RAM System 2000. Routes all the audio and handles talkback and mix/cue routing.
Avid S1 Control Surface. Automated faders and general work-flow helper.
ART HeadAmp Pro 6. Basic headphone amplifier.
Fredenstein meterHUB. VU Meters
Samson S-patch Plus. Basic patch bay
