Probably the best explaination of a compressor that I've heard. Having worked in radio many years ago, compressor settings were a matter of 'house style' and not something you changed in-studio because you thought it sound better.
Nice review and chanel-strip primer! I have to laugh 'cuz I'm over here getting myself into 500 series units like they're some sort of ice cream topping! ;-) Cheers Neil, and looking forward to more that you do!
Awesome coverage, I am a pro audio noob and love learning about how all of these features work. Really makes me want to pick one up to go with my mic (the exact one you're using in this video 😅)
I had one of these units years ago. It’s definitely a great channel strip for the money. It’s got de-esser and digital outputs as well. I reckon if you changed a few components you’d get an even better sound out of it. Decent unit 😊
Ya you do sound better. A bit bassy for me on my AirPod pros. And I personally feel like I’m missing some warmth in your voice. But you got me thinking I wonder how much of this vocal chain I can get done in TotalMixFX. It definitely isn’t a “piece of trash”. and I certainly appreciate not needing to do anything in post. It’s a good solution for what you are doing! Thanks for the video.
WOW, this ART unit completely transformed your voice! Now, if I paired this with my Sennheiser MK4 🎤 + Scarlett Solo 4th Gen USB audio interface, would it work as well as you demonstrated in this video? Or would the Solo limit my results..
Thanks for the video! I’ve been thinking about one of these units for nearly the same application. I would probably use the conversion either going directly out of the AES to the AES in of my Canon C200 or using an AES to Dante converter.
@@NeilParfittMusicIt’s possible I missed a camera with AES but I think the C200 is probably the cheapest. Bypassing not only the preamps but also the converters was worth it for me. Also, four channels of audio likely wouldn’t change your talking head videos but if you were recording a video with both speaking and a DAW mix it’s nice to have separate tracks to make a quick gain edit or something.
Great video! Thanks! At first I thought you sounded a bit muffled when you turned on all the tone controls, but it did immediately sound more professional and "radio ready" with the extra bass and all. After listening to it for a while it just sounded very natural. Personally I still prefer your beautiful, pure, unprocessed "honker" voice, but the processed one is definitely better for prime time with that "broadcast style." The technique is definitely useful. Also, it is very impressive that you got that 2.5 ms synced between your camera and audio! I'd still be doing clap tracks saying, "I'll fix this one of these days."
Curious - did I sound that way at the start of the video? Or was it after getting accustomed listening to me talking unprocessed and then turning it back on? (same settings)
@@NeilParfittMusic Yeah, sorry. I shouldn't have commented when it was 3 hours past my bedtime! It actually sounded "professional" at the start and then worse but more natural, then back to professional, but a bit muffled for a few seconds after listening to the unprocessed vocal. It definitely sounds better overall processed. I'm just used to some of your other videos that sound more raw.
Nice explanation in basic terms on affordable gear! Also good to note that you can accomplish all of this with software plugins, even free ones - just apply the same principles. But it may introduce additional latency of course unless it’s something like UAD plugins that can operate with almost no latency.
@@orchetect7415 yup - software is most powerful and flexible in every way. My end game for this - zero “post” process. What goes in is “it”. No OBS, no system overhead, nuttin. All I do is open QuickTime and hit record.
Dude, I recently went on your website and I know that you worked a lot almost everywhere, from Hollywood movies to Bakugan but there was one thing that stood out to me. ADDITIONAL MUSIC FOR KID E CATS? As a russian who didn't grow up on that cartoon but have seen it a couple of times, I just wanna know how did that happen in your life and what did you compose/helped to compose then? There's just basically no info online about you ever working on it EXCEPT for your website and maybe interviews but I don't think they will ask about this either
Hey! well - that's a weird one. So.. They must have licensed something from my animation catalogue through Nelvana - because something showed up for a single episode on a royalty statement for season 2 - and for the life of me - i cant figure out what it was or which episode it was in - as the info is sparse -- sooo - i just threw it on my site haha!! I don't have time to watch every episode to sleuth it :(
Hey Neil! Great thumbnail! And nice video too. Can't say I've ever used a dedicated piece of hardware for this task. How do you feel like it compares to the software tools you'd find in a typical DAW?
DAW tools are more flexible in almost every way. My goal here is to literally do nothing in post. So I what I hear is what I get.. for zoom.. for this.. for teaching situations etc
There was a moment, near the ending after all the tweaking and explanations, where your voice almost sounded like a "Morgan Freeman" narration from "Shawshank Redemption..." 🙂
With the nature of my setup, What you're seeing is what goes out. I can switch on the fly to the main or secondary computer screen, as well as PIP and it will also mix together any computer audio playback and duck it against my voice. That took a lot of setup outside of what this Rack does .. but if you're setup can merge interfaces, you could use the USB connection and aggregate it with your existing interface (if you're on MacOS)
hey Neil. Weird question perhaps: i often use wireless LAV mic's and I was wondering if I could process the audio from the wireless receiver through a channel strip before it goes to my Zoom recorder? It would speed up my workflow a lot if I had processed audio and didnt need to put it in a computer for final touches. Would this work going 3.5 mm out from the receiver into the channel strip into a recorder?
Hrmm good question - this particular preamp is expecting mic or instrument level, but there is a line insert input on the back that can inject an outside signal post pre-amp/pre compressor. That being said there’s a pad and gain adjust - so there’s the potential to wire it to the pre without distortion. Only way to know is to test by doing a 3.5” TS to 1/4” TS cable to see if it would behave. The output of the pre is at line level, so if the zoom can accept that .. it’s worth a test. Can you rent this unit (or similar) where you are?
Fantastic video, thank you Neil. I really like what the device is doing with compression and gating. For my tastes - and to be clear I'm an enthusiast and not a professional engineer with a trained ear - I think your EQ is just a bit overdone. There's a noticeable hole around 800hz and way too much sibilance in the 6khz+ range.
@@sjwright2 yup totally - still tweaking - not a final setting by any means - def a bit too much bass for sure which accentuate the midrange scoop - but I chose not to modify anything after the fact to stay true to the moment. What I’ll end up doing is recording a pass of myself reading something with everything off, along with the she sells sea shells and … push it through the preamp and then make my “set and forget” adjustments :)
When I listen to spoken word content, I'm usually not interested in nice sounding voices. Depending on the speaker I turn up the speed to 1.5x or 2x. I use SoundSource on macOS to insert an EQ with a considerable downward slope below 500 Hz and heavy compression. It's far from "radio" or "ad" sound, but it works well for keeping speech understandable.
Probably the best explaination of a compressor that I've heard. Having worked in radio many years ago, compressor settings were a matter of 'house style' and not something you changed in-studio because you thought it sound better.
Amazing video Neil, I love both the 500 series and channel strips!
I’ve wondered what happened to you nice to see you back posting again. I hope you do more.
Incredible! Thank you Neil!
Fascinating! Thanks Neil!
Nice review and chanel-strip primer! I have to laugh 'cuz I'm over here getting myself into 500 series units like they're some sort of ice cream topping! ;-) Cheers Neil, and looking forward to more that you do!
Haha … well.. if you’re looking for an eventide delay, AMS Reverb, drawmer gate, dbx deeser or some radial XTC modules …… 😂
Fun video. The Voice Channel looks like a great value for what it is...
Awesome coverage, I am a pro audio noob and love learning about how all of these features work. Really makes me want to pick one up to go with my mic (the exact one you're using in this video 😅)
I had one of these units years ago. It’s definitely a great channel strip for the money. It’s got de-esser and digital outputs as well. I reckon if you changed a few components you’d get an even better sound out of it. Decent unit 😊
HES BACK FOLKS HES BACK
Very cool content as usual!!
Ya you do sound better. A bit bassy for me on my AirPod pros. And I personally feel like I’m missing some warmth in your voice. But you got me thinking I wonder how much of this vocal chain I can get done in TotalMixFX. It definitely isn’t a “piece of trash”. and I certainly appreciate not needing to do anything in post. It’s a good solution for what you are doing! Thanks for the video.
Ya I’m still tweaking till I land on something I really like. Totalmixfx would work - no gate though, unless they changed it
WOW, this ART unit completely transformed your voice! Now, if I paired this with my Sennheiser MK4 🎤 + Scarlett Solo 4th Gen USB audio interface, would it work as well as you demonstrated in this video? Or would the Solo limit my results..
you'd be totally fine - just take it into your audio interface at line level and you're good to go!
Thanks for the video! I’ve been thinking about one of these units for nearly the same application. I would probably use the conversion either going directly out of the AES to the AES in of my Canon C200 or using an AES to Dante converter.
Ah that’s cool. I wonder if any cheaper cameras can take an AES feed.
@@NeilParfittMusicIt’s possible I missed a camera with AES but I think the C200 is probably the cheapest. Bypassing not only the preamps but also the converters was worth it for me. Also, four channels of audio likely wouldn’t change your talking head videos but if you were recording a video with both speaking and a DAW mix it’s nice to have separate tracks to make a quick gain edit or something.
Great video! Thanks!
At first I thought you sounded a bit muffled when you turned on all the tone controls, but it did immediately sound more professional and "radio ready" with the extra bass and all. After listening to it for a while it just sounded very natural. Personally I still prefer your beautiful, pure, unprocessed "honker" voice, but the processed one is definitely better for prime time with that "broadcast style." The technique is definitely useful.
Also, it is very impressive that you got that 2.5 ms synced between your camera and audio! I'd still be doing clap tracks saying, "I'll fix this one of these days."
Curious - did I sound that way at the start of the video? Or was it after getting accustomed listening to me talking unprocessed and then turning it back on? (same settings)
@@NeilParfittMusic Yeah, sorry. I shouldn't have commented when it was 3 hours past my bedtime! It actually sounded "professional" at the start and then worse but more natural, then back to professional, but a bit muffled for a few seconds after listening to the unprocessed vocal. It definitely sounds better overall processed. I'm just used to some of your other videos that sound more raw.
Nice explanation in basic terms on affordable gear! Also good to note that you can accomplish all of this with software plugins, even free ones - just apply the same principles. But it may introduce additional latency of course unless it’s something like UAD plugins that can operate with almost no latency.
@@orchetect7415 yup - software is most powerful and flexible in every way. My end game for this - zero “post” process. What goes in is “it”. No OBS, no system overhead, nuttin. All
I do is open QuickTime and hit record.
10:50 If I were making a smartass preset, I'd call that EQ you dialed in "Howard's Turn".
Can you redo the OSTs you made in the Metal Fight Beyblade saga? And talk about how the production was
Dude, I recently went on your website and I know that you worked a lot almost everywhere, from Hollywood movies to Bakugan but there was one thing that stood out to me.
ADDITIONAL MUSIC FOR KID E CATS?
As a russian who didn't grow up on that cartoon but have seen it a couple of times, I just wanna know how did that happen in your life and what did you compose/helped to compose then? There's just basically no info online about you ever working on it EXCEPT for your website and maybe interviews but I don't think they will ask about this either
Hey! well - that's a weird one. So.. They must have licensed something from my animation catalogue through Nelvana - because something showed up for a single episode on a royalty statement for season 2 - and for the life of me - i cant figure out what it was or which episode it was in - as the info is sparse -- sooo - i just threw it on my site haha!! I don't have time to watch every episode to sleuth it :(
Hey Neil! Great thumbnail! And nice video too. Can't say I've ever used a dedicated piece of hardware for this task. How do you feel like it compares to the software tools you'd find in a typical DAW?
DAW tools are more flexible in almost every way. My goal here is to literally do nothing in post. So I what I hear is what I get.. for zoom.. for this.. for teaching situations etc
There was a moment, near the ending after all the tweaking and explanations, where your voice almost sounded like a "Morgan Freeman" narration from "Shawshank Redemption..." 🙂
Can you use this for game streaming and hear you game as well as your voice
With the nature of my setup, What you're seeing is what goes out. I can switch on the fly to the main or secondary computer screen, as well as PIP and it will also mix together any computer audio playback and duck it against my voice. That took a lot of setup outside of what this Rack does .. but if you're setup can merge interfaces, you could use the USB connection and aggregate it with your existing interface (if you're on MacOS)
hey Neil. Weird question perhaps: i often use wireless LAV mic's and I was wondering if I could process the audio from the wireless receiver through a channel strip before it goes to my Zoom recorder? It would speed up my workflow a lot if I had processed audio and didnt need to put it in a computer for final touches. Would this work going 3.5 mm out from the receiver into the channel strip into a recorder?
Hrmm good question - this particular preamp is expecting mic or instrument level, but there is a line insert input on the back that can inject an outside signal post pre-amp/pre compressor. That being said there’s a pad and gain adjust - so there’s the potential to wire it to the pre without distortion. Only way to know is to test by doing a 3.5” TS to 1/4” TS cable to see if it would behave. The output of the pre is at line level, so if the zoom can accept that .. it’s worth a test.
Can you rent this unit (or similar) where you are?
I have an old Sennheiser G2 analog system and ... That's a really good question then I'm going to see if it works with an 1176 clone hahaha!
@@NeilParfittMusic thanks!!
There’s literally no reason it wouldn’t
never getting 500 series. thats a good one haha
Fantastic video, thank you Neil. I really like what the device is doing with compression and gating. For my tastes - and to be clear I'm an enthusiast and not a professional engineer with a trained ear - I think your EQ is just a bit overdone. There's a noticeable hole around 800hz and way too much sibilance in the 6khz+ range.
@@sjwright2 yup totally - still tweaking - not a final setting by any means - def a bit too much bass for sure which accentuate the midrange scoop - but I chose not to modify anything after the fact to stay true to the moment.
What I’ll end up doing is recording a pass of myself reading something with everything off, along with the she sells sea shells and … push it through the preamp and then make my “set and forget” adjustments :)
Hi there Neil can you try and officially release your tracks From Beyblade metal fight
Not his call to make. It's with the studio who owns the tracks. He has expressed interest in redoing some of them for fun though.
When I listen to spoken word content, I'm usually not interested in nice sounding voices. Depending on the speaker I turn up the speed to 1.5x or 2x. I use SoundSource on macOS to insert an EQ with a considerable downward slope below 500 Hz and heavy compression. It's far from "radio" or "ad" sound, but it works well for keeping speech understandable.
I see the background and all I can think is Airplane 2 (yes, I'm old)- th-cam.com/video/Ebo0aLLPYwA/w-d-xo.html