Best Voice Over Mic for Women? It's Not That Simple

Is there actually such a thing as the best voice-over microphone for women?

It sounds like a simple question, but once the Pro Audio Suite starts pulling it apart, things get much more interesting.

This week, George, Robert, and AP look at why choosing a microphone based on whether the talent is male or female probably misses the point entirely. What matters far more is what the voice is actually doing.

Is it bright or dark? Sibilant? Mid forward? Deep and chesty? Does it have a lot of mouth noise? And does the microphone complement those characteristics, or simply exaggerate them?

The crew gets into why a bright voice may benefit from a smoother or darker microphone, why a big baritone does not necessarily need even more bottom end, and why certain microphones can sound fantastic on one voice and downright horrible on another.

Along the way they get into the Sennheiser 416, RØDE NTG3 and NTG5, Austrian Audio OC818 and CC8, Audio Technica AT4047SV, Neumann U47, U67, U87 and TLM 149, ribbon microphones, the Gefell M930, Grace M101 and even the dark art of matching microphones with preamps.

They also look at how much you can fix with a little sympathetic EQ, why ribbons can sometimes be a brilliant solution for bright or aggressive voices, and why auditioning a few microphones on your own voice, in your own space, still beats buying something because somebody on the internet called it "the best".

In this episode • Why there really isn't a "male mic" or "female mic"

• Matching the microphone to the characteristics of the voice

• Bright and sibilant voices versus darker microphones

• Why deep voices don't necessarily need more bass

• The 416 versus the RØDE NTG3 and NTG5