Help to EQ my voice

[Yev]

Hello.

The situation is that I don’t have good headphones and to be honest, I can’t evaluate my voice. I don't like him all the time.

Equipment:

1. Final Cut Pro X
2. Apollo Solo
3. Shure KSM32
3. KOSS Porta Pro
4. Not use UAD plugins

I begun YouTube project to tell stories about UK cities, patricualy this sample in attachment is part of story about Bath city.

Yes, my voice is average and I am amateuer but can you please correct my EQ in preset for like professional studio quality?
Extreemly thanks! Ukrainian - will broadcast to all Russian/Ukrainian public.

 

[Yev]

Also I will atach my setup. I speeking nearly to the mic is about 15 cm. Trying not change this distance when I recording.



Not shure if it correct:

Sounds like my voice have no core and it not clean. Can anybody help me please? Just if you once can give me frequencies for my voice then I will understand how it must be. Thank you!

 

[LesBrown]

Maybe this will help.

 

[Yev]

Maybe this will help.

Perfect! I will try to do the same, because have no monitors to listen it. If you have equipment - please help me to do a preset.

 

[Yev]

Maybe this will help.

I have done like man in video did. Now my voice is more horrible than I have even without processing

Please see a audio preset for FCPX.

 

[markno999]

Problem with this request is that it is not clear whether the voice sample recording posted above has already been EQ'd with the curve you show above, or not. If you have already EQ'd the voice recording with the EQ curve shown above then any "settings" someone gave you would be based on that starting point of a pre-EQ'd voice and that would be counter-intuitive. You should develop one clean chain.

Getting a good broadcast recording isn't just EQ, there are other factors that appy such as deEss, compression, limiting, etc... Also, I don't have Final Cut so cannot review your settings. If you have Logic Pro X I would recommend starting with a preset on a clean voice recording (no pre-EQ or processing) and apply the Male Radio Voice preset. You can also add the Subtle Enhancer Preset on the Master Bus, this will give you a starting point to look at further EQ, processsing or tweaking. I tested these presets on your posted sample voice recording and they sound pretty good.

There are also some good narration presets in there that may be applicable. If you don't have Logic Pro X I think GarageBand will have some equivalent presets you can take a look at. There is nothing unusual about your voice so any of these starting points should work for you. I think Logic Pro X and Final Cut are now integrated so you can share files back and forth.

Regards

 

[Yev]

Problem with this request is that it is not clear whether the voice sample recording posted above has already been EQ'd with the curve you show above, or not. If you have already EQ'd the voice recording with the EQ curve shown above then any "settings" someone gave you would be based on that starting point of a pre-EQ'd voice and that would be counter-intuitive. You should develop one clean chain.

Getting a good broadcast recording isn't just EQ, there are other factors that appy such as deEss, compression, limiting, etc... Also, I don't have Final Cut so cannot review your settings. If you have Logic Pro X I would recommend starting with a preset on a clean voice recording (no pre-EQ or processing) and apply the Male Radio Voice preset. You can also add the Subtle Enhancer Preset on the Master Bus, this will give you a starting point to look at further EQ, processsing or tweaking. I tested these presets on your posted sample voice recording and they sound pretty good.

There are also some good narration presets in there that may be applicable. If you don't have Logic Pro X I think GarageBand will have some equivalent presets you can take a look at. There is nothing unusual about your voice so any of these starting points should work for you. I think Logic Pro X and Final Cut are now integrated so you can share files back and forth.

Regards

Hi Markno!

My voice sample is absolutely clean without any changes and adjustments. I recorded it by only KSM32 + Apollo Solo on +48 dB gain. Have no used any of plugins. The distance to the mic around 15 cm not isolated room.

Please give to me frequencies for EQ what you think for example I need to do.

Kind Regards
Yev

 

[markno999]

Please give to me frequencies for EQ what you think for example I need to do.

As mentioned in post above, it is not that simple to just give EQ frequencies. I will enclose a screenshot of Logic Pro X with the 2 presets I suggested using in last post, along with audio samples with and without limiting. If you have Logic Pro or GarageBand you should be able to duplicate. Also note there are 2 sends going to some very subtle reverb in the Male Radio Voice Preset.

 

[Yev]

As mentioned in post above, it is not that simple to just give EQ frequencies. I will enclose a screenshot of Logic Pro X with the 2 presets I suggested using in last post, along with audio samples with and without limiting. If you have Logic Pro or GarageBand you should be able to duplicate. Also note there are 2 sends going to some very subtle reverb in the Male Radio Voice Preset.

Sounds absolutely fantastic! Good for my begin! Thank you!
PS: The plugins for Logic Pro and Final Cut Pro is the same.

 

[mrufino1]

Sounds absolutely fantastic! Good for my begin! Thank you!
PS: The plugins for Logic Pro and Final Cut Pro is the same.

There’s not really a “preset” that can be shared, it’s a good idea to learn how to use eq. Move one node around at a time and learn to hear what they do. If you vary the gain, frequency, and width (Q) and really focus on the difference you are hearing you’ll start to hear the effect.

You can also just engage the high and low pass filters and move them to isolate certain frequency ranges and hear them on their own.

The other thing, and this would be first, is decide what it is you like and don’t like about the recording, which starts to give you a roadmap for what you’d like to accomplish.

There are some courses available online as well that teach you about using eq. Bjorgvin Bebedikksem has his EQ course (I think it’s called eq strategies), and Justin Colletti has EQ breakthroughs.

The book “Mixing secrets for the small recording studio” by Mike Senior is a great book, and so is Bobby Owsinki’s mixing workbook. Both have great info about EQ.

I hope that helps.

 

[markno999]

There’s not really a “preset” that can be shared, it’s a good idea to learn how to use eq.

I agree with you 100%, however, if you look at the "EQ Curve" above I would consider it to be fairly universal starting point for male voice narration which is rolling off some bottom, a slight dip at 240hz to remove mud, and a very broad and slight bump at 4k. There isn't much going on. The rest of the chain is DeEss, some light compression and, some light room reverb and limiting. Since the OP seemed to be fairly new to this I auditioned a few Logic presets that I thought got him in the ballpark with his voice recording. He can play to the EQ to dial in any subtle changes that are needed, if needed. There is very little EQ going on in the examples above.

There are many people here on this forum that want to learn mixing and engineering and delve into all the nuts and bolts that go with it, I am one of those longtime students with much more to learn. However, there are also those here that don't care about any of the technical side and just want to know a few simple things to help them record their voice/singing, mic a guitar, do a podcast, video narration, etc...I suspect more of these users are on the way as UA is making it very easy and affordable for these type of users to get started with some of their new products. These task oriented users just want/need to know enough to do whatever task they are looking to accomplish. They aren't interested in becoming an engineer, their goal is to produce a product that happens to include audio.

It is important to have knowledge but I also recognize that in some cases it is not feasible or necessary to learn all about audio engineering for some users depending on their tasks or specific goals. I suspect many podcasters audio skill level includes maybe setting levels, pressing record, stop, rewind, forward, etc..and bouncing their tracks. They have a process that is the same every single time. In this case, the OP has enough information to create a template he can user for 1 or 100 videos about UK cities.

Regards

 

[mrufino1]

I agree with you 100%, however, if you look at the "EQ Curve" above I would consider it to be fairly universal starting point for male voice narration which is rolling off some bottom, a slight dip at 240hz to remove mud, and a very broad and slight bump at 4k. There isn't much going on. The rest of the chain is DeEss, some light compression and, some light room reverb and limiting. Since the OP seemed to be fairly new to this I auditioned a few Logic presets that I thought got him in the ballpark with his voice recording. He can play to the EQ to dial in any subtle changes that are needed, if needed. There is very little EQ going on in the examples above.

There are many people here on this forum that want to learn mixing and engineering and delve into all the nuts and bolts that go with it, I am one of those longtime students with much more to learn. However, there are also those here that don't care about any of the technical side and just want to know a few simple things to help them record their voice/singing, mic a guitar, do a podcast, video narration, etc...I suspect more of these users are on the way as UA is making it very easy and affordable for these type of users to get started with some of their new products. These task oriented users just want/need to know enough to do whatever task they are looking to accomplish. They aren't interested in becoming an engineer, their goal is to produce a product that happens to include audio.

It is important to have knowledge but I also recognize that in some cases it is not feasible or necessary to learn all about audio engineering for some users depending on their tasks or specific goals. I suspect many podcasters audio skill level includes maybe setting levels, pressing record, stop, rewind, forward, etc..and bouncing their tracks. They have a process that is the same every single time. In this case, the OP has enough information to create a template he can user for 1 or 100 videos about UK cities.

Regards

Understood, but when someone isn’t satisfied with the results they are getting, the next step is to learn more about the process. I definitely did not mean anything I said in a demeaning manner.

Maybe on the front of not wanting to know the details, to the original poster, you may want to hire someone to mix an episode with you, then when you know that they got a sound you like, you can apply those settings going forward. You’d essentially be producing the episode while the engineer figures out what to use to get your vision, then hands it off to you for the future.

 

[markno999]

Understood, but when someone isn’t satisfied with the results they are getting, the next step is to learn more about the process. I definitely did not mean anything I said in a demeaning manner.

Yes agree, your message was very helpful and I didn't read it in a negative way. Personally have been "learning" audio engineering for quite a long time. I find it fascinating and always looking for more knowledge. I think many people here are of that mindset. Just pointing out there are more and more UA users that may not be or want to become audio gearheads.

One thing from above I hope is apparent regarding EQ, for newer enthusiasts or engineers, is that sometimes one cut in the low-mids can accomplish the same, and usually better result, than multiple boosts the high end for clarity. I wish I knew that 20 years ago

Maybe on the front of not wanting to know the details, to the original poster, you may want to hire someone to mix an episode with you, then when you know that they got a sound you like, you can apply those settings going forward. You’d essentially be producing the episode while the engineer figures out what to use to get your vision, then hands it off to you for the future.

That is an excellent suggestion, the voice narration is only one part in the broader context of a video production. If he is just narrating over a video that is pretty straight-forward but if editing is needed, ducking music background or sound effects, or other post production, that opens a whole new world of things to deal with.

Regards