Ultimately, it depends on the project. Often, I’ll record from a studio in Los Angeles where they employ millions of dollars worth of expensive, complicated pre-amps and mixers which only a veteran engineer should have at his hands. When I work from my personal voiceover studio however, I have a quiet, acoustically-treated vocal booth. Universal Audio Apollo preamps are connected to a redundant iMac and MacBook Pro setup, which backs up session files on hard drives and in the cloud as they are recorded.
My preferred microphone is the Sennheiser MKH-416, which is generally considered the industry standard microphone for most of the VO’s I perform (promos, commercials, narration). I keep a couple of these on hand for redundancy. I also keep multiple Shure SM7B’s and Rode NT1’s on hand for more dynamic performances.
If I’m on the go or out of town, I bring a laptop with me, my USB key for Source-Connect, an MKH-416, and usually a MicPort Pro and Zoom H4N recorder. I’ve even recorded sessions in my car at times (many cars are well-built to keep road noise out and sound in, and they’re often the perfect portable studio!) but when in town, a proper booth is always preferred.
I edit my files using Adobe Audition CC (Creative Cloud). Depending on the production needs and if I’ll be mixing myself or if my client will, I often normalize and apply a light compression and EQ.
Posted in: Technical and Studio Questions