I prefer Reaper. It's much more fully-functioned than something like Audacity, and its workflow is much more efficient, for me.
It's also "free" in the same way Winrar is. You'll never lose functionality if you don't buy it, you'll just get a nagging pop-up on launch reminding you of how long you've used it for.
It's good enough that I bought a commercial license for it, but that was after a couple years of using it for free without issue and starting to make real money using it.
I've been on ACX for a few years now, and (as people have mentioned) it is an Amazon company. They've never misused my data; on the contrary, they have helped streamline the process of earning royalties by sending them straight to my bank account, and then providing the 1099 to me at the end of the year to make taxes easier. Just keep in mind that, if you earn any commissions instead of royalties, you'll need to report those earnings yourself when tax season comes around.
Proof: My Twitter (that I never use) and all the books I've done through ACX
Tara Platt and Yuri Lowenthall’s Voice Over Voice Actor is a must read.
Voice-Over Voice Actor: The Extended Edition https://www.amazon.com/dp/0984074058/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_THZKEXHD3MCRZJYST6S9
I picked up the Audio Technica AT2020+ USB microphone right now and it's pretty damn good for what I'm using it for. I got it for $148 on Amazon.
With the 58 you could get an inline amplifier, I feel like that helped with my 57 a bit. But I could be wrong!
I am looking to try one of these https://www.amazon.com/Computer-Celeron-J3455-Processor-2-5-inch/dp/B099KSJN8P/ref=sr_1_6?c=ts&keywords=Mini+Computers&qid=1654088148&s=pc&sr=1-6&ts_id=13896591011
Type in "mini computers" on amazon.
Mine was model EQK655C and less expensive, but here's a little bit of an upgrade from it https://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-IdeaCentre-Computer-i3-1115G4-Display/dp/B09F7Q15JW/ref=sr_1_3?crid=3LFJG165RB8QP&keywords=lenovo+AIO+3+Ideacentre+%22EQK655C%22&qid=1654015500&sprefix=lenovo+aio+3+ideacentre+eqk655c+%2Caps%2C175&sr=8-3
What's your budget? If it's not much, you could start with a closet or pantry and put up moving blankets. It'll also help if you don't have much room to record. Closets are good since you have clothing in there to act as a natural buffer for noise. Blankets still recommended.
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If you're willing to invest more, you can make a PVC pipe booth for like a couple hundred bucks, or so? Maybe less if you're thrifty. As long as you have a 4x4 area in your home to put it. Just be aware, it may just be kind of an eyesore.
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As far as software, Audacity is a good option. But if you don't mind paying a subscription, Adobe Audition is awesome for removing background noise / white noise. It's not too expensive, but it is a monthly subscription. If you're a student, you can get a bundle deal and it's like.. $25 per month for everything.
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I’ve heard good things about a Blue Yeti. It just costs a lot of money to start (£100). What are your thoughts on this microphone for voiceovers (https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0819BJMNX?tag=peteramazonuk-21&geniuslink=true)?
It really is too general a question. I could answer with something like a Telefunken C-12 or U-47 as being "the best", but they cost around £10,000. For £50 you're not really going to get anything any particularly good, but you'll probably get away with something that is okay for your purposes. You can't even get a Blue Yeti for £50.
A microphone can't really reduce background noise very much. I mean, it can by having a reduced focal point or by reduced sensitivity causing you to have to speak louder, but if it picks up your voice, it will also pickup whatever comes into it from from behind your head. Where you position the mic and what objects are around the room become much more important. You can mitigate things by putting your mouth very close to the mic (as that will make the voice signal very loud compared to the rest of the room), but you'll get heavy plosives and a bassy sound.
Your only real option at that price is the Blue Snowball iCE.
I finally broke down and bought a dbx 286s. It has all the processing features that a voice over artist could want. Nothing is going to remove the sound of the room echo, of course, but as you've observed, the dynamic mics will help a bit.
A "booth", made from 1" PVC pipe and a few moving blankets, can be put together for less than a hundred bucks. That will pretty much completely knock down all that echo/reverb. If even that's not practical, something like this and a blanket hung close behind you will still make an amazing difference.
First try Waveform Free. It's very easy to use and is ridiculously full featured for a free download. There is very little that is only available in the full price version of Waveform and none of that should negatively affect doing VO.
Failing that, try Reaper. It has a very poor UI with a stupid amount of menus, but if you can get past that, it has excellent wave editing features and it only costs $60 if you make less than $20,000 per year.
For clarity, I use Adobe Audition for audio editing. For music I currently use Presonus Studio One, but have been around most of the DAWs.
Hey guys, I discovered a vo artist called Maria Pendolino. You can book a 15min Zoom session with her, for a fairly reasonable $25, she is incredibly insightful and knowledgeable on the subject of vo rates. She totally helped me come up with a great price for the job and gave me confidence to push my price higher than I had thought feasible!
I highly recommend her :
I'm not experienced with Nimble, but I am actually a CRM consultant for one that has a pretty huge market share in sales & marketing. In your case and based on Nimble's marketing video and copy on their site, it seems like the goal is to create a database based on your interactions with people you're encountered through social media.
If you wanted to do something like email marketing there are some pretty advanced tools out there to cater to what potential customers are doing.
A super high end tool I've worked with is Pardot. Its not at all something you'd want to use as its mainly for B2B stuff, but it allows you to place cookies on your website that tracks what users see and take interest in. You can set up automation rules that carry customers through a sort of "marketing journey" so that emails tailored to them are sent based on levels of engagement and what they view.
Nimble advertised that they can do automated marketing, but take a deeper look at the features offered. There can be a pretty wide list of things that you may want, from lead scoring, drip campaigns, to analytics, but its hard to find one that has everything you'd want vs. the price. SugarCRM is one that I see get thrown around for independent contractors.
For a final note as a consultant, my number one piece of advice when looking into or using CRM is to not get too caught up on the numbers when you do start using it. A lot of customers will go in and spend more time analyzing their data and wondering how to capitalize on the information while implementing solutions takes a back seat.
Sorry if this wasn't helpful.
It you want quality on a budget to use with a solid entry level mic like the AT2020. If you are looking for a higher end audio interface.
U need an audio interface I use a sonus audio box. It come with the phantom power you need and plug into my Mac via usb
AudioBox iTwo 2x2 USB/iPad Recording System https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00KBMAJZS/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_DA2aAb3X4DNWT
Yeah that tile is really problematic. iZotope RX6 includes a dereverb module but I had a listen to your sample through it and it really isn't much help. To get significant reverb reduction you end up damaging the original too much. I think that as long as you're recording in that room, it's going to sound like that. I think an area rug and some acoustic treatment would help a great deal.
You could try to make something like this for treating your room for echoes. It will help on outside noise as well, but that's not what it was meant for.
Regarding the preamp / interface, get a Scarlett Focusrite Solo (gen 2) and you don't have to change it any time soon.