Proud Voices

How a Cheap Voiceover Can Cost You Your Project

Voice over is an art form. It can take years for an artist to learn how to project confidence, capture emotion, and clearly speak with their “unique” voice. The most inexpensive voiceovers can come at the cost of quality.  Many times a cheap, poor quality voiceover will cost you, because you may have to redo the project over again. If you want to present yourself in a professional manner, a poorly done voiceover can reflect on you negatively and might cost you customers.

How to ensure you get a “high quality voiceover”

In order to make sure the you receive the best quality voiceover, you need to look back at the companies past projects. Some companies choose to use the most inexpensive and least skill artists because it may make them the most profit. On the other hand, other companies choose to focus on quality and their previous jobs will reflect this. If you are speaking with a V.O. company about a voiceover, try asking for some examples of their previous work. This should give you a good idea of the type of work they specialize in which may include commercial work, character work, or musical production. This will show you not only the type of work they specialize in, but the overall quality of the jobs as well.

Recording Quality

Another way that you can get short changed by a cheap voiceover, is with the quality of the microphone. If the artist is using a low quality mic and isn’t knowledgeable about the recording process, the finished product will not be good. A condenser mic with a “pop filter” is the microphone of choice for most voiceover artists. A low quality microphone tends to inaccurately record the waveform and will be noticeably different from a better microphone.

Voiceover Engineers

The knowledge of the engineer recording the voiceover also has a major impact on the overall quality of the finished product. Certain recording techniques such as the use of compression, EQ, and volume leveling can greatly improve the quality of the recording. If an untrained artist create a V.O. with a poor quality mic and improper recording techniques, the end result will be poor quality.

Compression

Compression is an effect which can keep the volume levels of a recording consistent. This may sound like a minor detail, but proper use of compression give the recording a finished and professional sound. It can help fix inconsistencies in the volume of the recording.

EQ

Boosting or reducing certain frequencies in a voiceover can also add a finishing gloss to the final product. Many times an engineer will have to cut the low end of the vocal recording in order to mix it with music or sound effects. This creates room, “sonically”, for the two recording to fix together in the mix. Only a trained ear can determine which frequencies need to be cut or boosted in this final mix.

In conclusion, there are inexpensive voiceover options out there. BUT, in most cases the cost comes at quality. This “poor quality” can cost you in the case that your project will have to be completely redone.