Recording stuff...

[BlsdMama]

I have a device (from a member here ❤️ ) to record my voice.  I am seeking to record a huge volume - I want to read aloud my favorite books while I still have my voice.

Can someone who knows (does anyone know??) tell me the difference between

Blue Yeti

and 

Jabra


Conditions: I can record in a small (small for a room, huge for a closet) coat closet we have that I can set a desk up and have "work" hours.  I'd like them to be high quality.  I prefer a headset *IF* it can give me high quality but really only then.  

[Moonhawk]

I'm sorry, I don't know the Jabra.

DH has the Blue Yeti for his Youtube videos/courses for business and it does a great job. At our last conference he got a lot of compliments on the sound quality of his presentation. He does use a pop filter as well similar to this one, and he has a stand so he can position it comfortably for him without hovering around a spot on the desk.

A lot of making the sound shine has to do with the settings during recording and post-production. Once you have whatever equipment you're going to use, I recommend fiddling with the settings to get what you like. If you need resources/starting points, I can ask DH for those, too.

eta: @BlsdMama DH says that if you aren't going to do any changes to the files after recording, it might change what you want record with. Were you planning on recording without too much editing?

Edited November 13, 2020 by Moonhawk

[catz]

I can't comment on the Jabra, but my son has a Blue Yeti.  He is a college vocal performance major doing voice lessons, recordings, etc online and it has worked great for him.  He uses them with a pair of headphones typically.  

[klmama]

I watched a video about a couple who records books professionally, and I think they had some foam on the walls, carpet on the floor, etc., to make the sound quality better.  If nothing else, blankets on walls or floor would help reduce any echo chamber feel.  

[BlsdMama]

17 hours ago, Moonhawk said:

I'm sorry, I don't know the Jabra.

DH has the Blue Yeti for his Youtube videos/courses for business and it does a great job. At our last conference he got a lot of compliments on the sound quality of his presentation. He does use a pop filter as well similar to this one, and he has a stand so he can position it comfortably for him without hovering around a spot on the desk.

A lot of making the sound shine has to do with the settings during recording and post-production. Once you have whatever equipment you're going to use, I recommend fiddling with the settings to get what you like. If you need resources/starting points, I can ask DH for those, too.

eta: @BlsdMama DH says that if you aren't going to do any changes to the files after recording, it might change what you want record with. Were you planning on recording without too much editing?

Great question.  I'd love to not do any editing, but realistically, I wonder if I could be content with the result without tweaking? I doubt that. I'm *that* person.

[BlsdMama]

11 hours ago, klmama said:

I watched a video about a couple who records books professionally, and I think they had some foam on the walls, carpet on the floor, etc., to make the sound quality better.  If nothing else, blankets on walls or floor would help reduce any echo chamber feel.  

So I was reading a blog post in which a woman said a closet is ideal because you have clothing around to absorb sound and improve quality.  I suspect foam squares on one (hard/cedar) wall and the door would work too?

[Alicia64]

On 11/11/2020 at 10:55 AM, BlsdMama said:

I have a device (from a member here ❤️ ) to record my voice.  I am seeking to record a huge volume - I want to read aloud my favorite books while I still have my voice.
 

Are you reading and recording kid-books? Or adult books?

W.

[klmama]

38 minutes ago, BlsdMama said:

So I was reading a blog post in which a woman said a closet is ideal because you have clothing around to absorb sound and improve quality.  I suspect foam squares on one (hard/cedar) wall and the door would work too?

Yes.  The idea is just to eliminate any hard surfaces that reflect back the sound. 

[prairiewindmomma]

Dh has a blue yeti with a pop filter.

[catz]

6 minutes ago, klmama said:

Yes.  The idea is just to eliminate any hard surfaces that reflect back the sound. 

The other thing to do is test record yourself and play with settings and make sure you are happy with the sound.  Note what sounds best for playback.  You can probably google recommends for whatever mic you end up with.    It is actually worth doing a quick sound check daily as you start.  Each of my kids has had a mic on the fly shift their tones slightly which would be really annoying after recording an hour plus.  I actually paid to have my kid record once only to find out the audio failed after the fact.  So annoying.