Microphones post: what's good for foley, ADR voiceover and sound effects - Cover Story

Post, March, 2004 by David John Farinella

In some other markets a vintage microphone is the pathway to a warm and dynamic sound. Yet in the audio post market, the key to success is reliability and accuracy. Sure character is important, especially for some voiceover and ADR applications, but when it comes to capturing authentic sounds, a crisp microphone with well-crafted frequency response will get called on more often than not. With that in mind, Post checked in with a handful of companies to see which of their microphones are getting called on and what can be expected in 2004.

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NEUMANN

According to Neumann USA's product manager, Dawn Birr, the company (www.neumann.com) offers a variety of microphones that are used by audio post professionals. "The Neumann Solution D digital microphone has recently found a home in post production and for some highly publicized films, including The Lord of The Rings trilogy and The Matrix trilogy," she reports. "The well-known Neumann U 87 is a modern classic that has been utilized in post production for over 30 years." Other Neumann microphones used in post situations include the TLM 103 and TLM 127, as well as more specialized offerings like the KU 100 binaural head and RSM 191-S stereo shotgun microphones. These products are called on for Foley work, voiceovers, dialogue, sound effects and film scoring.

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The Solution D microphone, Birr says, has been used in post applications because of its software ability to support sample rates up to 96k. "The software will eventually support rates up to 192k," she adds. "Also, the Solution D offers remote control of multiple parameters and functions, including polarity, attenuation, gain, limiter, soft muting, phase reverse, sampling rate, synchronization mode and test signals." The Solution D features the D-01, a newly designed capsule.

SOUNDFIELD

Because it records three dimensionally, the SoundField (www.soundfield.com) enables users to steer the mic in post. Brad Lunde, president of the TransAmerica Audio Group (www.transaudiogroup.com) which imports and distributes a number of microphones including SoundField, Brauner and Soundelux, points out that users "can make a recording and then go back and change the microphone position later. You can change the angle and pattern of the microphone."

Michael Gerzon invented the SoundField in the 1960s, though as Lunde reports, the microphone has taken off recently thanks to the emerging demand for 5.1 audio. "The SoundField has great application for room micing and ambient micing in Foley work," Lunde says. "The microphone can also deliver 6.1, 7.1 or whatever you want it to do, because basically what the microphone does is build a three-dimensional model of the acoustical event and you just have to go back and pull from this three-dimensional model the information you want, the microphone patterns and their placement. You can extract them from this three-dimensional model and you have phase error-free audio."

The SoundField comes in three models: the high-end studio version is the MKV system that includes a multi-capsule microphone and a calibrated 2U processor that can generate mono, stereo, M/S and surround. The second model, the SPS422B, enables users to get B-Formats along with all the benefits of the MKV at a lower price. The ST250 system is portable and can be DC or battery powered. "The ST250 can be used in the field for the same kind of recording as a stand-alone device," Lunde explains. "You can capture it in the B-Format, which takes up four tracks, and then bring it back to the studio and process it either with a SoundField SP451, which will derive 5.1, stereo or mono from a B-Format source or the new plug-ins that are now coming out. There's one out in Europe for Sadie and one out here for Nuendo that will enable you to take a B-Format signal in and once you get it into the computer you can digitally manipulate it and change the angle and pattern."

Currently Warner Bros. is using a MKV on their Foley stage, and other companies are using the products for movie special effects, documentaries and in sports applications. "The beautiful thing is that unlike binaural, which requires a binaural playback system to achieve the results, the SoundField does not," he says. "You can play it back off stereo speakers, 5.1, 6.1, and you have a wide variety of delivery potential. Whatever the client wants, you can do with a single microphone."

SOUNDELUX

Soundelux (www.soundeluxmics.com) offerings are being used for high-end voiceovers. "The Soundelux E47 has received positive response from the field in terms of being a really big voiceover mic for when somebody wants to sound huge," says Lunde. "The Elux 251 is also very useful for voiceovers for a wider variety of voices. In the lower price points, the U195 has done very well in voiceover applications."

BRAUNER

Brauner (www.braunerusa.com) is also another microphone being called on for clear voiceover work, Lunde reports. "Brauner is an ideal mic to capture voices exactly as they are," he says. "Brauner mics are used in broadcast facilities where they're looking for high quality and high resolution. Brauner mics are not big by nature, they are accurate by nature and they present a very clear picture. They are used in voiceover applications when they're looking for a realistic sort of vocal sounds, something that doesn't sound like a movie trailer but they want it to sound accurate and be very high resolution. The Brauner strengths are as room mics or as a detail distant mic, as well as for detailed vocals."