[deama]

I'm not entirely sure which EQ frequency ranges I need to configure to make a microphone sound more base-y, does anyone know?

 

[gimmeheadroom]

Conventional wisdom in the old days was a male voice is roughly from 300 to 2000 Hz.

This link suggests 300 Hz to 3 KHz is the range of voices but does not deal with gender.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voice_frequency

To get started, start boosting from around 300 Hz and start cutting from 6 KHz (harmonics) and see how it sounds.

 

[gregorio]

I'm not entirely sure which EQ frequency ranges I need to configure to make a microphone sound more base-y, does anyone know?

That depends on the microphone and the human voice in question. Males voices can go as low as around 80Hz but more typically about 100Hz -200Hz is where you'll find all the bass (fundamental) freqs. However, you might find that it's not the bass freqs you actually need to boost but the higher freqs, roughly 300Hz - 500Hz, which will give more richness. I wouldn't cut the mid/high freqs, that could easily reduce clarity/presence but *might* be preferable if you have a lot of "essing" or noise/hiss.

G

 

[deama]

That depends on the microphone and the human voice in question. Males voices can go as low as around 80Hz but more typically about 100Hz -200Hz is where you'll find all the bass (fundamental) freqs. However, you might find that it's not the bass freqs you actually need to boost but the higher freqs, roughly 300Hz - 500Hz, which will give more richness. I wouldn't cut the mid/high freqs, that could easily reduce clarity/presence but *might* be preferable if you have a lot of "essing" or noise/hiss.

G

I basically just want my (male) voice to sound a bit deeper through the mic, so thought I'd increase the relavent frequencies by 2-3db or so.

So roughly 300hz to 500hz is what I should boost then? Maybe add a slight boost to 100-200hz too? I'm not really sure how deep my voice is to begin with, as in, the scale of it, so I don't know if it goes down to 80hz.

 

[gregorio]

I basically just want my (male) voice to sound a bit deeper through the mic, so thought I'd increase the relavent frequencies by 2-3db or so.
So roughly 300hz to 500hz is what I should boost then? Maybe add a slight boost to 100-200hz too?

Engineers don't apply EQ according to some frequency rule card/graph. There is no rule card, we listen to what has been captured and apply EQ according to our subjective opinion. This is because:

A. What is captured varies enormously, depending on: The mic used, the position of the mic relative to the mouth (or other sound source) and of course the nature of the individual voice (or other sound source) to start with. And,
B. How we hear/perceive sound differs very significantly from the actual audio properties (such as frequency) and not only does it differ but it doesn't differ linearly. For example, we can EQ a voice so that it sounds exactly how we want but then when we mix it (add in the other instruments, in the case of music, or other sounds, in the case of TV/film), not only will it be perceived quite differently but the perceived difference varies depending on exactly what other instruments/sounds.

In other words, no one can answer your questions without listening to this specific recording of your voice (and the other instruments/sounds, if it's going to be part of a mix). Without listening, the best anyone can offer is a guess-estimate of the mostly likely freq range/s to try and then you'll have to experiment for yourself. Additionally, it's quite likely that 2-3dB will not be enough, start with 4-6dB and go from there. In many/most production EQ situations 2-3dB can be considered a "fine" adjustment, 4-6dB a "moderate" adjustment and 8-12dB "large".

G

 

[Speedskater]

Have you tried speaking more to the side of the mic, rather than straight on?
Have you tried speaking father away from the mic?

 

[gimmeheadroom]

Have you tried speaking more to the side of the mic, rather than straight on?
Have you tried speaking father away from the mic?

Or better yet, has he tried paying a guy with a very deep voice to speak directly into the microphone?

 

[bigshot]

Testosterone supplements?

 

[deama]

Or better yet, has he tried paying a guy with a very deep voice to speak directly into the microphone?

I wish.

Testosterone supplements?

Any recommendations?

Have you tried speaking more to the side of the mic, rather than straight on?
Have you tried speaking father away from the mic?

My mic is positioned to the side, so I'm not directly talking to it, though I have tried directly and it sounded a bit worse, i think.

Biggest problem I can notice is reverb in my room, makes it a twat sharper/higher pitched than it should be I think.
So maybe in the future I might plaster some sound absorbers.
Or perhaps, can I buy something for my mic that would absorb the sound better? I have one of those fluffy sponge covers that go ontop of the mic, but when I removed it, it didn't really make much of a difference.

 

[bigshot]

Is this your own voice? I think everyone dislikes the sound of their own voice. It sounds different in our head than when we hear it recorded. That's a "brain thing" not a mic thing.

 

[gregorio]

[1] My mic is positioned to the side, so I'm not directly talking to it, though I have tried directly and it sounded a bit worse, i think.
[1a] Biggest problem I can notice is reverb in my room, makes it a twat sharper/higher pitched than it should be I think.
[2] So maybe in the future I might plaster some sound absorbers.
[3] Or perhaps, can I buy something for my mic that would absorb the sound better? I have one of those fluffy sponge covers that go ontop of the mic, but when I removed it, it didn't really make much of a difference.

1. Speaking directly into the mic will generally provide a bit more bass, however it will also generally pick-up more lip smacks, essing and popping.
1a. The closer to your mouth the mic is, the more of your voice and the less of the room it will pick-up but again, the more lip smacks, essing and popping you'll get. It's pretty much always a trade-off. In the pro world (film/TV), we use mics positioned much further away from the mouth but they have very tight pick-up patterns (hyper-cardioid or super-hyper-cardioid) to reduce room reverb. That's not going to help you though, good ones are a couple of thousand dollars or so. Typically, room reverb also includes a comb filtering effect which creates a tonal/colourisation effect and makes it a difficult issue to deal with. There are specialist tools that can reduce it and several EQ "notch" filters can help but even with a lot of practice/experience, it can be hard to identify exactly which freqs to notch.

2. Acoustic treatment is a good/logical solution. Something as simple as some heavy drapes or rugs on the walls will certainly improve the situation and maybe all you will need but for best effect hang them an inch or two in front of the walls rather than directly on them. Commercial (broadband) acoustic panels will work well but are typically very expensive to get the required coverage. If you're handy with DIY, you can easily make them yourself for a tenth of the price.

3. Those "fluffy sponge covers" won't help. They're colloquially known as "windsocks" and are designed to mitigate the effect of wind when used outdoors but won't help much/at all with room reverb indoors. There are various things you can buy/make that can mitigate "pops" and vibrations (a pop-screen and suspension field), that might allow you to get the mic a bit closer to your mouth. There is also a class of products known as "portable vocal booths" or "mic isolation boxes", the Auralex Mudguard is a decent example. Such a product might help significantly but might only give a very small improvement, depending on the direction of your most obtrusive reflections. A very cheap and dirty solution is simply to create a very small tent like structure with a duvet or thick blanket to enclose you and your mic. Providing you don't rub against it and it doesn't touch the mic, it's usually very effective but isn't very comfortable or practical.

G

 

[deama]

Is this your own voice? I think everyone dislikes the sound of their own voice. It sounds different in our head than when we hear it recorded. That's a "brain thing" not a mic thing.

Yeah it's my own voice, I just wanted it to sound a bit deeper, is all.

 

[bigshot]

Have you tried pitching it down in a sound editing program. It's an ugly kludge that I avoid like the plague, but it might work for your purposes.

 

[deama]

Have you tried pitching it down in a sound editing program. It's an ugly kludge that I avoid like the plague, but it might work for your purposes.

Would that work for real time?

 

[bigshot]

Yeah, there are plugins that pitch and time correct.