Good morning! A quick note: I have no idea what the heck I'm doing before I step in front of the microphone, however, these are some voice over related products I've been interested in recently. Most of them are reasonably priced, as I'm just getting started and I'm on a budget.

^{Note: these are not affiliate links, I make no profit from these recommendations}

Audio-Technica ATH-M30x Headphones

I'd like a spare set of “cans” to keep plugged into my workstation so I don't have to keep bringing my expensive headphones back & forth from the vocal booth. Lately I've had my eye on these.

They're not engineered for the casual user , they're mostly mid-range to assist in accurate sound editing. These should make a decent secondary headphone set for sound editing and every day use.

PRICE: $70

Rode NTG2 Multi-Powered Condenser Shotgun Microphone

Rode mics are well known for being able to record clean, crisp vocals in the worst environments, even tiled kitchens. Combine their ability to almost completely repel sound reflections with the very narrow pattern of a shot gun mic, and you've got a real winner for recording when things aren't so quiet... Lawn mowers, air craft and laundry being the usual culprits for wrecking a good vocal session.

Be sure to pay attention to your position in relation to the mic, because straying from the narrow pick-up pattern will result in lower recording volume.

PRICE: $212⁹⁹

Twin Acoustic Blankets

When's the best time to record voice? Whenever! When's the realistically best time to record? When there's not as much noise going on.

I already have three of these blankets draped over my PVC frame and they're doing a great job of limiting room noise/reflections. However, I'd like to have another set of layers!

Without these blankets, my sound engineer told me my booth was "passable", but with them — he said it's the best I've sounded. You really don't want to shortchange yourself on acoustic treatment. Speaking from experience, there's no way to hide bad results from cheap sound padding.

The blankets are a bit heavy and cumbersome to hang for only one person, so be sure to have assistance.

PRICE: Approx. $110 with shipping

Focusrite Scarlett 2i2

I'm pleased with my Scarlett Solo— it's well-built, reliable and easy to use, however, having only one mic output, I may find myself outgrowing it sooner or later. I don't want the inconvenience of having to manually switch mics if I get a second one.

As the name and photo imply, the 2i2 can run two mics at once... an option that could be very handy later on!

PRICE: $159⁹⁹

Noctua NF-A12x25 PWM, Quiet Fan

I've determined that my desktop PC is quieter than my notebook, but both are noisy enough to be heard faintly on recordings — especially when the voice tracks are compressed and normalized.

In fact, my PC fan is by far the most annoying sound I have to deal with... outdoor noises are fairly rare and the air vent can be kept quiet.

Very expensive custom built PCs use these quiet cooling fans, from a manufacturer based in Austria. To keep from buying the entire PC, I'd just like to upgrade my PC's fans instead.

PRICE: $29⁹⁰ — varies for each fan configuration

Reminder

My new video is out tomorrow!