How to use EQ in Voiceover | Beginner to "Advanced" Techniques to Improve Your Sound

A step-by-step breakdown on how to use Equalizers/EQ and what targets to look for when dialing in your own settings.
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[@januszbogumil]

thanks for this!

[@ScottMillerCoaching]

Great video. The way you discuss a limited number of settings, but also clearly explain the purpose and how to adjust them, strikes a nice balance. Not too much info without enough depth, but not an overload of info, either. I have a podcast and frequently record episodes with remote guests. There can be some variety in the quality of the guests' audio. I've been using EQ, compressors, and other tools to achieve the best possible end results, and have watched a lot of videos on these tools. This video, combined with your video on compressors, gave me some new things to try. Thank you!

[@ScottMillerCoaching]

Ok...wow. To follow up on my comment above, I'm working on an episode that I recorded with a guest who was using their laptop mic in an untreated room. I was using a de-reverb plugin to remove the echo from the room, plus my previous understanding of EQ. I just tried turning off the de-reverb plugin and spent a couple of minutes EQing the recording using just the techniques you show here. It's noticeably better. The room echo was almost all just in a couple of resonant frequencies. I did turn the de-reverb plugin back on, but with a drastically lower reduction setting just to remove a small amount of echo across other frequencies. This is magic, dude!

[@jaymyersvoiceover]

So glad to hear! :)

[@techcdrive1702]

this is one beautifully designed and created fully practical video explained in a really good way. just loved this tutorial, going to watch other videos as well. Sub for sure, without any doubt

[@jaymyersvoiceover]

So glad you found it helpful!

[@taylorraywhitehead]

Really cool video, thanks for the tips!

[@jaymyersvoiceover]

My pleasure!

[@armandciabattari417]

Thanks!

[@jaymyersvoiceover]

You bet! And thank you ;)

[@me_lolo]

wow! thanks so much!

[@jaymyersvoiceover]

Anytime!

[@techcdrive1702]

16:00 i too felt that, when watched some videos or done that on some tracks it removed more than the essers, the esser tool really requires much time for things to work exactly the way we want. in short for "quick result" it can be a good tool.

[@aaryntip5989]

I can't overstate how helpful you've been! I've watched several of your videos today, and am so appreciative for your knowledge. Edit: What software do you recommend for EQ?

[@jaymyersvoiceover]

So glad to hear that! Any EQ will do, and most recording software has built in plugins that’ll work just fine!

[@aaryntip5989]

@@jaymyersvoiceover thank you!!

[@RaymmanVO]

consider those buttons clicked ;-) Seasonal greetz to you Jay.

[@jaymyersvoiceover]

Thanks Ray!

[@PierceJordan]

Hi Jay, been watching a lot of your videos lately, and I've been learning a lot. A few questions for you, if you don't mind: 1) Do you ever recommend raising the bass at all by a little bit? 2) Do you ever recommend using a low-pass filter to get rid of super high frequencies? 3) Do you ever recommend reducing some of the frequencies in the 200 to 500 or so range to get rid of a "boxy" sound? To be honest, I'm not entirely sure what a "boxy" sound sounds like, so I can't tell if it's something I need to do or not. Any tips or help would be greatly appreciated. Keep up the great work with the videos! Thanks, Pierce

[@jaymyersvoiceover]

Glad they’ve been helpful! And of course: 1) up to your discretion! I personally don’t unless the client requests it. 2) again up to you! I don’t as I don’t find it offers anything significant. 3) yes! that’s more or less what I’m doing in the video when “hunting for resonance“ I’ve found it helpful in improving my sound, though as I said it’s not necessary if you’re not comfortable with the process. Let me know if any other questions pop up for ya!

[@PierceJordan]

@@jaymyersvoiceover Got it! Thank you. Also, I totally agree that less is more when it comes to enhancing audio. That is such a great tip. I just have a couple of follow-up questions. Again, really appreciate your help. 1) So when increasing bass, it's probably best to only go up by 1-2 dB or so to keep the sound as natural as possible with just a little extra fullness? 2) When you brighten up the voice by increasing the higher frequencies, how do you know what frequency to start at? Is this there like a rule of thumb or an easy way to figure this out for my specific voice? I know you said you wouldn't go below 5,000 Hz in the video. It looks like you set it to 8,500 Hz in the video, but by doing that, the gain starts to ramp up somewhere between 2,000 and 4,000 Hz. Can you explain this as well? Thank you again, Jay!

[@jaymyersvoiceover]

My pleasure! 1) It'll depend on your voice, but I definitely wouldn't go above 2dB. I'd also highly advise doing an additional listen on other speakers, not just in your headphones. Bass can sound "good" in headphones then decidedly not on other sources. 2) Good question. This depends on the voice AND mic in question when trying to brighten it up. The slow ramp up of gain is dictated by the type of EQ being applied. In the vid it's a high-shelf, and you can adjust the slope of it to be sharper/more gradual if you wish. Again, I'd simply use the A-B trial and error method to figure out where to start it. Listen to a RAW sample next to a Processed one, and if it sounds like the EQ is changing the way your voice sounds naturally, back it off a bit. Lastly, if you'd like to get an in-depth and personalized look at your audio and a walkthrough of this stuff, I offer "Tech Support" via the Coaching page on my website. That way I could listen to your audio and give precise notes on what might be 'good' options for you. No pressure obviously, just an option if you want more feedback. @@PierceJordan​

[@PierceJordan]

@@jaymyersvoiceover Awesome. Thank you again! That's good to know that you offer tech support. I will look into it. Would you be able to help me with specific tools within Final Cut Pro if I went that route?

[@jaymyersvoiceover]

@PierceJordan Sure! I use Final Cut Pro for all of these videos, and am familiar with its sound editing to a degree. 😊

[@banyanstudio]

Thank you, thank you thank you! EQ has been such a mystery to me with voiceover and this clarifies things extremely well. Excellent video.

[@jaymyersvoiceover]

Glad to hear it was helpful!

[@robert_starling]

NIce video and very insightful. If a client hired you to voice in a "movie trailer" style, why wouldn't you deliver with that already EQ'd or work with them on a billable basis to process and deliver it to them? Isn't that an income opportunity? I'm not a VO artist but I've hired hundreds of them in the last 45 years. (TALENT: please do not contact us directly) The agency we use for VO provides us exactly what we want fully processed and EQ'd. Then, all our editors have to do is do light EQ tweaks.

[@jaymyersvoiceover]

That’s definitely something you could do if you were confident in your ability to deliver that! What I’m discussing here is more so delivering “cleaned” audio, where the engineering is minimal and adjusting for known issues in one’s booth. In that respect, I think of it as an improved customer service than an added billable service. The mint on the pillow rather than open access to the minibar, if you will. :)

[@Tyongryong]

Hey Jay! Thank you so much for your videos. I have been learning a lot. I have watched your loudness video but I’m still stuck with a question. I do gaming content in the form of Tik toks and I just do voice overs over footage I record. I can’t seem to understand how exactly to adjust my volume? So I try to record around -18db and then usually I find that an output of around -6db is optimal in the final product. I use Logic Pro as my DAW My question is , when I process my voice over, the final product starts becoming quite distorted. I use an adaptive limiter in the end to raise the loudness of my voice over but that’s probably where it goes wrong? I set the limit to -6db and then raise the gain and there will be compression happening, but it sounds … bad. Should I be raising the gain before processing with compressors ? Or do I just raise the actual level of the channel after processing ??? Or should I normalize to a certain DB ? Just confused… trying to make great quality 😅

[@jaymyersvoiceover]

Glad you’ve been finding the videos helpful! For your question, I think you might be right and it sounds like you’re setting your limiter improperly. It’s somewhat challenging to advise you on how to remedy the issue here though, without knowing exactly which limiter you’re using since some function slightly differently. On my website if you’d like to send me a sample through my “Tech Support” coaching option, I can send you direct feedback, but for now, check how much your limiter is boosting your audio. If you limit at -6dB from -18dB, but the limiter is boosting by -25dB, you’ll end up with distorted audio.

[@aaryntip5989]

Hey! Me again. I'm looking at the TLM 102, and I love the sound of it, but I don't have an ideal soundproofed area to record in. Is there any way to soundproof on a budget? I have an empty closet I could convert, but it's not a walk-in, and I don't have a lot of spare cash.

[@jaymyersvoiceover]

I have a video on how to set up your first booth talking about just that! It'll be difficult to sound proof on a budget, but there is a difference between sound "proofing" and sound treatment--which I talk about in the video :)

[@thesilencer6736]

Hey Jay, what size is your booth height, width and length?

[@jaymyersvoiceover]

It’s a studiobricks one. Roughly 3x4x7

[@mavic6155]

Question, I see you use the Earthworks Ethos microphone, and yours does the same as mine: When looking at the waveform, it doesn't seem to be symmetrical because there is more energy in the upper half of the diagram than in the lower half. Why is that? Doesn't seem normal..

[@jaymyersvoiceover]

Good eye and great question. Here’s an article explaining that better than I’ll be able to, but it’s very normal and comes down to the sound’s frequency(s) as it’s being recorded. www.soundonsound.com/sound-advice/q-why-do-waveforms-sometimes-look-lop-sided?amp

[@mavic6155]

@@jaymyersvoiceover Thank you. Nothing wrong then 🙂👍

[@kbytex]

Video idea: Get a cheap mic, from Amazon, no more than 50eur, the USB ones.... Record a video out the booth (quite room, quite living room) and them, try to fix it with all the tricks you know! You going to get a lot of visits, because that is the conditions 80% of normal people have. Also, you will stress that those aren't the ideal conditions...

[@SmoothBassVO]

What does adding the LP filter do?

[@jaymyersvoiceover]

Great question! It does the exact inverse of what a HP filter does, in that it cuts out higher frequencies from your recordings. In VO it's often not necessary or even useful, but sometimes people/engineers will apply it if they want to reduce the amount of "sonic information" in their recordings.

[@SmoothBassVO]

@@jaymyersvoiceover Thanks. And, if I have a very deep, booming voice, would I benefit from a HP filter?

[@jaymyersvoiceover]

I think everyone will benefit in some degree from a HP filter, some folks like yourself might just set it lower than most others. If you'd like concrete feedback for your voice and setup you can send me audio via "Tech Support" on my website's coaching resources!@@SmoothBassVO

[@colinmorrison5119]

@@SmoothBassVO Note that it depends on your environment and mic too. If your have heavy traffic in the area, very low frequencies can get into your recording. Some mics have a natural High Pass Filter, tailing off below 80Hz. Others don't. This can influence not only what frequency you cut at, but the steepness of the slope. I've graduated to doing it by ear, using a plugin that uses arbitrary units!

[@SmoothBassVO]

@@colinmorrison5119 If the mic has it built in, I guess there is no risk to "replicating it" in the software, right?