Being Close To the Mic but Still Not Sounding “Close Enough”

A listener of The Podcast Engineering Show, Gary (host of the Audio Tidbits podcast), commented on the sound of my voice in episode 208 in which I demonstrated my voice on two microphones which I normally don’t use.

Gary: “It didn’t sound to me like you were too far away from the microphone, but I kept wanting you to pull your chair up a little closer. I guess the only words I have for it is “a little thin.” I kept wanting one of us to scoot a little closer. I had the same feeling both on my Bose computer speakers and on my iPhone. Thanks for your great podcast. I keep learning.”

My response: “Very good observations! I agree, those two microphones sound thin on my voice. Regarding sounding not-as-up-front-as-usual, this is because I didn’t use any compression in post-production on my voice in that episode (because I wanted the sound of the mics to come through un-processed). In general, compression makes audio sound closer, more in-your-face and more intelligible over background noise or music, etc., and it’s invaluable when producing professional audio. Good ear, Gary!“

Did you feel the same as Gary?

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