So welcome back live to The VO Meter here at MAVO 2018. I am with Dan Friedman. How are you doing, Dan?
I’m great, how are you?
I am fantastic. So tell us what, or tell me, I’m the only host right now. Tell me what brings you to a conference like this.
What brings me to a conference like this? Well, the people being, basically, as I always say, there’s only two kinds of people that spend their lives in dark padded rooms talking to themselves, and we’re the kinds you want to be around. So for me, it’s really just to get out there with colleagues and friends and just enjoy myself.
And here, besides doing my own thing and representing my own company, Sound 4 VO, I’m here with Sennheiser Microphones, and they provided all the PA systems for the rooms. So I’m here setting those up and making sure everybody has what they need and just kind of making it happen.
And we thank you for being here, and thanks Sennheiser for being the equipment provider again.
They are awesome.
Indeed. I use the Sennheiser Microphones myself. Yes, absolutely.
So what have you experienced so far? Have you been in any sessions? Have you poked your head into any of the rooms?
I’ve poked my head in here and there. So a little bit of Tom Deere doing the business stuff, Celia Siegel who is just always amazing with her branding stuff. And of course the opening session this morning.
And it’s all been great. Just totally a good time as always.
So you might have seen during Hugh’s session he had people raise their hand if it was their first time at a conference. As an engineer, what would you say is most important for someone just starting out to get from a conference like this?
Reaching out to people. Don’t be afraid to talk to anybody here that is mentoring. You know, we’re here because we want to be a part of the community and to help everybody and just make it better for everybody.
And if people are reluctant to reach out to us and talk to us, then they aren’t going to experience the full effect of what we are here to help them do.
And that’s really succeeding their career and also to just help the industry in general.
It’s so crazy right now as an industry.
So this is just a really great opportunity to learn how to do it right. Okay, great. And as a vet, someone who’s been here maybe to the conference before or they’ve been to other conferences.
What’s a good way to approach a conference as a vetting? Well, again, it’s really connecting, I think, with the other people.
All of us have our strengths and our weaknesses. So I know for me, even though I’ve been in this business 20 years, I’m always ready to learn from somebody else. I never think that I know everything.
There’s always something that one of my colleagues and friends has to offer that maybe I just… maybe it’s a weakness for me, either the business side or something like that. So I’m always excited to talk to them and to also see how they’ve developed over time.
Because a lot of us that I’ve been going to conferences now for probably at least 10 years maybe, to see how they’ve grown too in their own businesses. So it’s exciting, I think, for all of us to really kind of come up together in a lot of ways.
That’s awesome. So as you may know or may not know, we’re unapologetic gear heads. Sean Daeley, my normal host, who wasn’t able to join us here today.
We actually have a segment called Questionable Gear Purchase because we’re always buying things we don’t need.
Yeah.
So tell me some of your favorite pieces of equipment right now from Home Studio.
Yeah, absolutely. So my favorite interfaces are the Steinberg interfaces. I think that they are just super high quality, the preamps are really good, and they’re not terribly expensive.
So if you’re looking for a real good entry level interface especially that’s really simple to use, then the Steinberg interfaces I think are fantastic. I mean, I would be completely remiss if I didn’t mention Universal Audio as well. I know for those of us who are more advanced doing production and things like that, I love my Universal Audio Apollo Twin, obviously Sennheiser, everything.
I think the Sennheiser MK4 mic in particular, if you’re looking for a really good lower cost microphone that is as good as just about anything else out there, the Sennheiser MK4 cannot be beat.
I think it’s one of the best microphones in its price range available today.
So that’s the kind of stuff that I’m definitely excited about.
Cool. Well, I use an Apollo Twin at home. And right now we’re using an AGO6, which has the same Steinberg preamps.
And it’s fantastic. That’s what you’re hearing us on right now. And I have used an MK4.
I’m curious, have you ever tried the digital MK4?
I have, actually.
What are your feelings on that? I did a shootout with a bunch of digital mics, or USB microphones, and the Sennheiser MK4 digital beat them all, as far as I’m concerned.
It’s the closest thing to an XLR quality microphone that’s out there. To me, I’m not a big general advocate of USB mics in general, because I think they limit your flexibility more than anything. And typically, at least in my experience, the ones that I’ve had experience with, they just tend to not sound as good as the XLR type mics that we’ve been using for decades.
But the MK4 Digital, it’s as close as they come, and it’s just a fantastic microphone, both the digital model and the XLR model.
That’s great. All right, so the conference is about halfway done now, maybe a little bit less. What are you looking forward to the rest of the day and tomorrow?
Well, I’ll be doing a class tonight, so I’ll be leading that, and that’s always really fun for me to direct talent and to have them read some scripts, and hopefully they’ll learn a few things along the way. So I’m really looking forward to that. Kari will be talking here in just a bit.
I don’t actually know her that well, so I’m actually excited to get to know her a little bit by listening to her talk, and yeah, just continuing on with what we’re doing. Everybody’s just so wonderful, and yeah, I just love being here. Awesome.
So, thanks for being here and talking to us live. Where can folks find you if they want to hire you either as an engineer or a talent?
Absolutely. sound4vo.com. Dan at sound4vo.com.
That’s sound, the number four, VO. And yeah, please reach out. I do demo production, I’m a coach, I’m obviously a voice actor as well, and you know, just whatever you need, I’m here for you, and if you want, you can get a book, too.
Alright, well thanks, Dan. Good to see you.
My pleasure. Thanks so much.