Episodes

AI is killing voiceover. Or is it? An email to George kicks off a much bigger conversation this week about what artificial intelligence is actually doing to voiceover and audio production right now, rather than what everyone thinks it might do sometime in the future. There’s no question some areas have already been hit. IVR, phone prompts, repetitive information reads and other work where consistency matters more than performance are obvious targets. In some cases, AI may simply be a faster a...

After finishing Part One with bikes, the team takes a fairly sharp turn into microphone physics. What makes a microphone directional? How does an interference tube reject sound? Why can the Sennheiser MKH 416 sound fantastic in one booth and thoroughly ordinary in another? Prompted by tours of the Neumann factory, George, Robert, and AP explore shotgun microphones, cardioid patterns, off axis coloration, acoustic treatment and the physics that manufacturers use to control what a microphone hea...

What actually makes a microphone directional? In Part One of this seriously nerdy microphone discussion, the team dives into interference tubes, polar patterns, room reflections and the physics behind shotgun microphones. Prompted by a tour of Neumann’s anechoic chamber, George, Robert, AP and Robbo examine whether microphones labelled hypercardioid are always what they claim to be. They explore how the Sennheiser MKH 416 achieves its familiar focused sound, why that same microphone can sound ...

If somebody deleted your entire plugin folder and told you that you could only put five back, what would you choose? That’s the challenge this week on The Pro Audio Suite. Robbo, George and AP start stripping their setups back to the tools they genuinely rely on, from stock Pro Tools and Apple plugins through to Waves F6, H Reverb, SSL X Limit, TDR Nova, iZotope RX Mouth De Click and plenty more. But the conversation quickly gets bigger than simply naming favourites. Do stock plugins make mo...

AP records the same voice through four very different microphones and sends the files around without revealing what they are. George, Robert, Robbo and a bunch of trusted audio ears rank them purely on what they hear. Then the mics are revealed. The result is a pretty good reminder that price, reputation and specifications only tell you so much. What matters is how a microphone actually sounds on the voice and for the job you need it to do. And just to make the point beautifully, Robbo put th...

Is there actually such a thing as the best voice-over microphone for women? It sounds like a simple question, but once the Pro Audio Suite starts pulling it apart, things get much more interesting. This week, George, Robert, and AP look at why choosing a microphone based on whether the talent is male or female probably misses the point entirely. What matters far more is what the voice is actually doing. Is it bright or dark? Sibilant? Mid forward? Deep and chesty? Does it have a lot of mouth ...

How do you build a voiceover audition setup when the room is tiny, space is precious, and you really don't want to pull the whole thing apart every time you're finished? AP's daughter has moved into a share house in Melbourne and needs something permanent enough to give her consistent audition audio without taking over the room. The gear is already pretty capable: a RØDE NTG3, CEntrance MicPort Pro, Porta Booth, TwistedWave, Source Connect and a trusty old pair of AKGs. The question is how to ...

Do voice actors really need in ear monitors? They offer excellent isolation and can sound fantastic, but they can also feel uncomfortable, create an unnatural sense of pressure, and make it harder to hear your own voice unless your direct monitoring is set up properly. In this episode, George, Robert, Robbo and AP look at when headphone isolation genuinely matters, including WALA sessions, radio interviews, music driven reads, remote recording, pickups and situations where headphone bleed can ...

What is the cleanest way to connect several microphones, preamps and audio interfaces without constantly crawling behind the rack? AP starts with what sounds like a simple question about expanding the line-level inputs on his Audient iD44. That sends the team down a glorious rabbit hole involving passive switchers, mic splitters, USB converters, matrix routers, the Heritage Audio Synth Buddy, ESI interfaces, Broadcast Tools, Source-Nexus and the Passport VO. Eventually, one decidedly old-schoo...

The Neumann U87 may be one of the most recognisable microphones in the world, but does that make it the right microphone for voiceover and animation? This week, the team digs into the reputation, sound and real world value of the U87. Andrew is considering one for Somerset’s animation work, which sparks a much bigger discussion about why certain microphones become industry standards and whether producers genuinely require them. We compare the U87 with alternatives including the Neumann TLM 103...

This week on The Pro Audio Suite, the crew dives into the weirdly perfect world of AI fixing AI. Robert shares a corporate video job about AI adoption that was, rather beautifully, rescued by AI audio cleanup. Robbo jumps in with his own tale of a big corporate shoot where the lapel mics were fitted, but somehow the camera mic was what got recorded. Enter Source Elements ReGen. The team talks through where tools like ReGen sit in the real world of audio post. Not as a first choice, not as a ma...

This week on The Pro Audio Suite, George brings out a little show and tell with the SSL One, SSL’s compact single mic preamp interface aimed squarely at the same world as the Scarlett Solo and other simple home studio boxes. The team gets into what actually matters for voice actors and home studio users, including physical gain knobs, direct monitoring, high pass filters, 4K mode, USB-C connections, headphone control, auto gain, clip protection, and why simple interfaces are sometimes the best ...

This week on The Pro Audio Suite, the crew dives into one of the biggest traps in audio production: trusting what you think you’re hearing. Robbo talks about working in an unfamiliar studio and being reminded how much your room, routing, monitoring chain, headphones, templates and habits shape the way you work. The conversation moves into headphone mixing, crossfeed, SPL monitoring, virtual control rooms, Sonarworks, Waves room emulation, EQ Mac, old school graphic EQs, and the fine art of not ...

The team breaks down what “acceptable audio” really means for voice actors recording from home, from reflections and noise to mic placement, editing, clothing rustle and using reference recordings. What actually counts as acceptable audio when you’re recording voiceover from home? That question came up after Robbo spoke with a group of aspiring voice actors in Perth. The advice was simple enough, don’t overprocess, don’t gate everything, and send clean raw audio when asked. But one student ask...

Apple has not always been known as the bargain option, but the latest Apple Silicon Macs might be changing that conversation. In this episode, the team gets into the surprising value of the M4 Mac Mini, why even a base model can be serious overkill for many voice actors, and how smaller machines like the MacBook Air and MacBook “Neo” style systems compare for remote sessions, Source Connect, Pro Tools, and travel rigs. The conversation also wanders into classic Pro Audio Suite territory, inclu...

This week on The Pro Audio Suite, things go gloriously off the rails. AP has been rebuilding his studio, and is talking reclaimed timber and custom desks, George is showing off weird vintage Apple gear, and somewhere in the middle, the boys fall down a rabbit hole involving Korg M1s, old ISDN boxes, retro synths, ancient Macs, and why audio people can never throw anything away. There’s also a surprisingly deep discussion about why the physical studio environment matters creatively, why a tidy ...

What happens when audio is so bad… even the best plugins can’t save it? In this episode of The Pro Audio Suite, we’re joined by Michael “Gomez” Pearce-Adams from Waves Audio to talk about Voice Regeneration, a new AI-driven tool designed to rebuild poor-quality dialogue into something actually usable. And this isn’t just noise reduction or EQ… it’s a complete rethink of how broken audio gets fixed. We dig into: Why this will never be a plugin How AI is actually “rebuilding” voice recordings...

TwistedWave has dropped updates that feel like they were built for anyone smashing through a pile of auditions or VO edits every day. George walks through what’s new in 32.3 and 32.4, including the ability to apply a Batch directly to your currently open file and map that Batch to a single keystroke. That means you can normalise to a target level, then apply a processing stack, all in one hit, without the old multi step workflow. Then there’s the new Repair tool, a quick “auto heal” style fix ...

Loopback is one of the most common and misunderstood problems in home studios. In this episode of The Pro Audio Suite, the team breaks down how the new Nexus Suite, specifically Nexus Review, makes it dramatically easier to capture system audio, create proper mix-minus setups, and send playback to clients without complicated routing. If you have ever wrestled with UA Console routing, virtual drivers, Chrome output quirks, or Mac system audio conflicts, this one is for you. We cover: • Why tr...

In this episode of The Pro Audio Suite, the team dives into some major shifts in the audio industry. Audio Tonics has acquired DPA, Austrian Audio, SSL, Harrison and more. What does this wave of consolidation mean for boutique brands and the future of innovation? Then we unpack the developing Native Instruments insolvency proceedings. With Kontakt, iZotope, Plugin Alliance and Brainworx under that umbrella, what could this mean for producers, composers and post professionals? And does this rei...

In this episode of The Pro Audio Suite, the team digs into a large-scale remote recording with Robert Marshall, capturing a full orchestra and 100-plus voice choir performing Handel’s Messiah inside a church. Robert breaks down his microphone choices, including Neumann KM184s, Austrian Audio CC8s, Schoeps mains, and why ORTF still delivers a convincing stereo image in complex acoustic spaces. We also talk about spot mic placement for piano and soloists, blending ambience naturally without artif...

A fascinating piece of gear quietly surfaced ahead of NAMM, and it sent us down a deep rabbit hole. In this episode of The Pro Audio Suite, the crew digs into the Carno Sepia system, a digitally controlled, fully analog modular hardware platform that feels like a modern reimagining of the 500 series concept, minus the knobs. We unpack how it works, who it’s really for, and whether this kind of hybrid approach is genuine innovation or just another expensive way to chase “analog purity.” Along t...