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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 and more practical way of doing the job. But what happens when performance, judgement, direction, taste and creativity matter? Robbo talks about putting a real commercial script through ElevenLabs and trying repeatedly to coax a usable performance from it. The result was nowhere near the performance that ultimately went to air. The guys also discuss an experiment where someone reportedly spent hours directing an AI voice to achieve something a good human performer could deliver in minutes. That leads to the bigger question. Are we actually replacing creative people, or are we mostly automating the work that required very little creative interpretation in the first place? The conversation moves through advertising, radio, post production and sound design, including the danger of companies judging AI purely by the immediate saving on a spreadsheet. Robbo raises the possibility that reductions in quality may take years to become obvious in audience behaviour, much like cost cutting in radio can take time to show up in ratings. There's also another side to AI that rarely gets discussed. Could voice actors eventually license their own synthetic voices? Could agents represent both the performer and an authorised AI version of that performer? And if they do, how do you protect the voice once it leaves your control? That brings the conversation to contracts, watermarking, voice cloning, the story of the original Siri voice, unauthorised voice use, and why performers need to understand exactly what they are signing before handing over the raw material required to recreate their voice. AI is clearly changing the business. The interesting question may not be whether humans disappear, but which jobs change, which jobs vanish, and which ones become even more dependent on human judgement, performance and taste. IN THIS EPISODE • Why some voice actors are already feeling the effects of AI • IVR and repetitive reads as obvious targets for synthetic voices • Why low cost advertising is adopting AI faster than major creative campaigns • Robbo's experiment directing an ElevenLabs voice • Why directing AI can sometimes take longer than directing a performer • Whether technological change actually destroys industries or reshapes them • AI generated sound design and the continuing importance of human taste • AI in radio traffic, weather and news • Whether audiences should be told when AI is being used • Short term savings versus long term damage to content quality • Licensing your own AI voice • Contracts, ownership and voice cloning • The story of Siri's original voice • What happens when a cloned voice escapes into the wild

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 hears. The discussion includes the Sennheiser MKH 416, MKH 8060, RØDE NTG5, Earthworks Ethos, electret capsules, true condensers and MEMS microphones. There is even a detour into the oldest captured human voice before everything eventually winds up on Electric Avenue.

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 horrible in the wrong booth, and what manufacturers such as RØDE and Sennheiser have done differently with newer designs. There is also a surprisingly revealing look at acoustic foam, low frequency room modes, the enormous wavelength of a 20 Hz signal, and how combining microphone capsules creates different polar patterns. Yes, it gets technical. No, the maths does not completely derail the show. Mostly. This is Part One of a two part episode. Thanks to Tri Booth and Austrian Audio for supporting The Pro Audio Suite. Recorded using Source Connect. Edited by Andrew Peters. Mixed by Robbo. Find out more at The Pro Audio Suite.

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 more sense when you need old sessions to open years later? Do you really need a dedicated loudness plugin? Is a channel strip the smartest way to cheat the five plugin limit? And are we spending money automating jobs that are actually faster to do manually? The guys also get into Serato Pitch 'n Time Pro, Pro Tools time compression, Cvox, Hush, Waves DeBreath, TwistedWave's click repair tools, LM Correct and the strange satisfaction of still doing certain jobs the long way around. Then the rules change for AP. Forget five plugins. He can only keep three microphones. That leads to the 416, the 818, the NTG5, microphone lockers, U87s and eventually one of those classic Pro Audio Suite detours involving Betamax, VHS, Aston Martins, Triumphs, Ferraris and a lifetime of choosing the technically interesting option instead of the one that becomes ridiculously valuable. So, if you could only keep five plugins, what survives? The Pro Audio Suite is proudly supported by Tri Booth and Austrian Audio.

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 the overall winner dead last. LIBSYN FULL DESCRIPTION It's time to Guess That Mic. AP started out making a sample of one microphone for someone. As tends to happen around here, that simple job turned into four microphones, multiple preamps, a pile of audio files and a blind listening test involving ten people. The idea was simple. Listen to four mystery microphones on AP's voice. Don't worry about the badge, the price or what you think you're supposed to like. Just rank them. The result? Almost nobody agreed. George liked 3, 4, 2, 1. Robert went 4, 3, 2, 1. Robbo went 2, 1, 4, 3. And the more people AP asked, the more interesting the results became. Once all ten votes were scored, the final result was: 1st, Mic 3, 27 points Equal 2nd, Mic 2, 25 points Equal 2nd, Mic 4, 25 points 4th, Mic 1, 23 points So what were they? THE BIG REVEAL Mic 1 Microtech Gefell M 92.1 S tube condenser with M7 capsule Recorded through a Grace m101 Mic 2 Microtech Gefell M 930 art Mic 3 Austrian Audio OC818 Mic 4 AKG C414 EB with nylon CK12 capsule Mics 2, 3 and 4 were recorded through a Neve 1073. No processing or high pass filtering was deliberately added to the comparison. And yes, the Austrian Audio OC818 won the overall vote. Robbo ranked it last. Which rather neatly sums up the entire episode. This was never intended to be a scientific microphone test. It was about something arguably more useful, what happens when people actually listen without knowing the name or price printed on the microphone. A mic one person describes as smooth and full, someone else hears as dark. One person hears useful presence, someone else hears too much top end. One listener's first choice becomes another listener's fourth. HOW EVERYONE VOTED George Whittam: 3, 4, 2, 1 Robert Marshall: 4, 3, 2, 1 Robbo: 2, 1, 4, 3 Chris Gates: 2, 3, 4, 1 Simon Murphy: 1, 2, 4, 3 AJ: 4, 3, 2, 1 Matt McKenzie Smith: 3, 4, 2, 1 Paul Baxter: 3, 1, 2, 4 Matty from Sonic Playground: 1, 2, 3, 4 Mike Aiton: 1, 4, 3, 2 MORE COMMENTS FROM THE SHOOTOUT Mike Aiton Mic 1: Sounds really good. Not over hyped anywhere with a good natural midrange. Mike guessed it might be a 416 and picked it as his favourite "by a country mile". Mic 2: Sibilant around 7.5 kHz, less lower mids and consequently less full sounding. Definitely not Mike's cup of tea. Mic 3: Subdued top end with a very full bottom end. Mike wondered whether it might be a ribbon. Mic 4: Mike thought this sounded like a TLM 103, noting the bass lift and saying he would probably reduce some of that for AP's voice. Matt McKenzie Smith Mic 1: Matt heard harmonic resonances around 470 Hz and 980 Hz, plus some additional energy around 2.5 kHz. Mic 2: "Sounds lovely", with a little more prominence around the 4 to 5 kHz area. Mic 3: Hotter in the low end and sounding great, although Matt noticed a prominent phase offset. Mic 4: Similar phase offset, along with great low end extension. Matt's final ranking was: 3, 4, 2, 1 And perhaps that is the real conclusion of the whole exercise. There isn't a microphone that everybody is going to prefer. The expensive one isn't automatically better. The one with the flattering frequency response on paper isn't automatically better. And a microphone that sounds gorgeous solo might not necessarily be the one you'd choose when that voice has to fight its way through a commercial mix. Pick the microphone that works for your voice and your job. What a bloody novel concept. Thanks to Tri Booth and Austrian Audio. Recorded using Source Connect. Edited by Andrew Peters. Mixed by Robbo. Tech wisdom from George the Tech Whittam. Got your own audio issues? Visit justaskrobbo.com Don't forget to subscribe to the show and join the conversation on our Facebook group. Leave a comment, suggest a topic or simply say g'day at theproaudiosuite.com.

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 noise? And does the microphone complement those characteristics, or simply exaggerate them? The crew gets into why a bright voice may benefit from a smoother or darker microphone, why a big baritone does not necessarily need even more bottom end, and why certain microphones can sound fantastic on one voice and downright horrible on another. Along the way they get into the Sennheiser 416, RØDE NTG3 and NTG5, Austrian Audio OC818 and CC8, Audio Technica AT4047SV, Neumann U47, U67, U87 and TLM 149, ribbon microphones, the Gefell M930, Grace M101 and even the dark art of matching microphones with preamps. They also look at how much you can fix with a little sympathetic EQ, why ribbons can sometimes be a brilliant solution for bright or aggressive voices, and why auditioning a few microphones on your own voice, in your own space, still beats buying something because somebody on the internet called it "the best". In this episode • Why there really isn't a "male mic" or "female mic" • Matching the microphone to the characteristics of the voice • Bright and sibilant voices versus darker microphones • Why deep voices don't necessarily need more bass • The 416 versus the RØDE NTG3 and NTG5 • Why the Austrian Audio OC818 makes a compelling desert island VO mic • The AT4047SV and transformer character • Why an expensive U87 can sound awful on the wrong voice • Using ribbon microphones for difficult or aggressive vocal tones • Condenser versus dynamic microphones for voice over • How microphone transient response can expose mouth noise • Matching microphones and preamps • Why auditioning microphones is still the smartest way to choose Sponsor and Production Credits Thanks to our sponsors Tri-Booth The portable VO booth that works. Save $200 with code TRIPAP200. Austrian Audio Making Passion Heard. Recorded using Source Connect. Edited by Andrew Peters. Mixed by Robbo. Tech support from George the Tech Whittam. Got your own audio problems? justaskrobbo.com Join the conversation, suggest a topic or just say g'day at: theproaudiosuite.com

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 put it all together so it actually works. That gets the guys talking about mic placement, portable acoustic treatment, desk stands versus boom arms, why positioning can matter more than buying a better microphone, and Robert's recent experience trying to record someone through a remarkably cheap USB mic. Then the conversation turns to a bigger issue for working voice actors. When did having a broadcast quality home studio become something clients simply expected talent to provide for free? Plus old AKG headphones, MRI headphones, sagging boom arms, remote studio costs, subtle compression and the engineers who can hear processing you thought nobody would ever notice. Featuring George Whittam, Robert Marshall, Andrew Peters and Robbo. Recorded using Source Connect. Edited by Andrew Peters. Mixed by Robbo. Got an audio problem of your own? Visit justaskrobbo.com Join the conversation at theproaudiosuite.com

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 end up permanently embedded in the recording. They also consider the complete opposite approach. Rather than blocking everything out, could lightweight open headphones give voice actors a more natural performance while still providing enough cue audio for punch and roll recording? Robbo shares how headphone bleed unexpectedly saved part of a previous Pro Audio Suite episode. A damaged recording contained a missing line from Robert, but a faint version had leaked into another host's headphones. After gaining it up, processing it and running it through Waves ReGen, Robbo was able to slip the repaired line back into the episode. The team also discusses reading to music, reading to picture, custom in ear monitors, cheap Koss headphones, modular AIAIAI headphones, and Robert's experimental plan to eliminate Source Connect echo with a ribbon microphone, a loudspeaker and some carefully aimed figure-eight rejection. IN THIS EPISODE Why voice actors consider in ear monitors When headphone bleed actually causes problems Why WALA sessions require serious isolation Radio interviews and remote recording echo Recording pickups when music has leaked into the original take Reading voiceover scripts with music underneath When music improves a performance Reading to picture and visual timing cues How headphone bleed helped rescue a damaged podcast episode Using Waves ReGen to reconstruct missing dialogue Robert's figure eight microphone experiment Why sealed in ears can make some performers feel uncomfortable The importance of direct monitoring with IEMs Open headphones for punch and roll recording Affordable Koss headphones for voice actors Custom moulded in ears Modular AIAIAI TMA headphones

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-school solution keeps winning the argument: the humble patchbay. The team discusses quarter-inch, Bantam and TT patchbays, normalled and half-normalled connections, passive mic splitting, phantom power, transformer isolation, corrosion, loose connectors and why adding another preamp stage may not be the sonic disaster people imagine. Along the way, George mourns the disappearance of simple line-level audio interfaces, Robert explains how passive splitters survive real concert recording jobs, and Robbo demonstrates his remarkable ability to make a straightforward signal path impressively complicated. In this episode: • Switching several microphones and preamps into one interface • Passive line-level switchers versus audio interfaces • Why a patchbay may be the simplest solution • Normalled, half-normalled and open patchbay configurations • Quarter-inch patchbays versus TT and Bantam systems • Passive microphone splitting and phantom power • Transformer isolation and troublesome ground loops • Keeping the signal path clean without overengineering it The Pro Audio Suite is hosted by George Whittam, Robert Marshall, Andrew Peters and Darren "Robbo" Robertson. Thanks to our sponsors: Tri-Booth Austrian Audio, Making Passion Heard Leave a comment, suggest a topic or simply say g'day at theproaudiosuite.com.

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, TLM 193, U89, Sennheiser MKH 416, Microtech Gefell models and the Austrian Audio OC818. The conversation covers: • Why animation studios sometimes record with both a U87 and a 416 • Whether microphone requirements are about sound or repeatability • The differences between older U87s and newer U87 Ai models • Why a great microphone can still sound ordinary in a poor room • The U87 compared with the Austrian Audio OC818 • Transformer and transformerless microphone designs • Whether the mic, preamp or converter makes the biggest difference • Why performance and room acoustics still come first • Processing, reverb and the engineer's role in the final sound Is the U87 still the ultimate voiceover microphone, or has its reputation become bigger than the microphone itself? Thanks to our sponsors: Austrian Audio Making Passion Heard. Find out more about the team and the show at theproaudiosuite.com.

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 magic button, but as a serious get out of jail option when the recording is so far gone that traditional noise reduction is not really the answer anymore. From there, things take a sharp left into AI watermarking, audio disclosure, stealth metadata, digital rights management, and whether AI voices on radio should be clearly labelled. Is the problem AI itself, or is it the lack of honesty around how it is being used? There is also a brief but important discussion about using AI cleanup for auditions, why bad audio can affect casting decisions before anyone even realises it, and whether Robbo should launch his own service called RoboGen. In this episode: • Source Elements ReGen in real post-production jobs • Fixing badly recorded corporate audio • Why ReGen is different from normal noise reduction • AI audio cleanup for voiceover auditions • Watermarking AI images and audio • Disclosure around AI voices on radio • Why honesty may matter more than the tool itself • The birth of RoboGen, unfortunately Thanks to our sponsors Austrian Audio, making passion heard. Got your own audio issues? Just Ask Robbo.

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 interfaces. There is also a little live testing with Twisted Wave, a quick look at Source Elements Recorder on mobile, some PASport VO phone patch chat, and the usual collection of detours involving Jack FM, trap doors, yacht rock, and turntables that apparently survive being moved while playing. If you are a voice actor, producer, podcaster, or home studio owner trying to choose an audio interface without accidentally buying a puzzle box, this one is worth a watch. Thanks to our sponsors, Austrian Audio. Recorded using Source-Connect, edited by Andrew Peters, and mixed by Voodoo Sound.

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 destroying your mix because your room has a 120Hz attitude problem. There's also a proper old school tangent involving INXS, cassettes, car checks, Chernobyl, 1980s hi fi EQs, and the horror of someone flattening your carefully rung out live sound graphics. If you've ever mixed in a strange room, questioned your headphones, or wondered whether your monitors are telling the truth, this one's for you. Thanks to our sponsors, Austrian Audio.

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 asked the thing every beginner wants to know: how do I know if what I'm recording is actually good enough? In this episode, Robbo, Robert, George and eventually AP unpack the answer. They talk about why reflections are often a bigger problem than background noise, why "boxy" booth sound is so hard to fix, and why a great recording is usually more about the room than the microphone. The crew also gets into mic technique, the danger of editing yourself into oblivion, clothing noise, hair rustle, inconsistent recording levels, portable booths, the value of reference recordings, and why sometimes "consistent but flawed" is much easier to work with than audio that keeps changing from take to take. There's also a detour into rare microphones, a surprise AP entrance, and Robbo discovering that the PASport VO may have just made phone patching easier than expected. Thanks to our sponsors, Austrian Audio, making passion heard.

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, including old Macs that refuse to die, running Linux or Windows on ageing Apple hardware, right to repair, weird manufacturer lockouts, obsolete cables, Shure MV88 bargain hunting, Pro Tools archiving disasters, and why keeping your sessions self contained still matters. There is also a very important chainsaw story. Obviously. Thanks to our sponsors, Austrian Audio, making passion heard for supporting the show. 00:00 Intro and sponsor mention 00:33 Talking Macs before the show 01:20 The M4 Mac Mini and Apple's surprising value 02:29 Apple Silicon price to performance 03:38 Why older M1 machines still hold up 04:02 Using a Mac Mini as a road computer 05:22 Is the Mac Mini overkill for VO work? 06:38 MacBook Air, external monitors, and display quirks 09:04 Apple cables, chips, and control 10:04 The end of Lightning and the move to USB C 12:09 Audio interfaces on iPhone and iPad 12:30 Shure MV88 bargains for older iPhones 14:43 Right to repair 16:11 Robbo's old chainsaw story 18:21 Repair restrictions and replacement culture 19:29 Mac longevity 20:18 Running Windows on an old iMac 22:03 Linux on old Apple hardware 25:29 Old drives, CDs, DVDs, and lost archives 26:12 Mezzo and old Pro Tools backups 27:13 Missing Pro Tools audio files 28:33 Pro Tools archiving tip, sort by file path 29:54 Wrap up and credits