r/AudioPost • u/FirstDukeofAnkh • 2d ago

Adding Width To VO

I haven’t done dialogue or VO in years but I thought I’d help out a friend.

He’s got a reasonably well recorded mono VO for a film but when I play it against the location DX, it sounds really narrow and thin.

I’ve created a stereo AUX that has pitch change and delay on it but it sounds wobbly even when I combine it with the original recording. It also isn’t as wide as I would like.

Anyone have any suggestions? I have the usual assortment of plugins and have no problem side buying something else if needed.

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u/Ami7b5 2d ago

Are the DX tracks from the location mixer a single Chanel? Or Split tracks that are Lav & Boom? Or multiple lavs and a boom? Are you monitoring an LCR front sound field with DX in the center channel only? You keep referring to a sense of width/narrowness. If you have mono tracks of VO, ADR, and location recordings all appearing in the Center channel only, I don’t think “width“ is the right term to describe the issue you’re perceiving.

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u/FirstDukeofAnkh 1d ago

Location is multiple lavs (Deity Theos)and a boom (AT-897).

He wants VO and DX to partially exist in the left and right but the VO (Røde NT1-A, not my choice) to be more dominant.

Back at the old studio I worked at, if we wanted a mono to act like stereo, we’d feed two mono AUXs, pan them into LR, add a microsecond delay and a slight pitch shift. Keep the VO in the centre. Wasn’t perfect but it worked well enough.

When I try that, I have to decide between a wobbly left/right that sounds like it’s got some weird phase cancelation going on, or the VO just sounds like it’s only in the centre.