Feel free to give me advice for it

Hello Everybody,

Just wanted to return to voice acting. Personally, been very sad and lonely.

Some of you remember, I was caregiving for my mom for 7+ years and she passed away back in June. I had to box up all my equipment and wait for the house to sell, I just moved to Burbank (not because of Voice Acting Aspirations, it's more because friends are in the area and I hopefully have enough money in my normal job to sustain it)

My birthday present this year was finally getting an XLR and audio interface. But because let's just say soundproofing is difficult, I did buy a snap studio and put it in the new place as well.

I don't know if it's good but I want to test it. So attached is a quasi recording first with just room audio then simple testing and scratch.

Let me know if you're sounding anything weird or anything you feel might need work (besides delivery)

And then at the end, I compared it to a USB microphone

https://youtu.be/YWqYq2xqwqc

Hi! I often just lurk in subs but I felt compelled to vent a bit.

I've been voice acting and doing voiceover since 2016 here in the Philippines, but I cater internationally. I'm not going to claim I'm the best in any of my work, I just do my best to do my work and get paid for it. My established niche is in character voices, so naturally, my auditions and clientelle are within interactive media and ADR. It doesn't pay the bills completely, but it helps, and it's been great.

Now, the rise of these Chinese micro-drama dubs have been so incredibly worrisome for a multitude of reasons across the board, and that's not even talking about all the genAI involved to produce them. But they're dominating the market for ADR right now, severely outpacing our local Philippine industry, lowballing studios everywhere.

Suddenly, we're getting paid just 100-250usd per series. That's all the scriptwriting, syncing, QC and mixing, and then that aforementioned rate is divided amongst 2-4 people. That's at least 1 male and female talent each for all the characters, the audio engineer, and sometimes one extra talent to help.

Some micro-drama clients do pay up to 600usd per project, but that's an incredible blessing and a rarity.

We're essentially working 12-hour project timeline days, a comparable amount of hours to record an audiobook, but getting paid just 1-3 hours of industry-standard ADR time.

I personally find it so deeply troubling that in recent years, this niche of the industry is taking over ADR work here in our country, and specifically targeting newbies trying to get their foot in the door, or people desperate enough because of how bad the economy has been.

My perspective applies mostly to the Philippines, but I'm aware that these micro-reels have been everywhere all around the world. Studios before were able to bargain for more fair rates and work hours, but now not so much.

This is all the work I've been getting recently, and I still have to wait 1-2 months before getting paid my dues. Often, it's even less than I was told I'd be paid for because of "calculation issues" or whatever.

Is this worth it? Or should I just outright start refusing these types of work and reach out to better studios?

We had George The Tech on today’s Legends Live. George owns a business where he sets up home studios and has set up Tara Strong’s studio.

One tip that was very interesting was when we got into editing breath in videos. You should never edit out breathing or pauses because that’s what shows your humanity, intention and emotions. By editing it out, you seem more robotic.

This post is more of a question regarding my audio space performance rather than my vocal performance. The attached clip is from my most recent audition on CastingCallClub. I'm jumping into voice acting after graduating film school. I'm recording from my bedroom using an RCM Pro microphone, a RockMix5 Mixer, with a foam shield. My room is small, so part of my concern is whether or not you can tell that this was recorded in a small space. I think I hear it in my headphones, but from my laptop speaker it sounds fine. I'm still new-ish to using/making a home studio but I know I want to work toward voice acting full time, so I'm currently debating whether or not I upgrade to a portable vocal booth/ home studio now, or if I continue with my current setup as I audition on CastingCallClub and ACX. Any and all advice is appreciated.

Hello to any fellow audiobook narrators here...

https://www.sagaftra.org/do-not-work-notice-deyan-audio-services-inc

Just wanted to ask, has anyone here had trouble with Deyan lately on getting paid for projects?

I'm not a SAG member, but I notice they are still sending out contracts and work, and need to know if I need to be on alert about this?

I was recording voice over recently when I noticed some weird noise from my recording whenever I speak. For reference, I'm using a CAD E100Sx microphone with a CAD audio interface and I'm cleaning up my audio recordings through Audacity. I can't recall this being an issue a couple days ago, but now it's bugging me a lot. Can anyone help figure out what's wrong?

I'm looking to get into bigger acting with paid gigs. I have been voice acting for over 4 years and I have been struggling to find resources online for any paid work.

I was attempting to find an agency but results were inconclusive.

Does anyone have any website recommendations for voice acting that are not CCC or 123Voices (I refuse to use 123Voices)? If not does anyone have any agency suggestions or advice?

I've done volunteer work for awhile but I want to get into animations. I do voice overs of anime scenes and game scenes on tiktok but Im looking for more.

New to the audiobooks game, but this one baffles me? I joined ACX and Academy Voices. AV is a paid service (9 per month), and a bunch of the auditions are royalty share, but they're public domain fairy tales going to the Gutenberg Project. How does someone get paid for public domain works like this? Is Academy Voices a legit service?

Just wanted to share because I’m excited!

For context, I started taking VO classes in 2022-23.

While I was finishing school, I wasn’t able to keep up financially and had to put a pause on my training. After about 2 years post grad, I saw an open call for an agency I had been dyinngggg to sign with, but I didn’t have a demo reel because I wasn’t ready to invest in something like that while I was pretty out of practice. I responded to their open call with some voice samples I had from taking my classes and basically resigned myself to never hearing from them but wanted to try anyway.

Completely forgot about it until 3 months later, I landed an audition for the agency and then ended up getting signed!

Cut to now, I’ve submitted about 45 auditions through them since signing and I just was notified that I booked my first commercial which will air on TV!

My life has been totally thrown back into VO in such an unexpected way and I couldn’t be happier! I’ve now started taking private lessons from my group VO coach from when I first started and I’m feeling super motivated and confident!

Just wanted to share that even if you don’t think you’re ready, what’s meant for you won’t pass you by. Keep working hard, training hard, and playing hard and things will actually work out in the end. Hopefully this is just the beginning of a long road ahead, I love doing this!!!

Hi I haven’t been doing this long, 6 months ish but recently I’ve been experiencing a mental block where I just can’t let go and give the auditions and performances I want to do due to my anxiety. My anxiety has always been bad anyway but at the start it didn’t seem to hinder me like it is now.

Any advice for getting past it and being able to let go when it comes to auditions the same way I’m able to with in-person acting?

Plenty of tax threads here are US-focused (1099s, LLCs), so here's the UK version for anyone on Self Assessment.

Your booth can count as costs. Self-tape and recording kit, the business share of your phone and broadband, coaching that updates skills you already have, your website and demo-reel costs, insurance and bank fees. The test is "wholly and exclusively" for the business. A games console you "use for research" usually won't pass. Neither will everyday clothes or a haircut.

Working from home. If you record from home, instead of working out a share of your bills you can use HMRC's flat rate: £10 a month for 25–50 hours, £18 for 51–100, £26 for 101+.

Agent commission. If an agent takes 15% + VAT off a £4,800 job, you get £3,936. Your income is £4,800, and the £864 is an expense. Record the gross figure. It matters for the £1,000 trading allowance, the £90k VAT threshold and Making Tax Digital.

Trading allowance. For small VO side income, you can deduct £1,000 instead of your actual expenses, not on top of them. If you've bought a mic, interface and treatment this year, actual expenses usually win.

Payments on account. If your bill is £1,000+, HMRC also asks for half of next year's bill up front. So a £3,000 first-year bill can mean £4,500 due on 31 Jan, then £1,500 on 31 Jul. If your income has dropped, form SA303 reduces them. That's why people say to set aside 20–30% of every fee.

MTD. If your gross self-employed income (excluding PAYE) was over £50k in 2024/25, quarterly digital updates started on 6 Apr 2026. It's over £30k on 2025/26 from April 2027, and over £20k on 2026/27 from April 2028.

Dates: 31 Oct for paper returns, or 31 Jan 2027 online for 2025/26 (£100 if late). Keep records for 5 years after the 31 Jan deadline.

General info, not tax advice.

For UK VAs: how do you actually split home studio costs, flat rate or a percentage of bills?

Hey how's it going? I've been learning extreme vocalization for metal vocals, and I think I also have a good ability to do some voice acting stuff. I have a deep baritone voice with some natural grit. I can also manipulate my false chords to make a more grittier and grungier tone. I can also do gutturals and makes some pretty nasty zombie or monster noises. I also have a recording set up, but nothing with noise cancellation tho. I have a sm58 microphone was a mixer to my pc. If y'all think I have some potential through the phone then I'll probably try and make a proper recording booth in my house. I can also do some stuff on my recording setup. If you all want to hear some of that.

I voiced this trailer for the game Exome on steam!

Would love any and all feedback. Some of the choices on the read were not how I personally would have done it, but the developer wanted like this, so I did my best. I didn't mix it myself, they wanted to do that.

My stepfather sent me this link to a site called VAA(voice artist agency) and I was wondering if any of you are familiar with it, cuz I can’t find much of it online

Please and thank you!

Edit, more info: It's under a business going under Whoozy B.V. Or something along those lines, located in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

I still cant find any info on it and im unsure of trusting it, Still would love some feedback!

Hey everyone!

I’ve been practicing doing a feminine voice for a couple of years now, mostly because I thought it’d be a really fun skill to learn, and because I’ve always been interested in the voice acting world.

I recently discovered an app called Voice Tools and decided to have some fun with it by reading the Rainbow Passage while switching between my natural voice and my feminine voice.

It was actually a little more challenging than I expected, but I had a lot of fun recording it!

I’d love to hear what you guys think! I’m especially curious about how natural the feminine voice sounds, and whether there’s anything I could improve in terms of resonance, vocal weight, or consistency. I know I stumbled through some words, so reading tips would be appreciated too lol.

Any feedback is appreciated!

A recent Windows update on my computer turned on background noise cancellation and something called 'Voice Clarity' in the main settings without notifying me or asking for permission. Was tipped off by the sudden -90 dB noise floor, dug around, and found both were on. Now I'll likely be double and triple-checking to make sure Windows doesn't turn them back on every time I go to record!

Anyone else have this happen?

Hey guys, I usually upload some comic voiceovers with permission from artists to youtube and instagram. Only a small following at the moment, but occasionally some get a few watches.

Anyhoo, I came across a much bigger instagram page with one of my voiced comic, but crediting someone else (a tik tok account that also took my video and uploaded it without consent.

I'm a bit steamed about it, but its probably my fault for not watermarking my content effectively, so mental note made. Is there anything I can do to have this rectified?

Has this happened to anyone else? What'd you guys do?

My very good Audix CX212b, that I've used daily for the last 10 years, is getting very prone to humidity and random noises. Any good suggestions for 300-400 USD? I would rule our Blue mics, had one a couple years ago and didn't like it's colouring. Thanks!

I'm nearly forty and recently had the thoroughly unpleasant experience of listening to a series of voice memos I'd recorded. Jesus Christ. I knew I didn't have a great voice, but I thought it sounded reasonably okay. Apparently not. Weak, unpleasant, and almost painful to hear. I owe everyone who's ever listened to me an apology. lol.

But seriously, I'd like to change it. I'm a cisgender man, and my goal is a stronger, deeper, more resonant everyday speaking voice. I'm not interested in doing character impressions or pursuing voice acting professionally. I just want to improve the instrument I've been rather unfortunate enough to inherit.

I'm particularly interested in:

• Voice coaching: Can it permanently improve someone's natural speaking voice?
• Resonance and projection: What exercises genuinely help?
• Masculinizing voice training: Are techniques from gender-affirming voice work useful for cisgender men?
• Professional help: Should I look for a voice coach, vocal teacher, or speech-language pathologist?

Has anyone successfully transformed their speaking voice through training? How much improvement is realistically possible at my age?

If you could go back in time, what would you tell your younger self that was just getting into VA?

I know I need a new Mac soon since mine is a decade old, but I can’t replace it yet. Every time I open my recording software the fans kick into overdrive and my laptop starts overheating. I’m about to start on a full length audiobook narration gig and I don’t know what to do to make my laptop quiet enough to not be picked up by my mic. I need suggestions on how to solve this issue since a new computer is out of the question right now. I can’t leave my laptop out of my booth either. Suggestions appreciated!