I believe Jeff Laurence can comment on the Aphex.
The VO for my station, George Robinson, uses the Focusrite ISA-220 Pro Pak ($1500 retail) paired with a TLM103. It rocks! Of course...so does George's voice,
www.georgerobinsonvoices.com
I know that Mike Bratton uses the ISA-220 as well, and swears by it. Mike, can you elaborate?
Another buddy of mine has purchased the ISA and loves it with his 416 shotgun. I too will be getting one in the next few months. Can be had on eBay for less than the retail.
I presently use a Symetrix 528 (old model, not the 528E) at home and it works great. I have the EQ turned off and tweak in Adobe. Great box! MUCH better than the 528E.
The other recommended pre/pre-amp is the Avalon M5 and/or 737. The M5 is pretty basic, and is just a pre-amp. No compressor. The 737 has more bells and whistles.
The 416/Avalon 737 is a good combo. Trailer/Promo VO Ben Patrick Johnson (FOX) uses this chain. Great sound!
Neither has a gate. So if you have a noisy room, best to side chain a Symetrix or another box with a decent gate. Plug ins dont always do the trick.
If your on a budget... try the dBX 286A ($200) or the SM Pro Audio Tube Micophone Pre-Amplifier ($150).
