Who do you think does a better Shepard?
 
Honestly I'm going with Mark Meer. His acting is more subdued, though I think that suits the character better. Switching between Paragon and Renegade choices sounds more natural with his voice.
 
Mark Meer all the way.

I'd say Hale is slightly better, though I may be biased having enjoyed some of her previous work.

Jennifer Hale.

^ That too. I'm super used to his voice from the first game.

In no way am I sexist or trying to give a sexist motive here but I really just cannot take Fem Shep seriously in the parts where there's a funny renegade interruption, and paragon speeches just seem like some kind of lecture as opposed to a threatening message that Male Shep gives.
 
It's like the looters part on Omega..  I know it's not an interruption but it's still a renegade root comment.
Looter 1: "What are you gonna do? Shoot me?"
Shepard: "If I have to...do I have to?"
 
It just does sound better with Male Shep.

While a renegade female shepard is cute, Renegade was meant for the male shepard hands down.  

While i generally love Jenny Hale in whatever role she is doing, I kind of hate the voice she uses for FemShep. Meer certainly has some problems with his performance but I still prefer him as Shepard

"I like playing as male Shepard, but Jennifer Hale does a better job much of the time.  I wish someone was in the studio with Mark during recording for the intense action scenes to say "More emotion, Mark!  More emotion!" "

Gonna go with Jennifer Hale, I'm playing a female Shepard and she is a way better voice actor then Mark Meer 
 
She's one of the reasons I'm playing as a female Shepard in the first place 
 
Mark just doesn't have alot of emotion in his voice

Yeah, Female Shepard sounds kind of like a man, or one of those super strong willed, yet annoying as hell women. 
 
Male Shepard works better

Jennifer Hale is an automatic choice for me, as I always play female characters in RPG's, plus she was great as Bastila in KoTOR.

Easiest question ever...Jennifer Hale. 

Mark Meer is a better Paragon Shepard. 
Jennifer Hale is a better Renegade Shepard.

Meer reads every single line the same way. He drones. I don't like him all that much, but he's still better than what we get in most games these days. Jenn Hale, on the other hand, does a much better job. She actually tries to *say* the lines, rather than just read them. Meer's renegade didn't bother me as much, but his paragon ... horrible. Absolutely horrible. Hale comes off much better both ways, in my mind.

Hale!

"

Mark Meer is a better Paragon Shepard. 
Jennifer Hale is a better Renegade Shepard.

"

Male Shepard just sounded awful. Just awful.

"

Mark Meer is a better Paragon Shepard. 
Jennifer Hale is a better Renegade Shepard.

"

Mark Meer for Renegade Shepard.  His dry delivery just makes it sound more condescending.
 

Hale by a long shot. I can't imagine Shep sounding any other way.

" Easiest question ever...Jennifer Hale.  "

Meer all the way.

I would probably prefer Hale if it wasn't for the huskiness.  I just can't imagine someone talking like that all the time in real life.  It's almost like Hale is doing the voice of a person doing a voice.  Still, I think her deliveries tend to fit the context of the various situations during the game better than Meer, who at times sounds like he's simply reading a line with no direction.  Overall, I don't really feel one is that much better than the other, so I prefer Meer just because I mostly play as a male Shepard.

"

Mark Meer is a better Paragon Shepard. 
Jennifer Hale is a better Renegade Shepard.

"

Jennifer Hale, by far. Not to say Mark Meer's VO isn't good, it's just I find Hale's VO to be far superior. 

Jennifer Hale for the win, most def. While she can improve at some points, she still makes come-ups sound like come-ups, threats sound like threats, jokes like jokes and she acts her lines instead of reciting them. Besides, she is a very good actress overall, she manages to pull a lot of totally different voices and remain barely recognizable (although the fact that she played Bastila Shan, goddammit, is a fucking turd in her portfolio).

Mark Meer is so fucking stiff in that role that he makes the Renegade choices unintentionally hilarious, apart from the "indigenous assertions" bit where his stiffness actually works better than Hale's actual acting. Though his voice fits very well to the default Vanderloo-Shep physique.

I think female Shepard has much better inflection when she needs it.  She's actually, you know, doing voice acting.  Mark Meer makes it so obvious that he's reading his lines in a room by himself with little context as to why he's asking the questions he's asking or saying the lines he's saying. 

" Easiest question ever...Jennifer Hale.  "

Default male Shepard looks/sounds waaay too "male-model" for my taste. You just know you´ve got a problem when the female version of your character sounds (and looks depending on your editor skills) much more badass. So, yeah I think his voice may be suitable for Paragon, but since so many parts of the second game are notably darker, I think a rougher interpretation of the character is better.

 Definitely Hale, Meer's delivery is sometimes very forced and emotionless. Although, I'd say Meer is better in some badass renegade moments. But he's not very good at acting drunk.

I'd be interested to see how much people's opinions are shaped by which gender they usually play as. BTW, I played through both games as a femshep.

Definitely Mark Meer. I can't stand Jennifer Hale's voice. Also: 
 
  

The male Shepard is totally wooden.
Actually had to restart the first game around the point where I got to the Citadel the first time around, because I just couldn't stand him.  Really awful voice work.

" @natetodamax:  heh, awesome. I just wish his Mass Effect dialogue sounded that natural. "

See, that's the thing. Meer can totally do a better job and completely one-up Hale, but it seems like he's instructed to read the lines like he does.

  
I think Meer does an awesome job as it is, but the fact that he can do even better and dispel these complaints against him while being seemingly held back is just a tad baffling to me.

At the moment, I've gone with Meer as Renegade, Hale as Paragon.
 
I like the idea of my female character being a -good- person more than her being a -bad- person.
 
Although, at least in Mass Effect 1, Renegade Meer is laughable... 'cept when he punches that reporter, that was awesome.

Both are not entirely convincing as war-proven soldier-types. They hardly ever shout, much-less give proper orders.

Hale,  I cant seem to take Meer seriously

Mark Meer is crazier hair. Thus, he is better than Jennifer Hale. 
 
/thread

I'm honestly surprised by the amount of Jennifer Hale love...her voice just really annoys me when she is playing female shepard.

Jennifer Hale, without question. She is among the highest echelon of video game voice actors/actresses working today.

Fem Shep sounds way to cartoony for me. I prefer Meer's nonchalant "I don't give a damn" attitude.