Being a budding podcaster myself, I was wondering what equipment and software you guys use to record the show. I've been looking at mixers and mics recently and would welcome some recommendations.
Thanks!
Being a budding podcaster myself, I was wondering what equipment and software you guys use to record the show. I've been looking at mixers and mics recently and would welcome some recommendations.
Thanks!
Also what kind of post processing do you do? I am quite the novice when it comes to editing audio. Do you do anything special and what program do you use to record?
Hi blacksix-
Our current setup has the mics running into a Mackie 1642 which then goes into a M-Audio Delta 10/10. We then record all the tracks using Sony Vegas. As for microphones, we've tried a number of high-end mics, but we ended up using the Audio-Technica AT2020 for the conversational bits. That mic just works really well for the type of recording we're doing. We also use a Sennheiser shotgun mic for the narration bits just to beef up the sound a little.
Hope that helps!
ediddy999 said:
Also what kind of post processing do you do? I am quite the novice when it comes to editing audio. Do you do anything special and what program do you use to record?
Hey ediddy999 - welcome to the website!
The post-processing is usually pretty simple. We try to get a good clean sound from the mics themselves, and then we don't have to do much to "fix" the sound. (nevertheless, brace yourselves, folks - this is gonna get tweaky!)
If we have recorded someplace with a lot of HVAC noise, etc, we will run each recorded voice through a plug-in called Z-Noise first, which gets rid of a lot of the unwanted background shmutz.
Then we run it through a high-pass filter EQ, just to get rid of any unnecessary low rumbly stuff, so your sub-woofer doesn't go nuts. So all we've done so far is cut down on the noise on each track - the sound of the voices hasn't changed at all.
Now we start to shape the sound: we compress each track, to give the voices more presence and power, and run it through another EQ. This second EQ is pretty subtle - there's a small bump around 2.5 kHz that adds a little extra clarity to their diction, and a small dip around 200 Hz, so they don't sound too thick and dumpy.
The settings vary a little from track to track, but now that we record in the same place with the same mics, it is pretty much the standard.
We mix the entire show, and then we do a bit of mastering over the entire mix, using a plug-in called Izotope Ozone. In case anyone was wondering, Ozone RULES. It's my desert island plug-in.
And as Scott mentioned, we record to Sony Vegas.
That's it - hope it was helpful!
Love those AT2020 Mics. Jim got me into those. For the price u just cant beat em.
To quote Black Eye Peas. Pro Tools is very 2KL8. No schwagga. Vegas is totally where its at. Or Logic if you have a Mac ;p
Fascinating to hear the technical details, the quality of the podcast is very high in terms of both the sound and the overall production.
Thanks nabeel!
great info, I am glad someone ased my questions bfore me
IG.Scott said:
Hi blacksix-
Our current setup has the mics running into a Mackie 1642 which then goes into a M-Audio Delta 10/10. We then record all the tracks using Sony Vegas. As for microphones, we've tried a number of high-end mics, but we ended up using the Audio-Technica AT2020 for the conversational bits. That mic just works really well for the type of recording we're doing. We also use a Sennheiser shotgun mic for the narration bits just to beef up the sound a little.
Hope that helps!
Interesting.
IG.Jim said:
We mix the entire show, and then we do a bit of mastering over the entire mix, using a plug-in called Izotope Ozone. In case anyone was wondering, Ozone RULES. It's my desert island plug-in.
I concur -- Ozone does rule. Even if you're a rank amateur, like me, there's tons of stuff for both mix cleanup and generic mastering.
So the podcast is gonna be monthly?
To paraphrase the Beastie Boys, I thought we were rocking the mics with the panty hose?
I don't have any experience with Vegas, I might give it a test on my home rig though.
Does it accept Pro Tools plug-ins? I know for a fact that Sound Forge does which is a Sony product as well.
drewjamicks said:
I don't have any experience with Vegas, I might give it a test on my home rig though.
Does it accept Pro Tools plug-ins? I know for a fact that Sound Forge does which is a Sony product as well.
Yes - like Sound Forge, Vegas uses VST plug-ins. So if you were using VST plug-ins with something like Pro Tools LE, they will be compatible with Vegas.
Great quality and show. I hope this continues to be around.
Thanks neuroman - we're ready to bring you more podcasts if you're ready to listen!
Quality setup (both sound & personnel-wise) makes for an excellent listening — kudos!
IG.Scott said:
Hi blacksix-
Our current setup has the mics running into a Mackie 1642 which then goes into a M-Audio Delta 10/10. We then record all the tracks using Sony Vegas. As for microphones, we've tried a number of high-end mics, but we ended up using the Audio-Technica AT2020 for the conversational bits. That mic just works really well for the type of recording we're doing. We also use a Sennheiser shotgun mic for the narration bits just to beef up the sound a little.
Hope that helps!
The quality from that shotgun mic sounds so good during the narration with Mr Elliott. I like how everyones voice is panned out for a round table feel. This podcast has the best production value I have ever heard for a podcast, and I've listen to a lot of them.
IG.Jim said:
We mix the entire show, and then we do a bit of mastering over the entire mix, using a plug-in called Izotope Ozone. In case anyone was wondering, Ozone RULES. It's my desert island plug-in.
Ozone high five! No real competition for it imho
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