My podcast studio at The Loft
I’m interested to know what equipment you use to record Podcasters’
Emporium? – AndrewThanks for listening to the podcast Andrew. I record in my studio at the loft in Sydney. The studio is not entirely sound proofed but does have acoustic insulation to stop reverberation. You can see it in the photograph above. I use a Rode NT1-A microphone and the Rode Podcaster boom.
I record into a Tascam Digital Portastudio DP-01FX via a Phonic Helix Board 12 mixer, with analog cabling in between (I don’t use the USB connections).
Post production audio processing is done with WavePad from NCH software, and then the final edit is done in audacity. I then take the finished mp3 file back into NCH software where I add compression before saving the final cut.
It’s a bit of effort, but worth it I think.
I just bought a license for Castblaster, and I’m going to give it a try. I think it will definitely save me some time in post production.
I did try Podcast Station at one stage (for a different podcast) but it didn’t seem to work very well with my equipment. It seemed to have problems recording I attempted to mix a microphone input and a pre-recorded audio track like a music bed.
Anyway – that’s the studio. Thanks for asking.
James, Thanks for the run-down on your audio set-up. I am very fussy about our audio and it it is great to see someone as anal about it. I think it is very important, especially if we want to be taken seriously.
I an very envious of your “loft”! I am building an extension and am planning something similar. Now I am recording in the main living area of the house, my wife hates it.
I am however using a complete set-up like yourself. I also avoid the USB connections. I have a PG48 Shure mic on boom (they rock), Behringer Eurotrack 1002FX mixer, line-in to sound card.
I record Skype using MX Skype Recorder (works great as you can record a .wav).
Post produce the show with Sound Forge. Apply compression and normalization after editing every minute of it. Send to Sony Music Studio for mixing and insertion of sound bites and music. Export as a .wav and encode using RazorLame.
One other app that I am using is called AudioShell. A PC Windows app that does a stellar job of adding the ID3 tags.
Cheers James and I hope you don’t mind me sharing my set-up with you. Oh and thanks for the plug! Be interested to know what you thought of our Second Life Podcast. Now that presented some interesting technical challenges!
by Dave Gray
on 20. Nov, 2007
Dave, really appreciate the comments, and that you’ve shared your studio setup too.
I forgot the skype component. I take a line in to the mixer but that has had varying levels of success and I seem to struggle with noise.
I use Pamela to record my skype calls ‘offline’ which like MX Skype recorder allows you to edit.
I was using Shure for a while, but heard the quality shift for Benjamin Grundy (Mysterious Universe) when he got the NT1-A and decided to get one for me, and one for my guest. Apart from that ‘the loft’ is small so it would be standing room only.
Dave, I left a comment on twitter I LOVED YOUR SECOND LIFE PODCAST, and I realise how awkward that might have been.
I just wish I understood SL more, this is one area I just haven’t properly ventured yet – I’m not nude, and I have flown around and dropped into the ocean but that’s about all.
I totally agree about your comments about audio quality and being taken seriously. In order to reach an increased audience (those who watch/listen to TV and radio) my personal feeling is that we needt to be producing quality output.
Another reason is – of course – that quality production takes the focus off the production and places focuses te listener on the content, which means your message is more powerful.
As we start to do this, in video and audio, then it will only be a matter of time before production companies start looking seriously at podcast content as a healthy source of new programming.
It’s possible – but it’s up to us as podcasters to create quality product first.
by James Williams
on 20. Nov, 2007