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#9 What gear should you invest in?

Studio #9 What gear should I invest in?

Today, I’d like to talk about your investment into podcasting. Although you can create a podcast with barebones equipment (and many podcasters do), there are a number of pieces of gear which can dramatically improve the quality of your show, save you lots of time — or both! Here are the various elements to my own podcast production studio which I hope can help you build your own!

The Zoom H6 Recorder is great for podcasting

Zoom H6 Recorder

The first piece of gear that I want to talk about is actually the newest member of my recording arsenal, the Zoom H6 Handy Recorder. The recorder is manufactured by a company called ‘Zoom’, and is a deceptively powerful device that you can carry with you in your bag.

The Zoom H6 can fit in the palm of your hand and still allow you to record up to 6 XLR microphones with an attachment that you can purchase from Zoom. It’s a great device that’s saved me loads of time and headaches. Its really remarkable how something that literally fits in the palm of your hand and runs on 4 AA batteries (don’t worry, it can also be plugged into the wall using a USB charger) can sustain you through a full day of audio recording. Whether you’re in a studio, or on the go, the H6 is a great device.

Some of the other notable features of the Zoom H6 are that it supports microphones that require powering, sometimes referred to as ‘Phantom power’. Another feature of the H6 which is pretty great is that it can work as a audio interface. If you’re doing a recording into a laptop or a desktop computer into multi-track, and you use a digital audio workstation (e.g. a DAW like Pro Tools or Logic Pro X)  you can actually have those microphones route through this tiny, little box and connect right into your computer. You don’t have to do that with the H6 because the it actually records all of the microphones on separate tracks that you can then plug into your computer via USB to get the tracks into your editor of choice.

You can buy different attachments for the Zoom H6 to expand its capabilities, record in mono or stereo, and because you’re recording to an SD card, you can expand your storage.

The sound quality is great. I actually find with the microphones that I use that I don’t need to use any other type of attachment to boost the gain. The Shure SM7Bs sound great when recorded through the Zoom H6.  Previously, I had to use attachments basically that I plugged into the microphone to boost its gain because these mics are notorious for having just a low gain (see below for my writeup of the Fethead)

The Zoom Recorder H6 retails for $350, so it’s not cheap, but it handles most of the things that you’ll need to do in order to record a podcast at the absolute highest quality. Consider that you don’t have to carry around a laptop. Also, consider that you don’t need to carry around an audio interface which is the next piece of gear that I’m going to talk about.

Focusrite Scarlett 18i/8

Focusrite Scarlett 18i/8

The audio interface that I purchased when I first started getting involved in podcasting is manufactured by Focusrite, and it’s the Scarlett 18i/8 Like the Zoom, this piece of gear also retails for $350 on Amazon.

Essentially, the Scarlett serves as an audio interface in that it allows you to plug in your microphones and convert their analog signal to a digital one that your computer can understand.

But it’s for more than just plugging in microphones. The Scarlett makes plugging in instruments or even your iPad into your computer to capture audio a snap. Traditionally, I have used the Scarlett for in-studio audio recording when I need to take up to four different mics and get them into my computer or laptop. Once you bring the audio into the computer, you can separate it off into their own separate tracks. Basically, it does what the Zoom H6 does but does so directly into your computer as opposed to stored on an SD card.

The pros of this device are it looks good in your studio and it can handle a bunch of different types of mics. It can also handle instruments and has its own built-in headphone mixing so you can have two different headphone mixes if you want which is cool. It negates the need for some other pieces of gear, but requires others (which will be relevant when I come to Fetheads and Headphone Amps below).

If there’s a disadvantage to the Scarlett its that while it has its own built-in mic preamps, those being devices inside of the box that help boost the signal coming from the microphone, they’re pretty low gain themselves. When I use my mics through this device I sometimes  have to have another device that I plug into the mic that boosts its signal up so that I can get good levels. That’s not something that I need to worry about with the Zoom, and so that would probably be one of my only complaints about the Focusrite.

It’s not portable like the H6. Once you have the H6, you won’t want to go back to big, clunky boxes that are on your desk.

Shure SM7B Microphone

Shure SM7B Microphone

The microphones that I prefer are the Shure SM7Bs. If you go back to Studio Episode #6 I have some audio samples of different podcast microphones that are really popular. One of those microphones is the Shure SM7B, and that’s actually the microphone that I’m talking into currently.

The sound quality that comes from the SM7B is incredible. I usually don’t have to do anything to the vocals, they just reproduce sound really, really well.

Now, these are pretty expensive microphones — they retail for about $400 from Shure’s website. You might be able to find them a little cheaper on the site like from Musician’s Friend or Amazon. Oftentimes, when you listen to professional podcasts, they’re being recorded on Shure SM7Bs. They look great, like something that would belong in a high-end broadcast studio. And they work really well on a swivel mount which is how I have this microphone mounted currently.

The pros of the Shure SM7B are that it looks great and sounds great. You’re not going to have to do much to the audio signal. It comes with a pop screen built-in which is pretty nice. You can also get your own additional one if you’d rather have a different style.

The downsides are that it is pretty expensive. If you want to get one, it’s going to cost you about 400 dollars, and of course, you should have a microphone for every guest that you plan on having in your podcast, so I would recommend at least getting two of these.

They’re also a little bulky. Even though I have them mounted on a swivel mount, they can still take up a lot of real estate on your desk or table.

They can also be intimidating to guests because they look like they belong in a radio station. In my experience, a lot of people will get behind them and they immediately get freaked out because it’s such a big microphone. But the audio quality is so good that in my opinion, it’s worth dealing with any of the downsides. I can’t recommend another microphone as highly as the Shure SM7B for podcasting.

R0DE PSA1 Swivel Mount

R0DE PSA 1 Swivel Mount

This is the best mount I’ve found for under $100, which you can buy from Amazon where it currently has 652 reviews, most of which are 5 stars.

When you’re not using it, you can collapse it a little bit and push it out of your way so that’s not taking up table space or desk space. It’s a mount so it doesn’t do much other than hold your microphone, but for what it does and for the way that it’s built, I think that its really solid.

If there is a downside (perhaps its something that can be fixed by an attachment or new hardware), its that sometimes when you’re plugging in the microphone cables there can be a really tight fit. By navigating that a little bit, you can get your connection in there snug and not putting too much pressure on the cable itself or the connection, so I think that that’s just maybe a problem that I have using these larger mics with it. Short of that, the R0DE PSA 1 has never really failed me, so I definitely recommend picking up one of these for each of your microphones.

Fethead by Triton Audio

Fethead by Triton Audio

The FetHead is by Triton Audio which I believe is a company over in the Netherlands. Its a little metal attachment that you plug into your microphone between the mic, and then the mic cable and basically is a phantom-powered amp for ribbon and dynamic mics.

It adds about 27 decibels of gain. When I use the Focusrite Scarlett with my Shure SM7Bs, I find that the gain coming out of the mic is pretty low, even with gain turned up to max. When I plug in the FetHead, I actually get a strong signal out of the microphones. It doesn’t add crazy distortion or any kind of artifacting. The fethead seems to make my microphones sound a little bit more alive.

Fetheads retail for about $90 each. If you’ve made a big investment in a microphone but you’re just not getting the audio levels out of it that you feel like you need, a FetHead might be something that you could look at. There’s another product called a ‘Cloudlifter’ which I’ve never used, but essentially does the same thing. I like the FetHead because it’s not another box that you have to put on your desk, nor do you have to plug it in to power. It’s just a little attachment that goes in between the mic cable and the microphone, it’s pretty small, and it just makes a big difference.

Ever since I moved to the H6 recorder, I haven’t had to use that for whatever reason. I guess the H6 just does a better job of getting more out of the microphone, but its made my investment in the Focusrite pay off.

Audiotechnica Headphones and Behringer Headphone Amp

Headphones and Headphone Amps

Headphones are pretty important for a recording, not so much so that you can hear what the other person is saying because of course you’re probably going to be sitting across from them if you’re doing a studio type of a podcast. If you’re recording someone remotely headphones are really important because you’ll have no other way of hearing your guest! Still, thehe most common use for headphones in a recording studio environment or a home studio environment is just to give you a sense of how close you are to the microphone and whether you’re talking directly into it or you’re talking off on the side.

In my studio, I’ve opted for four pairs of Audio-Technica ATH-M40x Professional Studio Monitors. These are over-the-ear headphones that allow you to hear how close you are to your microphone and get a good sense of what your microphone technique is. Where I record with the Zoom recorder, I don’t have four headphone outputs, so what I do is I take the line out of the Zoom H6 and plug it into a Behringer Headphone Amp. The specific model that I use is the Behringer MICROAMP HA400. It’s an ultra-compact, four-channel stereo headphone amplifier. The output of my recording device, which in this case is the Zoom, goes into the input of the headphone amp.

The Behringer is small, doesn’t need to plug it into power and can provide a single mix to 4 pairs of headphones. This piece of gear retails for about $25, so its definitely not going to break your bank and will indeed dramatically improve your sound by providing each of your guest the ability to hear their proximity to the microphone.

For editing podcasts, I opt for the Sony MDR7506 professional headphones. Almost everyone I know that edits podcasts use them, and I’ve seen them recommended countless times. You can pick yourself up a pair on Amazon for about $100.

Macbook Pro running Logic Pro X

Computers and Editing Software

When considering which laptop or desktop to use while recording, it is my advice that you look for one with a lot of inputs — specifically, fast USB ports (USB 2 or 3) and if using a Mac, thunderbolt ports. You’re also going to want a large hard disk so that you can store all of your audio files (or have a separate hard drive, or both). I use LaCie 2 terabyte for more portable storage needs.

If it’s a relatively new computer it should be able to handle most of the software editing solutions out there.  Audio editing isn’t as processor intensive as video editing, so you shouldn’t need a top of the line computer for editing podcasts (hey, if you can afford it a current-gem MacBook Pro works great)!

My software editing application of choice is Logic Pro X. It’s basically the successor to GarageBand. GarageBand, a free application that comes with new Macs, can certainly do most if not all of the editing you will need for your podcast. Logic Pro X just takes it up a notch, with support for audio plugins you can buy to improve the sound of your recording even more. Logic Pro X can be purchased in the Mac App Store for $200. Other free options include Audacity, a very popular audio editing solution for Macs and PC.


Audio Plugins

The Shure SM7Bs record so cleanly that most of the time I don’t have to do a lot of processing on the vocals. But sometimes, if I’m not in a sound-proof room like I am when I typically record podcasts, noises can enter the mix. Excessive background noise can absolutely ruin a podcast for the listener, and no matter how great your microphone is, your sound may suffer. That’s primarily why I use a few audio plugins from Izotope.

The first package is called iZotope RX6 and it’s basically for repairing audio.

It’ll take out hums, it’ll take out background noise, it’ll take out pops — a lot of the annoying things that can get introduced into your recording, this plug-in will take out. It’s not cheap, but it can save you lots of time. Currently, RX6 retails for $300, and its actually a suite of plugins that remove various types of noise (wind noise, breath noise, power hums, air-conditioning noise). The plugin is easy to use and includes a “learn” feature that will automatically make the adjustments for you.

The other tool that I use on occasion is Nectar 2. This plugin retails for $229 from the iZotope web site. It works well in-conjunction with RX6, although they can be used independently as well. Nectar has some nice profiles for common recording situations (audiobooks, podcasting, radio broadcast) as well as the standard effects you’d find in your editing software like reverb and delay). This is a “cheat” tool for me because I’ll sometimes get recorded audio sent to me for editing that needs to be punched up (recorded too low, perhaps the sound was tinny) and in a few seconds I can usually dial up a profile which dramatically improves the sound.

So what should you invest in?

All of these tools help you in various ways to reduce the amount of time that you’re going to spend editing podcasts. But most of us need to make strategic decisions on how to spend our money, and it might not be in your budget to buy everything. So here is my “essentials” list:

Zoom H6 Recorder

It’s totally changed how I think about recording podcasts, you can record them anywhere, you can use any type of microphone, sounds great, very portable, and it just works.

Shure SM7B

The Shure SM7B is a great microphone for podcasting. They are expensive from the outset, but pay for themselves in the time you save editing your podcast. They were my favorite podcast microphone when I reviewed different popular microphones in Studio #6.

Headphones

Definitely invest in some headphones. They help your guests stay closer to the microphone, and a good pair of headphones for editing podcasts will save your ears!

Studio by Daring Creative

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Filed Under: Episodes Tagged With: Hardware, Microphones, Software

#6 Choosing the right podcast microphone

Studio #6 Choosing a Podcast Microphone (with samples)

Today’s show is all about microphones. Obviously, choosing the right microphone is important to the overall sound of your podcast. There are plenty of options for you at varying price points, and most people who dip their toes into podcasting start off with something a little more modest like a head set microphone, maybe a desktop USB microphone. Some people even opt to use ear buds. Professional podcasters typically favor an XLR based microphone that you’d find in a recording studio or radio station or even as part of a live performance.

I’ve got a collection of all of those different types of mics that I’ve used and still use to this day based upon the need that I have. I’m going to demonstrate them today. My plan is to use all of them in the same type of environment which happens to be a soundproof room and I’ll read the same passage using each of the different microphones to let you hear how they sound. It’s not going to be a really scientific test although I’ve done a few things to make sure the comparison is as meaningful as possible. Like I mentioned, I’m recording in the same place, I’m reading the same material, I’ve got all the microphones set at the same levels, and I’ll be sitting the same distance from each of the microphones where it’s applicable.

Obviously a headset mic or an ear bud, the proximity is going to be different than if you’re using a regular mic. Just suffice to say, I’m using what I consider to be proper microphone technique for all the different mics. In addition, the mics that are not USB based, the ones that are more XLR based or what I would consider more of a pro-sumer microphone. They all have pop filters on them to prevent as many of the explosive sounds that you can get from other types of microphones that don’t have that type of protection built in. That’s a topic that we’ll cover in another podcast.

Now let me introduce you to the different types of microphones that you’ll be hearing today. Microphone number one will simply be the built in microphone on a laptop. On this case, a MacBook Pro. If you have a laptop, which I’m assuming that most of you who are interested in podcasting do, then you probably have a built in microphone in that laptop. The expectations for this microphone shouldn’t be very high. I wouldn’t recommend it for podcast, but I did want to include it because I have heard lots of people podcast with the built in microphone on their computer. So without any further ado, here is a laptop microphone.

The second mic that I’m going to demonstrate is the one that’s built into Apple ear buds. I’m actually surprised at the number of people that I see podcast that use ear bud microphones as their primary mic. There are, of course, cases where that comes in handy if you’re doing a remote podcast where you’re physically going someplace and you don’t want to lug all your gear. You might use an iPhone or an android phone to do a recording, but I think it’s pretty obvious that ear buds are probably not going to provide you the best sound possible. Still, I wanted to include them in the examples.

Microphone number three is the Jabra UC Voice 550 Duo which is really long name but it is a USB office headset that came highly recommended from the wire cutter dot com. In fact, it’s number one rated office headset. At the time of recording this headset cost about $46 from Amazon. It’s a really simple two in one headphones/microphone combo that you can just plug into your computer. It has some convenient volume controls on it and a mute button. It’s just an affordable headset mic. Nothing particularly special about it, but one that I’ve actually recommended for remote guests that I’ve recorded with in the past and had pretty decent results from. Check it out.

This next microphone, microphone number four, is a Yeti by Blue Microphones. Lots of podcasters use the Blue Yeti because it’s durable. It’s inexpensive. It can be mounted on a shock mount and it delivers a pretty good sound. The microphone itself has several patterns that you can select which changes how the microphone behaves in various situations. In my experience, it’s been extremely reliable. The Blue Yeti cost $129 retail from Amazon dot com and can be a great addition to your podcast studio.

Microphone number five is an SM58 from Shure. Shure makes some of the best microphones on the market both for consumer and for professional use. It’s an XLR based microphone meaning that you’ll need some sort of an adapter to plug it into your computer. I happen to use a zoom recorder to capture audio from this to convert it over to digital. You can also use a digital audio interface like a focus right scarlet to convert it into a digital signal that can be understood by your computer. This microphone retails for about $100 off of Amazon.

Microphone number six is a Procaster by Road Microphones. This is one of my personal favorites and it’s one of the first mics that I purchased for myself when I decided to get more serious about recording. The Procaster is suited for broadcast and recording applications and at $229 is a little more expensive than most mics but shouldn’t break your bank. What it will do, in my opinion, is give you a noticeable step up in your sound quality, but you be the judge.

The final mic that we’re going to hear today, microphone number seven, is a Shure SM7B broadcast microphone. It’s the most expensive of the microphones that I own and it is the microphone that I most commonly use to record podcasts, including this one. At a retail cost of $350 this is more of what I would consider a high end podcast mic. It’s great for virtually every type of application and it’s extremely rugged and looks good in the studio. Let’s take a listen.

Hopefully this has been useful to kind of give you a listen at what some of these mics sound like. Of course, when you’re buying microphones, especially online, you’re not really getting to test them out first. It’s kind of a leap of faith. You’re doing a lot of listening or a lot of reading rather of reviews to see what people say. I find that being able to hear what they sound like is pretty cool. It’s pretty important because that’s what you’re looking for out of this piece of gear. You’re looking for something that’s going to capture a person’s voice reliably, it’s going to make them sound as good as possible, and it’s going to limit the amount of editing that you have to do.

Think you also want to find something that’s really rugged, that can stand up to some wear and tear. You could throw it in your bag. You can, you know, take it with you on the road or you can leave it as a permanent, you know, install in the studio and it’s going to look great. It’s going to function great. It’s going to be reliable. For my money, I prefer the Shure SM7B. I also really like the Road Procaster. They have totally different sounds, at least to my ears. Depending on the application I use one or the other, but I don’t think you can go wrong with either.

You know, if you’re looking for a budget microphone that’s a USB, I can’t recommend the Blue Yeti highly enough. I think it’s a great starter mic. It costs $120, but it’s super reliable. I still use it to this day. It’s what I recommend to a lot of people just getting started that don’t want to buy a lot of extra audio gear to have to accommodate these other microphones.

Let me know if there’s other microphones that you are interested in or if you have any kind of comments or feedback on the testing that I did. I’d be happy to answer any of your questions. I will look forward to talking to you the next time.

Studio by Daring Creative

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Filed Under: Episodes Tagged With: Getting Started, Hardware, Microphones

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