Podcast equipment recommendations

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[rolanstein]

Hi folks.

I'm about to start including some podcasts in my blog posts, but am not up with the sort of equipment people are using to produce good quality podcasts. I'll enumerate my queries to facilitate ease of response.

1. For my first podcast, I'll be interviewing a couple of people at their home, so I thought I'd take along a laptop with Cool Edit Pro installed as sound recording software, and use a good quality (Shure SM58) mike plugged directly into the laptop. I can't see why this wouldn't produce very good sound, but perhaps there are better alternatives?

2. Do you just save the recording to MP3 file format then upload the MP3 file to your blog? I'm going purely on intuition here, so most open to the views of experienced podcasters.

3. I realise that portable sound recording equipment is often necessary. Would really appreciate some recommendations on good portable sound recording devices. Will any cheap MP3 player with a Voice Recorder give you good podcast quality sound, or should I look into the better quality stand-alone Digital Voice Recorders (Olympus etc)?

Cheers

[Snoskred]

Welcome to the forums Rolanstein..

I've never done podcasting so I don't have the answers, but I wanted to say hi. I'm sure someone who knows about podcasting will be along shortly.

[FormerAdmin]

I am so watching this thread because I want to know too

Welcome to the Rolanstein

Best regards, Andrew

[NathanaelB]

I've never done podcasts, but if I decided to go into that I would need nothing more than my Zoom H2 handheld 4-mic stereo recorded with hardware on-the-fly MP3 compression. You could record an interview with the unit mounted on it's small stand between you and be able to transfer to your computer and upload it straight away with no processing (assuming you set it up right) within 5 minutes of the interview concluding.



http://www.zoom.co.jp/english/products/h2/

[FormerAdmin]

I've never done podcasts, but if I decided to go into that I would need nothing more than my Zoom H2 handheld 4-mic stereo recorded with hardware on-the-fly MP3 compression. You could record an interview with the unit mounted on it's small stand between you and be able to transfer to your computer and upload it straight away with no processing (assuming you set it up right) within 5 minutes of the interview concluding.



http://www.zoom.co.jp/english/products/h2/

Nathanael, you've brought sexy back, it is simply beautiful

I saw one of these suckers just now on ebay for 300 bucks, do you know what they retail for?

Cheers, Andrew

[Snoskred]

Nathanael, you've brought sexy back, it is simply beautiful

As odd as this may sound I have to agree - that looks gorgeous. But like all gorgeous things I am guessing it isn't cheap.

[NathanaelB]

Nathanael, you've brought sexy back, it is simply beautiful

As odd as this may sound I have to agree - that looks gorgeous. But like all gorgeous things I am guessing it isn't cheap.

Retail? LOL I think something ridiculous like $700. When I saw these come out I had to have one ... pre-ordered mine on eBay from the US for $200 USD - so you should be able to get one below $300 but probably not in Australia.

I use mine for sampling and recording jam sessions etc.

[macgirvin]

1. For my first podcast, I'll be interviewing a couple of people at their home, so I thought I'd take along a laptop with Cool Edit Pro installed as sound recording software, and use a good quality (Shure SM58) mike plugged directly into the laptop. I can't see why this wouldn't produce very good sound, but perhaps there are better alternatives?

Unless there's something you're not mentioning, this may not work. Have you actually tried it? The SM58 has an XLR balanced 3-pin connector. There's no place on the typical laptop with which to connect it. You can go through a transformer to unbalanced 1/4 inch (guitar plug), and from there convert to the typical laptop mini-jack; with a small bit of signal degradation. You can also purchase high-quality interfaces which accept the XLR inputs directly. This option will usually produce the best results.

By the way, if you ever need the balanced/unbalanced xlr-to-phone transformer, let me know. It's a real specialty item and quite dear if you were to go out and try and find one locally. I've got a few boxes of them left over from the music store - a lifetime supply considering I only ever needed one or two for emergencies. I've also got a pile of the mini-jack adapters. So I could make this work, but it isn't stuff the average person is going to have in their closet.   

[FormerAdmin]

Retail? LOL I think something ridiculous like $700. When I saw these come out I had to have one ... pre-ordered mine on eBay from the US for $200 USD - so you should be able to get one below $300 but probably not in Australia.

I use mine for sampling and recording jam sessions etc.

Hmm, and as luck would have it, it's payday today

Not that I podcast, but if I ever did, I would want one of these. Peh, I want it anyway

Best regards, Andrew

[Lani]

Not that I podcast, but if I ever did, I would want one of these. Peh, I want it anyway

Even I've been captivated by the shiny shiny.  I want it too.  What for, I have no idea, but I want it. 

[miscmum]

I have a digital dictaphone with all the cordy-cord bits and pieces to connect it up the PC which then I'll upload somehow in the pod-cast I've been meaning to experiment with for a while now.

Oh....yeaaaaaah. I bet I'm turning you all on with my PC-whizz knowledge!  :angel:

[rolanstein]

Thanks for your responses, folks.

The Zoom baby looks pretty nice, but I'm thinking it must be possible to get good quality podcast sound without spending that sort of moolah.

NathanaelB, ta for pointing out the possible compatibility issue with my 'solution'. I will give it a test run today and report back. You may well be right that this ain't the way to go.

Does anyone know whether mid-priced MP3 players with DVRs will do the job with good sound? I suspect they won't, but would be interested to hear from someone who's used them for podcasts.

Based on the responses so far, I'm thinking perhaps a quality standalone DVR is the best option...

[Snoskred]

See I am fairly sure all you'd need would be a headset plugged into your computer, and a nifty little program like Audacity (which is free) to do the recording. A podcast is just an .mp3 file, right?

I used to record scammer phone calls and I am thinking the procedure would be very similar to what I was doing back then.

Sephyroth might be the best person to answer this one.. Sephy?

[macgirvin]

If you're on a budget, use any old microphone that plugs into your computer, record to MP3, and upload it. When we did this years ago, that's all it took. I wouldn't even worry about getting a high-quality mic, as we're talking voice frequencies here. You're likely to discover (as we did) that background noise is much more of an issue than fidelity. Record in a quiet room away from traffic and children/pets if you don't want to invest in noise reduction equipment (very pricey).

If you want something with really good fidelity and the ability to mix music with it, the Phonic Helixboard outboard mixer is a nice pro option (a Shure 57/58 will plug right in), though the mp3 mic shown above does have a bit of geek sex appeal, besides the obvious advantage of its compactness. The HelixBoard is overkill for simple voice recording.

Not sure what the best MP3 recording suite is today. There are lots of choices now that weren't available at that time. If I recall correctly, we used the Windows sound recorder and converted it to MP3 with Xing (freeware).  I'm sure you can go direct to MP3 these days and save the conversion step.   






 

[rolanstein]

Snoskred

I already have Cool Edit Pro installed - that's similar to Audacity, but originally cost 2K or so (not that that necessarily makes it superior to Audacity). Whatever, CEP is terrific recording software and I know how to use it, so that part I have handled. A headset is not going to cut it, because there will be two people I will be interviewing and we will all need to be picked up by the mike(s). Ta for your comments, though.

Macgirvin

I can save the recording to MP3 format direct from CEP, so that's not a problem.

That Helixboard sounds good, but again, I think portability and compactness are issues.

So, no one has a view on using the Voice Recorder of a simple mid-priced MP3 player with in-built mike?

[NathanaelB]

I happen to have a Shure mic, 16 channel mixer and all that so if _I_ was to go into podcasting I'd probably be running a pair of headphones off the mixer for foldback so you can check your mix while recording ... I often hear podcasts where one person is talking louder than the other and it's hard to correct post-recording ... although with the stereo Zoom H2 it would be fairly easy because you'd have the majority of one side of the conversation on your left channel and most of the other on the right channel (not exclusively, but probably a 20/80 mix on each).

[leehopkins]

Blimey, this is all terribly complex and expensive for the first-time podcaster.

Here's a really 'cheap and cheerful' idea (no doubt creating howls of derision from the community):

scour ebay for a cheap stereo mic with a mini-jack plug, plug into your laptop, fire up software, press record

If you have an old recording walkman hanging around you could even use one of them to record the interview.

Then just run a cable from the earplug to the pc, press Play on the walkman and digitally record your interview so you can edit it.

After all, the neat thing about a podcast (unless you are a band promoting your own music) is that the quality can be very low-res, as long as you take care (as noted above) to keep the background noise to an absolute minimum.

Either that, or install skype on your pc and ring them up using skype out, record them and if you have the software (skylook, etc) you can record your own voice at the same time. If you don't, then you can always record your own voice later (in the same way they record 'noddies' on the tv news shows) and mix them together.

Just my thoughts...

Lee

[FormerAdmin]

Blimey, this is all terribly complex and expensive for the first-time podcaster.

Here's a really 'cheap and cheerful' idea (no doubt creating howls of derision from the community):

scour ebay for a cheap stereo mic with a mini-jack plug, plug into your laptop, fire up software, press record

If you have an old recording walkman hanging around you could even use one of them to record the interview.

Then just run a cable from the earplug to the pc, press Play on the walkman and digitally record your interview so you can edit it.

After all, the neat thing about a podcast (unless you are a band promoting your own music) is that the quality can be very low-res, as long as you take care (as noted above) to keep the background noise to an absolute minimum.

Either that, or install skype on your pc and ring them up using skype out, record them and if you have the software (skylook, etc) you can record your own voice at the same time. If you don't, then you can always record your own voice later (in the same way they record 'noddies' on the tv news shows) and mix them together.

Just my thoughts...

Lee

Hi Lee,

welcome

Cheap and cheerful is probably the best option for me too - that said, I do love the idea of owning the Zoom H2.

Best regards, Andrew

[macgirvin]

Here's a really 'cheap and cheerful' idea (no doubt creating howls of derision from the community):

scour ebay for a cheap stereo mic with a mini-jack plug, plug into your laptop, fire up software, press record

I think that's what I was suggesting as well. Apologies if it didn't come across that way.

Now I would use my 48 channel board with dual feedback killers, 1/3 octave eq, noise gate, SM85s, throw in a  bit of 'large room' with digital delays, and tune the voice to the key of A with a harmonizer...   

But like you said, it's a podcast fercrysakes.

I Think there's even a stereo mic builtin to the laptop, so maybe just press record and be done with it.

[RodneyOlsen]

I've been looking for a Zoom H2 to take to Haiti later this year. I want to record broadcast quality audio for my radio programme.

A friend said he bought one for under $250, including postage, from an Australian company but they seem to have run out.

If anyone finds them for a gopod price please let me know.

[NathanaelB]

Lee, good suggestion - what do you recommend for software? There's that free one, starting with "A" - otherwise there'll be $ involved, and any audio software you pay for will probably cost more than the Zoom ... which does not require any post-processing.

[NathanaelB]

Andrew, I brought my Zoom H2 into work if you want to have a play with it ...

[rolanstein]

OK, I've got a good picture about the possibilities (apart from whether a cheapish MP3 player with DVR would do the job well enough...I'll assume for now that it wouldn't) - thanks to all.

I want better quality sound than can be obtained by simply using the laptop inbuilt mikes.

I've got no doubt the Zoom H2 is a great compact, portable solution. Will keep my eyes on Ebay.

So, to my laptop and SM58 - might as well try to use the good quality stuff I already have, I figure.

I just realised (duh) I have an Audigy 2 external Soundblaster unit that has a line-in/mike-in, so I can just plug the SM58 straight into it, and connect the Audigy to the laptop. BUT...

That probably means I now need a mike pre-amp! (sigh)

Anyone got a recommendation for a good cheap one that will do the job (eg: Berringher or similar)?

No more questions from me on this topic after this...promise.

Cheers

[NathanaelB]

Yeah the Behringer mic pre-amp is ok:

http://www.zzounds.com/item--BEHMIC100

I love ART stuff too; here's their pre-amp:

http://www.artproaudio.com/products.asp?id=1&cat=1&type=79

Both are tube amps.

[NathanaelB]