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I'm hoping this thread is best place to ask this question... My daughter and I are working on starting a podcast. Thus far I've been doing some sample recordings and have been playing with Audacity and Garageband to see which I prefer. I have 2016 MacBook Pro and a gaming PC as far as hardware is concerned. My preference would be to mix/edit on the Mac if possible. I was hoping to use two USB mics by creating an Aggregate audio device on the Mac and almost immediately I ran in to an issue. We have to Blue mics and because both have the same 'fingerprint', OSX only recognizes one. Thus, you can't aggregate for two mic recording. Blue has acknowledged this issue and you can send one mic in to them to be reprogrammed or something like that but that seems like a bridge too far. So, before I consider buying another brand USB mic, I'm thinking I should just bite the bullet and get an XLR mic setup. I'm anticipating have 2 - 3 people recording at most and was hoping someone could recommend some affordable hardware. I've read quite a bit and from what I can tell I will need a mixer, USB interface and mics of course. There are some packages like this on Amazon but $89 seems too cheap. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B...pf_rd_i=desktop Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated. We're just wading in to this hobby so I don't necessarily want to go full on pro gear but I also don't want something that's going to sound cheap or significantly limit what we can do.
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Dec 31, 2016 23:33
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codyclarke posted:The audio quality of your podcast is quite low. That you have even 30 listeners per episode is great, actually. That means you have 30 diehards who don't care about your low production values. Could you possibly expand more on this? I gave the show a listen and while I didn't go through a whole episode, the audio didn't seem terrible. I'm asking because I'm in the process of getting a podcast off the ground as a hobby and our first episode sounded somewhat similar to this from an audio standpoint. I tried using USB mics as a way of wading in to the hobby but it seemed to be more hassle than it was worth for multiple hosts. I ended up buying a a couple of dynamic mics and a Behringer Xenyx 1204 USB mixer. I have a long way to go in terms of understanding how to use the mixer properly and how to edit the sound quality in Garageband. Anyway, I would be interested in reading more detailed thoughts on where you thought the quality needed help. klapman posted:My friends and I have been running a podcast over at... Started listening to episode 11 and you guys seem to enjoy talking to each other, which is good! Will finish the rest tonight.
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Jan 13, 2017 23:45
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Thanks codyclarke for all of the helpful input. One rookie mixer question I'm trying to tackle is separating mics on to individual tracks. I'm not sure I need to do this for my purposes with two hosts but it seems like I should have the capability if I need to edit the commentary of one host. I'm using a mixer with a USB interface connected to my Macbook w/Garageband. I have two XLR mics connected to the mixer. In the Audio/Midi settings, the mixer appears as one device and thus anything coming in through is recorded on to one audio track. This may be how it's supposed to work but I was under the impression that I could record the mics each as an independent track in the software simultaneously. I've scoured the net and found a few suggestions about panning the mics hard left/right to send them to separate tracks but haven't had success. It seems like as long at the mixer is recognized by OS X & Garageband as one input, than it = one track. I feel like I missing something elementary here. Any suggestions?
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Jan 16, 2017 02:52
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codyclarke posted:This is a bit out of my expertise (I record mono to a portable audio recorder) but I'm pretty sure that if you need each voice to be a separate track, you need a USB audio interface rather than a mixer, with enough channels for each person. I think that's overkill though—that's more what you'd need if you were a musician recording separate instruments at once. For what is essentially talk radio you really only need mono. I've had no problem editing out certain things said in post. Just try and keep crosstalk to a minimum, that'll make it easier. And encourage people to pause here and there, rather than feel the need to fill every possible moment with speaking. It's really easy to just cut dead air out in post since it's very visible when you look at the waveform. And no one will ever know. For instance: one of my podcast guests spoke with really long pauses every couple words. I cut most of them out in post because they ruined the pace of the show and made the episode like 20 minutes longer and the content seem way boring. Anyone listening to the finished episode would think he was the most articulate dude they ever heard in their life. He sounded incredible. thehustler posted:Pan one L and one R? Ghetto multitrack. Fix in post. Appreciate the suggestions. I think I'm going to stick to using one track until I get more comfortable with the hardware. To the points above, my editing needs aren't really that broad yet. I had originally planned on just buying a USB interface to enable the usage of XLR mics. I ended up getting a mixer w/a USB interface because of what I read about including guests via Skype. I spent a good few hours last night watching videos and at least the board looks less like a airplane cockpit now.
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Jan 16, 2017 14:09
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chaoslord posted:A couple of friends and I are thinking about doing a podcast, but one of the group is remote. The idea is that the two local of us would record together and our third would skype in. I've seen how to setup a mixer to combine audio into a Skype feed, but those use XLR mics and we all have Snowballs that are USB. I know us local guys could just share a mic but that will be a hassle we are wanting to avoid. My wife and I started a podcast back in January. Aside from being a podcast listener, I had no prior audio experience so take my advice with that in mind. I read a lot on equipment and ultimately decided to skip USB mics altogether. We're using Audio-Technica ATR2100 XLR mics and I've been really pleased with the results. They have a USB option but we're using XLR to a mixer with that connects via USB to my MacBook. (links below) Mics - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004QJOZS4/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Mixer - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00871VO5Y/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 There are probably better tutorials out there but this video explains how to mix in another host via Skype if you're using a mixer. Anyway, XLR mics and a mixer can be costly for start-up but I think it's worth it if you plan to pursue it as a serious hobby. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ampnx9BwlM4 We haven't really found a voice for our show per se but it's turned out to be an interesting way for my wife and I to shoot the poo poo. We talk about pop culture, parenting, life in the burbs and home stuff. We're on iTunes, Google and Stitcher etc. and just crested the 600 download milestone for the year. Check it out and would always love feedback. We're sitting down to record a new episode now. https://www.mousepadheroes.com [Goon-made logo art!] https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/mousepad-heroes/id1193079083
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Aug 5, 2017 18:12
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