Category: Daily Goody

I recently purchased the Universal Audio Apollo x4 interface and I’m loving it! At $2,199 it’s definitely overkill for the average podcaster, but…

It can be a great solution for various podcasting situations. It has 4 XLR inputs so if you want to record 4 people sitting around a table you can, at great quality. And you’re able to use vintage preamps on everyone’s voice to make the audio sound more professional. It also has a nice big volume knob to control your headphone and speaker volume (VERY handy!). Plus there’s an entire ecosystem of EXCELLENT plugins. There are many more features which you can check out here.

Personally I’ll be using it for more than just podcasting:

• To record music and vocals, etc.
• To Livestream (It allows me to use plugins on my voice LIVE and without latency so I’m able to make my voice sound great on Livestreams!)
• To utilize Universal Audio’s microphone modeling plugins for my new Townsend Labs Sphere L22 microphone.

I’m still exploring and testing this interface so I’ll give a future update at some point 😉

What are your thoughts?

Want to receive the Daily Goody in your email, daily or weekly? Subscribe free here.

And please keep in mind, the Daily Goody is only a tiny little tip, fact or lesson everyday. Please don’t expect any of these posts to be long, earth-shattering masterpieces that instantly answer every single question you can think of and completely transform you into a world class podcast engineer. “Little by little, a little becomes a lot.”

MJUC is an inexpensive compressor plugin (around $28.50) which sounds really good and lots of people love it. I bought it a couple months ago and I like it a lot.

I used this plugin on my voice in episode 220 of The Podcast Engineering Show.

And my previous guest Chris Williams uses this plugin, too.

From their website:

MJUC is the most effortful Klanghelm plugin to date. It took almost two years of extensive, dare I say “excessive”, research and development. To create MJUC I’ve researched and analyzed each and every variable-mu* implementation I could get my hands on to get the best of tube compression into a single processor. In order to do the diversity of this compression topology justice, three different models have been built. These are kind of a time travel though the history of tube compression to capture the essence of each generation. Each model has its own dedicated signal path and dedicated control set. If desired you can tweak the overall tone and saturation of each model with the unique TIMBRE and the DRIVE knob. DRIVE controls the load of the input and output transformers as well as the saturation of the tube gain stages, if applicable. The TIMBRE extends MJUC‘s use as a tone shaper.

Want to receive the Daily Goody in your email, daily or weekly? Subscribe free here.

And please keep in mind, the Daily Goody is only a tiny little tip, fact or lesson everyday. Please don’t expect any of these posts to be long, earth-shattering masterpieces that instantly answer every single question you can think of and completely transform you into a world class podcast engineer. “Little by little, a little becomes a lot.”

I recently heard a music studio owner mention that these Kali Audio LP-6 monitors were very good quality for the price. They cost around $300 / pair. NOTE: I haven’t ever heard them.

You can check out in-depth reviews by Sound on Sound and Tape Op.

FYI, back when I did a bunch of research on near-field monitors I found that the JBL LSR305 monitors (discontinued, now they offer JBL 305P MkII‘s) were also very good quality around the $300 / pair price point.

FYI 2, I own the Neumann KH 120 A monitors.

Want to receive the Daily Goody in your email, daily or weekly? Subscribe free here.

And please keep in mind, the Daily Goody is only a tiny little tip, fact or lesson everyday. Please don’t expect any of these posts to be long, earth-shattering masterpieces that instantly answer every single question you can think of and completely transform you into a world class podcast engineer. “Little by little, a little becomes a lot.”

I purchased the BB N105 plugin hours after it was released and I tried it immediately. Love at first use 🙂 …but let me be clear – for podcast production this is not a must-have plugin.

It’s a channel strip plugin with EQ, saturation and preamp distortion. And to my ears, the saturation modeling they captured sounds AMAZING! We’ve heard many plugin creators say that their plugin “adds warmth”, but the warmth and thickness that the BB N105 adds sounds legendary (because the Neve 8078 console IS legendary).

From their website:

The BB N105 is a channel strip plugin modeled after the legendary console in Studio A at Blackbird Studio. Designed by KIT Plugins in partnership with John McBride and his team, we crafted a truly musical plugin that evokes emotion and inspires creativity just as the legendary console does for so many great artists.

The Neve 8078 console in Studio A at Blackbird is far from ordinary. After John McBride acquired the console for the studio, it underwent a massive restoration to bring it back to its former glory. The console received a series of modifications from some of the best minds in the audio industry, making it not only unique but arguably the best example of its namesake ever to exist.

We carefully examined the console’s legendary channel, from factory schematics to studying the way top producers and engineers use the console to better understand what made it so special. Our engineers carefully sampled the channel taking into account all of the factors – equalization, saturation, noise, distortion, depth and width and musicality. Our mission was to create a plugin that truly embodied the sound of recording in Studio A. To do this we sampled the channel in the console running through master bus B, and captured the samples using John’s favorite A/D converters. We truly believe we have captured the sound of this Neve 8078 in all it’s glory!

Want to receive the Daily Goody in your email, daily or weekly? Subscribe free here.

And please keep in mind, the Daily Goody is only a tiny little tip, fact or lesson everyday. Please don’t expect any of these posts to be long, earth-shattering masterpieces that instantly answer every single question you can think of and completely transform you into a world class podcast engineer. “Little by little, a little becomes a lot.”

I recorded the most recent episode of The Mystic Show immediately after livestreaming a meditation session. In the meditation room I held my ATR2100USB in my hand for my entire 13 minute monologue. Of course I was careful to hold it in the same position the entire time. You can hear the audio here on episode 195 of The Mystic Show.

What do you think of the sound?

Want to receive the Daily Goody in your email, daily or weekly? Subscribe free here.

And please keep in mind, the Daily Goody is only a tiny little tip, fact or lesson everyday. Please don’t expect any of these posts to be long, earth-shattering masterpieces that instantly answer every single question you can think of and completely transform you into a world class podcast engineer. “Little by little, a little becomes a lot.”

Steinberg WaveLab is mastering software used mostly for music production but some podcast producers/editors are using it too!

There’s an “Elements” version available for $99 (which Jason Sheesley uses!), and the full version is available for $479.99.

Check out all the features on its webpage here 😉

Have you tried this software yet?

Want to receive the Daily Goody in your email, daily or weekly? Subscribe free here.

And please keep in mind, the Daily Goody is only a tiny little tip, fact or lesson everyday. Please don’t expect any of these posts to be long, earth-shattering masterpieces that instantly answer every single question you can think of and completely transform you into a world class podcast engineer. “Little by little, a little becomes a lot.”

I’d love to try this SSL UC1 controller! There’s nothing like twisting physical knobs when dialing-in audio settings 😉

From their website:

SSL hardware for your SSL software

UC1 is a hardware plug-in controller like no other. Dedicated knob-per-function Channel EQ and Dynamics controls, centre section featuring full Bus Compressor controls and authentic moving-coil gain reduction meter combine to offer the most creative, intuitive, and ultimately effective way of controlling the new SSL Native Channel Strip 2 and Bus Compressor 2 plug-ins within your DAW session.

SSL production tools are the benchmark for studio ergonomics and workflow. UC1 draws on decades of analogue and digital console design to develop an intelligent and deeply integrated SSL plug-in control surface that lets you focus on your production goals and not the process.

UC1’s layout of encoders, switches and colour groupings offer professional SSL console ergonomics seamlessly integrated with our most advanced Channel Strip and Bus Compressor plug-ins to date. Multiple parameters can be controlled simultaneously and precisely, equipping you with a production tool that nurtures muscle memory, provides unmatched sonic flexibility and inspires operator confidence. To expand your hybrid workflow further, accompany with UF8 Advanced DAW Controller.

Would you like to try this?

Want to receive the Daily Goody in your email, daily or weekly? Subscribe free here.

And please keep in mind, the Daily Goody is only a tiny little tip, fact or lesson everyday. Please don’t expect any of these posts to be long, earth-shattering masterpieces that instantly answer every single question you can think of and completely transform you into a world class podcast engineer. “Little by little, a little becomes a lot.”

I purchased my MKH 416 a couple years ago and it’s one of the best sounding microphones I’ve ever heard. You might expect it to sound great due to it’s $1,000 price tag. I compared it to my Audio-Technica AT8035, a comparable microphone which costs around $269, and the 416 BLEW AWAY the 8035! I expected the 416 to sound better but it makes the 8035 sound very lacking.

From their website:

The venerable MKH 416 is a compact pressure-gradient microphone with short interference tube, highly immune to humidity due to its RF condenser design. Featuring high directivity, low self noise, high consonant articulation and feedback rejection, the MKH 416 can handle difficult exterior filming and reporting conditions without any difficulty. Supercardioid/lobar pattern, matte black finish, supplied with the MZW415 windscreen.

• Pressure gradient receiver with short interference tube
• Hypercardioid at low and medium frequency
• Above 2kHz approaches lobar pattern

Have you tried this microphone?

Want to receive the Daily Goody in your email, daily or weekly? Subscribe free here.

And please keep in mind, the Daily Goody is only a tiny little tip, fact or lesson everyday. Please don’t expect any of these posts to be long, earth-shattering masterpieces that instantly answer every single question you can think of and completely transform you into a world class podcast engineer. “Little by little, a little becomes a lot.”

Would you love to sign up new podcast production/editing clients within the next month? If so, our laser focused course may be helpful to you.

It’s called Getting New Clients at Higher Rates — and as soon as you enroll you can start watching the video lessons and preparing for a new era in your podcast production business.

I believe in you — I believe that if you focus on growing your business and you put in enough intelligent focused time and effort, you can create a business for yourself that will be more profitable than you can imagine right now.

If you’re ready, let’s GO!

Want to receive the Daily Goody in your email, daily or weekly? Subscribe free here.

And please keep in mind, the Daily Goody is only a tiny little tip, fact or lesson everyday. Please don’t expect any of these posts to be long, earth-shattering masterpieces that instantly answer every single question you can think of and completely transform you into a world class podcast engineer. “Little by little, a little becomes a lot.”