My podcast recording setup

I already blogged some notes about how I go from a recording to a published podcast:

http://www.itauthor.com/2007/05/20/notes-on-how-i-make-a-podcast/

But I thought, for my own benefit (I never remember stuff like this), I should make a note of my current setup and settings for making the recording for a podcast.

So, to start off, I don't record straight onto my computer. The reason for this is that I just can't get a clean recording that way. What I get is a recording with a lot of hiss and noise. Instead I record onto a portable digital recorder, then I move the audio file onto my PC and edit it in Cubase.

Here's the setup:

I bought a cheap condenser mic off Ebay (it arrived posted from Hong Kong). It's not a great microphone and it picks up a lot more of the ambient room sound than I'd like, but it's good enough. If I got more serious about doing podcasts a better mic would be the first thing I'd look at.

The mic plugs into the XLR input of the mixer. The mic came with a quarter inch jack plug, but I bought an XLR cable and I noticed a big difference.

The mixer is an unnecessary luxury, but it boosts the volume and puts more bass into the signal which gives a good effect. I originally bought it when I was struggling to get good results from recording straight to the PC. It didn't help with that, and now I have the M-AUDIO recorder I can record straight to that with the little stereo mic provided with it and get a good sound. The only thing with the little stereo mic (not shown) is that it's omni-directional, so it picks up even more room sound than the big mic and makes me sound like I'm recording in a cupboard. But it's great for recording outdoors (podcast #8 was recorded straight onto the M-AUDIO with the little stereo mic).

The mixer settings are as follows:

• Mic in: XLR left input
• trim: 25%
• EQ high: 25%
• EQ mid: 25%
• EQ low: 62.5%
• low cut button: up (off)
• FX: 0
• pan: 50%
• level:
• main mix: just under 0 dB
• output: CD/tape out

The settings on the M-AUDIO are:

• input: 1/8th" input jack
• Input Monitor: on
• 27dB TRS boost: on
• Encoder: WAV
• Sample rate: 44.1
• Bits: 24
• Channels: mono
• L/M/H: L

So that gives me a .wav file on the M-AUDIO. I then turn off the M-AUDIO, connect it to my PC with a USB cable and go and find the .wav file in Windows Explorer. I open a new project in Cubase - choosing Stereo Mastering for audio CD - and drag the file from Windows Explorer onto the timeline in Cubase.

I then process the recording as follows:

Process > Normalize:

-3.00 dB

Plugins > Dynamics > Multiband Compressor:

Use preset: FM Radio

Plugins > Dynamics > DeEsser:

• Male Heavy
• S-Reduction: 5
• Auto Threshold
• Male

Plugins > Dynamics > Dynamics:

• Compressor: off
• Routing: 1-3-2
• Audiogate: On
• Threshold: -39
• Attack: 9.9
• Hold: 26
• Release: Auto
• Limiter: Off

Finally, if necessary:

Process > Gain

to bring the levels up nice and high, without cutting the peaks.

I then add in tracks for the intro and outro of the podcast.

Finally, I export the whole thing as an MP3 file, as described in the previous post.

For an example of a recording made with this setup, have a listen to ITauthor Podcast #11.