Audacity Forum

Hello everyone! I would like to start my own podcast with a friend of mine and we want to do it interview style. I already have an external sound card (Behringer UCA-222) and I'm thinking of buying a small mixer and connecting dynamic microphones into the XLR inputs for each person. Will this setup work fine for a simple show?
I'm also thinking of an alternative - buying a portable sound recorder such as the Zoom H1, I read that the condenser microphone can be used for a two person show. Will this provide better sound quality?

Both. The Zoom can be used for field interviews and outside recording and the "studio" configuration is good for doing the show at home. I've been doing field recording tests using a Zoom H4. There was a posting from someone doing a very good interview with a Zoom H4n and plug-in microphones.

... Assuming your home is a studio. Recording a show in a room with echoes and noises can't be fixed in post production. It will always sound like a small child trying to record a podcast.

This track is not fixable. The echoes are permanent.
http://kozco.com/tech/audacity/clips/EchoSample.mp3

Know how to handle your microphones. This podcast has popping P sounds and other microphone damage. The damage is permanent.
http://kozco.com/tech/audacity/clips/PPopping.mp3

There was a recent posting from someone who discovered his podcast picked up his deskside computer fan noise, but he couldn't separate them because he was using a USB microphone. Oops.

People tend to ignore -- tune out -- everyday noises. Refrigerator, air conditioner, traffic noises, and the dog appear on the podcast and they post here wanting to "filter it out" in Audacity.

Probably not. Those noises are now permanent performers in your show.

The Four Horsemen of Audio Recording (reliable, time-tested ways to kill your show)
-- 1. Echoes and room reverberation (Don't record the show in your mum's kitchen.)
-- 2. Overload and Clipping (Sound that's recorded too loud is permanently trashed.)
-- 3. Compression Damage (Never do production in MP3.)
-- 4. Background Sound (Don't leave the TV on in the next room.)

There is a production consideration, too. We had a poster who started out with a weekly 90 minute show and is now doing 5 minute "flash podcasts" because they couldn't think of anything to say.

Guys like to concentrate on the cables and microphones and push production off until later. Successful podcasts have killer production first and buy microphones later to record it.

Are you the center of attention at parties? Can you make somebody laugh on cue? I'm just sayin'.

Koz

I have not done a podcast before however me and my friend have the passion to do it. Hopefully all will go well. Thank you for your suggestion

Is this a gaming podcast? Are you going to want to include game sounds in your show? Are you ever going to want to include a Skype voice? Those two make podcasting very challenging. Koz

No it's just us, two people talking on a set talking. If we are ever going to have a guest on the show he/she is going to be invited physically and given a third microphone

Which obviously your mixer has to support. If you do that in the field, it could be tricky to get a Zoom to shoot that. They're all directional, right?

I'm going to have to lie down for a minute. You don't want to make the podcast so insanely complicated that you'll never get it off the ground? Are you daft? <g>

Here's a hint. People tend to self-adjust their speaking style and volume if you prepare headphone feeds for each person from the mixer (not from the computer). Of course that also means you need to provide a way for each person to adjust their own headphone volume.

Do Not have live speakers and microphones in the same room.

"We recorded a podcast and one of the performers kept getting louder and swamping the others. How do I fix that in Audacity?"

You don't. Compressors will help, but that segment will always sound funny. The performance must be shot already close to normal. We kill a lot of podcasts which ignore that point. Obsessives will try to put everyone on their own track. If you can make that work, that's a terrific way to shoot a conversation -- although it's more work. If you have well-controlled environment or performers, you may not need that.

Koz

For monitoring purposes I will give out headphones to the participants. All speakers, phones and audio sources will be muted. I'm thinking of starting with the dynamic Behringer XM1800S set. I want to start with a cheap solution

I'm really going to have to lie down. You've been doing your homework. Let us know if there are any problems. Or maybe the address of the show. Koz