The Philocast: Behind The Scenes
I have been reading so much about podcasts lately. I have seen so many setups that range from small and efficient to expensive and absurd. I thought it would be fun to take a minute and show everyone the basics behind the Philocast’s hardware and software solution.
I think my studio is very efficient. Being an audio geek, I might have went a “little” overboard on the hardware, but it’s a work in progress and I want it to be fantastic.
Computers
I record my podcast on PC. I actually am using technically 2 PCs. I have one dedicated 2.5Ghz P4 with 2GB Ram that is used to interface with the main audio interface and record all of the sources. I record using Adobe Audition 2.0.
I have a second PC that I use for managing Skype calls and viewing my podcast notes, program, and emails and such. This machine has two monitors so I can have everything I plan to discuss as well as addition “in-cast” research.
Recording Hardware
I use two interfaces to record with. The main recording PC uses an Alesis MultiMix16 FireWire. This unit is a 16 channel analog mixer with a built in 16 channel FireWire audio interface. It has 8 XLR/1/4″ phantom powered mic preamps and 4 stereo 1/4″ channels. This unit also has built in effects but I do not use them for my purpose.
The second interface is what I use for Skype calls. This interface is an M-Audio Fast Track Pro. This is a two in, four out USB audio interface with MIDI in and out as well as digital spdif in and out. I can also use this if I need to do higher quality audio work on this PC instead of the dedicated audio one.
The last thing to mention is my mobile recording unit. This is a Fostex MR-8HD. This device has a 40GB HD, 4 phantom powered XLR/1/4″ Mic inputs and can record four audio sources at one time. It has a USB port for dumping raw WAV files to the PC for editing later. This unit is great for doing podcast remotely.
These interfaces are pictured below, in order.
Microphones
I have several mics that I have been trying with varying results. As I said, this is a work in progress, this week I will record the 5th show. Right now I am using a MXL-990 Condenser Microphone. I have two of these so Dawngrrl and I can both use one in the studio. I also have a MXL-2001 Condenser Microphone and two Audio Technica PRO 8HEx Headset mics. The last mic in my arsenal is the Digital Reference DR-VX1 Dynamic Microphone. These mics are pictured below in order.
Miscellaneous
There are a few other items I am using to put it all together. I have a Behringer UB502 Mixer to control my studio monitor volume. My studio monitors are KRK Rokit 5 Powered Monitors. I use two different sets of headphones for monitoring. The main ones are AKG K240 Studio Headphones, the secondary two pairs for guests are AKG K-66s. I also have an M-Audio Keystation 49e that I can use to trigger silly sounds that I have set up as samples in Reason 3.0. Altogether this makes one very functional, yet highly capable podcast studio. I am still learning how to get the most of the equipment and software, but you can bet the show is just going to get better and better.
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