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Check Check – is this thing on?
Christy Pritchard & Matt Cundill
March 05, 2024
Table of Contents
Check Check… Is This Thing On?
Last Monday, I might have had a small tantrum when it came to recording podcasts. On 4 separate occasions, I found myself in podcasts where mics did not work, weren’t hooked up or just plain sucked. I am not sure why people don’t check to see if the mic is on or not – it is as simple as tapping it and asking someone on the call – is this thing on?
Podcast recording culprits for shit audio this week so far. Airpods, Safari Browsers, wired headphones with a mic scrapping against a shirt, the Blue Yeti microphone, and hosts who plug their mic in and assume their computer cares that it is there. And that was Monday.
— Matt Cundill | Voiceover | Podcasting (@MattCundill)
3:14 PM • Feb 27, 2024
So why does this happen so often? Allow me to break down my favourite reasons.
You don’t like the way the wires and mic look on your desk so you stash it away into a drawer: Microphones are not necessarily “plug and play”. Even if you plug it in, your computer might sense it is there, but it is still not active.
Your recording software doesn’t know that it is there: Does Zoom, Squadcast, Riverside or what ever you are using to record, know that it is there? Check the settings to see that the mic you are using is active.
Your Mic Sucks: If you are using a Blue Yeti – go get a new microphone.
If there is crackling in your recording, you could have a bad cable.
Airpods: Just don’t. Bluetooth items that are going through your computer will likely interfere with the recording and make unwanted sounds.
Wireless anything. Don’t. No Bose Headphones… also you should not be using noise cancelling headphones if you are recording – you want the ability to hear everything in it’s purest form. (How are you going to know if there is echo is your headphones are cancelling the echo?)
Podcasting is hard enough… take a few minutes to make sure your set up working before you waste 90 minutes with a stellar guest and have it suck.
Free Jingles, Imaging ID’s for your podcast.
The Podcasting 2.0 initiative is a way to move podcasting into the future with a number of new features and tags. If your podcast can received satoshis and “boosts” through some of those apps, why not let your listeners know? You can download them here.
Join Us the Afternoon
The Podcast Superfriends are Jon Gay, Catherine O’Brien, David Yas, Johnny Podcasts and myself. Today at 5pm Eastern we are going to be discussing Stand Out Clips! Live on Sound Off Media Facebook, YouTube and Twitter (X) page.
Best Thing I Heard This Week…
I want to introduce you to the cash kid – this is a podcast designed to teach kids, tweens and teens how to become financially savvy and understand a things about money.
This is something that I wish my gen z kids had listened to… today they’re in their 20’s and over-purchasing 5 dollar coffees and using doordash and uber eats instead of … you know…. saving 20% and picking it up themselves. Or saving even more and making a meal at home, but those are my parental mistakes.
Financial literacy is a more of a mystery than ever before. Thankfully there is a podcast to show us the way.
Latest Show Info
Podcast Superfriends. Stand Out Clips! Live on our Facebook, YouTube and Twitter Tuesday at 5 Eastern.
By the way – if you just love our voices – you can hire us to say nice things about your product, or show. Matt & Mary Anns Links below!
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