Got an audio file and an Internet connection? That (plus a bit of know-how) is all it takes to create a global "radio" show, or podcast. Here at O'Reilly, we produce a number of podcasts:

• Audio Topics (Digital Media Insider Podcasts)
• Photography Topics (Aperture, Lightroom, and more)
• More (FOO Casts, Make magazine, podcasting resources)

We're always getting inspiration from others we hear as well. Some of my favorites are Echoes, The Writer's Almanac, This American Life, and Space Music.

Which podcasts do you enjoy? And what advice do you have for other podcasters?

This tip isn't just for podcasters; I was running a voiceover session the other day and saw once again how helpful it is to be able to hear what your mic hears as you're recording. With some mics (especially dynamic ones), small changes in mouth position can make a big difference in the sound. Other mics are highly sensitive to plosives, the bursts of air inexperienced speakers make when forming letters like P and B. If you're monitoring with headphones as you record (and the level is high enough), you can hear these mistakes and redo the line.

The challenge comes when recording into a computer — say, with a USB microphone — because there's a short, annoying delay, or latency, while the system converts the sound from analog to digital. Better USB mics and audio interfaces have a function called zero-latency monitoring that routes a copy of the pre-digital analog signal to a headphone jack so you can hear yourself in real time.

Both the Rode Podcaster and SE Electronics USB2200a mics I've used on Digital Media Insider have zero-latency headphone jacks built in. Samson makes one as well, the G-Track. After working this way, I wouldn't even consider using a USB mic without that feature.

David, thanks for pointing out the delay issue. I was considering buying a podcast mic and hadn't considered the delay factor - however now thinking about it, it makes sense as minimizing delay is always a consideration when recording MIDI sequences as well.

Instead of getting a mic this time though, I bought a digital recorder which I planned to use as a poor-man's substitute for a USB mic. Certainly its not as convenient though, as there is the extra step of moving the data from the recorder to the computer (although I can live with that for now). So this may be an alternative others on a budget might want to possibly consider too.

However, when I was searching for a USB mic, I found it very hard to compare differences between the various models. Everyone seems to be making USB mics these days but how do they sound? I wonder if there is a site that compares the various different models? And as you say, if you move even slightly, the sound can change drastically so slightly different setup conditions could color comparisons. The Blue Snowball and Snowflake USB Mics (that I had my eye on) looked so cute though, I could almost live with any audio compromises! Any experience with these? Or do you know if these have zero latency? (scanning quickly, I didn't see any mention of this in the manual).

Also, another point I noticed is that the mics I mentioned above only record at 16-bit/44.1kHz. These days, I've generally been recording audio at 24-bits for the extra headroom so I don't have to worry about using a compressor on the front end as I always used to do when recording in 16-bits. I wonder if any of the contenders in the current hot-list of USB mics record in 24-bits?

And despite all of these technical geeky details, I just want to remind everyone not to forget that its all really more about content than specs. If its a fun enjoyable podcast, I don't really care how it sounds!

Actually, the voiceover session I mentioned above used a standalone digital recorder, the Zoom H2, which has a zero-latency headphone jack. I was listening through headphones as the inexperienced actor recorded, and realized her performance would be much better if she could hear herself as well. So I added a splitter to the headphone jack and plugged two sets of phones into it — one for me and one for her. Unfortunately, her phones were quieter, so she heard only half of the problems I did. That's why I said "loud enough" above.


Electronic Musician did a nice roundup a year ago, though it didn't include the SE mic. I've been meaning to upload some recordings I made with a friend to compare the Rode and SE; stay tuned.


We just got a Snowflake in for review; stay tuned on that as well. Unless they have built-in headphone jacks, though, I don't see how they could have zero latency.


MXL supposedly has one on the way, the USB.009-24. Centrance offers the clever MicPort Pro, a thumb-size preamp and 24-bit audio interface that inserts between a normal mic and a USB jack.


True, though I have run a few through Izotope RX and Ozone to clean them up for extended listening or burning to CD!

Yes, that makes good sense.

So despite the attractiveness of the USB mics, it seems to me the Centrance MicPort Pro you mentioned would allow the most versatility and best performance as you'd get 24-bits, a mic of your choice, and zero-latency headphone monitoring.

Thanks for the insights,

Greg

I did some more reading on the MicPort Pro, and it did seem good, so I requested a review unit. That just arrived. It seems to be solidly constructed, with a metal housing and nifty glowing tip (see photo).

 micport_pro_glow.jpg ( 19.24K ) Number of downloads: 3


The MicPort also functions as a clean-sounding USB audio interface; I'm using it to listen to Space Music as I type this. I'll try to record my voiceover though it on next week's Digital Media Insider podcast.

Sweet!

It would be nice to also see a dream list of mics that one might use with it to go beyond the typical podcast mic. For example, what are some of the famous mics that radio broadcasters use?

Or more to the point, what mic will make me sound like Don Fontaine?

Cool link! It's always fun to see a video of someone whose voice you know well — though it's weird, too, like when I saw Jim Henson and realized his normal voice was almost the same as Kermit the Frog's.

My impression is that most voiceover actors use Neumann and AKG tube mics, though the EV RE-20 is the cliche in radio. Massive compression and proximity help, too.