I thought this would be a good time to update the info on this site about my podcasting rig.

I’m currently using a Rode Procaster Broadcast Dynamic Vocal Microphone. I’d been wanting to get a really nice mic, and was fortunate enough to meet podcasting magnate Adam Curry at a party last year. Adam recommended the Procaster. I must say — I love it. It gives a nice, rich sound. I use it with a shock mount on a swing arm. So thanks, Adam, for the recommendation.

I’m running the Procaster into an Alesis Multimix 8 USB mixing board, which I frankly am not crazy about. The problem is that the USB out on the mixer does not supply enough volume, and you have to jack the gain and all the levels way up to get enough signal into the computer, which of course sounds like shit.  Luckily, the 2007 Mac Mini I use for editing, and my 2006 13″ Macbook, have a normal audio-in/mic port, so I can go from Main Mix Out of the Mixer into the Audio-In on the computers, and not even use the mixer’s USB port. The good old analog connection supplies plenty of volume with a nice clean signal. No gain noise. No weird hum from the USB port.

When I have people in my little studio for interviews, I use the Audix OM2 Dynamic Vocal Microphone, plugged into the mixer for my guests to use. These are great mics, meant for performance, so they don’t pic up much handing noise. They give a nice rich sound for my guests.

For recording the Freestyle Podcast, I use an application called Audio Hijack Pro to capture my Skype conversation with my partner in England, usually running on the old 2006 Macbook. So the mixer is plugged into that machine. For editing I use Garageband on the Mac Mini, and I also use the Mac Mini for solo podcasting, recording directly into Garageband.

My partner on the Freestyle Podcast uses the Audio Technica AT2020 USB condenser mic. This is a great option for getting into podcasting for a low cost. It’s a fantastic microphone, and a very reasonable price, and since it’s a USB mic you don’t have to worry about mixers and the other expenses.