I learned this trick while I was working for a theater group. We called this contraption a JerryRig, named after the guy who made it, you see these groups run on a low budget, so you have to think of clever ways to cut corners, including cables.
Although my version is a lot different than his version I think its about the same
You see audio cables in excess of section lengths become really expensive over $60+. So why pay that much for one cable, when you can make one for a lot less, and easily replace it by going to any hardware store or Supermart.

Things you’ll need
Wire Cutters and Strippers
Electrical Tape
2 100ft Orange extension cables
2 3ft 1/4 Stereo audio cables
2 Male electrical plugs
2 Female electrical plugs

To start cut the 2 audio cables in half, you should have 4 peaces of cable with the 1/4 jack at one end and they should be about the same length.
Strip back each wire from the cables and attach the electrical plugs to the cables.
Take note on what wire your connecting the wires to the plug. When I do this I make them as if it was a clock Left prong – Left, Right prong – Right, and the post for the ground.
Tape over the connections and the rest of the exposed cable with electrical tape.
Plug in each of the Jerryrigs to each ends of the extension cables and you have a LONG audio cable for use in live performances.

I’m one of those podcasters that love to dream on the next equipment purchases I’ve got equipment magazines and catalogs allows open some where in the house, and finely I was able to drum up some money to upgrade things I wanted to get for my podcast.
My setup isn’t all that great although when I started podcasting I only had a $10 microphone/headset combo
But today I can say I do have a nice setup, that makes me proud.

Two weeks ago I had used money leftover from a Rebate card from my Cell phone provider and purchased an Behringer MicroAmp HA400 Ultra-Compact 4-Channel Stereo Headphone Amplifier
I was getting fed up with fiddling with the nobs on my mixer to get the right volume between recordings and also wanted something that would split the microphone jack on my Yamaha MG102C Mixer, and If have friends over to podcast they couldn’t hear themselves or others if I was to use skype to bring in other people, Solved with this device.

Lucky for me I had also received a check from when I produced a podcast for the Tech Podcasts Network.
With a little extra money added to the mix, I was able to purchase two more items for my setup the Heil Sound PR-20 Dynamic Hand-Held Studio Microphone and a Desk stand that holds my old microphone a EV Cobalt Co9. Although my old microphone wasn’t that old… I only payed $35 for it, and it was time for me to upgrade to something sounds way better. The funny thing is it fixed a problem with the compressor on my mixer, it now works LOL. In comparing both the microphones, I turned the Mixers Gain and VOL to full, flattened the EQ and turned the compressor off, I couldn’t tell the difference till I turned the Gain and Vol down, the Heil was just a little better, then I turned the compressor on, OMFG I couldn’t hear a thing and I have a fan running about five feet away from the desk, just way cool.
I’m hoping here in the future to purchase a shock mount for the PR-20, a compressor/limiter/gate, new headphones, and just maybe a Heil PR-40

If you liked this blog post, please leave a comment below or tell a friend

A few manufactures make quiet computers, but if you cant afford them you might need to do the work yourself. Weather your PC has just a little noise or like an F-16 while sitting at idle, eliminating the noise is easy and rated from beginner to advanced, but all can be accomplished by you.

99.5% of all noise coming from your computer is fan noise and can be taken care of very easily.
A lot of the noise coming from a computer is due to the heatsink being clogged by dust, hair and cigarettes smoke being sucked into the computer and getting stuck in the heatsink.
What happens is if dust builds up and gets stuck in the heatsink, your computer over heats and the fans try to keep the heatsink cool, and then intern making the fans spin up faster and more often. Not good at all.

Cleaning the fans and heatsinks are very easy to do and does not take that much skill or time do. What you want to do is unplug the cables attached to the computer, including the power and let the computer cool down for about 5-10 min.

(This next step is standard, but does depend on your make and model so check with your manufacture)
Put the case on its side so that the front face is facing right. Take a screw driver and unscrew the screws on the side panel. and slide the panel to the left, once open you might see a lot of dust.

Taking the fans out of the computer is also very easy, just unplug them and unscrew the fans from the CPU’s heatsink, the fan on the back of the computer, and if any, the front fan. After these fans are out remove the dust by taking a vacuum cleaner or a low powered leaf blower to the heatsinks in the computer. Make sure to use the vacuum lightly and without any attachments over the other components and dont blow or suck things out or place. (You dont want to break anything)

While the fans are out of the computer, clean and check the fans to see if they can spin freely, the bigger ones should spin for at least 2 sec or longer, the smaller ones dont spin that long so you want to see is if the fan rocks back and forth when stops spinning. If the fan makes grinding noises while being spun, or doesnt do the prier stuff replace immediately!
If your video card has a fan on its heatsink, remove the card and clean and check the fan.

If you can, take the front face plate off the computer (Take care not to break the clips). Dust likes to accumulate in between the plastic faceplate and the metal case.

Check the screws in your case and its components to make sure that they are hand tight, you would be surprised what comes loose over the years of a computers life.

Doing this steps makes a world of difference to the noise of the computer and you will find that all of the fans are more quiet due to the air flowing freely thought out the computer. A good practice is to clean the dust from a computer every 3-10 months depending on the environment you live in.

If your studio needs to be absolutely quiet or your OCD! You might want to install some accessory’s while the computer is open.

Lining the sides with Sound-absorbing foam such as AcoustiPack™, though it can make your PC run a bit hotter, it turns your PC into an almost-soundproof system.

Newer Hard drives dont make that much noise but can vibrate other parts in the computer so by using a product like the ZALMAN ZM-2HC2 Noise Prevention Heatpipe Hard Drive Cooler that converts the standard 3.5in drive to a 5.25in drive and takes the vibration out
NOTE: If your hard drive does make loud noises look into replacing it with a new one, the bearings in your hard drive might be going bad.

Like before, case fans do cause alot of noise, and choosing replacements are up to you, but there are many fans to choose from and alot are rated for having a low rpm meaning less noise. The down side is they don’t circulate air as well as one that has a standardized rpm. For a look at some quiet fans check outQuietPC.com, they have some great fans to choose from.
Speaking of fans, the same should be said about a cpu fan and heatsink. Keeping a heatsink cool is a key thing that your computer needs, and changing a stock heatsink to something that is more adequate may need to be done. Depending on the make and manufacture of the CPU, you can check out QuietPC.com to see what you may need.
You also may want to check with the manufacture of your computer to see what CPU socket you have a nice google search will work also. (If you are changing the heatsink don’t forget to buy thermal grease)

While you are replacing the fans look into adding gaskets or anti vibration screws to your fans to lower vibrations

After cleaning your computer, you might have noticed that there is this box attached to the case! That is the power supply and it cant be cleaned without taking it apart, WARNING: DO NOT OPEN… YOU MIGHT GET SHOCKED! just vacuum the outside of the case and it should be fine.
Alot of people might argue that the power supply is one of the noisiest components in a computer, and I agree! Having a cheap power supply can cause audio problems such as, buzzing within the recording. Having Quiet and Higher Quality power supply can dramatically reduce the clatter.
When looking for a power supply you want one that has at a minimum of 1 fan that is on the bottom of the unit, rated for ultra low noise, supports the components your going to be plugging into, and the wattage you need.

Other things you might want to look into are North/Southbridge Coolers and RAM Coolers, as well as video coolers and fans, for those who do video.

I hope you enjoyed this article, if you have a correction or just want to add somthing, please leave a comment below
Benjamin Straw

Finding the right PC for podcasting is a big task, you have to think about what you are going to be doing with that PC weather it is Video or Audio. Both can tax a system and cause some headaches. CPU, Ram, Hard Drive, Video Card, Sound Card, and even cooling all falls on the needs of you the user.

When doing the research for my production PC, I looked at big box stores, online dealers, and much more. I wanted it to be as quite is possible, but with cooling in mind and the budget I was working with… that wasn’t possible. I dont like buying computers from big box stores, Why? The little geek in side me screams “DONT BUY IT you do not know what the manufacture put in the machine.” So I turned to Dell.

Dell.com lets you pick from a range of computers and then choose what you want in it, NICE HUH? While still working with the budget, I couldn’t buy the one I wanted, So I turned to a website that deals in… Deals!

TechBargains.com has some sweet deals on New and Refurbished computers, from manufactures like Acer, Dell, HP, and others as well as other technology related products. I found a computer on this website that was $449 from Dell. So a computer that would have cost around $700 only cost me $500 with shipping, now that is some savings… and got the same one I wanted.
Now what should a Podcaster look for in a new podcasting rig?
Well since there are two category’s, Audio and Video your needs may very.

A 1 hour Audio should only take about 15 min to encode to mp3 Vs. A 30 min video that takes 3-4 times longer to encode.
Now here is what you should look for in that rig your buying.

CPU: For Audio an AMD or Intel Duel core or i3 CPU will work great. Video I would go with a Intel Quad core or I7

Ram: Audio and Video anything over 4GB will do the job and do it well.

Hard Drive: The More the better 500Gb – 1TB

Video: To tell you the truth I would get the cheapest… and then go to a website called NewEgg.com and buy a new one, and put it in your self. Manufactures dont really give you a large option of video cards. If your editing just audio the cheapest or the one you get with the pc will work just fine, But Video, get the best you can afford.

Sound: Sound cards are a tricky one, some people tend to buy just the basic, and some upgrade, I would if you can afford it.

Other things: Everything else is an option, one thing I would do is have the manufacture take all the software that they install off, like anti virus programs, or any other programs that might tax the system when you go to hook it up.

If your looking for that computer that doesn’t make a sound, and is built for what your wanting to do, check out the computers that Rain Recording manufactures. They make some NICE computers for both Audio and Video production.

If you have any comments, questions or anything else, Please leave it below.

Battling noises might just be the hardest thing a podcaster deals with, I my self live about a mile from a private Airport and am inline with the planes that love to play touch and go (A fake landing).
Among the noise coming from TV’s, fans and surprise guests, they like to play a key roll in my podcasts, in this blog post I will tell you how to lower/eliminate noise that is being picked up in your recordings.

1 The first line off defense is your microphone, their are 3 types of microphones out there that we need to cover, Condenser, Dynamic, and Ribbon microphones.
Most podcasters cant afford ribbon mics due to the fact that the price tag ranges around $900+, so I’m only going to use the other two (Condenser and Dynamic).

Condenser Microphones
Condenser Microphones are almost as common as the cold, and when it comes to picking up noise Condenser microphones are the worst. Condenser microphones are used in a lot of consumer products, from a cellphones, Webcam Microphones, and the cheap $10 headset/microphone combos. Condenser’s love to pick up everything, Why?

Condenser microphones capture sound using a conductive diaphragm with a capacitance charged plate behind it. The charge is supplied by a DC voltage source from a battery or from the 48 volt ‘phantom power’ supply present in most mixers and mic preamps. Air pressure changes meeting the conductive diaphragm cause it to move, which causes an analogous AC voltage to be formed in the charged plate. These tiny AC voltages are sent to a tiny preamp built into the microphone, which brings the signal level up to where it can drive a typical microphone preamp. This is why a Condenser microphone picks up ALOT of noise.
So the trick with this type of microphone is to turn the volume down, buy a pop filter, and talk closer into the mic.
This will eliminate about 75% of all noise.
I have a friend that owns a CAD GTX2200 Condenser Microphone, Not a bad mic, he sounds great on it, but the problem is not the mic, it is the phone and bird about 20 feet away. By doing this it eliminated the phone and took the volume of the bird so low, we where able to record a distant podcast with out the recording being pegged when the bird talks.

Dynamic Microphones
Thank you god! Dynamic microphones do not have problems like condensers. Why? well Dynamic mics use a ‘moving coil’ to sense the changes in air pressure that makes sound waves. The wire coil is connected to a thin diaphragm, and the whole assembly is suspended over a permanent magnet. When moving air hits the diaphragm it causes the coil to move over the magnet, which causes a process called electromagnetic induction to take place. This causes an AC voltage to be formed that is an electrical ‘analogy’ of the original sound and lowering the noise being sent. This is why you have to what we call eat the microphone for your self to be heard.
although a fan or a loud noise can be picked up from this type for microphone its a lot less then Condensers

2 The second line of defense is a mixer. A normal mixer Has a Gain, High, Mid, Low and Vol nobs or sliders.
the first is gain when dealing with noise you will be dealing with this and the vol. you want to dial this in to where you dont hear any noise, but sill can record at a decent volume.
High, Mid, and Low are freq for your voice Highs tend to bring in some noise and give your voice some warmth, Mids tend to just stick around, unless you have a bass voice. And then you have Low… Low is what you would expect from the word, the low end of your voice, If you want a bassy voice but you sound like a chipmunk, the low nob should help you out.

3 Among all the great hardware that helps someone to eliminate noise is is the third line of defense a Gate/Limiter/Compressor. What the gate does is keeps the microphone off until it hears a signal at the level you have set, Limiters do as what the name describes Limits the ammout of audio, and Compressors keeps the volume at a consent level as to not clip or peek the recording/performance. The Cheaper ones you can buy only come with Compressor/Limiter and or a Gate, but you can be purchased with all three.

4 The forth line of defense is you, Take the time and close the windows, turn off the fans, give the kids $10 for the Ice Cream Man/Lady, lock the dog up, memorize the train schedule, etc. Things are going to happen, and that is why God made a pause button.

As a word of advice the closer the better, is to reduce background noise .

Have something to add?, Please leave a comment below.

Record Skype Using Hardware – Mixer Mix Minus

A Mix Minus is one of the best sounding and I think the easiest way to record Skype, Most software available cuts the guest off when the host starts talking, this can make for a bad mix within the recording, especially if you argue a lot with your co host.  I’ve listened to a lot of podcasts and believe me its bad.
Setting up a mix minus is fairly easy, I’m going to start with what you will need to start off with

1. 1: Computer able to run Skype and record using the mic and line-in
2. Opt; External Recorder such as the Edirol R-09HR WAVE/MP3 Recorder.
3. Opr; Griffin iMic 2 USB Sound Card.
4. 1: Mixer with at least 1 AUX Send
5. XLR Microphone W/ XLR to XLR Cable
6. 2: Phone(has two mono 1/4 cables at one end) to 3.5mm Cables
7. 1: 1/4 to 3.5mm Cable

Take a look at this image below of the mixer I own a Yamaha MG102C Stereo Mixer (10 Inputs) and you will see the highlighted parts you will want to plug into on the mixer.

First take your Phones to 3.5mm cable and connect the 3.5mm end the speaker output and connect the Phone end to Line of Mic 5/6 (This could be any line input, To find out what inputs you can use by reading the manual that came with your mixer)

 
 
 
 
 
 
Turn the AUX nob up for the Mic channel you choose for your XLR Microphone (half should suffice, Skype will adjust the volume as needed )

If you want to record multi track you can by using the Pan nob to do this. (have you on the right and the guest on the left) This makes it a lot easier to edit out a cough, dog barking, or a plane flying over head (all of which I have problems with, mainly air planes. I think they know when I’m going to record a podcast and do it to piss me off).

Next take the other Phone to 3.5mm cable and connect the 3.5mm end to the Mic port of your computer, or if you are using an external recorder such as a Edirol R-09HR WAVE/MP3 Recorder, Plug the 3.5mm end into it. Then connect the Phone ends to the stereo out (also called speaker out) on your mixer

Once done with that all you have next is one more cable Connect the 3.5mm end to the Line-in port on your soundcard and connect the 1/4 to the AUX port on your mixer.
If you dont have a line-in jack on your computer, than you must be using a laptop, If you are you will need to purchase a USB Sound card. I recommend buying a Griffin iMic 2 USB Sound Card. they are the most reliable and the smallest USB sound card out their.

Next I will tell you How to set up Skype to use the newly configured Mix Minus Setup