I have a question for Mr. Payton

[ThnJonWasAZmbie]

What kind of recording device were you using at fear the con this year?  My friend is starting a podcast and I've been tasked with finding a microphone for him.

[Setherick]

Double check with Ross, but about the only thing he uses is a Zoom H2. Seriously, search for Zoom H2 in the search bar and see how many times it appears in the forums.

[Mckma]

Double check with Ross, but about the only thing he uses is a Zoom H2. Seriously, search for Zoom H2 in the search bar and see how many times it appears in the forums.

At one point I seem to recall him saying he did something different for the actual episodes (with he and Tom, and guests, because there was passing/redirecting of mics), but I could be completely wrong too...

[Setherick]

Double check with Ross, but about the only thing he uses is a Zoom H2. Seriously, search for Zoom H2 in the search bar and see how many times it appears in the forums.

At one point I seem to recall him saying he did something different for the actual episodes (with he and Tom, and guests, because there was passing/redirecting of mics), but I could be completely wrong too...

I'm not sure what he uses for the Podcast anymore, but at Fear the Con, which was what was asked about, I'm sure he used the Zoom H2.

[ThnJonWasAZmbie]

Thank you guys!

[Patrick]

The reviews on the Zoom H2 are generally pretty positive.

I use the Olympus LS-10 to record all of my game sessions. It's a really nice device, but it costs a pretty decent chunk of change. I like the fact that it feels "armored" in the sense that it is pretty much all aluminum construction.

I took a long, hard look at the Zoom unit, because of it's impressive accessory selection (they pretty much set you up with everything you need to get up and running in most conditions), but decided against it because I wanted to preserve higher quality audio (my recorder is actually part of a family history project I'm putting together) and the Olympus unit lets me record in high quality (crazy huge 8GB files) PCM stereo.

I think the Zoom does a really good job of recording Ross's sessions and if you're not looking to spend huge money, the Zoom (at just under 200 bucks at Best Buy, even cheaper on Amazon) is a good deal.

Hope this helps Johnny!

[ThnJonWasAZmbie]

Thank you very much Patrick!  I found this to be most informative!

[clockworkjoe]

Double check with Ross, but about the only thing he uses is a Zoom H2. Seriously, search for Zoom H2 in the search bar and see how many times it appears in the forums.

At one point I seem to recall him saying he did something different for the actual episodes (with he and Tom, and guests, because there was passing/redirecting of mics), but I could be completely wrong too...

yes I use a different setup (more studioish than just a digital recorder) for the episodes, fanfic readings and so forth.

I use:

2 Shure M57 mics with pop screens
a tascam US-122l audio interface
garageband 09

[Patrick]

Ross do you use an interface "board" because your Shure mics use an XLR (I think it's XLR) connector?

I'm torn between getting a USB interface board that I could then plug multiple mics into or a USB condenser microphone (like the blue snowball omni-directional mic). Either option should give me the ability to record audio straight to my laptop and edit later using garage band or audacity...

[clockworkjoe]

oh I also use an audiobuddy mic preamp

anyway

main reason I use the tascam is so I can record 2 tracks simultaneously - I can edit my voice and Tom's differently.

[Kroack]

because Ross' voice is silky smooth and Tom's voice sounds like a dieing cat.

We wuv you ross.

[Patrick]

Okay, yeah, now I understand why you would want two separate tracks for voice...

[Patrick]

Ross, I'm just wondering why you have a separate pre-amp for your Shure mics, doesn't your Tascam unit have built-in gain controls for each channel?

It was my impression that using a discrete pre-amp will add "line noise" to your recordings...

I'm interested in building a relatively inexpensive "studio" style recording set-up around my macbook for my friday night games, hence my curiosity about your set-up...

[clockworkjoe]

tascam preamp isn't very powerful - with the audiobuddy I can boost the levels to where they need to go

a preamp does add a tiny bit of noise but it's lost when you encode to mp3 - have you ever heard it on an rppr episode?

I only use the studio setup for episodes and radio play stuff - Actual plays are with the zoom h2.

I know the bear swarm guys has an elaborate setup with 6 mics and a mixing board but I don't have the money for that.

[Patrick]

That's why I was asking about the pre-amp in your set-up, it's because your audio is so clean. I was thinking you did a bit of post-processing to clean up your recordings. I know the MP3 conversion process will remove a lot of digital information when compressing the original .wav file or (if you're down sampling a 320kbps MP3 file into say a 64/96kbps file) and that definitely helps with the noise.

Anyway, thanks for the info Ross.