Tapeleg Studios

TapelegStudios02

Tapeleg Studios is what I like to call wherever I am podcasting, and whatever I am podcasting with. I tend to take the audio for the podcast pretty seriously. I figure that if you don’t want to listen, the quality of the audio should be no excuse.

Here is a list of gear that currently comprises Tapeleg Studios:

Heil PR40 Microphone – my favorite broadcast quality mic. I like the high-end detail this mic provides.

Rode Procaster – If you want a broadcast mic, but don’t want to spend as much as the RE-20 or PR40, the Procaster is for you. It costs a little more than half the RE-20, and it sounds great. If you want a shock mount for the Procaster, it costs quite a bit less than the PR40 of RE-20 shock mounts.

Electrovoice RE-20 – another broadcast quality mic, as close to an industry standard as you will get. This was my first broadcast mic, bought thanks to previous experience with it, and it’s reputation. It’s a great mic, but costs more than some of the alternatives.

dbx 286a Microphone Processor (the next two pieces of equipment have been rendered obsolite, since I picked up a few of these. Very nice for making the voice sound tight and awesome. Can be overdone, but really, they sound great, for very little money.)

Tascam FireOne (firewire 2 channel interface with transport controls, allows me to hear my guest and monitor my audio)

All of that gear plugs in from the top down. Mic to dbx processor to audio interface to computer. But wait, there’s more:

Popless pop filters (can’t stress this enough, a simple inexpensive piece of gear that will save your recordings) (seriously, if you buy one thing to upgrade your sound, this should be it)

Audio Technica ATHM40 Headphones (for the money, they sound great, and comfortable. I could wear them all day)

Frontier AlphaTrack (I bought this to help control Logic Audio, and it’s great. Bells and whistles, mostly)

Logic Audio (apple software for serious editing, not quite protools. Garageband is fine, but this is better)

Rode NTG-1 shotgun mics (these are going to be used for field work and interviews. You can hear them at work here)

Alesis imultimix 8 (direct recording to an ipod, or use as a usb mixer. This and 3 shotgun mics make up my mobile recording rig for multi guest interviews)

Zoom H2 (pocket flash recorder, and for it’s price and size, surprisingly good quality)

Belkin TuneTalk (stereo mic for recording to ipod. Again, sounds really good for what it is. I carry this everywhere, and can record on the fly)

Things I don’t use as much anymore:
Presonus BlueTube DP (2 channel mic pre, cleaner for voice than the single channel, plus can power an interview mic) This has been replaced with two dbx 286a units, as listed above.

Samson C-com Opti compressor (I’m not using this much now.) (this smooths out the sound, meaning I won’t pop and distort as bad) This has also been replaced with the dbx286a units. It will still come in handy at some point, I’m sure. You can never have too many compressors lying around.

Electrovoice Raven (An inexpensive dynamic mic for voice work. It’s not perfect, and really benefits from using a pop filter, but great for toting around, or as a guest mic)

Mackie U420d Mixer (small mixer with firewire interface, can be found cheap. Will be a phone server mixer at some point, used in episodes 40 & 41)

Here is a poor picture of the studio setup. I’m watching hockey and twittering, rather than recording. I’ll try to get a better one up.

Aside from that, I use tabletop folding stands, star-quad XLR cables (for better noise cancellation), a 15″ MacBook, and a few odds and ends.

I hope this helps. Feel free to use the contact form if you have any questions.

Here are some more pictures of my studio: