[twen]

While recording local audio may be the best quality wise, my show last week featured 2 people on cell phones (Simon because his internet was shitting up a storm, and Matt because he hasn't gotten a mic yet), 2 cases in which local audio would be impossible. I also edit the show ALOT for timing, Pamela gives me audio as clean as Skype can get it.

*shrugs* works for me.

[fettouhi]

I can say that pamela works great and its easy use it if you gonna do skype

[monkeychunkuk]

I can say that pamela works great and its easy use it if you gonna do skype

its ok if your local

Me and chris use skype to chat like "cheapy" says
But as Chris is also in Japan and im in the uk skype recording is out of sync and offers more problems than help.

* We use audacity to record separate mp3s files
* Then i run them through mixcraft to eq the voices a little
* I edit the voice chat and run through levelator to match voice volume
* I then add chat to a new audacity project and add stereo mp3 music
* When it sounds good though headphones i convert into a mp3

We have a few things that hold us back distance being one,
i use a logi tech usb head set and im not sure what Chris uses
,im on pc and he is on a mac so files can be hard to share,convert


At the start we used cheaper headsets and used pamela
but the time it took to edit out bad buzz,crackles and skype lag
it really isnt worth it we got to a better standard of podcast quality
by taking cheapys advice cheers mate.

steve AKA monkeychunkuk

[Tengaport]

question for you Cheapy - do you use a sound queue or tone at the beginning of your recording to sync up the separate audacity files?

just curious

thanks

[hipsterplease]

Great thread, Cheapy! I record a pair of regular podcasts, one for my own site and one of the GeekDad blog at Wired.com, so I'm always interested to hear how other podcasters do their thing. I currently use a Behringer Xenyx 502 mixer and a Kustom DM-910 mic with a hefty metal screen pop filter, but I'm looking to step belatedly into the 20th century and snag a USB recording solution soon.

Audacity really is the shit as far as frugal podcasting goes; I've been using it for years and have really come to love the product. Another freebie that's easy to recommend is Conversion Network's Levelator. I use a ton of music in my show so there's always a lot of dB differences from track to track, and that app autolevels things out pretty well.

And of course you can't talk podcasting without talking Skype. It really is an extremely useful tool for interviews and multi-host recording.

[CheapyD]

i
We have a few things that hold us back distance being one,
i use a logi tech usb head set and im not sure what Chris uses

I think there is a slight delay when recording over USB, so if one of you is using USB and the other is not, that will cause sync problems

question for you Cheapy - do you use a sound queue or tone at the beginning of your recording to sync up the separate audacity files?

Nope, just use my ear.

[MrsBeetlebot]

Hey thanks for those tips Cheapy! My husband and I are wanting to start our own podcast about video games, focusing on the horror genre of games and movies and comics. Any tips would be very appreciated! Keep up the awesome work on the CagCast!

[Friktion321]

So I know this is a pretty old thread, but CheapyD, I was wondering if you could tell us who is hosting your podcasts. Sorry if you've mentioned this before and I missed it.

[repete]

audacity

[CheapyD]

So I know this is a pretty old thread, but CheapyD, I was wondering if you could tell us who is hosting your podcasts. Sorry if you've mentioned this before and I missed it.

http://www.libsyn.com

I'll add that to the OP.

[Jrittmayer]

I have a question, the "CAG's on News" Intro that was used before, was that a remix of the Speed Grapher Theme song?

[CheapyD]

I have a question, the "CAG's on News" Intro that was used before, was that a remix of the Speed Grapher Theme song?

[theytookourjobz]

Trying to record a podcast with 3 people and Skype keeps either crapping out completely, dropping one person, or turning one person into a robot. Help!

[CheapyD]

Trying to record a podcast with 3 people and Skype keeps either crapping out completely, dropping one person, or turning one person into a robot. Help!

Somebody has a lousy internet connection (or connection to their wireless router)

[thetrust]

Hey cheapy, I'm a long time listener and I just had a question about podcast production. What settings do you use in audacity when recording locally? I want to optimise the sound and file size. Also, which file sharing site does wombat use to upload the sound file to you? Thanks and keep up the great podcast.

[Kuroi Kaze]

well i'm not cheapy, but audacity has pretty good options in the export to mp3 dialog so you can set bitrate there. 192 should work for most purposes.

megaupload has been my uploading site of choice.

you can hear the results on GameFaceRadio podcast if you're interested. i'm using a $10 headset to record with.

[thetrust]

well i'm not cheapy, but audacity has pretty good options in the export to mp3 dialog so you can set bitrate there. 192 should work for most purposes.

megaupload has been my uploading site of choice.

you can hear the results on GameFaceRadio podcast if you're interested. i'm using a $10 headset to record with.

thanks for the tips, not cheapy:) I have a specific question kaze: what size files do you upload to megaupload. I've tried 50 mb and 20 mb compressed with winrar, but these take 30-40 min to upload and still end up with errors or failing. Any help would be appreciated. thanks

[Kuroi Kaze]

i've never had issues uploading to MU. my shows are often 2 hours long uncompressed files so i've got to imagine they're near 100mb.

go to speedtest.net and tell me what sort of connection you have.
if you're erroring out to MU, i'm going to go out on a limb and say MU is not the problem.

[LiK]

thanks for this guide, i'm gonna get the same mic you use Cheapy.

[WILTRON]

Thanks for pointing me to this thread during the CAGcast, Cheapy.

I was looking for more general tips rather than hardware and production but I'll keep outlining and high energy in mind. Our listener base is far too small (www.lemediocrity.net _ LeMedcast) to bother with the big boy hardware at this point.

We've been using Skype and Rockband mics across the board and it works remarkably well for a free solution. It may have something to do with our awesome post production guy who removes our awkward silences and failed jokes when necessary while adding sound effects and music where it makes sense. We've had up to 6 people on the show without any serious technical hurdles (dropping audio, crackling, etc...).

We haven't really brought it together as a hosting team yet, but we're working on it. We certainly look to your example (CAGcast as a whole) as something to strive for regarding personality and cohesion in a podcast.

Edited by WILTRON, 20 August 2010 - 04:53 PM.

[Gary21]

For Skype i also record my calls for it useing new prog such as TalkAide for Skype
talkaide .com

[Masker13]

Quick question Cheapy, where do you get all those cool intro's?

[jcdaniluck]

So this is my first time posting something on a forum in a long time. I have been listening to the show for a few weeks now and I love it. I also love the quality of the show and can see how much these guys love the sound quality.

Well i think they should use Tieline equipment. This equipment is meant for radio, and STL. All you need is an internet line and a few XLR cables, plus a few mics and most of all a 3.5 mm audio connect to a female XLR. once you have this you can connect three Tieline codecs to one codec and record, listen and talk to each other. This is a very cheap method of communication for broadcasters.

BTW THE SOUND QUALITY IS PERFECT!!!!!!!!!!

[bmachine]

Very helpful thread...can't believe I never noticed this here before!

Thanks to Cheapy for setting it up and to everyone else for chiming in.

[wrecktum]

I would like to ask this to not only Cheapy, but all other podcasters as well. A friend and I want to start a podcast on the cheap (of course) and found a free podcast hosting site called podbean. I've been a longtime listener of CAGcast and as a result know that Lisbyn seems like a great site to go through, but I was wondering if anyone could tell me if podbean is even worth a shot until we get a decent amount of listeners? Any help would be greatly appreciated, be it from Cheapy or any other friendly CAG!

[Hoarr]

Check it out Cheapy:

You've done gone and inspired me.

[a_bleak_tomorrow]

We recorded our second podcast today. I'm gonna use the stuff your recommended cheapy thanks for posting this guide.

[tcv]

So, I realize this is a shot in the dark, but what the heck....

Cheapy, I purchased the Samson recommended and it's nice. However, I am getting an audible hiss in the recordings. I've tried different software applications and turning down the gains. In fact, if I turn the gains all the way to zero, hit record on Audacity, the hiss is still present.

I have tried the noise reduction filter and that works great in the pauses, but I can still hear it during the recorded speaking.

Do you have any tips?

[shaggyc]

Yeah. You put alit of work into this podcast it shows. Always sounds good. I also listen to pc gamer podcast (might not anymore once ship and cheap get their pcs )) and I wish that sounded as clean and was leveled as well as the cagcast.

[BetaDemo]

Great stuff.  Thanks for the information Cheapy.