Budget Audio Gear: Bargains or Bollocks?|The Pro Audio SUite

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(Transcribed by TurboScribe.ai. Go Unlimited to remove this message.) Y'all ready to be history?

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Get started.

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Welcome.

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Hi.

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Hi.

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Hi.

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Hello, everyone.

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To the Pro Audio Suite.

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These guys are professional, they're motivated.

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With Tech the VO stars, George Witton, founder

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of Source Elements, Robert Marshall, international audio engineer,

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Darren Robbo-Robertson, and global voice, Andrew Peters.

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Thanks to Tribooth, Austrian Audio, Making Passion Heard,

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Source Elements, George the Tech Witton, and Robbo

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and AP's international demos.

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To find out more about us, check theproaudiosuite

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.com.

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Line up, man.

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Here we go.

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And welcome to another Pro Audio Suite, thanks

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to Tribooth.

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Don't forget the code, T-R-I-P

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-A-P-200, to get $200 off your

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Tribooth.

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And Austrian Audio, Making Passion Heard.

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We're talking about budget gear, because historically, budget

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gear was always pretty average.

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But has it improved?

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I think so.

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Let's discuss.

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I'd say yes.

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Yeah.

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I would totally add.

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You know, the original Rode NT1 was made

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of plastic.

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Oh, I didn't know that.

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Mm-hmm.

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Yeah.

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I did not know that.

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That's funny, because I always thought the Rodes

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were, like, made very robust.

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If I type in eBay, do I type

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in plastic Rode NT1?

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Will it come up?

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It could.

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It may.

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It just may do that.

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Yeah.

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And, in fact, the weird thing is, they've

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actually become collectible.

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Well, that's what I was thinking, like, if

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you had one of those, that sounds like

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it's relatively not common.

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That one sounds even more like a 460.

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Look at me now.

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There you go.

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Look at that.

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Yeah.

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That's a fifth gen.

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That's the fifth gen, exactly.

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Oh, you have a fifth gen now?

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Yeah.

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Well, I've had it for a while, thank

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you, Rode.

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But do you know what's missing on that

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box?

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And I'm going to tell Rode right now,

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if anybody's watching, you know what's missing on

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the box?

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A picture of a person standing in front

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of the correct side of the microphone.

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Oh, okay.

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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You're supposed to talk into the top of

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it, right?

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Yeah, I can kind of see that.

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People get it wrong all the time, all

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the time.

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Definitely.

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Because they talk to the logo.

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We used to have a mic in the

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voiceover booth for all the video editors, and

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we had a picture next to the mic

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with arrows showing where to speak into it,

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and they would constantly talk into the top

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of this side address mic.

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No matter...

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Yeah.

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You can't even...

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Just pictures, like, no words.

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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I know, it's off topic, but this is

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a big problem.

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It's like, when you sell a product, make

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it painfully obvious.

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If it's an entry-level price point product,

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pretend in your mind's eye that there's actors

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that are beginners or podcasters who are beginners

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buying your beginner priced product and put a

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picture on the box.

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Don't assume.

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Don't assume.

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Because we're all engineers.

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We get it.

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But typical users, it's not so obvious.

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Yeah.

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It's interesting how, yeah, like we're saying, yeah,

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technology has come a long way, but the

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user side of things, their knowledge hasn't really

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come a long way.

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Like the amount of voiceover artists who you

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see with poor mic technique and those sort

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of things still sort of wows me.

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It goes back to the same thing, where

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you could give a good engineer just a

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pile of SM57s, and you can give somebody

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else all the gear they want, and that

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engineer who knows where to put the mics

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and how to set the gain and everything,

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they're going to get a better drum sound

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than someone who has whatever they want, because

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it's not the gear, it's the voice talent.

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Well, look at the Beatles, you know, four

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tracks and a few microphones.

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Yeah.

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The only thing I can see that would

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be an issue is entry-level stuff is

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headphones.

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That's the only thing you kind of go,

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oh, no, because you're just not hearing properly.

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Cheap headphones are still cheap headphones, I think

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you're right.

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Not that I use a lot of them.

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Thank you.

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It's funny how cheap mics have gotten better

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than cheap headphones.

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Yeah.

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Yeah, I agree with that, yeah.

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And there's an entry point on headphones that

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you really almost never can drop below, and

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that's around $100.

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$100, yeah.

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The $30 headphones sound like $30 headphones.

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Yep.

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Yeah, I mean, there's some exceptions.

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I know people like the Cosporta Pro, which

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are the, they look like 80s Walkman headphones,

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you know, with the little foam, you know,

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and they sound really good, you know.

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But those are outliers and they're not studio

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cans.

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If you want proper studio cans that fully

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encase your ear, enclose your ear, you know,

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not on ear, but around the ear, circumoral,

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you know, it's, the cheaper ones, they can

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sound okay, but they're crackly, the plastic is

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cheap, you move and they creak.

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There's just so many issues with the build

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quality.

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So it's hard to get something better than,

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or under that.

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And I think even the response, like usually

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in the high end and the clarity, the

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low end, they're just not really as flat

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and as wide response.

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They tend to have a more peaky kind

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of thing going on.

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Yeah, well, case in point, the Austrian Audios.

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I'm still rocking these, at least the 15s,

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is that the entry level can from them?

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Yeah.

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And I think they're pretty great.

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Well, the 20s came out, right?

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And they're just a little more expensive.

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But they have an extended top and an

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extended bottom.

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Not without sounding in any weird, weird colored,

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not sounding exaggerated.

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They just have a little bit more of

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both ends of the spectrum, you know, and

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that little extra price is going to give

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you that.

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So there are things you may miss out

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on if you don't pay a little bit

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more.

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Yeah.

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Well, then there's the interfaces too.

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I mean, Andrew's, and you've downgraded in the

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last couple of months, not, sorry, I shouldn't

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say downgraded.

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You've reduced the size of your interfaces.

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I mean, the SSL2 is an amazing interface,

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but half the size of what you used

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to have and what, half the price probably?

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Yeah, well, I've actually moved the SSL2 out

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now.

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Well, you're still using the Audient, right?

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I've got the Audient for all the big

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stuff.

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Yeah.

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And then for the laptop, I use the

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Passport, which I used to have the SSL2.

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And I think what people don't realize a

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lot about this gear is like, let's take

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for example, converters.

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If the company is not making their own

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converters, which very few companies are, then really

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they're using converters that are built on a

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chip, typically from like, there's a company called

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AKM that makes most of the converters.

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So your cheap Behringer gear has the same

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converter as some of your really expensive gear.

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And unless you really fuck up the analog

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side or the power supply, you're going to

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get the same sound, because it's the same

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chip.

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Like, give it five volts of electricity, give

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it the audio from the input, and all

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this gear is using the same little tiny

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chips and the mic preamps, the same thing.

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Whatever it is, like I'm going to get

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these wrong, but like the 72, I forget

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the chip numbers, but there's a few chips

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that are mic preamps on a chip.

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And again, you just implement it properly, which

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half the time when you buy the chips,

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the manufacturers give you an example of how

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to make a mic preamp on it, and

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half these things will use the same implementation

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of, there's a mic preamp.

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Yeah.

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I mean, part of that's just because of

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the way China flaunts intellectual property, right?

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So the same exact circuitry is being replicated

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and used over and over.

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And usually what happens is the cream floats

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to the top.

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So they're going to use the circuits that

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people like the most, you know, because they

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can do it so cheaply.

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And I think that's another reason.

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But I'll argue to say too that the

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low-end audio interfaces that people like are

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not getting cheaper.

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They're actually getting more expensive.

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Let's take the Focusrite Scarlett Solo and the

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2i2, for example.

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They've gotten more expensive because they're feature creeping

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them now.

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They're adding more functionality.

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They're adding auto input gain level control and,

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you know, other functions that were never there

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before.

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So it's interesting to see there isn't that

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$100 audio interface that you can really go

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for anymore.

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Now it's $160, $170.

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Well, no, but there is that $100 audio

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interface.

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I mean, have you spent any time on

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Amazon looking at some of the cheap gear

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that's out there?

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No, I know.

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But I mean, these are offspin brands, not

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the big leaders.

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They're all offspin brands and they all make

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their interfaces with red and they make them

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look like a Scarlett and all that other

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stuff.

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But again, they're probably just same chips.

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They do sometimes luck into a good product.

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Let me get something.

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OK.

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Yeah, there's a microphone called the Stellar X2

277
00:08:49,900 --> 00:08:53,380
and they just kind of lucked into getting

278
00:08:53,380 --> 00:08:56,520
a decent sounding $200 mic and now that

279
00:08:56,520 --> 00:08:59,940
microphone is extremely popular and people will go

280
00:08:59,940 --> 00:09:02,320
buy that mic that have a better mic

281
00:09:02,320 --> 00:09:04,740
because they heard that this mic is so

282
00:09:04,740 --> 00:09:06,920
good, which is the weirdest thing.

283
00:09:07,100 --> 00:09:10,600
People are buying cheaper mics to supplement their

284
00:09:10,600 --> 00:09:12,960
better mics and I'm like, I don't get

285
00:09:12,960 --> 00:09:13,440
it at all.

286
00:09:13,440 --> 00:09:14,960
Because they want to travel with a cheap

287
00:09:14,960 --> 00:09:16,220
mic or they don't want to worry about

288
00:09:16,220 --> 00:09:16,820
it.

289
00:09:17,340 --> 00:09:18,240
But well, that's some of it.

290
00:09:18,300 --> 00:09:20,240
But it's also that they just heard it's

291
00:09:20,240 --> 00:09:20,780
a good mic.

292
00:09:20,840 --> 00:09:22,540
So they went and bought it with no

293
00:09:22,540 --> 00:09:24,900
real thought about why they bought it.

294
00:09:24,920 --> 00:09:25,480
Well, OK.

295
00:09:25,540 --> 00:09:26,980
So I've been trying to figure out like

296
00:09:26,980 --> 00:09:29,420
Sage is doing music composition and she's now

297
00:09:29,420 --> 00:09:32,440
in the position where she's got a whole,

298
00:09:32,980 --> 00:09:35,340
practically a whole orchestra working on an arrangement

299
00:09:35,340 --> 00:09:36,020
that she did.

300
00:09:36,180 --> 00:09:37,380
And I'm like, record that.

301
00:09:37,420 --> 00:09:39,100
And she's like too bothered to record it.

302
00:09:39,180 --> 00:09:40,040
So I'm trying to figure out how to

303
00:09:40,040 --> 00:09:41,220
get it easy for her to record.

304
00:09:41,680 --> 00:09:42,260
I'm on Amazon.

305
00:09:42,260 --> 00:09:42,560
Yeah.

306
00:09:43,080 --> 00:09:45,900
Notice here, USB-C cable, right?

307
00:09:46,100 --> 00:09:46,260
Yeah.

308
00:09:46,420 --> 00:09:47,460
Two XLRs.

309
00:09:47,660 --> 00:09:48,120
No way.

310
00:09:48,120 --> 00:09:48,320
30 bucks.

311
00:09:48,320 --> 00:09:49,140
You make that now?

312
00:09:49,360 --> 00:09:50,800
30 fucking dollars.

313
00:09:51,140 --> 00:09:54,920
And this thing will sample at 384, 384

314
00:09:54,920 --> 00:09:55,580
kilohertz.

315
00:09:55,800 --> 00:09:56,200
Wow.

316
00:09:56,460 --> 00:10:01,360
24 bit, 384 XLR cable for $30.

317
00:10:02,460 --> 00:10:02,880
No phantom.

318
00:10:03,420 --> 00:10:04,340
This is line input.

319
00:10:05,380 --> 00:10:05,620
Yeah.

320
00:10:05,680 --> 00:10:06,420
Most of those are.

321
00:10:06,800 --> 00:10:08,180
Oh, it's a line input.

322
00:10:08,300 --> 00:10:08,540
OK.

323
00:10:08,540 --> 00:10:11,120
So it's a pair of balanced line ins

324
00:10:11,120 --> 00:10:14,220
at super high sample rate into USB-C

325
00:10:14,220 --> 00:10:14,980
for $30.

326
00:10:15,800 --> 00:10:17,120
Just jam it into your phone.

327
00:10:17,800 --> 00:10:18,020
Yeah.

328
00:10:18,180 --> 00:10:18,880
Just jam it in there.

329
00:10:19,320 --> 00:10:20,280
I would love to have that.

330
00:10:20,660 --> 00:10:21,140
Yeah.

331
00:10:21,580 --> 00:10:23,040
Even if it doesn't fit, jam it.

332
00:10:23,040 --> 00:10:24,460
Even if you've got a lightning port, just

333
00:10:24,460 --> 00:10:26,220
jam the USB-C in there and you'll

334
00:10:26,220 --> 00:10:26,920
be right, mate.

335
00:10:27,200 --> 00:10:31,060
Well, no, you get a little $10 USB

336
00:10:31,060 --> 00:10:33,520
-C to lightning adapter and there you go.

337
00:10:34,420 --> 00:10:36,820
It doesn't use enough juice, so it doesn't

338
00:10:36,820 --> 00:10:38,600
even need a power adapter.

339
00:10:39,800 --> 00:10:39,920
Yep.

340
00:10:41,220 --> 00:10:41,700
Yep.

341
00:10:42,080 --> 00:10:44,240
And I'm trying to still figure out exactly

342
00:10:44,240 --> 00:10:45,800
what preamp I set her up with, but

343
00:10:45,800 --> 00:10:46,020
yeah.

344
00:10:46,960 --> 00:10:47,320
Yeah.

345
00:10:47,400 --> 00:10:48,640
I mean, some of it is just that

346
00:10:48,640 --> 00:10:53,740
there's just a race to supply these problem

347
00:10:53,740 --> 00:10:54,600
solver things.

348
00:10:55,300 --> 00:10:56,380
And that's cool.

349
00:10:56,640 --> 00:10:59,040
If that cable you held up was made

350
00:10:59,040 --> 00:11:01,680
by Sennheiser, there would be $100.

351
00:11:01,680 --> 00:11:02,280
It'd be $200.

352
00:11:02,280 --> 00:11:03,060
$200, right.

353
00:11:03,600 --> 00:11:03,920
Yeah, exactly.

354
00:11:03,920 --> 00:11:05,060
Yeah, $200, yeah.

355
00:11:05,820 --> 00:11:07,620
But it doesn't need to be made by

356
00:11:07,620 --> 00:11:10,820
Sennheiser because they're so good now at making

357
00:11:10,820 --> 00:11:12,440
things like this in China.

358
00:11:12,600 --> 00:11:14,760
Now does it have Neutrik connectors on it?

359
00:11:15,160 --> 00:11:16,520
They're probably Neutrik ripoffs.

360
00:11:16,780 --> 00:11:17,840
They're not quite Neutrik.

361
00:11:17,920 --> 00:11:18,380
That's what I mean.

362
00:11:18,580 --> 00:11:19,500
They're not Neutrik.

363
00:11:19,780 --> 00:11:21,640
Because a Neutrik connector, each one's $10.

364
00:11:22,560 --> 00:11:23,040
Yeah.

365
00:11:23,320 --> 00:11:24,120
But check this out.

366
00:11:24,760 --> 00:11:26,520
How can you do anything differently?

367
00:11:26,740 --> 00:11:28,280
There's the business end of it.

368
00:11:28,920 --> 00:11:30,180
The only thing that's in there is a

369
00:11:30,180 --> 00:11:30,540
chip.

370
00:11:30,960 --> 00:11:33,320
Like one fricking chip is about all you

371
00:11:33,320 --> 00:11:34,260
have room for in there.

372
00:11:35,200 --> 00:11:37,240
They just hooked up a chip to the

373
00:11:37,240 --> 00:11:39,580
cables and- By the way, if you

374
00:11:39,580 --> 00:11:41,520
go to Apple Store to get a Thunderbolt

375
00:11:41,520 --> 00:11:45,900
cable, $70 US for a one meter Thunderbolt

376
00:11:45,900 --> 00:11:46,260
cable.

377
00:11:46,400 --> 00:11:46,760
Wow.

378
00:11:47,040 --> 00:11:47,480
Yeah.

379
00:11:47,620 --> 00:11:48,300
That's all of us.

380
00:11:48,300 --> 00:11:49,800
I buy them used for $20.

381
00:11:50,520 --> 00:11:50,660
Yeah.

382
00:11:51,080 --> 00:11:51,520
Yeah.

383
00:11:51,540 --> 00:11:52,500
But if you have to go to the

384
00:11:52,500 --> 00:11:54,600
Best Buy because you forgot to tell your

385
00:11:54,600 --> 00:11:57,740
client to go buy a Thunderbolt cable for

386
00:11:57,740 --> 00:11:59,740
their Apollo, guess what you're running out to

387
00:11:59,740 --> 00:12:00,420
Best Buy to buy?

388
00:12:00,540 --> 00:12:02,940
A $70 Thunderbolt cable, right?

389
00:12:03,400 --> 00:12:04,640
So yeah.

390
00:12:04,920 --> 00:12:05,760
It's a...

391
00:12:05,760 --> 00:12:08,360
And how about in terms of just accessories

392
00:12:08,360 --> 00:12:08,840
too?

393
00:12:09,400 --> 00:12:11,500
I can say that there's a lot of

394
00:12:11,500 --> 00:12:14,300
mic booms that have come out because of

395
00:12:14,300 --> 00:12:15,860
the podcasting revolution.

396
00:12:16,080 --> 00:12:16,360
Yeah.

397
00:12:16,580 --> 00:12:17,280
Dude, I got a good one for that.

398
00:12:17,280 --> 00:12:19,320
And so many people have these $20 mic

399
00:12:19,320 --> 00:12:21,120
booms and they are garbage.

400
00:12:21,360 --> 00:12:21,840
They're rubbish.

401
00:12:22,080 --> 00:12:22,740
Dude, hold on.

402
00:12:22,760 --> 00:12:23,140
They're crap.

403
00:12:23,940 --> 00:12:24,600
Look at this.

404
00:12:24,980 --> 00:12:25,100
Yeah.

405
00:12:25,100 --> 00:12:25,240
Okay.

406
00:12:25,480 --> 00:12:27,620
First of all, you see these connectors everywhere

407
00:12:27,620 --> 00:12:29,240
and they're 20 bucks.

408
00:12:29,440 --> 00:12:29,880
They're blurred out.

409
00:12:30,160 --> 00:12:30,260
But it's so good.

410
00:12:30,260 --> 00:12:31,640
So you're holding up one of those clamps.

411
00:12:32,100 --> 00:12:33,960
It has the two kinds of camera mounts,

412
00:12:34,060 --> 00:12:35,880
like the quarter inch and the eighth inch.

413
00:12:35,960 --> 00:12:38,800
What they're good at doing in China is

414
00:12:38,800 --> 00:12:39,340
metal.

415
00:12:39,760 --> 00:12:42,360
They're good at steel and aluminum in China.

416
00:12:42,480 --> 00:12:44,440
They had the machining down.

417
00:12:45,120 --> 00:12:47,260
That stuff has gotten really affordable.

418
00:12:47,460 --> 00:12:50,600
Like I'm no longer buying Manfrotto this and

419
00:12:50,600 --> 00:12:52,260
this and that.

420
00:12:52,260 --> 00:12:55,580
I'm like buying SmallRig or a newer with

421
00:12:55,580 --> 00:12:56,360
two Es.

422
00:12:56,820 --> 00:12:58,020
You know, all these like Chinese brands.

423
00:12:58,020 --> 00:12:58,940
It's the same thing.

424
00:12:59,620 --> 00:13:01,180
You find these like mic arms that are

425
00:13:01,180 --> 00:13:03,460
like, you know, $40 for an adapter, right?

426
00:13:03,540 --> 00:13:05,780
And I had to buy a pair of

427
00:13:05,780 --> 00:13:08,760
speaker mounts for our booth and I did

428
00:13:08,760 --> 00:13:10,100
not want to spend a hundred bucks on

429
00:13:10,100 --> 00:13:10,680
speaker mounts.

430
00:13:10,920 --> 00:13:11,960
So I'm on Amazon.

431
00:13:12,660 --> 00:13:13,400
Here's this thing.

432
00:13:14,400 --> 00:13:17,780
It's a short leg and another short leg

433
00:13:17,780 --> 00:13:19,280
with that clamp on it.

434
00:13:19,840 --> 00:13:20,760
And the thing is great.

435
00:13:20,760 --> 00:13:22,980
On one knob, when you tighten this one

436
00:13:22,980 --> 00:13:26,680
knob here, it tightens all the knuckles, including

437
00:13:26,680 --> 00:13:28,300
all the little- It's called a magic

438
00:13:28,300 --> 00:13:28,580
arm.

439
00:13:28,860 --> 00:13:29,700
Yeah, 15 bucks.

440
00:13:29,700 --> 00:13:31,200
See, if you bought that at a grip

441
00:13:31,200 --> 00:13:34,080
store in Hollywood, that would be a $150

442
00:13:34,080 --> 00:13:35,280
magic arm.

443
00:13:35,600 --> 00:13:36,440
No more, way more.

444
00:13:37,600 --> 00:13:38,740
It's called a magic arm.

445
00:13:38,940 --> 00:13:40,780
But now they've figured out how to duplicate

446
00:13:40,780 --> 00:13:43,340
these in China, like really inexpensively.

447
00:13:44,220 --> 00:13:46,100
And those are the things I'm not worried

448
00:13:46,100 --> 00:13:48,720
about buying from China is the hardware made

449
00:13:48,720 --> 00:13:49,960
of steel and aluminum.

450
00:13:50,520 --> 00:13:52,680
They can't mess those up too badly.

451
00:13:53,380 --> 00:13:54,660
And so I don't mind that stuff.

452
00:13:54,840 --> 00:13:57,660
But mic cables, that's kind of where I

453
00:13:57,660 --> 00:13:58,640
tend to draw the line.

454
00:13:58,820 --> 00:14:00,800
I would much rather have a mic cable

455
00:14:00,800 --> 00:14:04,660
that's made with Mogami or some kind of

456
00:14:04,660 --> 00:14:07,660
a reputable conductor and a Neutrik or something

457
00:14:07,660 --> 00:14:08,180
on the end.

458
00:14:08,380 --> 00:14:12,400
Until you get a RJ45 Bloom and send

459
00:14:12,400 --> 00:14:14,760
it down a freaking wire that's as big

460
00:14:14,760 --> 00:14:15,360
as a molecule.

461
00:14:16,200 --> 00:14:16,680
Sorry.

462
00:14:16,960 --> 00:14:17,360
Say that again.

463
00:14:17,580 --> 00:14:17,680
Right?

464
00:14:17,720 --> 00:14:18,360
What do you guys use?

465
00:14:18,360 --> 00:14:20,260
Yeah, explain that again.

466
00:14:20,540 --> 00:14:22,120
You've lost all of us on that one.

467
00:14:22,120 --> 00:14:22,280
Okay.

468
00:14:22,560 --> 00:14:22,880
Okay.

469
00:14:22,920 --> 00:14:25,420
We did a whole episode about basically converting

470
00:14:25,420 --> 00:14:29,580
RJ45, like you have the RJ45 breakouts at

471
00:14:29,580 --> 00:14:30,480
one RJ11.

472
00:14:31,140 --> 00:14:32,160
Oh, yes, yes.

473
00:14:32,160 --> 00:14:33,000
I'm sorry, RJ45 cables.

474
00:14:33,020 --> 00:14:34,860
The Cat Box, the Balans that go from

475
00:14:34,860 --> 00:14:36,460
RJ45 to Balanced.

476
00:14:37,000 --> 00:14:37,100
Yeah.

477
00:14:37,360 --> 00:14:40,320
And, okay, quite frankly, that cable is running

478
00:14:40,320 --> 00:14:43,120
at megahertz, sending shitloads of data.

479
00:14:43,840 --> 00:14:45,600
There's not a lot of tolerance there for

480
00:14:45,600 --> 00:14:49,500
how space, eh, like, what is it doing?

481
00:14:49,680 --> 00:14:52,260
Does the copper, oxygen-free, blah, blah, blah

482
00:14:52,260 --> 00:14:54,040
matter that much?

483
00:14:54,060 --> 00:14:55,220
That's the question, right?

484
00:14:55,420 --> 00:14:56,980
And it probably doesn't.

485
00:14:57,280 --> 00:14:58,840
Cables are not about the wire.

486
00:14:59,020 --> 00:15:00,420
Cables are about the connectors.

487
00:15:01,160 --> 00:15:03,180
What are the big brands for cables in

488
00:15:03,180 --> 00:15:05,720
Australia that people commonly use?

489
00:15:06,700 --> 00:15:08,160
Probably the same as yours.

490
00:15:08,160 --> 00:15:13,320
I mean, um, I use Kanair, Starquart.

491
00:15:13,840 --> 00:15:14,580
Oh, Kanari, you mean?

492
00:15:14,580 --> 00:15:15,360
Oh, yeah, Kanari.

493
00:15:15,580 --> 00:15:16,400
Kanari, Kanari.

494
00:15:16,400 --> 00:15:17,260
Kanari's very good.

495
00:15:17,600 --> 00:15:20,080
Yeah, that's what I use, but I make

496
00:15:20,080 --> 00:15:22,680
my own cables and then Neutrik connectors.

497
00:15:24,560 --> 00:15:26,160
Oh, do you, are you handy with a

498
00:15:26,160 --> 00:15:26,880
soldering iron, Andrew?

499
00:15:27,040 --> 00:15:28,800
He's very good with a soldering iron, unlike

500
00:15:28,800 --> 00:15:29,220
me.

501
00:15:29,680 --> 00:15:30,740
He's got a steady hand.

502
00:15:31,420 --> 00:15:32,140
Steady hand.

503
00:15:32,720 --> 00:15:34,400
I've just never had the patience for it.

504
00:15:34,400 --> 00:15:36,380
No, no, we, like, we have cheap stuff

505
00:15:36,380 --> 00:15:38,240
like Rapco and Horizon.

506
00:15:38,520 --> 00:15:39,440
Horizon's really junk.

507
00:15:39,940 --> 00:15:41,720
The cables you gotta watch out for, the

508
00:15:41,720 --> 00:15:43,260
ones with the molded ends that you can't

509
00:15:43,260 --> 00:15:45,200
do anything with after they go bad.

510
00:15:45,880 --> 00:15:46,540
Yeah, that's right, that's right.

511
00:15:46,540 --> 00:15:47,520
Those are the super cheap ones.

512
00:15:48,360 --> 00:15:48,760
Yeah.

513
00:15:48,920 --> 00:15:51,040
But, yeah, so with cables, you know.

514
00:15:51,060 --> 00:15:51,680
But the wires, where's the wire?

515
00:15:52,140 --> 00:15:53,640
I buy mine from Cable Chick.

516
00:15:54,000 --> 00:15:54,600
Cable Chick?

517
00:15:54,900 --> 00:15:55,520
Cable Chick.

518
00:15:55,900 --> 00:15:56,300
There you go.

519
00:15:56,440 --> 00:15:57,000
There's a plug.

520
00:15:57,120 --> 00:15:57,540
Oh, really?

521
00:15:57,580 --> 00:15:59,760
Is that an Aussie distributor?

522
00:15:59,940 --> 00:16:00,080
Yeah.

523
00:16:00,220 --> 00:16:00,960
She's the best.

524
00:16:01,220 --> 00:16:03,080
Oh, dear, that doesn't sound very...

525
00:16:04,900 --> 00:16:06,920
Get your mind out of your gutter, AP,

526
00:16:07,160 --> 00:16:07,540
seriously.

527
00:16:07,780 --> 00:16:09,520
Won't be taking her out again.

528
00:16:09,820 --> 00:16:10,580
No, exactly.

529
00:16:12,220 --> 00:16:14,440
But, yeah, the things I would not cheap

530
00:16:14,440 --> 00:16:17,140
out on is headphones and cables.

531
00:16:17,440 --> 00:16:17,700
Yeah.

532
00:16:18,100 --> 00:16:18,460
Yeah.

533
00:16:18,660 --> 00:16:21,460
You can get away with a microphone, you

534
00:16:21,460 --> 00:16:22,260
can get away with an interface.

535
00:16:22,260 --> 00:16:23,200
I have to agree with that.

536
00:16:23,800 --> 00:16:24,060
Yeah.

537
00:16:24,140 --> 00:16:25,920
There is one brand of cable that's been

538
00:16:25,920 --> 00:16:28,960
distributing on Amazon called WBC, or World Best

539
00:16:28,960 --> 00:16:31,840
Cable, and they are doing like their equivalent

540
00:16:31,840 --> 00:16:34,080
of a Mogami Gold, you know, which is

541
00:16:34,080 --> 00:16:36,680
like a $780 US dollar, my cable, and

542
00:16:36,680 --> 00:16:38,520
it's $30 US maybe.

543
00:16:39,420 --> 00:16:42,500
And they sell the quad cable, so they're

544
00:16:42,500 --> 00:16:46,160
the plus and the minus, or the pin,

545
00:16:46,380 --> 00:16:47,360
what do you call it, pin two and

546
00:16:47,360 --> 00:16:48,040
pin three.

547
00:16:48,360 --> 00:16:49,940
They're each a twisted pair.

548
00:16:50,160 --> 00:16:51,420
You're talking about quad star cable?

549
00:16:51,460 --> 00:16:51,680
Yeah.

550
00:16:51,680 --> 00:16:51,860
Yeah.

551
00:16:52,000 --> 00:16:53,620
And they're each a twisted pair, you know,

552
00:16:53,920 --> 00:16:56,140
and they're better shielded, and they're only slightly

553
00:16:56,140 --> 00:16:58,100
more expensive than the standard cable.

554
00:16:58,100 --> 00:17:00,540
So, I tell everybody, just get the star

555
00:17:00,540 --> 00:17:03,560
quad, you know, cables, and, you know, you'll

556
00:17:03,560 --> 00:17:04,380
be a happy camper.

557
00:17:04,480 --> 00:17:06,180
And those are still not that more expensive.

558
00:17:06,640 --> 00:17:07,160
There you go.

559
00:17:07,400 --> 00:17:08,800
Oh, we're seeing cable chick now.

560
00:17:08,900 --> 00:17:10,900
So, we now know it's a real thing.

561
00:17:10,980 --> 00:17:13,099
We don't all think Robbo's crazy.

562
00:17:13,480 --> 00:17:13,980
She's cute.

563
00:17:14,020 --> 00:17:14,839
I think she's cute.

564
00:17:15,040 --> 00:17:16,280
That's why she gets my business.

565
00:17:16,720 --> 00:17:18,319
She's a cute cartoon girl.

566
00:17:19,380 --> 00:17:21,339
If you're plugging the stuff in, it goes

567
00:17:21,339 --> 00:17:22,800
behind your desk, it's never going to get

568
00:17:22,800 --> 00:17:25,180
moved, you can get away with less expensive

569
00:17:25,180 --> 00:17:25,579
cables.

570
00:17:25,579 --> 00:17:27,040
But if you're going to be plugging in

571
00:17:27,040 --> 00:17:29,740
and out, traveling, you have no room for

572
00:17:29,740 --> 00:17:31,600
them to mess up, then you want to

573
00:17:31,600 --> 00:17:34,720
get something better, because it's, I think it's

574
00:17:34,720 --> 00:17:36,880
a lot to do with the build and

575
00:17:36,880 --> 00:17:37,540
the connectors.

576
00:17:37,800 --> 00:17:39,260
If you're working on the road, if you're

577
00:17:39,260 --> 00:17:41,000
on the travel kit, or you're doing a

578
00:17:41,000 --> 00:17:43,240
stage travel show, you got to have the

579
00:17:43,240 --> 00:17:46,700
best gear, best cables, bar none, because that

580
00:17:46,700 --> 00:17:48,500
stuff does take a lot more abuse that

581
00:17:48,500 --> 00:17:48,720
way.

582
00:17:49,180 --> 00:17:50,340
Yeah, that's absolutely true.

583
00:17:50,340 --> 00:17:51,960
And also, the other thing is with cables.

584
00:17:52,240 --> 00:17:57,600
If something goes wrong, it's just eliminating possibilities

585
00:17:57,600 --> 00:17:58,260
of failure.

586
00:17:59,040 --> 00:18:01,440
The one thing that I do have, on

587
00:18:01,440 --> 00:18:04,280
Andrew's point, is I do have a cable

588
00:18:04,280 --> 00:18:06,040
tester that sits in my bottom drawer, and

589
00:18:06,040 --> 00:18:07,940
if something's not working, that's the first thing

590
00:18:07,940 --> 00:18:10,760
I drag out, is, okay, well, let's just

591
00:18:10,760 --> 00:18:12,420
make sure the cable's right, you know?

592
00:18:12,680 --> 00:18:14,100
Yeah, I've got one of those multi-testers

593
00:18:14,100 --> 00:18:15,560
that has a nine-volt battery, and it's

594
00:18:15,560 --> 00:18:18,820
got two XLRs, two quarter-inch, two RCA,

595
00:18:19,480 --> 00:18:19,920
and yeah.

596
00:18:20,280 --> 00:18:22,460
Yes, indeed, because then that takes the guesswork

597
00:18:22,460 --> 00:18:22,940
out of it.

598
00:18:23,020 --> 00:18:25,180
It's like, okay, the cable's fucked, time for

599
00:18:25,180 --> 00:18:26,320
a new one, or the cable's working.

600
00:18:26,340 --> 00:18:27,500
And a good one will tell you if

601
00:18:27,500 --> 00:18:29,280
your cable's in phase or out of phase.

602
00:18:29,620 --> 00:18:30,580
Yes, mine does that.

603
00:18:30,860 --> 00:18:30,980
Yeah.

604
00:18:32,000 --> 00:18:33,680
If you've got a home studio, that's one

605
00:18:33,680 --> 00:18:35,520
thing that's definitely worth investing in, is a

606
00:18:35,520 --> 00:18:37,940
really good cable tester, because it will just

607
00:18:37,940 --> 00:18:39,180
save you so much grief.

608
00:18:40,200 --> 00:18:42,160
That is very true, that is very true.

609
00:18:42,160 --> 00:18:44,300
But the other category we didn't touch on

610
00:18:44,300 --> 00:18:46,080
yet, before we wrap it up, is plug

611
00:18:46,080 --> 00:18:46,380
-ins.

612
00:18:47,180 --> 00:18:49,720
Yeah, yeah, well, I don't know.

613
00:18:50,380 --> 00:18:52,200
I think some of the stock plug-ins

614
00:18:52,200 --> 00:18:53,780
are doing really, really, really well.

615
00:18:54,340 --> 00:18:56,700
EQ7, Pro Tools, what's wrong with it?

616
00:18:57,240 --> 00:18:58,840
Oh, look, well, nothing.

617
00:18:59,420 --> 00:19:00,400
Nothing's wrong with it.

618
00:19:01,200 --> 00:19:02,660
I mean, I've been using the Waves...

619
00:19:02,660 --> 00:19:04,400
Who makes a whole album with EQ7 and

620
00:19:04,400 --> 00:19:05,020
D-Verb?

621
00:19:05,300 --> 00:19:07,220
Yeah, well, I've been using the Waves F6

622
00:19:07,220 --> 00:19:10,520
for years now, almost as long as it's

623
00:19:10,520 --> 00:19:10,920
been out.

624
00:19:10,920 --> 00:19:15,020
It's my go-to for voiceover and vocals

625
00:19:15,020 --> 00:19:15,680
and stuff.

626
00:19:16,860 --> 00:19:17,520
You know, I don't know.

627
00:19:17,620 --> 00:19:19,740
I mean, AI's slowly creeping in there.

628
00:19:19,800 --> 00:19:20,740
Is that a good thing?

629
00:19:21,360 --> 00:19:23,380
In noise reduction, I feel like it is,

630
00:19:23,480 --> 00:19:27,680
but I mean, you know, the Waves, Horizon,

631
00:19:28,320 --> 00:19:31,640
you know, AI, EQ, shit, is that necessary?

632
00:19:32,640 --> 00:19:33,480
Is it good?

633
00:19:35,360 --> 00:19:35,760
Maybe.

634
00:19:35,760 --> 00:19:35,940
Maybe?

635
00:19:36,100 --> 00:19:37,140
I'm not so...

636
00:19:37,140 --> 00:19:39,560
I'm gonna be extremely skeptical about AI.

637
00:19:39,900 --> 00:19:40,180
Yeah.

638
00:19:40,660 --> 00:19:44,180
Yeah, I'm really skeptical, because I'm gonna throw

639
00:19:44,180 --> 00:19:46,740
Adobe under the bus, because I was at

640
00:19:46,740 --> 00:19:49,240
a podcast conference and I listened to one

641
00:19:49,240 --> 00:19:53,060
of the Adobe higher-ups, you know, showing

642
00:19:53,060 --> 00:19:54,940
how amazing their...

643
00:19:54,940 --> 00:19:56,440
I think they just call it Adobe Podcast

644
00:19:56,440 --> 00:19:58,500
is the name of the tool now, and

645
00:19:58,500 --> 00:20:02,060
it has this insane AI noise reduction thing,

646
00:20:02,260 --> 00:20:02,520
right?

647
00:20:02,520 --> 00:20:05,280
And the thing is, is like they're leaning

648
00:20:05,280 --> 00:20:08,300
on that and saying, this is the penultimate

649
00:20:08,300 --> 00:20:11,060
of technology, right?

650
00:20:11,180 --> 00:20:13,020
And I listened to the results and I

651
00:20:13,020 --> 00:20:16,060
go, that does not sound as good as

652
00:20:16,060 --> 00:20:19,400
doing it correctly the first time, or using

653
00:20:19,400 --> 00:20:21,760
a proper mic the first time, or me

654
00:20:21,760 --> 00:20:24,220
as an engineer tweaking the sound myself.

655
00:20:24,880 --> 00:20:27,760
None of what you're doing sounds that good,

656
00:20:27,860 --> 00:20:31,160
but you're deciding for us, the users, that

657
00:20:31,160 --> 00:20:32,220
that is good enough.

658
00:20:33,000 --> 00:20:33,700
We're good.

659
00:20:33,960 --> 00:20:34,960
It's like, this AI thing is good enough.

660
00:20:34,960 --> 00:20:38,660
You're changing expectations as opposed to making your

661
00:20:38,660 --> 00:20:39,200
products better.

662
00:20:39,400 --> 00:20:40,080
Yeah, absolutely.

663
00:20:40,520 --> 00:20:41,860
It's sort of a cheat's way out of

664
00:20:41,860 --> 00:20:42,460
it, really, isn't it?

665
00:20:42,460 --> 00:20:43,740
But here's what happens.

666
00:20:44,480 --> 00:20:46,080
You know, people used to have lower latency

667
00:20:46,080 --> 00:20:47,800
phones and cell phones, but now no one

668
00:20:47,800 --> 00:20:50,380
thinks that a cell phone has high latency,

669
00:20:50,600 --> 00:20:52,580
because they're just used to cell phones.

670
00:20:52,640 --> 00:20:53,640
They don't know anything different.

671
00:20:53,820 --> 00:20:55,080
And it's gonna get that way with all

672
00:20:55,080 --> 00:20:55,640
this stuff.

673
00:20:55,740 --> 00:20:55,860
Yeah.

674
00:20:55,860 --> 00:20:59,380
Where no one's gonna know what a song

675
00:20:59,380 --> 00:21:01,840
sounds like directly off of a CD, because

676
00:21:01,840 --> 00:21:04,080
they only hear MP3s through Spotify.

677
00:21:04,680 --> 00:21:04,780
Yeah.

678
00:21:05,080 --> 00:21:06,520
And they'll just be lost.

679
00:21:06,720 --> 00:21:08,060
Well, let me ask you this then, since

680
00:21:08,060 --> 00:21:09,860
we're sort of semi on the subject.

681
00:21:10,220 --> 00:21:13,100
Like, a crappy microphone, right?

682
00:21:13,480 --> 00:21:14,700
But a good mic emulator.

683
00:21:16,040 --> 00:21:19,060
Is that just making a bad thing worse?

684
00:21:19,220 --> 00:21:21,020
Or is it making a bad thing better,

685
00:21:21,160 --> 00:21:21,420
do you reckon?

686
00:21:21,420 --> 00:21:22,660
I think it makes you feel good about

687
00:21:22,660 --> 00:21:23,540
your cheap purchase.

688
00:21:23,540 --> 00:21:26,040
I mean, well, that's kind of essentially what

689
00:21:26,040 --> 00:21:27,420
the Sphere mic is.

690
00:21:27,660 --> 00:21:28,740
The Townsend is, yeah.

691
00:21:28,760 --> 00:21:31,380
You know, there's nobody saying that that's an

692
00:21:31,380 --> 00:21:32,720
exceptionally good microphone.

693
00:21:32,880 --> 00:21:34,860
I mean, I think it is a good

694
00:21:34,860 --> 00:21:38,820
microphone, but it's not categorically amazing for the

695
00:21:38,820 --> 00:21:39,240
price.

696
00:21:39,600 --> 00:21:40,340
It's still...

697
00:21:40,340 --> 00:21:42,900
I think possibly the Antelope microphone is technically

698
00:21:42,900 --> 00:21:44,780
a better mic than the Townsend, as far

699
00:21:44,780 --> 00:21:46,760
as mic build and...

700
00:21:46,760 --> 00:21:47,400
I don't know.

701
00:21:48,260 --> 00:21:49,320
I mean, the Sphere mic's amazing.

702
00:21:49,320 --> 00:21:50,720
The Antelope looks pretty damn nice, actually.

703
00:21:51,180 --> 00:21:51,420
Yeah.

704
00:21:52,120 --> 00:21:53,540
Just on its own as a mic.

705
00:21:54,480 --> 00:21:55,460
But it's true.

706
00:21:55,620 --> 00:21:57,580
It's like, you know, you buy this cheap

707
00:21:57,580 --> 00:21:59,040
thing, and then you want software to make

708
00:21:59,040 --> 00:22:00,060
you feel good about it.

709
00:22:00,660 --> 00:22:01,520
Well, yeah, like recent...

710
00:22:01,940 --> 00:22:04,020
Like, during the pandemic, I had a client.

711
00:22:04,140 --> 00:22:07,000
We got a Townsend Sphere L22, an Apollo,

712
00:22:07,640 --> 00:22:09,960
and we emulated a U87.

713
00:22:10,560 --> 00:22:11,740
The client was happy.

714
00:22:12,720 --> 00:22:14,600
And so it was what we could do

715
00:22:14,600 --> 00:22:16,020
at the time, and what we needed to

716
00:22:16,020 --> 00:22:17,680
do to get away with getting the project

717
00:22:17,680 --> 00:22:19,060
done, and it worked.

718
00:22:20,140 --> 00:22:21,520
Is it as good as a U87?

719
00:22:22,360 --> 00:22:23,640
I don't really know.

720
00:22:24,000 --> 00:22:25,280
Is it truly as good?

721
00:22:25,400 --> 00:22:25,760
I don't know.

722
00:22:26,060 --> 00:22:28,140
Is it just another flavor, or is it

723
00:22:28,140 --> 00:22:30,100
even anything like a U87, necessarily?

724
00:22:30,900 --> 00:22:32,480
Is it just, you know?

725
00:22:32,900 --> 00:22:34,660
I mean, here's the thing, though, too, right?

726
00:22:34,700 --> 00:22:37,060
It's like, maybe some of this stuff has

727
00:22:37,060 --> 00:22:39,500
got better, like maybe cheap microphones have got

728
00:22:39,500 --> 00:22:40,760
better and all the rest of it, but

729
00:22:40,760 --> 00:22:44,080
you still come back to the basic principle

730
00:22:44,080 --> 00:22:46,280
that if you put even, you know, a

731
00:22:46,280 --> 00:22:48,600
pretty good mic in a shit room, it's

732
00:22:48,600 --> 00:22:50,020
going to sound like crap.

733
00:22:50,140 --> 00:22:51,480
If you put a great mic in a

734
00:22:51,480 --> 00:22:53,460
shit room, it's going to sound like crap.

735
00:22:53,700 --> 00:22:55,380
You've still got to start with the basics

736
00:22:55,380 --> 00:22:56,660
no matter what happens.

737
00:22:56,860 --> 00:22:58,100
But here's what you can say about the

738
00:22:58,100 --> 00:22:58,280
gear.

739
00:22:58,720 --> 00:22:59,440
It is cleaner.

740
00:23:00,120 --> 00:23:02,820
All the cheap gear, the noise floors have

741
00:23:02,820 --> 00:23:03,360
dropped.

742
00:23:04,580 --> 00:23:04,980
Absolutely.

743
00:23:05,680 --> 00:23:08,020
So why do I keep hearing SM7Bs through

744
00:23:08,020 --> 00:23:10,560
Cloudlifters and everything else that just have a

745
00:23:10,560 --> 00:23:11,100
lot of hiss?

746
00:23:11,940 --> 00:23:14,360
I hear so many people sending me audio

747
00:23:14,360 --> 00:23:18,300
files of a SM7B through a Cloudlifter or

748
00:23:18,300 --> 00:23:20,900
fill-in-the-blank booster because everybody's making

749
00:23:20,900 --> 00:23:23,500
one of these boosters now, and it's still

750
00:23:23,500 --> 00:23:23,940
noisy.

751
00:23:24,140 --> 00:23:25,260
It's still a noisy soup.

752
00:23:26,180 --> 00:23:27,740
Why is that still a thing?

753
00:23:28,140 --> 00:23:30,040
I don't know, because the SM7 needs especially

754
00:23:30,040 --> 00:23:31,420
a lot of gain.

755
00:23:32,200 --> 00:23:35,560
Even the SM7DB, somebody sent me a recording

756
00:23:35,560 --> 00:23:38,540
with that through a Scarlett, of course, noise

757
00:23:38,540 --> 00:23:38,920
soup.

758
00:23:38,920 --> 00:23:39,480
Filled with hiss.

759
00:23:39,500 --> 00:23:40,540
Like hiss.

760
00:23:41,100 --> 00:23:43,880
I'm like, why are people buying a $500

761
00:23:43,880 --> 00:23:45,160
mic that's noisy?

762
00:23:45,160 --> 00:23:48,120
The marketing is so good on that microphone

763
00:23:48,700 --> 00:23:51,040
that people are still buying a noisy mic

764
00:23:51,040 --> 00:23:52,480
when they could buy a $100 mic that

765
00:23:52,480 --> 00:23:53,160
sounds better.

766
00:23:53,900 --> 00:23:54,000
Yeah.

767
00:23:54,160 --> 00:23:56,960
It has a lower noise floor because the

768
00:23:56,960 --> 00:23:59,780
$100 mic has got a chip in it

769
00:23:59,780 --> 00:24:01,780
and it's not so weighted down by the

770
00:24:01,780 --> 00:24:02,280
dynamic.

771
00:24:02,940 --> 00:24:04,520
I mean, that's just like nature of the

772
00:24:04,520 --> 00:24:05,140
beast, right?

773
00:24:05,420 --> 00:24:07,480
The SM7 is a dynamic mic that has

774
00:24:07,480 --> 00:24:11,820
a certain physical need for a preamp that

775
00:24:11,820 --> 00:24:14,880
pushes that preamp to the point where it's

776
00:24:14,880 --> 00:24:15,880
making noise.

777
00:24:16,020 --> 00:24:19,260
But I guess my point is that 30

778
00:24:19,260 --> 00:24:20,780
years ago, you go to Radio Shack and

779
00:24:20,780 --> 00:24:22,740
you buy a mixer and it's noisy.

780
00:24:23,420 --> 00:24:26,740
Now, you go to Amazon and you buy

781
00:24:26,740 --> 00:24:27,960
some unknown...

782
00:24:27,960 --> 00:24:28,100
Amazon Radio Shack.

783
00:24:28,260 --> 00:24:30,060
Well, there's no Radio Shack, but you go

784
00:24:30,060 --> 00:24:33,680
to Amazon and you buy some unknown Chinese

785
00:24:33,680 --> 00:24:36,700
brand mixer and it might be made out

786
00:24:36,700 --> 00:24:39,620
of plastic and it's wholly just junk as

787
00:24:39,620 --> 00:24:40,620
far as how it's built.

788
00:24:41,200 --> 00:24:43,760
But it's not noisy like that Radio Shack.

789
00:24:44,140 --> 00:24:44,820
Yeah, exactly.

790
00:24:45,500 --> 00:24:46,800
Yeah, that actually is true.

791
00:24:46,980 --> 00:24:47,540
That is true.

792
00:24:47,760 --> 00:24:50,400
There's been definitely an optimization of circuit design

793
00:24:50,400 --> 00:24:50,940
that's happened.

794
00:24:51,440 --> 00:24:54,120
There's an intellectual sort of...

795
00:24:54,120 --> 00:24:56,720
What's the institutional knowledge around the design of

796
00:24:56,720 --> 00:24:57,540
these circuits now?

797
00:24:57,880 --> 00:24:58,820
And it's been passed around.

798
00:24:58,820 --> 00:25:00,580
And these chips have been commodified?

799
00:25:01,400 --> 00:25:03,860
Yeah, they're commodified and they're not closely guarded

800
00:25:03,860 --> 00:25:04,300
anymore.

801
00:25:04,840 --> 00:25:06,260
So that's all changed.

802
00:25:06,260 --> 00:25:11,120
But I'll use TDR Nova free over FabFilter

803
00:25:11,120 --> 00:25:13,420
Pro-Q 3 any day of the week.

804
00:25:14,260 --> 00:25:16,480
I know there's certain things FabFilter probably can

805
00:25:16,480 --> 00:25:19,320
do that TDR can't, but I haven't found

806
00:25:19,320 --> 00:25:20,620
one that I need for...

807
00:25:20,620 --> 00:25:22,960
I'm not on the Pro-Q bandwagon, I'll

808
00:25:22,960 --> 00:25:23,260
be honest.

809
00:25:23,340 --> 00:25:26,260
I don't even own any of that stuff.

810
00:25:26,460 --> 00:25:29,040
I see people jumping up and down and

811
00:25:29,040 --> 00:25:30,820
making noise about how good it is, but

812
00:25:30,820 --> 00:25:31,960
I don't know.

813
00:25:32,060 --> 00:25:32,880
I don't see it.

814
00:25:33,000 --> 00:25:34,420
I've played with the demo.

815
00:25:34,420 --> 00:25:36,760
I am perfectly happy with Waves and Plugin

816
00:25:36,760 --> 00:25:37,140
Alliance.

817
00:25:37,620 --> 00:25:38,120
That's the thing.

818
00:25:38,220 --> 00:25:40,480
People seek out a new EQ because they

819
00:25:40,480 --> 00:25:43,400
have not learned how to use an EQ.

820
00:25:43,800 --> 00:25:45,960
Fix your head, not your EQ.

821
00:25:46,000 --> 00:25:47,100
They're like, well, that one doesn't sound very

822
00:25:47,100 --> 00:25:47,500
good.

823
00:25:47,820 --> 00:25:49,460
Yeah, it's like, well, it's doing the same

824
00:25:49,460 --> 00:25:50,480
thing as the other one.

825
00:25:50,640 --> 00:25:51,900
He's like, seriously.

826
00:25:53,020 --> 00:25:54,520
I don't get it.

827
00:25:54,780 --> 00:25:57,400
I think the hype's just around because it

828
00:25:57,400 --> 00:25:59,020
looks cool or it is cool or it's

829
00:25:59,020 --> 00:26:00,900
trendy or whatever.

830
00:26:01,120 --> 00:26:03,620
I think it's become like a fashion brand.

831
00:26:03,620 --> 00:26:05,680
Pro Tools Expert did a really good article

832
00:26:05,680 --> 00:26:08,700
recently about EQs, digital plug-in EQs and

833
00:26:08,700 --> 00:26:11,440
what the difference is with how some of

834
00:26:11,440 --> 00:26:12,360
the math happens.

835
00:26:12,540 --> 00:26:16,380
And the really good ones will oversample because

836
00:26:16,380 --> 00:26:18,200
if not, you get some reflections and some

837
00:26:18,200 --> 00:26:18,920
things that happen.

838
00:26:19,100 --> 00:26:22,540
But I think that even that, again, just

839
00:26:22,540 --> 00:26:24,000
like with the chips, and oh, you can

840
00:26:24,000 --> 00:26:25,800
just buy buckets of these good chips now,

841
00:26:26,260 --> 00:26:26,940
same thing.

842
00:26:27,440 --> 00:26:29,380
You go up on the web and there's

843
00:26:29,380 --> 00:26:31,060
just all this open source code.

844
00:26:31,180 --> 00:26:32,600
You want to make a good EQ?

845
00:26:32,600 --> 00:26:35,340
There's open source code that will give you

846
00:26:35,340 --> 00:26:38,340
a good starting point for building your own

847
00:26:38,340 --> 00:26:38,700
EQ.

848
00:26:39,260 --> 00:26:42,120
And a lot of this knowledge has gotten

849
00:26:42,120 --> 00:26:42,920
commonplace.

850
00:26:43,180 --> 00:26:45,460
And I think what happens because of that

851
00:26:45,460 --> 00:26:48,460
also is that it makes everything more disposable.

852
00:26:48,760 --> 00:26:50,280
So these mics are so much better now

853
00:26:50,280 --> 00:26:51,500
that now it's like, oh, I bought a

854
00:26:51,500 --> 00:26:51,640
mic.

855
00:26:51,680 --> 00:26:52,640
Oh, I bought another mic.

856
00:26:53,320 --> 00:26:54,740
I didn't like that mic anymore.

857
00:26:55,720 --> 00:26:57,960
And you end up with like 80 microphones

858
00:26:57,960 --> 00:26:58,720
in your closet.

859
00:26:58,720 --> 00:27:01,420
Whereas back in the day, you'd buy a

860
00:27:01,420 --> 00:27:04,680
414, and that was your mic for life.

861
00:27:05,740 --> 00:27:07,500
And some people still do that.

862
00:27:08,020 --> 00:27:11,120
But now you can buy 20 mics for

863
00:27:11,120 --> 00:27:13,000
the same price as your one 414, and

864
00:27:13,000 --> 00:27:14,840
each one has a slightly different character and

865
00:27:14,840 --> 00:27:16,540
a different form factor and works in the

866
00:27:16,540 --> 00:27:18,280
bag here and works for traveling there.

867
00:27:18,840 --> 00:27:21,900
And they're all almost that really kick-ass

868
00:27:21,900 --> 00:27:22,440
414.

869
00:27:22,580 --> 00:27:27,380
Not really, but they're so close that you're

870
00:27:27,380 --> 00:27:30,640
willing to spend the money on multiple items

871
00:27:30,640 --> 00:27:34,960
and flexibility, and it's become disposable, unfortunately, I

872
00:27:34,960 --> 00:27:35,220
think.

873
00:27:35,760 --> 00:27:37,440
There's also drum mic kits.

874
00:27:37,600 --> 00:27:39,360
You can see drum mic kits that are

875
00:27:39,360 --> 00:27:40,520
entire kit.

876
00:27:40,880 --> 00:27:42,640
Everything's mic for $300.

877
00:27:42,660 --> 00:27:43,460
200 bucks.

878
00:27:44,340 --> 00:27:44,440
Yeah.

879
00:27:45,620 --> 00:27:46,480
Oh, yeah.

880
00:27:46,520 --> 00:27:47,860
Those are very common.

881
00:27:48,280 --> 00:27:50,440
Yeah, I think it all comes down to

882
00:27:50,440 --> 00:27:51,220
your skills.

883
00:27:51,680 --> 00:27:54,420
Your skills as an engineer and the basic

884
00:27:54,420 --> 00:27:54,820
skills.

885
00:27:54,820 --> 00:27:57,880
A good engineer can take the junkiest gear

886
00:27:57,880 --> 00:27:59,460
and get a really good sound out of

887
00:27:59,460 --> 00:28:02,380
it, unless there's something that's technically wrong with

888
00:28:02,380 --> 00:28:03,140
that piece of gear.

889
00:28:03,180 --> 00:28:05,060
I manage to save Robert every week, so,

890
00:28:05,140 --> 00:28:06,120
you know, there's a start.

891
00:28:10,300 --> 00:28:12,640
And that's starting, that's not even the gear,

892
00:28:12,760 --> 00:28:14,840
that's just, like, the talent and the voice.

893
00:28:15,120 --> 00:28:15,440
That's right.

894
00:28:16,580 --> 00:28:17,880
There's a lot to fix.

895
00:28:17,980 --> 00:28:19,660
Just mute his track, it's pretty easy to

896
00:28:19,660 --> 00:28:20,140
fix, Robert.

897
00:28:20,300 --> 00:28:21,340
Just mute that track.

898
00:28:21,940 --> 00:28:22,320
Yeah.

899
00:28:23,400 --> 00:28:24,100
That's all right.

900
00:28:24,800 --> 00:28:25,620
Well, that was fun.

901
00:28:25,700 --> 00:28:26,080
Is it over?

902
00:28:52,320 --> 00:28:52,840
All right.