12.15The Best Podcast Gear of the Year – Mic Edition
The Best Podcast and New Media Gear of the Year.
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In the spirit of the coming year, I wanted to compile a “who’s who” list of gear.
Professional Audio gear doesn’t change pace every year, or season. This gear isn’t trendy (some of these items have been around for decades), but trends do change. We have seen incredible progress in bringing Pro Gear to the consumer and prosumer in the last several years.
Let’s take a look back and forward at the gear that has made its mark on New Media and allowed more people to become broadcasters than ever before…
USB Microphones
Start with a good quality microphone element and add a digital converter for plug-and-play USB compatability.
[left to right: Rode Podcaster, Audio-Technica 2020USB, Blue Snowflake.]
PRO – It’s hard to pass up the Rode Podcaster. With a nice flat sounding dynamic element and built-in headphone amp, the Podcaster is great for broadcasting.
$229.00
BEST BUY – What do you get when you add USB to a well respected professional condenser? The Audio-Technica 2020USB.
$149.00
VALUE – Leave it to Blue Microphones. The SnowFlake is compact, built well and sports Blue style. This is a great general purpose mic for everything from Skype to portable podcasting.
$69.99
Microphones – Broadcast
These are the workhorses of radio and broadcast, built for reliability and versatility.
[left to right: Rode ProCaster, Electro-Voice RE-20, Heil PR-40.]
PRO – I could see the ProCaster from Rode becoming a broadcast standard. It sounds as good as it looks. An excellent professional dynamic.
$229.00
LEGEND - The Electro-Voice RE-20 or RE-27 are a staple of many radio stations throughout the country. A classic, tough dynamic.
$399.00
NEW PRO – Bob Heil is a Rock legend and makes a great microphone. The new broadcasting standard is the PR line from Heil. At the top of the PR line is the PR-40. A rich, deep bass and silky smooth sound that could only come from the “Heil Original” large diaphram dynamic.
$325.00
Microphones – Studio Recording
Want to capture every nuance in a voice? Maybe you need a mic that can do double duty in a band or instrument recording? These mics require controlled conditions – usually found in recording and project studios.
[left to right: Neumann TLM-67, Studio Projects B3.]
BEST OF THE BEST – Neumann is THE recording studio standard. I have tried a lot of Neumanns for voice over work and their new TLM-67 brings out every nuance of my voice while maintaining a super-quiet noise floor. It doesn’t get much better.
$2299.00
BARGAIN – Studio Projects has surprised me in the past.
…they did it again with the Studio Projects B3
This is a great sounding studio condenser with stand-out consistency and sound that can compete with with $1000 microphones.
$149.99
Best,
MarkJensen
