1 00:00:04,200 --> 00:00:11,680 Speaker 1: Get in text with technology with text stuff from dot Com. 2 00:00:11,880 --> 00:00:15,640 Speaker 1: Hey there, and welcome to text Stuff. I'm Jonathan Strickland, 3 00:00:15,880 --> 00:00:18,760 Speaker 1: and today I have a good friend on the show 4 00:00:18,800 --> 00:00:23,520 Speaker 1: with me, Steve ricka Berg. Say hello Steve. Hello Internet. 5 00:00:24,239 --> 00:00:28,640 Speaker 1: So Steve, you do several things in the Internet world, 6 00:00:28,640 --> 00:00:32,400 Speaker 1: and including a show that that you did for quite 7 00:00:32,400 --> 00:00:34,040 Speaker 1: some time. Are you still doing Geek Credit or is 8 00:00:34,040 --> 00:00:36,919 Speaker 1: that just on it's on hiatus. I'm hoping to bring 9 00:00:36,960 --> 00:00:38,880 Speaker 1: it back soon, but yeah, it's it's been a while 10 00:00:38,920 --> 00:00:41,320 Speaker 1: since I put out a new episode. Yeah. So. Geek 11 00:00:41,360 --> 00:00:45,280 Speaker 1: Cred is a series that where Steve will interview various 12 00:00:45,360 --> 00:00:48,840 Speaker 1: people in the geek sphere, and for episode forty three, 13 00:00:48,880 --> 00:00:52,440 Speaker 1: I was one off, but episode three I was the 14 00:00:52,640 --> 00:00:56,560 Speaker 1: I was the the the subject. I was grilled mercilessly 15 00:00:56,680 --> 00:00:59,840 Speaker 1: by Steve and told all my secrets. So if you 16 00:01:00,040 --> 00:01:02,840 Speaker 1: to hear the secrets of Jonathan Strickland, go check out 17 00:01:02,960 --> 00:01:05,720 Speaker 1: geet Cred episode forty three and check out the rest 18 00:01:05,720 --> 00:01:08,200 Speaker 1: while you're at it, because they are awesome shows. And 19 00:01:08,319 --> 00:01:10,720 Speaker 1: I don't know how you landed so many amazing guests. 20 00:01:12,319 --> 00:01:15,039 Speaker 1: You're more charming than I am. But the reason why 21 00:01:15,080 --> 00:01:17,600 Speaker 1: I asked Steve on is that I got a listener 22 00:01:17,640 --> 00:01:20,319 Speaker 1: mail and I immediately thought of Steve as the person 23 00:01:20,360 --> 00:01:22,919 Speaker 1: to pull on here and talk about things. So here's 24 00:01:22,959 --> 00:01:25,520 Speaker 1: the mail that I received, And I apologize a listener, 25 00:01:25,920 --> 00:01:28,840 Speaker 1: I have lost your name because you sent the email 26 00:01:28,920 --> 00:01:35,280 Speaker 1: before the great Terrible email crash of September two, fourteen UH, 27 00:01:35,319 --> 00:01:38,920 Speaker 1: in which all of the old tech stuff emails got 28 00:01:38,920 --> 00:01:42,399 Speaker 1: wiped out Willie and or Nilly, So I apologize. I 29 00:01:42,400 --> 00:01:43,640 Speaker 1: do not have your name, but I do have the 30 00:01:43,640 --> 00:01:46,800 Speaker 1: content of your email. And here we go. You guys 31 00:01:46,920 --> 00:01:49,160 Speaker 1: having tech stuff touched on a lot of this stuff, 32 00:01:49,160 --> 00:01:51,720 Speaker 1: but I don't think there's really been one on audio 33 00:01:51,800 --> 00:01:55,160 Speaker 1: recording from start to finish. I think it could be 34 00:01:55,200 --> 00:01:58,600 Speaker 1: pretty interesting to hear tech stuffs take on this and 35 00:01:58,720 --> 00:02:01,480 Speaker 1: be extremely useful to people wanting to get into and 36 00:02:01,520 --> 00:02:05,920 Speaker 1: know stuff about how audio is captured. So Steve is 37 00:02:06,160 --> 00:02:10,360 Speaker 1: an audio producer, audio engineer extraordinaire UH and I have 38 00:02:10,520 --> 00:02:12,880 Speaker 1: had the pleasure of sitting on a panel with him 39 00:02:12,880 --> 00:02:17,600 Speaker 1: at Dragon Con twice now about audio production, where I 40 00:02:17,639 --> 00:02:20,400 Speaker 1: get to play the person who doesn't know anything and 41 00:02:20,440 --> 00:02:23,600 Speaker 1: Steve gets to play the person who knows everything, because 42 00:02:23,680 --> 00:02:27,520 Speaker 1: that's who we are. So that's why I've had Steve 43 00:02:27,639 --> 00:02:30,520 Speaker 1: on and we've worked it out and kind of covered 44 00:02:30,520 --> 00:02:35,880 Speaker 1: the entire audio production one oh one idea for this podcast. 45 00:02:36,440 --> 00:02:41,600 Speaker 1: So to start, we were thinking about going into setting 46 00:02:41,680 --> 00:02:44,760 Speaker 1: up the whole idea of audio equipment from the microphone 47 00:02:45,280 --> 00:02:48,400 Speaker 1: all the way to the actual recording hardware and software. 48 00:02:48,800 --> 00:02:53,240 Speaker 1: So the microphone is the starting point really, and there 49 00:02:53,280 --> 00:02:56,680 Speaker 1: are several different kinds out there, So Steve, can you 50 00:02:56,760 --> 00:03:00,240 Speaker 1: run us through what are the basic recording micro phones 51 00:03:00,280 --> 00:03:04,080 Speaker 1: such your average person is going to encounter? Sure? Yeah, 52 00:03:04,080 --> 00:03:06,840 Speaker 1: there are two real main varieties you see, and and 53 00:03:06,880 --> 00:03:09,080 Speaker 1: the difference is really just how they how they convert 54 00:03:09,120 --> 00:03:13,480 Speaker 1: sound waves into an electrical signal. And by microphone varieties, 55 00:03:13,560 --> 00:03:16,600 Speaker 1: I really mean how they vary by their transducer, which 56 00:03:16,639 --> 00:03:19,720 Speaker 1: is to say, how they convert air pressure into an 57 00:03:19,720 --> 00:03:22,760 Speaker 1: electrical signal or by air pressure like we usually just 58 00:03:22,800 --> 00:03:26,640 Speaker 1: call it, you know, sound. Um, So there are two types, 59 00:03:26,680 --> 00:03:30,480 Speaker 1: like I said, condenser and dynamic microphones, and and they're 60 00:03:30,520 --> 00:03:34,320 Speaker 1: really usually seen in very different types of uses or environments. 61 00:03:34,560 --> 00:03:37,280 Speaker 1: So the first is a condenser microphone, which is sometimes 62 00:03:37,280 --> 00:03:40,800 Speaker 1: called a capacitor because it essentially has a big capacitor 63 00:03:40,880 --> 00:03:44,400 Speaker 1: requires power to work. So you have a charged plate 64 00:03:44,440 --> 00:03:47,360 Speaker 1: which acts as the capacitor, and what happens is the 65 00:03:47,480 --> 00:03:51,160 Speaker 1: voltage changes by vibration in the air, by the air pressure. 66 00:03:51,680 --> 00:03:54,480 Speaker 1: So this is really in stark contrast to the way 67 00:03:54,480 --> 00:03:59,520 Speaker 1: a dynamic microphone works, which works via induction. So you 68 00:03:59,560 --> 00:04:04,240 Speaker 1: have a magnet and when sound hits the magnet generated 69 00:04:04,360 --> 00:04:06,440 Speaker 1: there's a magnetic field, and so one sound hits it, it 70 00:04:06,360 --> 00:04:10,400 Speaker 1: it generates the signal. So practically, what's what's the difference here. 71 00:04:10,600 --> 00:04:13,160 Speaker 1: So condensers as a rule, tend to be a lot 72 00:04:13,160 --> 00:04:16,760 Speaker 1: more sensitive. So you'll see condensers used in things like 73 00:04:16,839 --> 00:04:20,200 Speaker 1: recording studios for music or or things like that, where 74 00:04:20,240 --> 00:04:22,839 Speaker 1: it's usually a very controlled environment. Because the downside of 75 00:04:22,839 --> 00:04:24,960 Speaker 1: a condenser is that it's also very sensitive, so it 76 00:04:24,960 --> 00:04:27,159 Speaker 1: can pick up all sorts of other stuff you don't want. 77 00:04:28,000 --> 00:04:30,839 Speaker 1: And a dynamic is in fact, i'm using a dynamic 78 00:04:30,839 --> 00:04:34,160 Speaker 1: microphone right now. A dynamic doesn't require power, which makes 79 00:04:34,200 --> 00:04:37,560 Speaker 1: it a little bit more universally usable, but it's not 80 00:04:37,720 --> 00:04:41,039 Speaker 1: as sensitive. Um. The nice thing about dynamics is they're 81 00:04:41,080 --> 00:04:44,200 Speaker 1: also very rugged. Um. When you see dynamics used in 82 00:04:44,600 --> 00:04:47,680 Speaker 1: broadcasting and podcasting as well as in live sound, you 83 00:04:47,720 --> 00:04:50,360 Speaker 1: can actually be Venerable SM fifty eight, which is kind 84 00:04:50,360 --> 00:04:54,359 Speaker 1: of the standard that all microphones are certainly uh dynamic 85 00:04:54,440 --> 00:04:58,080 Speaker 1: microphones are measured against. You know, forty years into its 86 00:04:58,120 --> 00:05:01,640 Speaker 1: lifespan is kind of and for being so rugged, you 87 00:05:01,640 --> 00:05:04,159 Speaker 1: can pound nails with it and the microphone will still 88 00:05:04,200 --> 00:05:07,400 Speaker 1: work like it did on when it was brand new. Yeah. 89 00:05:07,520 --> 00:05:10,960 Speaker 1: This is um something that I learned the hard way 90 00:05:11,080 --> 00:05:15,479 Speaker 1: when I was looking at microphones for my own use, 91 00:05:16,240 --> 00:05:20,440 Speaker 1: my earliest microphone that I had, uh keeping in mind, 92 00:05:20,480 --> 00:05:24,159 Speaker 1: like I didn't have any expertise in this area. I 93 00:05:24,160 --> 00:05:27,919 Speaker 1: I knew some stuff, largely due to the work of 94 00:05:28,040 --> 00:05:32,320 Speaker 1: folks like Steve who had very patiently taught me things 95 00:05:32,760 --> 00:05:37,200 Speaker 1: despite my my ignorance. Um. But I got a conductor 96 00:05:37,279 --> 00:05:41,120 Speaker 1: mike first, and I realized that the tiniest sounds would 97 00:05:41,160 --> 00:05:44,279 Speaker 1: get picked up by this microphone, things like my dog 98 00:05:44,440 --> 00:05:47,800 Speaker 1: running across the floor. I could hear the toe nails 99 00:05:47,920 --> 00:05:52,200 Speaker 1: clicking on the hardwood. Um. And or if someone dropped 100 00:05:52,240 --> 00:05:56,000 Speaker 1: a coin in the house and it was three rooms away, 101 00:05:55,880 --> 00:05:58,159 Speaker 1: we got Yeah, I got picked up. And so it 102 00:05:58,200 --> 00:05:59,800 Speaker 1: was one of those things where if I if I 103 00:06:00,000 --> 00:06:04,520 Speaker 1: really wanted to get a soundscape of a really controlled environment, 104 00:06:04,560 --> 00:06:06,800 Speaker 1: so I'm setting this thing up. That would have been 105 00:06:07,080 --> 00:06:10,080 Speaker 1: a fantastic tool. But for someone who just wants to 106 00:06:10,120 --> 00:06:15,159 Speaker 1: talk into a microphone, Um, then the dynamic microphones seem 107 00:06:15,320 --> 00:06:18,320 Speaker 1: to be the most useful to me. Sure, Yeah, there's 108 00:06:18,320 --> 00:06:21,960 Speaker 1: there's very good practical reason why dynamic microphones, at least 109 00:06:22,000 --> 00:06:24,600 Speaker 1: in the US are pretty much a standard for for 110 00:06:24,720 --> 00:06:30,919 Speaker 1: radio and for broadcasting. Yeah. Now there's more about microphones, 111 00:06:30,960 --> 00:06:37,200 Speaker 1: the just dynamic versus condenser, right, Yes, besides that simple delineation, 112 00:06:39,040 --> 00:06:41,080 Speaker 1: I I do want to mention real quick, there are 113 00:06:41,120 --> 00:06:44,160 Speaker 1: other types of microphones. These are the two most common. Um. 114 00:06:44,200 --> 00:06:47,960 Speaker 1: There's even a subset of condensers which is electric condenser microphones, 115 00:06:48,000 --> 00:06:50,520 Speaker 1: which is what usually see in consumer electronics. So your 116 00:06:50,720 --> 00:06:54,359 Speaker 1: your phone's microphone or your headsets microphone as an electric 117 00:06:54,360 --> 00:06:57,240 Speaker 1: condenser because those are really cheap and easy to manufacture. 118 00:06:57,240 --> 00:06:59,640 Speaker 1: You also have other types like ribbons used for high 119 00:06:59,640 --> 00:07:01,919 Speaker 1: and REQ and there are actually a multiple multitude of 120 00:07:01,960 --> 00:07:05,000 Speaker 1: types of microphones, but these two are really the ones 121 00:07:05,040 --> 00:07:06,479 Speaker 1: you're going to see if you're going to do any 122 00:07:06,480 --> 00:07:11,160 Speaker 1: recording yourself. It's really picking between these two types, right. Uh, 123 00:07:11,240 --> 00:07:15,320 Speaker 1: Then you have to consider what what style of mike 124 00:07:15,400 --> 00:07:17,200 Speaker 1: as it. How is it picking up sound? Where is 125 00:07:17,200 --> 00:07:20,840 Speaker 1: it pulling sound from? Is it directional or not? Yeah, 126 00:07:20,920 --> 00:07:23,480 Speaker 1: I mean you have the pickup or or the polar pattern. 127 00:07:24,080 --> 00:07:26,120 Speaker 1: Nice way to understand this is to look at a 128 00:07:26,160 --> 00:07:28,880 Speaker 1: graph of the of the pickup pattern. For example, an 129 00:07:28,880 --> 00:07:33,000 Speaker 1: omnidirectional picks up in three sixty degrees. It's all all 130 00:07:33,200 --> 00:07:36,520 Speaker 1: picks up sound from all directions equally um but in 131 00:07:36,560 --> 00:07:39,880 Speaker 1: a in a directional microphone, for example, the most common 132 00:07:39,880 --> 00:07:43,000 Speaker 1: form of that is a cardioid microphone. Cardioid isn't heart 133 00:07:43,040 --> 00:07:45,320 Speaker 1: because it looks like a you know, simple heart shape 134 00:07:45,360 --> 00:07:48,280 Speaker 1: upside down. So so what what that shows that it 135 00:07:48,360 --> 00:07:50,320 Speaker 1: rejects some of the sound from the sides and from 136 00:07:50,320 --> 00:07:52,640 Speaker 1: the rear and focuses more on the sound coming from 137 00:07:52,680 --> 00:07:55,680 Speaker 1: the front of the microphone. Right. So again, depending upon 138 00:07:55,720 --> 00:07:59,600 Speaker 1: the use of your mic, you would want a specific type. 139 00:07:59,640 --> 00:08:03,160 Speaker 1: So for example, with me talking into this microphone here, 140 00:08:03,720 --> 00:08:06,880 Speaker 1: I really want to limit where sound can come from 141 00:08:06,920 --> 00:08:09,280 Speaker 1: and be picked up by the microphone because anything that's 142 00:08:09,280 --> 00:08:12,760 Speaker 1: extraneous from me talking is going to be distracting. But 143 00:08:12,880 --> 00:08:16,480 Speaker 1: in other environments you might want to have that coverage. So, 144 00:08:16,560 --> 00:08:18,560 Speaker 1: for example, if I were doing a podcast with a 145 00:08:18,600 --> 00:08:21,640 Speaker 1: group of friends and we were sitting around a table 146 00:08:22,040 --> 00:08:25,600 Speaker 1: and omnidirectional microphone just to pick up that natural conversation 147 00:08:25,680 --> 00:08:32,120 Speaker 1: could be perfectly legitimate. So we've got the microphones, we've 148 00:08:32,120 --> 00:08:35,360 Speaker 1: got the basis there and what they do and what 149 00:08:35,520 --> 00:08:40,040 Speaker 1: their their differences are. Uh. You mentioned that condenser microphones 150 00:08:40,320 --> 00:08:43,880 Speaker 1: need to have a power source, and one of the 151 00:08:43,960 --> 00:08:50,440 Speaker 1: questions we received was, uh, to clarify what phantom power is. Now, 152 00:08:50,800 --> 00:08:56,880 Speaker 1: does it mean that the microphone is haunted? Uh? Maybe 153 00:08:56,920 --> 00:09:00,360 Speaker 1: I don't know. Um, phantom power is is quite simply. 154 00:09:00,720 --> 00:09:03,440 Speaker 1: The standard is is a forty eight vole signal. This 155 00:09:03,520 --> 00:09:06,120 Speaker 1: can be provided via an external battery if you're out 156 00:09:06,160 --> 00:09:09,400 Speaker 1: recording in the field, but most commonly it's transmitted through 157 00:09:09,440 --> 00:09:12,560 Speaker 1: the microphone cable from the mixer or the audio interface. 158 00:09:12,640 --> 00:09:14,760 Speaker 1: That's that can provide the phantom power to allow the 159 00:09:14,800 --> 00:09:17,479 Speaker 1: microphone to work, so you don't need any external equipment. 160 00:09:17,760 --> 00:09:19,760 Speaker 1: But that's that's really all it is. It's a forty 161 00:09:19,840 --> 00:09:23,720 Speaker 1: eight vol power. Well that's good. See, so now we 162 00:09:23,840 --> 00:09:27,400 Speaker 1: know that that is the power source that keeps the 163 00:09:27,400 --> 00:09:31,040 Speaker 1: condenser microphone going, the one that the condenser microphone requires 164 00:09:31,360 --> 00:09:34,920 Speaker 1: for it to operate. Simply because of the basic mechanism 165 00:09:35,120 --> 00:09:38,559 Speaker 1: through which it converts air pressure, fundamental principle, the way 166 00:09:38,559 --> 00:09:41,960 Speaker 1: it works. Yes, yeah, and uh, I like how you 167 00:09:42,160 --> 00:09:45,760 Speaker 1: moved into all of that too, because it's it. It 168 00:09:45,920 --> 00:09:49,080 Speaker 1: is good for us to remember that sound is a 169 00:09:49,160 --> 00:09:54,120 Speaker 1: physical thing. It's molecules that are bouncing against each other 170 00:09:54,120 --> 00:09:57,560 Speaker 1: and eventually making contact with your ear drum, which moves 171 00:09:57,600 --> 00:10:02,240 Speaker 1: some little celia like finger project actions inside your ear, 172 00:10:02,640 --> 00:10:05,640 Speaker 1: and then that gets interpreted as sound in our brains. 173 00:10:06,200 --> 00:10:09,880 Speaker 1: So it's interesting to think that the microphone is doing 174 00:10:09,960 --> 00:10:13,040 Speaker 1: something similar, except in this case it's converting it into 175 00:10:13,080 --> 00:10:16,760 Speaker 1: an electric current as opposed to a signal that our 176 00:10:16,800 --> 00:10:19,800 Speaker 1: brain interprets. It actually has to go through that conversion 177 00:10:19,800 --> 00:10:22,720 Speaker 1: process again when you're ready to play the sound back 178 00:10:22,840 --> 00:10:26,480 Speaker 1: in whatever you know way. You're doing that with whatever 179 00:10:26,559 --> 00:10:30,520 Speaker 1: kind of speaker you're using. But it's interesting to keep 180 00:10:30,559 --> 00:10:34,360 Speaker 1: that in mind as well. So now that we've covered 181 00:10:34,400 --> 00:10:38,240 Speaker 1: the basics, we've covered the polar patterns, I have to 182 00:10:38,320 --> 00:10:41,880 Speaker 1: ask you another question that was posed by the listener 183 00:10:42,280 --> 00:10:47,840 Speaker 1: about the idea of balanced versus unbalanced cables. I don't 184 00:10:47,840 --> 00:10:53,720 Speaker 1: know what that means, sure, sure, balanced versus unbalanced? Okay, 185 00:10:53,840 --> 00:10:56,840 Speaker 1: and most in most cables you have either to conductor 186 00:10:57,000 --> 00:10:59,319 Speaker 1: or three conductor cables, so you have you know, tip 187 00:10:59,400 --> 00:11:03,160 Speaker 1: or sleeve would your mono unbalanced cable tip ring or 188 00:11:03,240 --> 00:11:06,199 Speaker 1: sleeve could be a stereo unbalanced cable or a mono 189 00:11:06,320 --> 00:11:10,559 Speaker 1: balanced cable. Now the difference between balanced and unbalances effectively 190 00:11:10,600 --> 00:11:13,679 Speaker 1: comes down to on a balanced cable, you have that 191 00:11:14,520 --> 00:11:17,239 Speaker 1: because you have it twice, you have it phase reversed. 192 00:11:17,880 --> 00:11:22,160 Speaker 1: It really limits any outside interference because the microphone cable 193 00:11:22,240 --> 00:11:24,360 Speaker 1: can otherwise kind of act as a nintenna picking up 194 00:11:24,360 --> 00:11:27,760 Speaker 1: all sorts of electromagnetic noise that's in your environment that 195 00:11:27,880 --> 00:11:30,480 Speaker 1: you might not hear um normally, but you would it 196 00:11:30,520 --> 00:11:33,160 Speaker 1: would make it into the recording. So balanced cables aren't 197 00:11:33,160 --> 00:11:34,840 Speaker 1: the end of the world. I mean, most consumer gear 198 00:11:34,960 --> 00:11:36,880 Speaker 1: is all unbalanced. It's just you want to limit the 199 00:11:36,960 --> 00:11:40,160 Speaker 1: run with with her is unbalanced. Rather most consumer gear 200 00:11:41,080 --> 00:11:43,000 Speaker 1: the advantage of balances you can do a long run 201 00:11:43,440 --> 00:11:45,400 Speaker 1: and not have to worry about getting all that extra 202 00:11:45,440 --> 00:11:48,760 Speaker 1: noise got you. Well, that makes sense. I mean, we've 203 00:11:48,800 --> 00:11:52,360 Speaker 1: seen that in lots of different forms of electronics with 204 00:11:52,760 --> 00:11:56,240 Speaker 1: various cables. And one of the dangers you run in 205 00:11:56,600 --> 00:11:59,679 Speaker 1: is if you have a cable with poor shielding, then 206 00:11:59,679 --> 00:12:03,360 Speaker 1: you can a lot of interference that way. Um and uh, 207 00:12:03,400 --> 00:12:08,280 Speaker 1: I mean I remember using really inexpensive earbuds for example, 208 00:12:09,280 --> 00:12:13,000 Speaker 1: the would pick up interference from radio sources like a 209 00:12:13,040 --> 00:12:16,400 Speaker 1: cell phone, and you get that terrible did it did it? Sound? Time? 210 00:12:16,480 --> 00:12:19,480 Speaker 1: One would go off? All right, Well, then we've covered 211 00:12:19,520 --> 00:12:22,840 Speaker 1: the cables. Let me ask you about one of the settings. 212 00:12:23,400 --> 00:12:29,320 Speaker 1: Did I find on microphones the microphone gain? Yes, And 213 00:12:29,360 --> 00:12:32,200 Speaker 1: that really kind of brings us into microphone level versus 214 00:12:32,400 --> 00:12:38,200 Speaker 1: line level. Yeah, because they're a microphone level comes in 215 00:12:38,320 --> 00:12:40,319 Speaker 1: much lower than your standard line level. You know, a 216 00:12:40,400 --> 00:12:45,319 Speaker 1: microphone gets that extra to bring it up to line level. 217 00:12:45,400 --> 00:12:47,840 Speaker 1: So that's where you have the microphone gain, which which 218 00:12:47,920 --> 00:12:50,440 Speaker 1: is too How much gain you're going to need for 219 00:12:50,480 --> 00:12:53,719 Speaker 1: a given microphone varies one by its type. Condensers need 220 00:12:53,800 --> 00:12:56,960 Speaker 1: less gain typically than dynamics, for example, because dynamics are 221 00:12:57,000 --> 00:13:00,160 Speaker 1: passive and just. But each microphone is different in know 222 00:13:00,200 --> 00:13:02,440 Speaker 1: as far as how much game you'll need to get 223 00:13:02,440 --> 00:13:06,480 Speaker 1: it to a proper line level. Cool. Now, we also 224 00:13:06,600 --> 00:13:10,680 Speaker 1: have the concept of a recording level, where you're trying 225 00:13:10,720 --> 00:13:13,480 Speaker 1: to set a level for making sure that you get 226 00:13:13,520 --> 00:13:16,160 Speaker 1: a nice sound out of what you're trying to record. 227 00:13:16,200 --> 00:13:18,280 Speaker 1: You don't want to have any peaks that are going 228 00:13:18,320 --> 00:13:21,400 Speaker 1: to go beyond that recording level, because then you get 229 00:13:21,400 --> 00:13:25,679 Speaker 1: this terrible distorted sound. And so one of the questions 230 00:13:25,679 --> 00:13:29,040 Speaker 1: that was sent in was why are things recorded in 231 00:13:29,240 --> 00:13:33,040 Speaker 1: negative decibels? And to really understand that, first we need 232 00:13:33,120 --> 00:13:37,280 Speaker 1: to remember that decibels, Uh, that's a relative scale. We 233 00:13:37,360 --> 00:13:41,640 Speaker 1: often think of decibels as being kind of a certain scale, 234 00:13:41,720 --> 00:13:46,320 Speaker 1: that five decibel sound, a twenty decibel sound, of twenty 235 00:13:46,320 --> 00:13:49,200 Speaker 1: five decibel sound, that these are these are hard and 236 00:13:49,280 --> 00:13:53,800 Speaker 1: fast numbers, but it really is relative and it's lagarithmic. 237 00:13:54,360 --> 00:13:58,840 Speaker 1: So the deciples are really meant to describe a relationship 238 00:13:59,320 --> 00:14:02,920 Speaker 1: between two different things, and and decibels are not just 239 00:14:03,040 --> 00:14:06,120 Speaker 1: for sound either, but we use it four sounds specifically, 240 00:14:06,440 --> 00:14:09,480 Speaker 1: but you you could use it to describe the intensity 241 00:14:09,520 --> 00:14:13,839 Speaker 1: of two different signals, and the decibels kind of describe 242 00:14:13,960 --> 00:14:17,480 Speaker 1: the gap that's between the two, how much more or 243 00:14:17,600 --> 00:14:21,680 Speaker 1: less intense one signal is compared to the other one. 244 00:14:21,880 --> 00:14:25,600 Speaker 1: So when we get to the idea of negative decibels, 245 00:14:25,680 --> 00:14:30,320 Speaker 1: it doesn't mean that it is negative loud, right, You 246 00:14:30,360 --> 00:14:34,160 Speaker 1: can't you can't you can't have a negative amount of 247 00:14:34,200 --> 00:14:38,440 Speaker 1: sound where it would be This kind of descripted conversation 248 00:14:38,520 --> 00:14:41,400 Speaker 1: makes me think that if we were in spinal tap 249 00:14:41,760 --> 00:14:45,440 Speaker 1: right now, it would be the most confusing conversation to 250 00:14:45,480 --> 00:14:50,000 Speaker 1: the band. While going negative decibels, we want it, we 251 00:14:50,040 --> 00:14:52,960 Speaker 1: want it to be more louder. It would make no 252 00:14:53,000 --> 00:14:55,800 Speaker 1: sense to them. But the idea of the negative is 253 00:14:55,800 --> 00:14:58,960 Speaker 1: so that you can set those parameters where if you 254 00:14:59,040 --> 00:15:02,120 Speaker 1: go beyond those parameters, that's where you run into trouble. 255 00:15:02,320 --> 00:15:04,680 Speaker 1: Do I have that right? Yeah? I mean I I 256 00:15:05,480 --> 00:15:08,040 Speaker 1: do want to kind of preface this is like you said, 257 00:15:08,120 --> 00:15:10,040 Speaker 1: descibel can be used for all sorts of things, and 258 00:15:10,040 --> 00:15:12,520 Speaker 1: there are all sorts of different standards even within audio 259 00:15:12,600 --> 00:15:16,000 Speaker 1: recording related to decibels. When you're talking about you know, 260 00:15:16,080 --> 00:15:20,840 Speaker 1: negative decibels, that's usually referring to dB full scale or dBFS, 261 00:15:20,920 --> 00:15:23,120 Speaker 1: which is what we use in the digital realm. But 262 00:15:23,200 --> 00:15:25,760 Speaker 1: you also have you know, d d V or as 263 00:15:25,800 --> 00:15:28,640 Speaker 1: an V for voltage, which is what you see usually 264 00:15:28,640 --> 00:15:32,640 Speaker 1: in the analog world. So it gets even more confusing 265 00:15:32,680 --> 00:15:35,960 Speaker 1: because zero, you know, a zero dB VU like you'd 266 00:15:35,960 --> 00:15:39,000 Speaker 1: see an analog, is actually equivalent to negative eight ten 267 00:15:39,080 --> 00:15:43,120 Speaker 1: dB full scale, So it can get a little bit 268 00:15:43,960 --> 00:15:46,320 Speaker 1: hard to wrap your head around if you're expecting you know, 269 00:15:46,440 --> 00:15:48,280 Speaker 1: one you know, you see it's like, I'm right at 270 00:15:48,320 --> 00:15:51,800 Speaker 1: perfect zero d dB on my mixer, but wait, and 271 00:15:51,840 --> 00:15:54,040 Speaker 1: why is it coming in this low It's it's designed 272 00:15:54,080 --> 00:15:55,960 Speaker 1: to be able to have that extra headroom because in 273 00:15:56,160 --> 00:15:58,760 Speaker 1: the analog world, you could go above zero dB, it 274 00:15:59,000 --> 00:16:02,680 Speaker 1: would thicken up the sound, but sometimes that that high 275 00:16:02,680 --> 00:16:06,560 Speaker 1: frequency distorced, that subtle high frequency distortion was was desirable. 276 00:16:06,640 --> 00:16:09,920 Speaker 1: But in the digital world, zero dB is kind of 277 00:16:10,040 --> 00:16:12,120 Speaker 1: like the speed of light. You can't go above that, 278 00:16:12,520 --> 00:16:15,320 Speaker 1: or like over exposing a photo on a digital camera 279 00:16:15,360 --> 00:16:18,040 Speaker 1: where it's just all blown out white. It's the same thing. 280 00:16:18,080 --> 00:16:21,680 Speaker 1: Anything above zero dB, it just can't there's no you know, 281 00:16:21,720 --> 00:16:24,160 Speaker 1: you can't go past the speed of light. Anything beyond 282 00:16:24,200 --> 00:16:26,360 Speaker 1: that it just can't handle, right, So that's where you 283 00:16:26,360 --> 00:16:30,800 Speaker 1: would get into, you know, really awful digital artifacts in 284 00:16:30,840 --> 00:16:33,680 Speaker 1: the in the recorded sound and why you would want 285 00:16:33,720 --> 00:16:36,920 Speaker 1: to have that set. So, just for a general rule 286 00:16:36,960 --> 00:16:40,040 Speaker 1: of thumb, what what do you usually look for, like, 287 00:16:40,080 --> 00:16:43,640 Speaker 1: what how do you usually set your levels for recording? 288 00:16:43,640 --> 00:16:46,240 Speaker 1: What do you think is a good kind of uh 289 00:16:46,560 --> 00:16:49,040 Speaker 1: scale to look at? Sure, Yeah, I mean, of course, 290 00:16:49,080 --> 00:16:50,960 Speaker 1: because you can't go above zero dB. You want to 291 00:16:50,960 --> 00:16:53,560 Speaker 1: make sure your signal is high enough, but you still 292 00:16:53,560 --> 00:16:56,400 Speaker 1: want to have enough headroom for that variation. Um, A 293 00:16:56,480 --> 00:17:00,000 Speaker 1: great rule of thumb is just negative peak between negati 294 00:17:00,040 --> 00:17:03,320 Speaker 1: of twelve and negative six or or somewhere around there, 295 00:17:03,360 --> 00:17:05,280 Speaker 1: so that if you get a little more excited and 296 00:17:05,280 --> 00:17:08,480 Speaker 1: get a little louder, you're you're hopefully leaving enough headroom 297 00:17:08,520 --> 00:17:10,879 Speaker 1: so that you're not going to clip which clip clip 298 00:17:10,960 --> 00:17:14,400 Speaker 1: or go above zero Right. So, uh, if you've ever 299 00:17:14,640 --> 00:17:20,280 Speaker 1: watched a video where someone does suddenly go from one 300 00:17:20,400 --> 00:17:23,560 Speaker 1: level of volume to a much greater level of volume, 301 00:17:23,920 --> 00:17:26,840 Speaker 1: I'm thinking of several Let's plays that I've watched where 302 00:17:27,600 --> 00:17:32,000 Speaker 1: they were playing pt the trailer that's for Silent Hills. 303 00:17:33,119 --> 00:17:36,679 Speaker 1: That's a terrifying trailer. And I've seen people are watched 304 00:17:36,720 --> 00:17:38,679 Speaker 1: videos where people started screaming and then you get the 305 00:17:38,760 --> 00:17:43,080 Speaker 1: terrible clipping because they weren't anticipating. This kind of essentially 306 00:17:43,160 --> 00:17:45,960 Speaker 1: makes this kind of ear bleeding distortion that you don't 307 00:17:46,000 --> 00:17:48,680 Speaker 1: want to listen to. Right, Yeah, that's a general rule 308 00:17:48,720 --> 00:17:52,600 Speaker 1: of thumb is you want to avoid that. So similar 309 00:17:52,640 --> 00:17:56,399 Speaker 1: to this, we have the concept of equalization e Q 310 00:17:57,080 --> 00:18:00,960 Speaker 1: and the various frequencies. I know that anyone who had 311 00:18:01,040 --> 00:18:05,320 Speaker 1: a good stereo back in the eighties had that series 312 00:18:05,480 --> 00:18:08,879 Speaker 1: of sliders that they could choose to play with for 313 00:18:09,040 --> 00:18:12,760 Speaker 1: the different frequencies. And uh, you know, everyone had their 314 00:18:12,800 --> 00:18:15,760 Speaker 1: own secret sauce and what they thought was important. But 315 00:18:15,960 --> 00:18:19,159 Speaker 1: no one on the just the basic consumer level seemed 316 00:18:19,200 --> 00:18:24,160 Speaker 1: to really appreciate what those those different sliders were for. Um. 317 00:18:24,160 --> 00:18:26,400 Speaker 1: But when it boils down to it, it really comes 318 00:18:26,400 --> 00:18:31,320 Speaker 1: down to essentially a volume more intensity knob for sounds 319 00:18:31,359 --> 00:18:37,080 Speaker 1: that occur within a certain frequency range. Right, yeah, absolutely, um, 320 00:18:37,440 --> 00:18:40,960 Speaker 1: Because I remember the range of human hearing is approximately 321 00:18:41,000 --> 00:18:44,639 Speaker 1: twenty hurts to twenty thousand hurts at least if you 322 00:18:44,640 --> 00:18:47,000 Speaker 1: don't you know, usually for younger people, the older you get, 323 00:18:47,000 --> 00:18:49,600 Speaker 1: you tend to lose some of those higher for frequencies naturally, 324 00:18:49,680 --> 00:18:52,560 Speaker 1: or if you've been to too many loud concerts, um 325 00:18:52,720 --> 00:18:55,600 Speaker 1: or on the low and like twenty hurts, that's usually solo. 326 00:18:55,680 --> 00:18:59,840 Speaker 1: It's actually subaudible, but you feel it, so you're still 327 00:19:00,160 --> 00:19:02,960 Speaker 1: you're still kind of experiencing that when the sound frequency 328 00:19:03,040 --> 00:19:06,960 Speaker 1: is that low. UM. So you know, the mids if 329 00:19:06,960 --> 00:19:09,080 Speaker 1: you're if you're doing any equalization. You know, the mid 330 00:19:09,160 --> 00:19:12,680 Speaker 1: level isn't gonna be ten thousand hurts because human hearing 331 00:19:12,760 --> 00:19:15,919 Speaker 1: is is logarithmic. So usually when you see mids um 332 00:19:15,960 --> 00:19:17,600 Speaker 1: you might see you know, if you're dusting the midsics, 333 00:19:17,600 --> 00:19:19,639 Speaker 1: you're gonna be you know, two point five kill hurts 334 00:19:20,720 --> 00:19:24,439 Speaker 1: hurts for example. Well, that's an important thing also to 335 00:19:24,520 --> 00:19:27,000 Speaker 1: keep in mind. But what I love is that you 336 00:19:27,040 --> 00:19:31,879 Speaker 1: are essentially having control over these various ranges of frequencies. 337 00:19:32,000 --> 00:19:35,680 Speaker 1: So that's why the base slider is really what's doing 338 00:19:35,720 --> 00:19:39,560 Speaker 1: is it's boosting the signal, boosting the intensity of any 339 00:19:39,760 --> 00:19:42,760 Speaker 1: sound wave that falls in that frequency. It's not that 340 00:19:42,840 --> 00:19:46,040 Speaker 1: it magically inserts boost a base where there was no 341 00:19:46,160 --> 00:19:48,679 Speaker 1: base before. There has to have been a signal at 342 00:19:48,720 --> 00:19:52,479 Speaker 1: that frequency for something to get played at all essentially 343 00:19:52,480 --> 00:19:56,680 Speaker 1: Alloueder volume or recorded at allouder volume. Um. So, because 344 00:19:56,680 --> 00:19:59,119 Speaker 1: I had friends, I mean I remember back in in 345 00:19:59,240 --> 00:20:02,840 Speaker 1: school where I friends who would their magic sauce was 346 00:20:02,920 --> 00:20:05,080 Speaker 1: just to turn that base slider all the way up 347 00:20:05,080 --> 00:20:08,000 Speaker 1: to ten and say this is gonna be amazing, And 348 00:20:08,000 --> 00:20:10,040 Speaker 1: then they get disappointed, and I'd say, well, you know, 349 00:20:10,119 --> 00:20:13,000 Speaker 1: you you gotta you gotta have some sound waves in 350 00:20:13,000 --> 00:20:17,680 Speaker 1: that frequency range for anything to have happened. So, uh, 351 00:20:18,000 --> 00:20:21,679 Speaker 1: that's you know, another little a little misconception i'd like 352 00:20:21,760 --> 00:20:25,240 Speaker 1: to clear up. And then we get into something that 353 00:20:25,800 --> 00:20:29,600 Speaker 1: frankly tends to to make my head swim when we 354 00:20:29,640 --> 00:20:34,320 Speaker 1: start talking about the concept of samples and bit rate 355 00:20:34,400 --> 00:20:38,240 Speaker 1: and bit depth. So this is the digital audio world. 356 00:20:38,280 --> 00:20:40,200 Speaker 1: This is this is really where I think a lot 357 00:20:40,240 --> 00:20:42,600 Speaker 1: of our listeners fall into people who want to record, 358 00:20:42,680 --> 00:20:47,359 Speaker 1: because digital recording equipment is very easy to get hold of, 359 00:20:47,960 --> 00:20:53,160 Speaker 1: um even just very basic equipment that is good enough 360 00:20:53,200 --> 00:20:56,040 Speaker 1: for you know, your average stuff that you want to do. 361 00:20:56,119 --> 00:20:59,880 Speaker 1: Maybe if you're not going for a truly professional level recording, 362 00:21:00,359 --> 00:21:02,480 Speaker 1: you can get away with a lot of In fact, 363 00:21:02,560 --> 00:21:04,240 Speaker 1: a lot of the stuff that's on the consumer market 364 00:21:04,280 --> 00:21:07,880 Speaker 1: that's not very expensive, can and under the right condition, 365 00:21:07,960 --> 00:21:11,320 Speaker 1: sound like professional level recording. But this is where we 366 00:21:11,400 --> 00:21:15,240 Speaker 1: start talking about the amount of information you're packing into 367 00:21:15,280 --> 00:21:17,680 Speaker 1: a file, because when you get down to it, that's 368 00:21:17,680 --> 00:21:21,240 Speaker 1: what digital that's what digital recording is all about. It's 369 00:21:21,280 --> 00:21:25,040 Speaker 1: recording things in sequences of zeros and ones, and eventually 370 00:21:25,040 --> 00:21:29,919 Speaker 1: that starts to take up file space. So with analog signals, 371 00:21:30,280 --> 00:21:32,320 Speaker 1: one of the things to keep in mind is that 372 00:21:33,440 --> 00:21:37,520 Speaker 1: the sounds we produce, the waves we produce, are continuous 373 00:21:37,560 --> 00:21:41,960 Speaker 1: and they're variable, but we have to process that, uh, 374 00:21:42,000 --> 00:21:45,160 Speaker 1: and in order to for it to become digital. Digital 375 00:21:45,280 --> 00:21:50,120 Speaker 1: is not all about these continuous waves. Instead, a digital 376 00:21:50,680 --> 00:21:53,919 Speaker 1: file ends up sampling that wave. And by sampling, you 377 00:21:53,920 --> 00:21:57,040 Speaker 1: can think of it kind of like a snapshot, a 378 00:21:57,160 --> 00:22:00,840 Speaker 1: very quick photograph of one particular part of that wave. 379 00:22:01,720 --> 00:22:04,280 Speaker 1: And so each sample is a quantity is quantities to 380 00:22:04,320 --> 00:22:06,720 Speaker 1: a finite number of bits, and what was once a 381 00:22:06,720 --> 00:22:11,040 Speaker 1: continuous wave of sound now gets represented as that series 382 00:22:11,320 --> 00:22:15,399 Speaker 1: of of bits of zeros and ones, And uh, really 383 00:22:15,440 --> 00:22:17,600 Speaker 1: what comes down to it is how many times do 384 00:22:17,640 --> 00:22:21,760 Speaker 1: you sample that wave? What's the frequency of your sampling? 385 00:22:22,160 --> 00:22:26,639 Speaker 1: That kind of determines the resolution of the file. So 386 00:22:27,080 --> 00:22:30,399 Speaker 1: if you weren't sampling it very frequently, you would have 387 00:22:30,440 --> 00:22:34,800 Speaker 1: a pretty poor quality sounding uh file. It would end 388 00:22:34,880 --> 00:22:40,440 Speaker 1: up being um well, less fidelity. I guess you could say, like, uh, 389 00:22:40,520 --> 00:22:44,439 Speaker 1: the quality for telephone calls and cell phone calls is 390 00:22:44,520 --> 00:22:46,520 Speaker 1: fairly low because you just have to have it be 391 00:22:46,600 --> 00:22:49,800 Speaker 1: high enough so that the average person can understand what 392 00:22:49,880 --> 00:22:52,640 Speaker 1: the other person is saying. For something like a recorded 393 00:22:53,640 --> 00:22:58,520 Speaker 1: medium like c D s you want it much higher, right, Okay, 394 00:22:58,600 --> 00:23:01,159 Speaker 1: So this is where we get into the idea of 395 00:23:01,200 --> 00:23:04,640 Speaker 1: bit depth. That's the number of bits within a sample. 396 00:23:05,240 --> 00:23:08,120 Speaker 1: So this is really the sample resolution. And you've got 397 00:23:08,160 --> 00:23:13,240 Speaker 1: different types of bit sampling rates. So CD audio uses 398 00:23:13,520 --> 00:23:17,120 Speaker 1: sixteen bits per sample, blu ray goes to twenty four 399 00:23:17,160 --> 00:23:20,760 Speaker 1: bits per sample. And this is where you're able to 400 00:23:21,119 --> 00:23:25,240 Speaker 1: represent more subtle differences, uh in the level of the sound, 401 00:23:25,320 --> 00:23:28,680 Speaker 1: as opposed to trying to flatten everything out. That's part 402 00:23:28,680 --> 00:23:31,760 Speaker 1: of it anyway. Sampling rate will refer to the number 403 00:23:31,880 --> 00:23:35,840 Speaker 1: of samples of an analog signal taken every second. So 404 00:23:35,920 --> 00:23:39,199 Speaker 1: a continuous wave uh is going through you need to 405 00:23:39,240 --> 00:23:43,480 Speaker 1: digitize it. You're really just capturing those specific moments. And 406 00:23:43,760 --> 00:23:46,160 Speaker 1: this is where I had a note and and I'm 407 00:23:46,160 --> 00:23:50,000 Speaker 1: glad that you were able to uh clarify this because 408 00:23:50,000 --> 00:23:52,399 Speaker 1: it was a little confusing to me. You mentioned the 409 00:23:52,520 --> 00:23:55,720 Speaker 1: range of human hearing goes from around twenty hurts to 410 00:23:55,920 --> 00:23:59,639 Speaker 1: twenty thousand hurts. Uh, But when you get to the 411 00:23:59,720 --> 00:24:03,880 Speaker 1: sam full rate of CD sampling, it's at forty four 412 00:24:03,960 --> 00:24:08,720 Speaker 1: point one killer hurts. Now can you explain why that is? Yeah, 413 00:24:08,880 --> 00:24:11,000 Speaker 1: just due to the way digital audio works. Or just 414 00:24:11,040 --> 00:24:13,200 Speaker 1: the way sound works. You have since we have positive 415 00:24:13,240 --> 00:24:16,240 Speaker 1: and negative pressure because it's a wave, so in this 416 00:24:16,280 --> 00:24:18,960 Speaker 1: case you have positive and minus for those each of 417 00:24:18,960 --> 00:24:22,520 Speaker 1: those values so effectively with a forty four point one 418 00:24:22,600 --> 00:24:26,480 Speaker 1: kill hurt sample rate, they're frequent. The possible frequency range 419 00:24:26,520 --> 00:24:28,680 Speaker 1: that can reproduce is going to be half, so it's 420 00:24:28,680 --> 00:24:32,600 Speaker 1: gonna be two and fifty hurts or right around the 421 00:24:32,640 --> 00:24:36,960 Speaker 1: limit of human hearing. So that's really that that that 422 00:24:37,040 --> 00:24:39,200 Speaker 1: really opened up my eyes because I had read some 423 00:24:39,240 --> 00:24:42,800 Speaker 1: descriptions about this but didn't really grasp it until you 424 00:24:42,840 --> 00:24:45,320 Speaker 1: had clarified. So I'm very thankful to have you on 425 00:24:45,359 --> 00:24:48,560 Speaker 1: the show. Not to say there aren't reasons for going 426 00:24:48,600 --> 00:24:51,679 Speaker 1: above that sample rate UM, but it's usually more specialized 427 00:24:51,800 --> 00:24:54,320 Speaker 1: us as you might because you there will be some 428 00:24:54,920 --> 00:24:58,840 Speaker 1: getting it's real complicated stuff, but there will be something 429 00:24:58,880 --> 00:25:01,200 Speaker 1: you can't have some a least seeing some artifacts in 430 00:25:01,240 --> 00:25:05,560 Speaker 1: those very high frequency So sometimes for recording where fidelity 431 00:25:05,600 --> 00:25:08,439 Speaker 1: is you know, ultimate, they might record at a higher 432 00:25:08,440 --> 00:25:11,800 Speaker 1: sample rate UM or or sometimes you'll see for sound 433 00:25:11,800 --> 00:25:13,800 Speaker 1: design they'll record at a higher sample rate because I'm 434 00:25:13,800 --> 00:25:16,719 Speaker 1: gonna slow it down so much to get that you know, 435 00:25:16,960 --> 00:25:20,960 Speaker 1: alien otherworldly sound that you need that extra those extra 436 00:25:21,000 --> 00:25:23,280 Speaker 1: samples for it to work, for it to work. So 437 00:25:23,400 --> 00:25:28,080 Speaker 1: in in terms of like a digital photograph, this would 438 00:25:28,119 --> 00:25:31,480 Speaker 1: be like wanting to have more megapixels because you plan 439 00:25:32,080 --> 00:25:35,560 Speaker 1: to eventually blow up that that picture too many times 440 00:25:35,600 --> 00:25:39,480 Speaker 1: its original great analogy. Yeah, So one of the things 441 00:25:39,520 --> 00:25:41,920 Speaker 1: I saw was that you can find sampling rates hitting 442 00:25:42,000 --> 00:25:44,680 Speaker 1: levels around a hundred and ninety two kill a hurts. 443 00:25:44,720 --> 00:25:48,119 Speaker 1: That's way higher than what you find in the c 444 00:25:48,280 --> 00:25:52,520 Speaker 1: D sampling rate. And one of the thought processes behind 445 00:25:52,600 --> 00:25:57,399 Speaker 1: this is that it captures ultrasonic frequencies when you start 446 00:25:57,480 --> 00:26:02,720 Speaker 1: getting into that that level, and those ultrasonic frequencies, uh, 447 00:26:02,800 --> 00:26:05,919 Speaker 1: those aren't perceptible to us on their own, We wouldn't 448 00:26:05,960 --> 00:26:07,520 Speaker 1: be able to hear them. This would be at a 449 00:26:07,600 --> 00:26:13,720 Speaker 1: frequency far above human hearing. However, they can affect some 450 00:26:13,880 --> 00:26:17,840 Speaker 1: other signals that we do here. This is called intermodulation distortion, 451 00:26:18,560 --> 00:26:22,720 Speaker 1: so that's when inaudible parts of the sound spectrum start 452 00:26:22,720 --> 00:26:25,879 Speaker 1: to interact with audible parts. What's interesting to me is 453 00:26:25,920 --> 00:26:28,639 Speaker 1: that this is not something that you find present during 454 00:26:28,680 --> 00:26:31,800 Speaker 1: the actual live performance of the sound. It is truly 455 00:26:32,359 --> 00:26:35,399 Speaker 1: an artifact of the digitizing process. But it might be 456 00:26:35,440 --> 00:26:38,520 Speaker 1: a desirable one depending upon the effect you're trying to achieve. 457 00:26:38,960 --> 00:26:41,359 Speaker 1: So to me, it's interesting that you're recording sound that 458 00:26:42,000 --> 00:26:46,879 Speaker 1: technically is is kind of not there, at least not 459 00:26:47,119 --> 00:26:49,720 Speaker 1: it's not perceptible to you in the live performance of 460 00:26:49,760 --> 00:26:52,640 Speaker 1: the recording, but then you can hear the effect once 461 00:26:52,680 --> 00:26:55,520 Speaker 1: you're listening back to the recording. Before we move on, 462 00:26:55,600 --> 00:26:59,040 Speaker 1: let's take a quick break to thank our sponsor, and 463 00:26:59,119 --> 00:27:02,199 Speaker 1: our sponsor is Little Bits. A Little Bits is the 464 00:27:02,240 --> 00:27:07,640 Speaker 1: easiest and most extensive way to learn and prototype with electronics. 465 00:27:07,680 --> 00:27:10,840 Speaker 1: So they're making hardware limitless with an award winning, ever 466 00:27:10,880 --> 00:27:13,960 Speaker 1: growing library of electronic modules. And they range from the 467 00:27:14,040 --> 00:27:19,159 Speaker 1: very simple like power or sensors or led light, to 468 00:27:19,240 --> 00:27:23,600 Speaker 1: the very complex such as wireless modules or programmable modules. 469 00:27:23,640 --> 00:27:26,600 Speaker 1: And there are more than sixty modules and trillions of 470 00:27:26,800 --> 00:27:30,919 Speaker 1: billions of combinations that are possible. It moves electronics from 471 00:27:30,960 --> 00:27:34,280 Speaker 1: the hands of experts to the hands of everyone, and 472 00:27:34,320 --> 00:27:40,160 Speaker 1: they're used by makers, artists, designers, engineers, students and podcast hosts. 473 00:27:40,480 --> 00:27:43,119 Speaker 1: They sent me a kit I got to experiment with it. 474 00:27:43,560 --> 00:27:47,399 Speaker 1: The first thing I built was a joy buzzer. Is 475 00:27:47,520 --> 00:27:50,320 Speaker 1: really simple. I used a power module, a couple of 476 00:27:50,359 --> 00:27:54,640 Speaker 1: wire modules, a button and a buzzer and they link 477 00:27:54,720 --> 00:27:58,240 Speaker 1: up magnetically. Nothing could be easier. You don't have to 478 00:27:58,280 --> 00:28:00,399 Speaker 1: do any soldering, you don't have to do any wiring. 479 00:28:00,440 --> 00:28:03,080 Speaker 1: It's all built for you and really you just let 480 00:28:03,119 --> 00:28:06,880 Speaker 1: your imagination take control. Well, little bits is offering new 481 00:28:06,920 --> 00:28:10,399 Speaker 1: customers twenty dollars off your first kit, So go to 482 00:28:10,480 --> 00:28:14,119 Speaker 1: little bits dot com and enter the promo code text 483 00:28:14,160 --> 00:28:17,119 Speaker 1: stuff when you place your order and you'll receive twenty 484 00:28:17,160 --> 00:28:19,879 Speaker 1: dollars off your first kit, plus free shipping to the 485 00:28:19,960 --> 00:28:23,560 Speaker 1: United States. So little bits dot com and don't forget 486 00:28:23,600 --> 00:28:26,560 Speaker 1: that promo code text stuff when you place your order. 487 00:28:27,200 --> 00:28:30,040 Speaker 1: All right, So we talked about sample rate. Then you 488 00:28:30,080 --> 00:28:33,040 Speaker 1: have bit rate. That's the amount of information conveyed or 489 00:28:33,119 --> 00:28:37,200 Speaker 1: process per unit of time. So a kill a bit 490 00:28:37,240 --> 00:28:40,239 Speaker 1: per second would be a bit rate that's not a 491 00:28:40,240 --> 00:28:43,880 Speaker 1: good one, but it would be one uh, but a 492 00:28:43,960 --> 00:28:45,680 Speaker 1: high quality bit rate would be closer to it, like 493 00:28:45,720 --> 00:28:49,120 Speaker 1: a d kill a bits per second um. And the 494 00:28:49,240 --> 00:28:52,800 Speaker 1: maximum supported by the MP three format is three kill 495 00:28:52,840 --> 00:28:57,200 Speaker 1: a bits per second. So there's a formula for figuring 496 00:28:57,240 --> 00:28:59,800 Speaker 1: out the bit rate, which is the bit rate is 497 00:29:00,000 --> 00:29:04,160 Speaker 1: equal to the sample rate times the bit depth. Times 498 00:29:04,200 --> 00:29:07,120 Speaker 1: the number of channels recorded, because you can have more 499 00:29:07,160 --> 00:29:10,560 Speaker 1: than one channel of sound being recorded at once. So 500 00:29:10,760 --> 00:29:13,640 Speaker 1: if you were recording in stereo, you're using an audio 501 00:29:13,720 --> 00:29:16,640 Speaker 1: CD with the sample rate of forty four point one 502 00:29:16,680 --> 00:29:20,360 Speaker 1: killer hurts a bit depth of sixteen, you've got the 503 00:29:20,400 --> 00:29:24,720 Speaker 1: stereo so therefore it's two channels. You would multiply four thousand, 504 00:29:24,760 --> 00:29:30,080 Speaker 1: one hundred times sixteen times two, which, uh, running out 505 00:29:30,080 --> 00:29:35,520 Speaker 1: of fingers, one million, four thousand, two hundred bits per second, 506 00:29:35,640 --> 00:29:38,400 Speaker 1: so that'd be one you know, one thousand, four hundred 507 00:29:38,440 --> 00:29:40,440 Speaker 1: eleven point to kill a bits per second, one point 508 00:29:40,520 --> 00:29:44,040 Speaker 1: for megabits per second. Yeah, that's a lot, and that's 509 00:29:44,120 --> 00:29:48,280 Speaker 1: uncompressed audio, mind you. But but I do think you 510 00:29:48,280 --> 00:29:50,120 Speaker 1: mentioned this, But I do want to be clear, it's 511 00:29:50,160 --> 00:29:53,120 Speaker 1: important to not confuse bit depth, which we talked about earlier, 512 00:29:53,160 --> 00:29:56,840 Speaker 1: with bit rate. Those are two very separate that related, 513 00:29:56,960 --> 00:30:00,920 Speaker 1: you know, but very separate terms. Right. Bit bit rate 514 00:30:01,240 --> 00:30:05,840 Speaker 1: depends in part on bit depth along with the sample 515 00:30:05,960 --> 00:30:09,280 Speaker 1: rate and how many channels you're recording. But they are 516 00:30:09,360 --> 00:30:12,560 Speaker 1: two different concepts, so don't confuse the two. Even though 517 00:30:12,560 --> 00:30:15,200 Speaker 1: they both have bit in the name. Uh, they are 518 00:30:15,240 --> 00:30:19,920 Speaker 1: two different things. So Steve, if you were going to record, 519 00:30:20,000 --> 00:30:23,800 Speaker 1: say podcast that you wanted to to send out there 520 00:30:24,160 --> 00:30:28,440 Speaker 1: you had access to, you know, your general consumer level technology. 521 00:30:29,200 --> 00:30:32,360 Speaker 1: What what would be the the rate you would suggest 522 00:30:32,440 --> 00:30:34,800 Speaker 1: people record at. What what do you think is a 523 00:30:34,840 --> 00:30:38,000 Speaker 1: good target to aim at? Sure um forty four point 524 00:30:38,040 --> 00:30:39,880 Speaker 1: one kill hurt since the Sampar rate I would go 525 00:30:39,920 --> 00:30:43,120 Speaker 1: with because you really don't need more, especially for podcasting. 526 00:30:43,640 --> 00:30:46,040 Speaker 1: It's just the human voice, so there isn't you know, 527 00:30:46,080 --> 00:30:48,440 Speaker 1: It's not like you're recording a you know, dense musical 528 00:30:48,480 --> 00:30:50,880 Speaker 1: soundscape or something, right, unless you've got a bunch of 529 00:30:50,920 --> 00:30:56,280 Speaker 1: Gregorian monks chanting in the background or something that would 530 00:30:56,320 --> 00:30:59,280 Speaker 1: be a podcast I would listen to. Possibly I'm working 531 00:30:59,280 --> 00:31:02,200 Speaker 1: on it, but I've only found one monk and uh 532 00:31:02,240 --> 00:31:05,320 Speaker 1: he's not He's not the singing type. So as as 533 00:31:05,320 --> 00:31:08,280 Speaker 1: far as bit depth, I mean, most consumer stuff records 534 00:31:08,320 --> 00:31:10,640 Speaker 1: that sixteen bit. Some will go to twenty four bit, 535 00:31:10,640 --> 00:31:14,280 Speaker 1: which is where you see most pro gear. Um. There 536 00:31:14,360 --> 00:31:16,600 Speaker 1: is a benefit to going to twenty four bit because 537 00:31:16,640 --> 00:31:19,600 Speaker 1: there are more essentially that the I we talked about 538 00:31:19,600 --> 00:31:22,320 Speaker 1: with bit depth, the more bits there are, the more 539 00:31:22,480 --> 00:31:25,480 Speaker 1: values there are to represent changes in volume. So it's 540 00:31:25,480 --> 00:31:29,560 Speaker 1: a finer resolution, but sixteen bit is still perfectly serviceable 541 00:31:29,600 --> 00:31:33,200 Speaker 1: if that's all you can do so with this kind 542 00:31:33,240 --> 00:31:38,320 Speaker 1: of information. This sort of also plays into the conversation 543 00:31:38,360 --> 00:31:42,800 Speaker 1: of how MP three's, especially early MP three's, how they 544 00:31:42,880 --> 00:31:47,800 Speaker 1: started to change the nature of recording in a way, because, 545 00:31:48,480 --> 00:31:51,520 Speaker 1: like you say, you know, when you have when you 546 00:31:51,520 --> 00:31:55,360 Speaker 1: have less information in your file, you have to balance 547 00:31:55,400 --> 00:31:57,400 Speaker 1: that out, you have to figure out what's being kept, 548 00:31:57,440 --> 00:32:01,240 Speaker 1: and you know, especially for a compressed sound file formats 549 00:32:01,720 --> 00:32:03,880 Speaker 1: uh And one of the things that the MP three 550 00:32:03,920 --> 00:32:08,120 Speaker 1: file format would do is look for things that that 551 00:32:08,280 --> 00:32:12,520 Speaker 1: the algorithm said would be outside of human range of 552 00:32:12,560 --> 00:32:16,840 Speaker 1: hearing and just cut it on entirely. So I am curious, Steve. 553 00:32:16,920 --> 00:32:19,240 Speaker 1: I know that this isn't in the notes, but I'm 554 00:32:19,280 --> 00:32:23,640 Speaker 1: curious as to your thoughts on that subject. Well, the 555 00:32:23,680 --> 00:32:26,840 Speaker 1: type of compression we're talking about here is is lossy compression. 556 00:32:26,880 --> 00:32:29,240 Speaker 1: You have lost list compression, which is more akin to 557 00:32:29,320 --> 00:32:32,640 Speaker 1: like a ZIP file for example, where you uncompressed and 558 00:32:32,760 --> 00:32:35,200 Speaker 1: everything is the exact same as it was with with 559 00:32:35,360 --> 00:32:38,760 Speaker 1: MP three. It's lossy or really you can think of 560 00:32:38,760 --> 00:32:40,880 Speaker 1: this a lot like a gift or or a JPEG, 561 00:32:41,680 --> 00:32:44,200 Speaker 1: where it's compressing it by throwing away some of that 562 00:32:44,280 --> 00:32:47,240 Speaker 1: information that it's not quite as important. So you can 563 00:32:47,240 --> 00:32:50,000 Speaker 1: still see what the images. You can still here what's 564 00:32:50,160 --> 00:32:54,200 Speaker 1: what was recorded, but it's using psychoacoustics to throw away 565 00:32:54,280 --> 00:32:56,400 Speaker 1: less important stuff to be able to make that file 566 00:32:56,480 --> 00:33:00,960 Speaker 1: size a lot smaller. Yeah. So, now if you were 567 00:33:01,040 --> 00:33:05,240 Speaker 1: going to listen to music, if you were going to say, 568 00:33:05,320 --> 00:33:08,880 Speaker 1: I want to purchase a digital file of a song, 569 00:33:09,800 --> 00:33:13,160 Speaker 1: what file format do you choose? Honestly, even as an 570 00:33:13,200 --> 00:33:16,040 Speaker 1: audio engineer, I don't see as much of a benefit 571 00:33:16,120 --> 00:33:18,800 Speaker 1: for for lossless. Now they're not that there isn't a 572 00:33:18,880 --> 00:33:22,080 Speaker 1: benefit you know there, you know you're getting a pristine 573 00:33:22,160 --> 00:33:25,200 Speaker 1: recording when it's lossless, when it's in Flak or Apple lossless, 574 00:33:25,200 --> 00:33:28,520 Speaker 1: which which is what a lot of really hardcore audio 575 00:33:28,560 --> 00:33:31,240 Speaker 1: files will turn will turn to. But honestly, for me, 576 00:33:31,720 --> 00:33:33,360 Speaker 1: I did that whole lossle thing for a while, But 577 00:33:33,400 --> 00:33:36,400 Speaker 1: at this point, as long as it's a decent bit rate, 578 00:33:36,440 --> 00:33:38,480 Speaker 1: I'll go with you know, MP three or a a 579 00:33:38,560 --> 00:33:40,800 Speaker 1: C so that you know, two six kill a bit. 580 00:33:41,360 --> 00:33:43,320 Speaker 1: You know a a C you get from iTunes is 581 00:33:43,360 --> 00:33:47,000 Speaker 1: perfectly serviceable to me for listening purposes. Yeah, I I 582 00:33:47,040 --> 00:33:50,160 Speaker 1: feel the same way, Uh, and I feel that since 583 00:33:50,200 --> 00:33:53,120 Speaker 1: I've got you on and you can't go until I 584 00:33:53,840 --> 00:33:57,360 Speaker 1: conclude the episode, and it's got me locked in a cage, yeah, 585 00:33:57,360 --> 00:34:00,440 Speaker 1: I effectively have you ust me to Uh So, here's 586 00:34:00,480 --> 00:34:03,120 Speaker 1: here's the next questions. It's we can start looking at 587 00:34:03,160 --> 00:34:07,800 Speaker 1: some myths around audio engineering for the audio files out 588 00:34:07,800 --> 00:34:11,080 Speaker 1: in the audience. The folks who who are looking to 589 00:34:11,239 --> 00:34:14,560 Speaker 1: have a nice sound system to listen to things on. 590 00:34:15,480 --> 00:34:21,360 Speaker 1: What about those super high premium cables, do they really 591 00:34:21,600 --> 00:34:27,239 Speaker 1: have the benefit of other more basic cables And a 592 00:34:27,280 --> 00:34:30,120 Speaker 1: word no, certainly for digital cable. If it's a you 593 00:34:30,120 --> 00:34:32,319 Speaker 1: know it's digital, it's gonna work or it's not gonna work. 594 00:34:32,360 --> 00:34:37,120 Speaker 1: There isn't really much of a metal ground analog. You 595 00:34:37,160 --> 00:34:39,200 Speaker 1: can make an argument. But those over those you know, 596 00:34:39,280 --> 00:34:44,160 Speaker 1: super expending that sixty monster cable isn't going to be 597 00:34:44,320 --> 00:34:48,879 Speaker 1: significantly different from that five dollar store brand cable, certainly, right, 598 00:34:48,960 --> 00:34:51,719 Speaker 1: Especially if you're talking about something where you know it's 599 00:34:51,719 --> 00:34:53,920 Speaker 1: got decent shielding on it, you're not gonna have to 600 00:34:53,960 --> 00:34:58,120 Speaker 1: worry about interference through that, because electromagnetic interference can happen 601 00:34:58,160 --> 00:35:00,799 Speaker 1: if you don't have good shielding on your cable. But 602 00:35:00,920 --> 00:35:04,720 Speaker 1: most cables Now, even the the bargain ones have decent 603 00:35:04,760 --> 00:35:08,399 Speaker 1: shielding on them, it's not that difficult to implement. UM. 604 00:35:08,440 --> 00:35:10,719 Speaker 1: I feel the same way on this subject as well. 605 00:35:10,800 --> 00:35:13,320 Speaker 1: It's one of those things where you might be able 606 00:35:13,440 --> 00:35:19,160 Speaker 1: to with the proper UH sensors detect minute differences in 607 00:35:19,239 --> 00:35:23,760 Speaker 1: analog cables like super high premium versus your basic cables. 608 00:35:23,800 --> 00:35:30,080 Speaker 1: But that's beyond human perception definitely. So okay, well again 609 00:35:30,760 --> 00:35:35,040 Speaker 1: we're gonna go with another one here, analog versus digital 610 00:35:35,320 --> 00:35:39,120 Speaker 1: media formats. Are you a vinyl guy? Are you going 611 00:35:39,160 --> 00:35:41,840 Speaker 1: to listen to your eight tracks? C d s? Just 612 00:35:41,880 --> 00:35:46,400 Speaker 1: digital files? What's what's up? Can of worms there? I'm 613 00:35:46,440 --> 00:35:49,240 Speaker 1: I'm a digital guy, but that's the generation I am. 614 00:35:49,280 --> 00:35:51,759 Speaker 1: But you do bring up a good topic. Is you 615 00:35:51,800 --> 00:35:53,920 Speaker 1: know you have some audio files that still cling to 616 00:35:53,960 --> 00:35:57,719 Speaker 1: their vinyl and I do understand why because due to 617 00:35:57,800 --> 00:36:02,440 Speaker 1: the nature of those it produced produces high frequency distortion, 618 00:36:02,480 --> 00:36:06,160 Speaker 1: which makes it pleasurable to listen to. So I understand 619 00:36:06,200 --> 00:36:09,120 Speaker 1: why there's still that love for vinyl other than just 620 00:36:09,200 --> 00:36:12,359 Speaker 1: simple nostalgia, which I get too. UM, But you can 621 00:36:12,520 --> 00:36:16,400 Speaker 1: kind of simulate that UM through effects on a digital 622 00:36:16,440 --> 00:36:19,719 Speaker 1: recording to kind of get that same effect. I have 623 00:36:19,760 --> 00:36:23,080 Speaker 1: a lot of vinyl at my house, although I don't 624 00:36:23,080 --> 00:36:26,239 Speaker 1: currently have a working turntable, so that's kind of it's 625 00:36:26,280 --> 00:36:29,640 Speaker 1: just sort of keeping up space right now. But but 626 00:36:29,960 --> 00:36:34,280 Speaker 1: I I have also felt that the vinyl experience, it's 627 00:36:34,280 --> 00:36:37,520 Speaker 1: almost more like it's a personalized experience to the listener 628 00:36:37,880 --> 00:36:40,680 Speaker 1: in the sense that vinyl albums, the more you listen 629 00:36:40,719 --> 00:36:44,000 Speaker 1: to them, the more they will develop somewhere over the 630 00:36:44,000 --> 00:36:47,800 Speaker 1: course of their existence, and that actually changes the quality 631 00:36:47,840 --> 00:36:49,920 Speaker 1: of the sound. Whether it's the wear and tear on 632 00:36:50,000 --> 00:36:52,360 Speaker 1: the needle or it's the wear and tear on the 633 00:36:52,440 --> 00:36:56,480 Speaker 1: vinyl album itself, that changes the quality of the sound, 634 00:36:56,640 --> 00:36:59,960 Speaker 1: and that can become part of your experience. It doesn't 635 00:37:00,000 --> 00:37:02,880 Speaker 1: necessarily make the song better or worse, it makes it 636 00:37:02,920 --> 00:37:05,480 Speaker 1: a different experience, and I think that's part of what 637 00:37:05,640 --> 00:37:08,840 Speaker 1: the charm is. Uh. There are also people who claim 638 00:37:08,960 --> 00:37:12,719 Speaker 1: that the sound from vinyl is a warmer sound, but 639 00:37:12,800 --> 00:37:15,920 Speaker 1: I'm not entirely certain what that's supposed to mean, because 640 00:37:15,960 --> 00:37:18,880 Speaker 1: most people find it difficult to articulate what a warm 641 00:37:18,960 --> 00:37:22,279 Speaker 1: sound is versus one that isn't. And I've also read 642 00:37:22,320 --> 00:37:26,960 Speaker 1: some great studies where people were put into rooms to 643 00:37:27,080 --> 00:37:30,360 Speaker 1: listen to music not told whether or not it was 644 00:37:30,400 --> 00:37:32,960 Speaker 1: going to be an analog source versus a digital source. 645 00:37:33,600 --> 00:37:37,000 Speaker 1: And if it's a double blinded test, it seems like 646 00:37:37,040 --> 00:37:41,279 Speaker 1: most people can't tell the difference. It's it's just too 647 00:37:41,320 --> 00:37:45,719 Speaker 1: subtle for for we mirror mortals. Even if it's the 648 00:37:45,760 --> 00:37:49,120 Speaker 1: exact same source signal, the difference between analog versus digital 649 00:37:49,400 --> 00:37:53,360 Speaker 1: is really hard to tell. So just busting some myths 650 00:37:53,400 --> 00:37:56,279 Speaker 1: out there, folks, to help you guys out if you're 651 00:37:56,920 --> 00:37:59,600 Speaker 1: interested in either recording or you just want to set 652 00:37:59,640 --> 00:38:02,680 Speaker 1: up a night listening environment. Uh, Steve, is there anything 653 00:38:02,760 --> 00:38:06,640 Speaker 1: else you would like to cover as far as the 654 00:38:06,640 --> 00:38:10,680 Speaker 1: the audio recording one oh one set up? Sure? One. 655 00:38:10,800 --> 00:38:15,200 Speaker 1: One thing we skipped over is connect cable connectors. We 656 00:38:15,239 --> 00:38:18,960 Speaker 1: talked about unbalanced versus a balanced cable and the significance 657 00:38:18,960 --> 00:38:21,160 Speaker 1: of that. But you're gonna see different types of connectors 658 00:38:21,200 --> 00:38:24,200 Speaker 1: for connecting your your audio and will vary depending on 659 00:38:24,280 --> 00:38:28,319 Speaker 1: whether it's professional used or more consumer used. So there 660 00:38:28,360 --> 00:38:32,400 Speaker 1: are four main types that I really identify. So on 661 00:38:32,440 --> 00:38:35,160 Speaker 1: the consumer side, you have your standard three point five 662 00:38:35,200 --> 00:38:39,440 Speaker 1: millimeter sometimes called one eighth inch because it's really metric 663 00:38:39,560 --> 00:38:42,719 Speaker 1: or metric or imperial. Still still the same size though. 664 00:38:42,920 --> 00:38:45,240 Speaker 1: This is what you see for your you know, usually 665 00:38:45,239 --> 00:38:48,600 Speaker 1: you see for your headphones, uh, for your whether it's 666 00:38:48,600 --> 00:38:51,359 Speaker 1: for your phone or for something else, or connecting your 667 00:38:51,400 --> 00:38:54,920 Speaker 1: computer to speakers. For example, the computer out is going 668 00:38:54,960 --> 00:38:58,080 Speaker 1: to be at three point five millimeter jack. The other 669 00:38:58,080 --> 00:39:00,680 Speaker 1: consumer type you'll you'll see, especially in old door equipment, 670 00:39:00,719 --> 00:39:03,560 Speaker 1: is R C A UM. Which are those two usually 671 00:39:03,560 --> 00:39:06,080 Speaker 1: you have If it's a stereo signal, you have two 672 00:39:06,120 --> 00:39:08,799 Speaker 1: connectors or one one is white, one is red for 673 00:39:08,880 --> 00:39:11,760 Speaker 1: left and right. But these both of these consumer types 674 00:39:11,800 --> 00:39:14,520 Speaker 1: are always going to be unbalanced due to the nature 675 00:39:14,560 --> 00:39:18,040 Speaker 1: of them. So on the pro side, you have quarter 676 00:39:18,120 --> 00:39:20,399 Speaker 1: inch cables kind of like your one eight three point 677 00:39:20,400 --> 00:39:24,200 Speaker 1: five millimeter cable, but just supersized. Uh. And you have 678 00:39:24,400 --> 00:39:28,000 Speaker 1: XLR cables. The XLR cables is what you see from 679 00:39:28,040 --> 00:39:31,800 Speaker 1: connecting microphones primarily. UM, it's it's a little bit different. 680 00:39:31,800 --> 00:39:34,719 Speaker 1: It's a three pin it's a three pin connector. So 681 00:39:34,760 --> 00:39:38,160 Speaker 1: with XLR, it's a three pin connector where you have positive, negative, 682 00:39:38,239 --> 00:39:40,960 Speaker 1: and ground much like you have on on a tippering sleeve, 683 00:39:41,080 --> 00:39:43,799 Speaker 1: or you have positive, negative and ground. Yeah, I have 684 00:39:44,440 --> 00:39:48,440 Speaker 1: the microphone I am speaking into for recording is an 685 00:39:48,600 --> 00:39:52,640 Speaker 1: XLR microphone. Actually the microphone that Steve is hearing me on, however, 686 00:39:53,360 --> 00:39:57,080 Speaker 1: is a USB microphone, which is one of the other 687 00:39:57,120 --> 00:39:59,560 Speaker 1: types you might run into for those that that connect 688 00:39:59,600 --> 00:40:02,960 Speaker 1: directly to a computer. UM, and that one is the 689 00:40:03,000 --> 00:40:06,279 Speaker 1: reason why I'm using too Dear listeners is because our 690 00:40:06,320 --> 00:40:09,640 Speaker 1: original set up, Steve could not hear me, and while 691 00:40:09,760 --> 00:40:14,120 Speaker 1: that would have been an interesting podcast, we decided ultimately 692 00:40:14,239 --> 00:40:16,600 Speaker 1: that being able to hear one another was it was 693 00:40:16,600 --> 00:40:20,279 Speaker 1: probably the best choice. So yeah, the USB microphones, those 694 00:40:20,320 --> 00:40:22,719 Speaker 1: are really popular these days because they tend to be 695 00:40:23,080 --> 00:40:28,000 Speaker 1: relatively inexpensive and they're incredibly easy to use. They, you know, 696 00:40:28,040 --> 00:40:30,600 Speaker 1: for the people who don't want to have to deal with, 697 00:40:31,280 --> 00:40:36,359 Speaker 1: um lots of tweaking of audio levels, then it's it's 698 00:40:36,560 --> 00:40:39,799 Speaker 1: kind of plug and play with some variations. I mean, 699 00:40:40,280 --> 00:40:42,919 Speaker 1: most of them have a couple of different settings where 700 00:40:42,920 --> 00:40:45,840 Speaker 1: you can choose, Like especially the condenser based ones have 701 00:40:45,880 --> 00:40:49,560 Speaker 1: different settings you can choose so you can determine what 702 00:40:49,800 --> 00:40:53,120 Speaker 1: fields they can record from, whether it's omnidirectional or not. 703 00:40:53,680 --> 00:40:58,319 Speaker 1: But in general, I I like the XLR ones a 704 00:40:58,400 --> 00:41:02,239 Speaker 1: lot more. Uh, just it's um it tends to be 705 00:41:02,280 --> 00:41:05,040 Speaker 1: a bit more of a an investment just for all 706 00:41:05,080 --> 00:41:08,680 Speaker 1: the stuff that you're gonna need for you know you don't. Yeah, Yeah, 707 00:41:08,719 --> 00:41:11,160 Speaker 1: that's the great thing about USB. You have the microphone, 708 00:41:11,640 --> 00:41:14,080 Speaker 1: you connect the USB cable to your computer, you're done. 709 00:41:14,080 --> 00:41:17,040 Speaker 1: So it has that digital or that analog to digital 710 00:41:17,040 --> 00:41:20,759 Speaker 1: converter rather built in. It has a crean built in. UM, 711 00:41:20,800 --> 00:41:23,600 Speaker 1: with an XLR microphone, you're gonna need more equipment. You're 712 00:41:23,600 --> 00:41:26,280 Speaker 1: gonna need a mixer or an audio interface to bring 713 00:41:26,280 --> 00:41:28,920 Speaker 1: that up to to bring that microphone level up to 714 00:41:28,960 --> 00:41:32,120 Speaker 1: line level, and then something to whether it's a computer 715 00:41:32,680 --> 00:41:36,399 Speaker 1: or something else, to digitize that signal. USB does all 716 00:41:36,440 --> 00:41:40,359 Speaker 1: of that. Yeah. So for those of us who who 717 00:41:40,600 --> 00:41:46,040 Speaker 1: like the simpler life, it's it's a it's a real benefit. Um. 718 00:41:46,239 --> 00:41:49,239 Speaker 1: One of the wonderful things that I can rely upon 719 00:41:49,400 --> 00:41:51,480 Speaker 1: is the fact that I work for how stuff works, 720 00:41:51,840 --> 00:41:55,040 Speaker 1: and we have an audio podcast recording studio, and all 721 00:41:55,120 --> 00:41:57,799 Speaker 1: of this stuff gets set up for me. So I 722 00:41:57,880 --> 00:41:59,920 Speaker 1: really live in the lap of luxury as far as 723 00:42:00,000 --> 00:42:02,600 Speaker 1: that's concerned. But if you're really doing it on your own, 724 00:42:02,680 --> 00:42:04,640 Speaker 1: these are the sort of things you just you know, 725 00:42:04,719 --> 00:42:06,719 Speaker 1: the basics that you need to know. It's not that 726 00:42:06,760 --> 00:42:08,760 Speaker 1: you necessarily have to go and take a full course 727 00:42:08,800 --> 00:42:12,800 Speaker 1: in audio engineering, but knowing some simple basic rules of 728 00:42:12,880 --> 00:42:15,759 Speaker 1: thumb to follow will really guide you in the right 729 00:42:16,200 --> 00:42:19,680 Speaker 1: the right direction for you to have really good audio quality. 730 00:42:19,880 --> 00:42:23,040 Speaker 1: So U, I really appreciate you coming on the show 731 00:42:23,480 --> 00:42:26,640 Speaker 1: and and I don't Oh yeah, absolutely, I'll probably have 732 00:42:26,719 --> 00:42:29,360 Speaker 1: you on again. We'll talk about something completely unrelated to 733 00:42:29,360 --> 00:42:35,000 Speaker 1: audio engineering. It'll maybe be a discussion about your favorite 734 00:42:35,080 --> 00:42:40,719 Speaker 1: type of of starship in the Star Trek universe, and 735 00:42:40,760 --> 00:42:45,040 Speaker 1: your answer will be USS Reliant because that's the best. Uh. 736 00:42:45,200 --> 00:42:48,560 Speaker 1: Clearly you've put a lot of thoughts. I will, yeah, 737 00:42:48,880 --> 00:42:51,480 Speaker 1: USS Reliant is my favorite starship in Star Trek. So 738 00:42:51,640 --> 00:42:55,080 Speaker 1: not related at all to sound engineering, but I felt 739 00:42:55,080 --> 00:42:56,759 Speaker 1: that it was on my chest and I needed to 740 00:42:56,800 --> 00:43:02,120 Speaker 1: express it. It's unrelated, yes, uh so, So Steve, where 741 00:43:02,160 --> 00:43:05,720 Speaker 1: can people find your work? If they they they've heard 742 00:43:05,760 --> 00:43:08,600 Speaker 1: the stuff that sounds amazing, they want to know more 743 00:43:08,680 --> 00:43:11,640 Speaker 1: about what you do? Where can they go? Gosh, I'm 744 00:43:11,680 --> 00:43:14,440 Speaker 1: I'm all over the internet? Uh geat cred witch Jonathan 745 00:43:14,480 --> 00:43:16,200 Speaker 1: mentioned at the top of the show, you can find 746 00:43:16,239 --> 00:43:18,920 Speaker 1: over at geak cred dot net. You can kind of 747 00:43:18,960 --> 00:43:21,319 Speaker 1: get in touch with me through Steve Rickyberg dot com 748 00:43:21,440 --> 00:43:23,440 Speaker 1: or follow me on Twitter at Steve ricky Berg to 749 00:43:23,560 --> 00:43:26,239 Speaker 1: see what I'm up to. Fantastic, Steve, thank you so 750 00:43:26,320 --> 00:43:30,960 Speaker 1: much again, and listeners, I'm so thrilled this is. This 751 00:43:31,000 --> 00:43:34,680 Speaker 1: has been a grand experiment having one of my buddies, 752 00:43:34,960 --> 00:43:39,520 Speaker 1: uh distantly recording as I record so that you listeners 753 00:43:39,560 --> 00:43:42,880 Speaker 1: can have the greatest experience possible. Now, if you guys 754 00:43:42,920 --> 00:43:46,480 Speaker 1: have any suggestions for future episodes of tech Stuff, whether 755 00:43:46,640 --> 00:43:49,560 Speaker 1: it's someone I should interview or a topic that you've 756 00:43:49,560 --> 00:43:51,839 Speaker 1: always wanted to hear more about. Maybe it's a type 757 00:43:51,840 --> 00:43:55,640 Speaker 1: of technology, or a company or a personality in tech, 758 00:43:56,360 --> 00:43:58,880 Speaker 1: let me know. Send me a message. My email address 759 00:43:59,000 --> 00:44:02,200 Speaker 1: is tech Stuff at how stuff works dot com, or 760 00:44:02,280 --> 00:44:05,400 Speaker 1: drop me a line on Facebook, Twitter or Tumbler. My 761 00:44:05,480 --> 00:44:09,120 Speaker 1: handle at all three is tech stuff hs W and 762 00:44:09,160 --> 00:44:14,920 Speaker 1: I'll talk to you again. Releases for more on this 763 00:44:15,080 --> 00:44:17,600 Speaker 1: and thousands of other topics because it how staff works 764 00:44:17,600 --> 00:44:27,680 Speaker 1: dot com.