We’re so excited to bring you in to see how we produce The Daily Talk Show at our very own podcast studio.
We moved into our new podcast studio, based here in Melbourne, in 2019, wanting a dedicated space where we can produce The Daily Talk Show podcast 7-days a week.
The Podcast Studio Walls
The once-empty room has had a bit of a makeover. The podcast studio wall style has been carried over from our previous podcast studio. Tommy and his Dad sourced old floorboards from a furniture restoration store and old pellets which were then cut to size and nailed into their frame, creating an encompassing studio feel.
The Podcast Desk
Once the podcast studio walls were in place, the next thing we needed was a desk. Initially, we were going to go with a wooden desk, however, instead decided that a white tabletop would allow light to bounce back up off the table to produce a nicer image.
We’re also using the ALZO Drum Overhead Space Light for all of our studio lighting as they provide really soft, even and natural-looking light all around the table.
We had our Canadian intern, 3D-Dyl creating mockups of potential desk ideas, and landed on a simple rectangle which is useful to create a versatile setup to shoot from any angle.
3D-Dyl also got our studio logo sorted with the help of Display Lab. The acrylic sign is laser cut and Pantone matched to the logo we sent over. The team at Display Lab even came around to install and mount it.
The Podcast Equipment
Creating a space with equipment that is reliable, sounds great, and is easy to use and setup was crucial to enabling us to produce 7 episodes of the show a week.
The microphones we use are the RØDE Procaster Dynamic Vocal Microphones. These microphones are perfect for both visual and audio-based setups as they have internal pop filters and shock mounting which means they look fantastic on camera and sound great for broadcast.
The microphones are mounted on the Yellowtec m!ka arms which are super low profile and sleek microphone arms. The XLR cables run along the insides of the arms which makes the setup look super clean. These arms can also be used to hold monitors with the appropriate mounts.
Under the desk, we have the RØDE AI-1 USB Audio Interface which we use for remote guests. The RØDE AI-1 plugs right into a laptop and feeds audio to the mixer, which then feeds a mix-minus back to the remote desk. It’s plug and play which makes it super easy when we want to bring people in remotely.
We’ve also got the Presonus HP4 Headphone Amplifier which delivers the master audio to 4 sets of headphones on the desk. You can control the volume of each headphone output.
The headphones we use are Audio Technica ATH-M50x monitor headphones. They’re super comfortable, great for sound isolation, and produce clear and accurate sound.
The Camera
We use the Canon C200 with the Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 Lens. The Canon C200 is a super-compact cinema camera that is perfect because it has no recording limit, it’s got dual slot recording for SD Card redundancy, fantastic focus, and has an amazing sensor which produces a great image.
It’s a compact and versatile setup that allows us to take it without for outside broadcasts or on trips overseas.
We’re using an Atomos Shinobi monitor which allows us to apply LUTS, view waveforms and focus peaking to ensure a quality video output. The battery lasts for ages, and the monitor is simple to use and looks great. In the studio, we also use a SmallHD as a secondary monitor.
The Mixer
We’re using the StudioLive 32SX Mixer to handle all of our audio. All of the audio processing – compression, limiters, and EQ – is handled onboard in realtime, which makes it easy when it comes to post-production. The mixer is slightly over the top for podcasting but makes our audio setup really easy when it comes to things like feeding lines out for redundancy, mix-minuses, dialled in user profiles, whilst giving us the option to add additional inputs if we were to have something like a live performance. It records onto an SD card, whilst providing great recording software to record directly onto your computer, and control everything remotely using something like an iPad or a computer.
For our Instagram Live broadcasts, we use an iPhone on a Quadlock Desk mount and a Roland GOMIXER which feeds the high-quality audio from the mixer into the iPhone.
Storage
Once we’re finished recording, all the captured footage is brought onto the QNAP TS-1635AX NAS with Seagate IronWolf NAS Internal Hard Drives. The QNAP NAS creates a centralised location where all of our data is stored. With RAID redundancies, and the reliability of the high-performing Seagate IronWolf drives means that we have a super-fast storage location that can be accessed from any workstation on the network. The NAS offers a high capacity storage solution that’s versatile for expansion with its twelve 3.5″ drive bays, four 2.5″ SSD slots, two M.2 SSD slots and 10GBe capabilities.
Lightning Broadband Internet
Lightning Broadband supplies our internet as the only connection we initially got to our building wasn’t fast enough to accommodate what we wanted to do. We currently have Lightning Broadband’s 75/75 Mbps connection, however, they offer high-speed wireless internet plans that can beam speeds up to 1000/1000 Mbps upload between two points, which becomes extremely useful for things like live-streaming feeds, and having cloud-based off-site data backups.
Podcast Studio Gear List: TL;DR
Camera:
- Canon C200 – https://www.canon.com.au/cameras/eos-c200
- Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 Lens – https://amzn.to/2NnpDdG
- Atomos Shinobi 5-inch HDMI 4K Monitor – https://amzn.to/2TlQXNm
- SmallHD 702 – https://store.smallhd.com/products/700-series/702-SDI-On-Camera-Field-Monitor
Audio:
- StudioLive 32SX Mixer – https://www.presonus.com/products/StudioLive-32SX
- RØDE Procaster Broadcast Dynamic Vocal Microphone – https://amzn.to/2QR6bIm
- Audio-Technica ATH-M50x Professional Monitor Headphones – https://amzn.to/2TimkZ3
- Presonus HP4 Headphone Amplifier – https://amzn.to/2QOLPiQ
- RØDE AI-1 Single Channel USB Audio Interface – https://amzn.to/2NmXkw0
Storage:
- QNAP TS-1635AX NAS – https://amzn.to/35YlNya
- Seagate IronWolf NAS Internal Hard Drives – https://amzn.to/2sq8GIk
Instagram Live-streaming:
- Quadlock Desk Mount – https://amzn.to/2TiGBxs
- Roland GOMIXER – https://amzn.to/2QO7ms6
Other:
- Yellowtec m!ka arms – https://www.yellowtec.com/mika.html
- Lightning Broadband Internet – https://www.lightningbroadband.com.au/
- Display Lab – https://www.displaylab.com.au/
- ALZO Drum Overhead Light – https://www.alzodigital.com/products/alzo-drum-overhead-light
Learn how to podcast or let us help you with your branded podcast production. Visit our podcast agency, Making Podcasts.
