Equipment used on the show

I have set up this page because I frequently receive questions about what equipment is used in producing tips from the top floor.

The most important tool for recording audio is the the microphone. It is the most critical factor in determining your sound. I have chosen the microphone that is used by most radio DJs, the Electro-Voice RE20.

A mixer will amplify your microphone’s signal to line level so it can be digested more easily by your computer. The microphone pre-amps in the Mackie 1402 VLZ are very quiet (e.g. they don’t produce much noise) and with a mixer this size, you can easily mix other sources with the microphone signal, such as CD/MP3 players or similar.

If you want to hear things as clearly as possible without having your system colour the sound too much, you’ll need a pair of studio monitor speakers. This might be a bit of an overkill for a Podcast (you can also do that with a decent pair of headphones), but as I use this system professionally for music mixing and editing too, I decided on a pair of Mackie HR824 studio monitors. They are among the most neutral in their price range.

As software for editing the show I use Steinberg Wavelab, but again, you can achieve virtually the same results by using free software. I use it for the podcast, because I also use it professionally, and I know it in and out.