Producer’s SkilL: Moving On

Producer’s SkilL: Moving On

by | Nov 14, 2021 | Freelancing, Podcasting

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14 NOVEMBER 2021

written by Mike

PRODUCER’S SKILL:

MOVING ON

Draft 1, draft 2, draft 3, 4, 5, 6, 7! Does it ring a bell?

Most people who work in creative industries ask the question – is this version good enough to release? 

Or should I spend a little more time on it?

Podcasting is no different. Even with the simplest podcasts, there is always something to adjust.

A little cut there, edit here, a bit of noise to clean up.

And while you do that, it feels like working, like you are doing something.

However, I would argue that after a certain point, the extra work is often counterproductive.

The question is, where is that point?

The answer is – it depends if you are an amateur or professional.

And let me make a distinction between the two. I’m not talking about skill, experience or knowledge.

When I say amateur, I mean a person creating the work for themselves, for free, or trying to start and work on a portfolio.

They can even make money from it, but it’s a side hustle, a little extra cash.

A Professional is someone who is working a job, and the work pays the bills. It is the primary source of income. So when someones ask – what do you do for a living? It is mainly that.

Before my first proper audio job – and I did small jobs here and there – I was an amateur.

I had no deadlines, pressures or incentives to finish the project. I could work on them till the end of the day.

Of course, the fear of being judged by others also played a part in that.

However, it was my job at the movie studio that opened my eyes to how professionals work.

And it was nothing like I ever expected!

Various documentaries, movies, and social media make us believe that we can sit in front of our piano, drawing board, or whatever, then wait until creative inspiration comes.

The magic happens, everyone comes in with incredible ideas, and the final product will bring us fame and fortune.

Maybe that was the case in the past when there were like two bands – Beatles, Rollings Stones – and everyone listened to them.

Today, content is king. And that means quality and quantity!

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Don’t get me wrong, and I still believe that quality wins over quantity. However, the overall winner will be someone who can do quality content with and release often.

That’s not easy.

Back to my job at the studio.

We worked on big projects, big blockbusting movies.

Before joining the team, I always thought that this kind of high profile work would be very organised, creative and magical.

When I look back at that time, there was magic to it, no doubt about it.

However, it was far from what I expected.

Chaos, stress, strict deadlines and last-minute changes were our everyday bread.

You couldn’t stop and spend hours on one tiny thing when you had a thousand other things to do – and the deadline? Yesterday morning!

I remember when I was unsure about something, I asked my boss – highly respected head of the sound mix department and one of the most brilliant people I knew. 

He said to me

‘If it sounds good, then it is good!’

Because it wasn’t just him working on the project. It was hundreds of people, and what it counted was to get the results before the deadline. 

As good as possible, of course, but still, it was a job to finish.

I took that advice and applied it to many things in my life – podcasts, of course, being the one.

When you produce podcasts as a job, it is not just you and your standards that matter. There is a team of people as well as listeners who expect the job to finish. The fact you would like to spend more time on the project doesn’t matter. The intention does not matter.

What matters is the final result.

If you’d ask me to listen to my old work – be it older episodes or projects I have done. I would cringe thinking, ‘how on Earth could I release it. I could make it so much better now!’

Yes, now. With more knowledge and experience.

But at that time, I did the best job I could do and moved on.

That’s the point. 

It is a point when you have done the best you could and know it is time to move on.

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I worked on an episode and finished it 2 or 3 weeks ahead of time, and it is just sitting there.

Do I go back and tinker? Adjust more? Perfect the mix?

No.

I know I’ve done the best job I could according to my schedule and deadlines, and I have to move on and get on to the next thing. Otherwise, I will never finish.

Or there was a different situation some time ago when I worked on a project with a deadline in mind.

It was stressful, I was doing all the production and music, and there were many fixes, drafts and re-does on the way. In addition, I was working morning to evening every day.

Then finally, we finished it! The last draft was ticked off.

However, then the deadline was moved by three weeks! This meant that suddenly, with my time to spare, I had extra four weeks!

Did I go back and start re-doing stuff, remixing or re-working my music?

No.

I’ve done the best I could at that moment, and even though I knew I could spend more time on it and tinker and adjust and improve, I didn’t go back.

It was time to move on,

I think you understand what I’m trying to say. 

When you work in the creative industry, your thinking and approach change.

It’s not about being a perfectionist and working on the project forever. It’s about doing the best you can, given the expectations, deadlines, budgets, limitations and thousands of other things you must consider.

It is the only way to stay sane and healthy. 

And don’t get me wrong. I want to go back; I want to improve these projects and make them better.

In my heart, I am still a perfectionist, but I counter it with realism and what is expected.

I do try to go above the expectations whenever I can, but I know where to stop.

The art of moving on is counterintuitive and extremely difficult, but in my opinion, it is the way to long and healthy success.

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Social Media & Podcasts

Social Media & Podcasts

by | Jul 24, 2021 | Business, Podcasting

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24 JULY 2021

written by Mike

SOCIAL MEDIA

& PODCASTS

I’m going to skip explaining what social media is and what platforms are available for podcasters.

It is safe to say that you are aware of what is happening out there, plus these platforms tend to change every few years.

What I’d like to do instead is to ask a couple of questions.

Do you need social media channels for your podcast, and if yes, which ones?

You may (or may not) be a podcast listener, and if you are, then no doubt you have a few favourite shows. 

When you want to find out more about a podcast, you either visit their website or a social media channel.

Here is how things get tricky.

Some shows have friendly websites and several social media channels (with a substantial following); other shows don’t have either!

No website, no Facebook, No Insta!

What is the deal here?

Before we move forward with the answers, remember that I’m speculating. I didn’t actually do any in-depth research, and I write these blogs for fun (and out of boredom, I guess).

Now that we got that out of the way let’s proceed.

For some podcasters, it makes sense to have an active social media channel; for others, it doesn’t. So there it is, the secret answer.

Podcasting is difficult – it takes time to write, record and produce a podcast episode. On top of that, you have to think about audio production, gear, podcast hosting and uploading the content.

With all of that, taking on social media may be detrimental to your show, as it will take time from the actual work on the podcast!

Of course, it all depends on the type of show that you want to do. If it’s something like Casefile, a continuous show, then social media makes sense.

You want to stay in touch with listeners and promote new (weekly) episodes.

However, suppose your show is a limited series with 8 or ten episodes. In that case, social media won’t be as critical – it can still be but in a different way.

Let’s say you are planning a second season. Then, keeping your social media presence alive makes sense.

However, if you are done after one series, then think about it. Will you keep posting content a year from now? Two years?

Unless, you as a producer, have your own social media account where you promote the show.

Or you have the whole network, with multiple projects going.

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As you can see, this is a bit more complicated than everybody thinks.

You also have to think about the actual content. What do you want to produce, and which platform is the most suitable for your ideas?

Looking at Casefile again, our host is anonymous, so Insta or Snapchat stories don’t make much sense. Not in a ‘classic’ mind anyway.

But if I was to start a Mike Migas podcast, then posting stories and vlogging would be much more suitable.

Then, think about what kind of content you want to post.

It would be a good idea that the social channels match the podcast. For example, if you run a financial podcast and then on social channels post videos of your dog, it doesn’t make sense for the listeners to follow you there unless there is an established connection.

A piece of content can either help or hurt your brand. Think about that!

The messaging should be consistent over all of the active channels.

It is a good idea that the feel of the social media content matches the actual feel of the podcast. So, for example, a serious show about murders posting funny images will be a mismatch.

Also, every platform is slightly different and will require a different look and content – some are all about videos, Twitter all about short messages, Insta about pictures, etc.

As you can see, at first, we may think that social media should be a no-brainer when starting a podcast. However, only after you realise how much work goes into that, you may want to stop and think if it is really worth it.

With Casefile, we didn’t really have a social media presence initially. It took us months to slowly get into the groove of things, and it is only recently that we have a cohesive strategy for that.

Your priority should be your podcast, so don’t spread yourself too thin with other channels, especially if it’s just you or two people.

Start with one or two and stick to it, and as you grow, you and when you start are getting ahead, then think of adding extra channels of communication.

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The good thing about social media is that you get direct and instant feedback, and this can be extremely useful at the beginning.

However, and this is only my opinion, the longer you do it and develop your podcasting style, social media can become a distraction.

Especially when you get a bit of traction – you start attracting trolls and negative, borderline abusive comments.

Personally, I’m not a fan of social media. I keep the apps off my phone, and I don’t use the networks for my own profile. However, I keep them for professional use.

When it comes to social media comments, we are fortunate enough to have people that moderate them. So I tend to check the initial feedback after releasing an episode – maybe for a day or two.

But then I stop and never look at them again.

One negative comment out of 100 can still affect me, even after a few years of dealing with that. Therefore I would rather not see them at all!

So bear that in mind as well when starting to post and engage on social channels!

It feels like it’s necessary to be everywhere at all times; the FOMO is real. 

However, I’d argue that we should stick to things that feel authentic and not bother what other people think or say.

The important thing is to have fun and enjoy the creative process. If you can manage that, I think that’s already a success.

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Podcast Ads Explained

Podcast Ads Explained

by | Jun 21, 2021 | Business, Podcasting

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21 JUNE 2021

written by Mike

podcast

ads explained

Let’s talk about the monetisation of your show. 

First of all, if you are starting a podcast with a goal that will make you loads of money, you may be heading for disappointment.

Older articles say podcast advertising reached around $670 million in 2019, and it’s heading towards 1 billion in 2021. It sounds like a lot of cash, but at the same time, radio advertising was around $14.5 billion in 2019. 

That makes podcast advertising 4.6% of audio radio ads revenue, a small number. And this number is usually centralised at the top of the charting shows.

It took us a long time to be a self-sustaining business with a lot of free work and a lot of luck.

It’s not impossible, of course! 

However, let’s be realistic if you are here for money, there are much better ways for you to earn it and much easier ways like e-commerce or good-paying jobs.

But! 

Let’s talk about how ads on podcasts work.

Love it or hate it – ads on podcasts are still the primary revenue stream for people who make a living in the space. Of course, there are experiments with paying for content, exclusive shows and premium services; however, just like with Youtube – if you want to watch or listen to content for free, be ready to watch and listen to some ads, or as some people call it – sponsorships.

For podcasts, ads are calculated on CPM, which is a cost per mille. Which means a cost per 1000 listens.

So $20 CPM means that for every 1000 listens, you will get $20

10,000 – you will get $200

100,000 – $2000

1,000,000 – $20000 although no one will pay that much for an ad

Ads can be placed at the beginning of the episode, called pre-roll

In the middle of the episode – called mid-roll

Or at the end – called post-roll

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Midroll ads are best paid as people are less likely to skip them; it’s easy to skip pre and post rolls, but if you are listening to podcasts and there is a midroll, you are likely to leave it on as it means you would need to unblock your phone, access the app and manually skip the ad – it’s just a hassle.

Ads themselves also have a few categories, and the best paid are what’s called host read baked in ads. This means that the ad would be recorded by you and exported on your podcast MP3 file – it’s part of that until you manually edit that out and replace the episode with an ad-free version.

This is possible after negotiated time passes or after it reaches a negotiated amount of impressions.

Another category is dynamically ad-injected campaigns, the host read.

Host read campaigns are what it means – ready by you. However, these are not baked but inserted by the system on your episodes (as pre-rolls or mid-rolls), and they switch off after a set date or set impression amount.

These will be paid less than the baked-in ads.

The third is also dynamically ad-injected campaigns but radio-style. These aren’t recorded by the host and are the same as the ads you hear on the radio. 

They will run for a certain amount of time or impressions and often are geo-targeted – so, for example, they will only run for listeners in New York or London.

I like the idea of dynamic campaigns because it means that you will still be paid for your old content, which can get significant download numbers when your show gets popular as people go back to the old episodes.

With baked-in ads, they only get paid once, and you are banking on new content all the time and that people will listen to it.

Geo-targeting also becomes more common, and it’s a question of time when advertisers will be able to target gender, age and other variables like on social media or Google.

Ok, so now you have an idea how the ads work; the second part of the lecture is – how to get sponsors!

In most cases, the way it works now is YOUR SHOW – PODCAST NETWORK – AD AGENCY – COMPANY.

The company pays the marketing budget to the ad agency, which contacts podcast networks that select shows and books the ads.

As you probably think, the initial money is getting smaller with each step.

The ideal scenario would be to go directly to companies. This is, of course, possible, but it means selling on your end – contacting prospects and getting the deals ready in place.

Last time I checked, there are plans for some sort of open platforms where smaller companies can directly sign with podcasts, but as of now, it’s still just an idea with lots of potential problems – like lying with stats and accountability.

Going directly to an ad agency won’t work in most cases as these guys work with networks; they don’t want to deal with individual shows.

The option left on the table is to join a podcast network or sign a deal with a hosting agency.

As I mentioned before, most hosting companies act as networks because they know the numbers and analytics and have access to loads of shows.

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Therefore when you start hosting your show, it’s good to see if the company also can sell ads and if they are doing it well, as there are stories from the past where people weren’t getting paid and had their funds withheld.

Before you get ads on your show, you will need numbers, so focus on growing your podcast and make it sound good.

Once you have your numbers, I guarantee that you will be contacted by your hosting service and offered ad sales; you will also get approached by several other podcast networks and offer advertising deals.

The other thing is money, when and how you will get paid.

Well, read T&Cs! It is changing now as the industry is becoming standardised, but I remember when we first sold ads, we got money after like 6 or 7 months! That meant working for free (well, working on other jobs) until the check cleared.

Why was that?

The ad agency had 30 days to pay after the campaign ended (which was 30 days) so suddenly it was 60 days, then the hosting company had, I think, 90 days for the payment to clear.

I can’t remember now, but it was long before we saw any money.

Thankfully most services are much better now, and you get paid within 30 or 60 days but double-check the terms.

As far as the split goes, it can be from 50-50 to 80-20 (in your favour).

So let’s say you can grow your show to over 100k downloads, with around 20$ CPM

That’s 20×100 = 2k per ad

If you decide to have one pre-roll and maybe two midroll ads, that means 6 thousand per episode, and let’s say you have four episodes per month. That’s 24 thousand per month; with a 70-30 split, you would still clear 16,800 per month. 

Easier said than done, but not impossible.

Some advertisers will book 3 or 4 ads as a campaign, and then CPM goes out of the window because they will get a discounted rate. So instead of 2k, they may pay 1.5k per ad; however, they book it on five episodes. So you give away a bit of money but for long term stability.

They may still cancel them, but there is a deadline.

Getting sponsorships on your podcast is a goal for many aspiring podcasters, and many will get to do this. However, it shouldn’t be on your mind when you are starting. As you learned, it isn’t as easy as it looks, so focus on making great content, and the money will come in due time!

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How to grow a podcast

How to grow a podcast

by | Apr 17, 2021 | Business, Podcasting

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17 APRIL 2021

written by Mike

HOW TO

GROW A PODCAST

After over five years of working in the podcasting space, we grew our main show Casefile to hundreds of millions of downloads and consistently feature on top of the charts. We also successfully launched several podcasts under Casefile Presents umbrella and hopefully continue to do so for a long time.

Exact success is never replicable because there are too many variables to copy. However, there are a few general rules that I think can help in achieving long term success. At least they worked for us.

I want to go through 3 of them and break them down further.

CONTENT

Content is and always will be the king. Podcasting is no different, and the content will always win in the long run. I want to discuss what I think is relevant to podcasts.

The first one is the voice. Podcasting is all about the audio and developing the connection through sound. And just like with radio the host or hosts’ voice is crucial.

The voice needs to be likeable, easy to listen to, soothing or fun, or dramatic – there are many angles to it. However, no matter the style, people have to like the voice and want to listen to it, sometimes for hours.

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The second part is storytelling. The most important part of the whole podcasting thing is the story – the rest supports this centrepiece. The voice, the production, the team – everything exist to help the story. 

It could be a comedy story, a true crime, fiction, an interview with guests, a chat show – whatever. However, there needs to be a point to the episode, a narrative and a timeline of what’s going on.

If it’s just two buddies talking about nothing, then it won’t be easy to keep the listener interested.

The story needs to grab from the beginning and hold the listener until the end. Don’t take anybody’s time for granted – it is our most precious resource.

And the third one is consistency. There are so many channels and platforms that a person who clicks on your show needs to know why they are here and what they will listen to. If you want to talk about true crime in one episode and then comment on movies in another and games in the third it will be pretty challenging to build a dedicated audience.

Big personalities or celebrities are exemptions to the rule and people tune in just to hear them talking about whatever.

However, for most of us, consistency will be the key to growth and developing a listenership.

Let’s now talk about

AUDIO QUALITY

Podcasting is all about sound. There seems to be an opinion, at least in some corners, that podcasting is easy – you record, upload and people will listen to whatever.

Now ask yourself this: 

Why would you spend your time listening or watching or reading some poorly produced thing?

There are plenty of good quality pieces of art or content that the bad ones don’t deserve anyone’s attention.

Now, don’t get me wrong – the story will always win. If you have the most expensive show with a bad story, the production quality won’t save you.

But if you have a great story with so and so audio quality, you can still get people interested.

However, to scale up and win in the long run you need both – great stories and great quality.

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Let’s start with recording.

Ideally, you have a nice microphone and a quiet set up. You also keep it in the same position and always use the same settings. It’s worth reading and watching basic recording tutorials and techniques. The way you speak to the microphone matters but the choice of the microphone matters even more! You don’t need a professional studio or a microphone worth thousands of pounds, but don’t think you can get away with a $20 one.

The second step is production. Audio production is not easy. The basics are not super difficult either but don’t think you can record and upload. 

What about editing, the volume levels, EQa and compression? 

You want your listeners to understand at least what is being said. If you want to add music on top of the dialogues, then at least you need basic mixing techniques.

You don’t need an expensive set up as everything can be done on your computer with a nice pair of headphones.

But production takes time and it’s slow work, so many people just skim it.

You wouldn’t believe the number of expensive shoes that I check and think to myself – did no one listened to this before the release? 

And that leads to my last point and that is consistency. As you learn you will upgrade your set up and make your show sound better but you should always strive for consistency. In volume levels, in recording settings, in your production template.

You want the listener to go from one episode to the next seamlessly and you don’t want them to adjust the volume during listening. You want people to have a smooth listening experience every time they click play!

TEAMWORK

The third leg of podcasting success, in my opinion, is teamwork. To grow and sustain a popular show, you will need a team of people who will support you and work together on bringing the episodes out.

It’s easy to start alone, but it’s rare, and I would argue, impossible, to achieve something great by yourself. 

A dedicated team of people makes it easier when times get tough.

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To have the right team, you got to have the right people – but once you gather them around your show, you also need to work on the team from within.

One is feedback – there needs to be an open feedback platform to give their opinion – good and bad. Feedback needs to be discussed by the rest, and if necessary, the changes implemented straight away. When team members feel like they don’t have a voice, they will grow in resentment and sabotage everything from the centre: feedback, even most trivial, needs to be heard.

The same goes for ideas. To stop growing is to die. You have to keep moving, keep experimenting to some degree and try out new things. It’s a fine balance between doing what is working and still improving and evolving. It doesn’t matter if a person is a senior or new to the team – ideas just like feedback need to be heard and discussed calmly.

Some will be good, some will be bad but don’t even think you found a winning formula and can now coast and relax. The thing that is winning at this moment may not be the best strategy in the future. Keep the team talking and brainstorming, and don’t criticise anyone for their ideas.

The last thing when it comes to right teamwork is dedication. You want people to care about the show and their work. To do so you need to learn what motivates each individual as it won’t be the same. For some is money, for others, flexibility and freedom, someone else thrives on getting the credit and so on. Once you discover the right incentive it will be much easier to get people pumped up to care about the work. Personally, I think that money is only the first and most obvious one, but once that is covered you still need to dig deeper and discover the why.

Those are the three elements that I think are needed for a successful podcast. However, there is something else that I value, and it is necessary to talk about.

LUCK

I’m a big proponent of randomness and luck. I do agree with the saying – the harder you work, the luckier you get. However, most of the things are outside of our control and are driven by random events. You can have the best team, work hard, produce awesome content – and still, no luck.

Or you can start a podcast from your bedroom and straight away grow and gain a huge audience.

Sometimes we get lucky or unlucky, and remembering that, in my opinion, will keep you humble.

Because if you do get success and attribute some of it to luck – you know that you shouldn’t be boasting or thinking you are the best in the world.

Same if you get unlucky even though you worked hard – it doesn’t mean you suck, it doesn’t mean you are stupid, it just means that this time it didn’t work out.

As the ancient saying goes, sometimes Lady Luck gives, sometimes she takes it away!

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FetHead Gain Booster for SM7B

FetHead Gain Booster for SM7B

by | Mar 22, 2021 | Podcasting, Sound

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22 MARCH 2021

written by Mike

FetHead Gain Booster

for SM7B

Beginner podcasters are best off with a simple USB microphone. One that you connect to your computer and are ready to go.

That’s not just my opinion; many people who were starting their streaming channels or podcasts grabbed a Blue Mic (Yeti or Snowball) or a similar USB microphone.

There was one problem, though – these are condenser microphones.

Let’s back up a little bit.

There are two main types of microphones – condensers and dynamics and the difference is how these microphones capture sound.

Dynamic uses a voice coil and magnet, and it is a plug and play microphone; they don’t need external power to run.

Condenser microphones use capacitors, a thin membrane and a diaphragm that vibrate.

Condensers need external power such as batteries or phantom power to work supplied by an audio interface, 48V.

What we have to understand about condenser microphones is that usually, these are sensitive mics. They will pick up every little detail around you.

They are awesome for studio recording, but for home – well, a lot of people vented their frustrations about how everything from neighbours, cars or whatever was picked up by the microphone.

Hence why I always recommended dynamic microphones, even as USB. These are less sensitive, usually have cardioid polar pattern and overall are best for voice recording at home.

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Stop!

What does it have to do with the FetHead gain booster?

We’ll get to it in a second.

With time, podcasters, YouTubers and online personalities started to upgrade their gear and moved from USB mics to standard XLR microphones, the ones that need an audio interface to work.

Of course, the winner and the most popular mic was Shure SM7B – the legendary vocal microphone used by broadcasters and studios around the world.

I’m sure if you watch any YT vids, you are familiar with the microphone, from Joe Rogan to anyone.

And there is a reason for it – the microphone sounds great, it is relatively cheap, you don’t need a pop shield because the capsule is a safe distance from the top. It’s versatile, and it can take a lot of volume without distorting the sound.

However! 

There is an issue with it, and that’s its gain level. 

It is a quiet microphone, and it needs a lot of gain on input. When I record on it, I need to have my iD4 interface on 9, almost full 10, to have a decent volume. And I still had to boost it in post-production.

I had this microphone for years, and it served me well. I didn’t record much in the past, so I was okay with boosting the volume afterwards. However, as I started my Youtube channel and used the microphone more, the gain started to get annoying.

When we record from the camera, we use Rode boom, a condenser, then switch to SM7B, and the volume would be much lower. After recording a few vids like that, I knew I needed a gain booster.

What’s a gain booster? 

It’s a device that boosts your microphone gain with a clean signal, making it much louder at the source.

When it comes to boosters, the one that I always recommended for people was, of course, CL1 Cloudlifter. Which is a classic.

I went online. I put the Cloudlifter into the basket. However, I have to warn you, CL1 is quite pricy, over £100, leaning towards £150 in some stores.

I’m always on the lookout for a bargain and a discount, so I thought to myself ‘I’m sure there are alternatives,’ but the thing is, I’ve never checked and always defaulted to Cloudlifter.

I emptied the basket and started looking online – low and behold, and there are many cheaper alternatives.

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I looked at Sub Zero, SE DM1 Dynamite, Klark Teknik CT 1 and FetHead.

These ranged in price, but one thing was sure, they were much cheaper than the original Cloudlifter!

All of them had good reviews and what I also noticed was that some of them were directly connecting to the microphone, which means that I wouldn’t need extra XLR cable like with Cloudlifter, which is an external box.

After doing a bit of research, I ordered FetHead from TritonAudio, which was £65 from Studiospares online shop.

Let’s look at specs:

TritonAudio products are made in Holland, and FetHead is advertised as a low noise gain booster or mic preamp with extra 27dB amplification.

One thing to remember is that these gain boosters need phantom power, just like condenser microphones. Even though your SM7B doesn’t need extra power, you need your phantom power when you connect it to FetHead.

FetHead arrived in a small cardboard tube, hidden in a pouch inside. It was much smaller than expected, which was fantastic as I was worried it wouldn’t fit at the end of my SM7B, sitting on the arm.

It did fit without any issues.

If you want to listen to my recording without Fethead and with it, you can view my video review on Youtube.

In short, Fethead does what it supposed to do. It boosts SM7B gain without affecting the sound, allowing for the mic gain on my iD4 interface to stay on the good lever.

And I don’t need to boost anything in post-production anymore!

Would I recommend it?

If you have SM7B or another dynamic (or ribbon) microphone and you find yourself lacking gains – then of course. Especially if you are podcasting or recording YT videos.

It boosts the signal transparently and cleanly, and you don’t have to drive your input gain to the top.

There are even cheaper alternatives. I didn’t want to go with the cheapest option, which had a few negative reviews, but FetHead definitely worth the money, and it is more than twice cheaper as the original Cloudlifter. Plus, you don’t need extra XLR cable!

Thumbs up from me, and you will hear the FetHead working hard on the future videos!

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Small Podcast Studio & Sonarworks Reference 4

Small Podcast Studio & Sonarworks Reference 4

by | Feb 23, 2021 | Podcasting, Sound

Sonarworks

23 FEBRUARY 2021

written by Mike

Small Podcast Studio & Sonarworks Reference 4

Recently I’ve moved to a new house, and the big difference was – that this time it’s ours!

(A bank technically owns the house, but we got a mortgage and moved in November 2020.)

I migrated to the UK in 2006 and always rented. Renting is excellent because it offers flexibility and freedom, but it is a pain if a person wants to set up a sound production room.

There are always issues with the landlord, moving the stuff around amongst other hassles.

This time is different!

We got a lovely, three-bedroom house, and I could get one (albeit the smallest) room for my studio and set it up the way I wanted.

As I said, the room is small. It is a one bed/office space, with more weight on the office function as it would be a tiny bedroom. From the get-go, I understood that with that size comes a lot of problems.

Small rooms are notorious for bad acoustics. Sound waves (especially low frequencies) don’t have space to develop. They are bouncing around the walls; we get phase cancellations and that sort of thing.

Before ordering acoustics, I wanted to know what sound issues I’m facing, and I needed a special measurement microphone. I used to have a Behringer ECM8000 in the past and was inclined to get the same mic, but I also looked at other options online.

And that’s how I stumbled upon Sonarwoks XREF 20.

The microphone costs £50, and it came with a trial version of Reference 4 software. It looks like a standard measurement microphone, and it came without a clip mic. I was a bit disappointed – at first!

The way that measurement works are – you hold the microphone and move around the room with it. 

I’ve done some studio measurements and how you did it back then was to set up the microphone on a stand, in the listening position and run the sine waves. Sonarworks is a bit different and very smart, which took me by surprise. That’s why there is no clip in the box – you don’t need it for the measurements!

I measured the room, and as predicted, the space had many issues, mainly in the low-end area. Not only that – the low-end frequencies were also masking higher frequencies making the room impossible to work in.

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I knew I had to treat the space, and after going back and forth with GIK Acoustics – I made the order.

After setting up side panels, ceiling panes and corner bass traps, I measured the room again with Sonarworks XREF 20.

You could see (and hear) the difference. Acoustic panels tamed some of the omnipresent low frequencies but not enough to have a good neutral mixing room.

That’s the problem with small spaces – I’ve run out of room to put up more panels!

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And here where we start talking about Sonarworks Reference 4. Like I mentioned before, the microphone came with a trial version of the software.

It helped measure the room; however, that’s only a small fraction of what the plugin can do.

After the measurement is complete, Sonarworks software takes the frequency curve and flattens it with EQ so that your system’s output is entirely neutral.

At first, I couldn’t get used to it – especially on headphones. I was so accustomed to my cans and how they sound that Sonarworks processing sounded weird.

I gave it a couple of days, and now I can’t imagine working without it!

But first things first.

Reference 4 comes in different flavours – Headphone and Studio.

The headphone version is cheaper and offers help to headphone users only, and there are a few ways Sonarworks presents here.

You can find your pair of headphones in the long list of their presets called ‘average‘ for starters. 

What they did is they took a few pairs of the same headphones, measured their frequency curve and come up with an average image from all of them. It’s not a perfect measurement; however, I find it useful enough for my work.

Second, you can buy calibrated headphones from Sonarworks that will come with a custom profile.

And the third option is to send them your headphones for calibration.

These two options will cost you extra.

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Studio edition will also work on your studio monitors – and that’s where you ideally need the microphone from Sonarworks (that comes with a personal profile) and measure your room.

Within the software itself, you do have some options.

Of course, the main one is bypassing the processing; we also have a frequency response curve and various additional displays available. You can use a bass boost, predefined curve and some latency settings. You can also check how the sound is in mono.

The more critical functions are dry/wet, which will allow you to get used to the new flat sound and the safe headroom option.

Safe headroom locks the gain fader. Because the software will boost some frequencies, it will have to adjust the gain accordingly. Safe headroom makes it impossible to go above the gain reduction – unless you switch it off.

It is also worth noting that bypassing the processing won’t change the gain, and it will always match.

This is important as you won’t get hit by a few extra decibels of sound each time you bypass the Sonarworks plugins – only if you completely switch it off.

Sonarworks Reference 4 also comes as two plugins – systemwide and standard DAW plugin. Systemwide works outside of your audio sequencer, meaning that any audio going out of your system will be processed.

DAW plugin version is only for use in your software, but they are precisely the same. When you run your audio software, the systemwide version is automatically inactive.

However, the most helpful thing is the Sonarworks prompts you when you are bouncing your session with the plugin still on!

The plugin needs to sit on your master at the very end; however, when you are bouncing the audio down – you don’t want Reference 4 to flatten your mix!

You only use it for listening, and thankfully people at Sonarworks thought of warning you when you forget to bypass, which I do all the time.

As far as the pricing goes – there are plenty of deals around. You can also lookup Educational discount for students and teachers. It is not the cheapest plugin, but it is definitely worth its price – I’m kicking myself for not discovering it earlier!

Would I recommend it for podcast producers?

If you are starting, more than likely, you will be working on headphones. In that case, I recommend getting a nice pair and trying out the Sonarworks headphones edition.

Even if you want to get studio monitors, it will be tough to mix on them if your room is not acoustically treated.

I also wouldn’t use Sonarworks Studio in an untreated room and hope for the best. It’s not a solution for lousy acoustics. It is another tool to help you get the acoustics to improve them, not fix them.

However, if you are producing on excellent studio monitors, you have a treated room, but you reckon it could be improved, then absolutely try Sonarworks Studio; it’s a no brainer.

I am glad that I can now improve this room, far from perfect even though it is comfortable and mine!

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