For those interested in such things…
We have been through a few iterations of recording gear and process. We have always recorded via the internet. Thus far we have not recorded in the same room, though we do have the setup for it.
Older episodes were audio captures of Skype and/or Google Meet sessions. Bob used Audio Hijack for the Mac to grab the audio, and generally used Garageband to edit. While this process worked, there were issues with equalizing the audio levels. Jeff started with the Blue Snowball microphone, while Bob has always used the Audio Technica AT2020 USB condenser mic.
We now both use Audio Technica AT2020 USB condenser mics. We record the sessions using a great cloud-based system – tryca.st.com. The system records pristine audio from our mics directly into the browser cache and uploads that pristine audio to the tryca.st server, which gives use seperate tracks for each participant. We can level the track volumes there before downloading. Use of this system has improved the audio quality, as we don’t get the internet “static” of a typical Skype conversation.
Bob then edits the downloaded mixed file using Adobe Audition. We run normalization and then compression to improve the audio quality and further equalize volume levels and eliminate clipping.
So yes, we spend some monthly cash on this podcast. Not a huge amount. Tryca.st cost about $10 a month, and $15 a month for LibSyn. Biggest expense is having Adobe Audition. Bob pays year for the full Adobe Creative Cloud as it is needed for his work. As the producer of the show, Bob is happy to spend a little every month on this hobby. Honestly, I think most people spend more than this on beer every month or even coffee.