Hi all, I’ve made a few podcast episodes before, but this was the first one I felt confident enough to post on RSS.com. I also used MRC assets at parts of the podcast, which I bet you all will recognize.
Looking for a critique from the experienced people on this site. How’s my new mic sound, the mixing levels, and the production quality, anything I can improve?
Thanks for sharing @Doz1986 - well done on taking this first step and getting the episode out!
Often that first step is most difficult - but all that matters is progress over perfection 
On my end a couple of things I have noticed at the start:
auto ducking of music at the very start under your voice seems too aggressive - I would turn the music down in general and maybe work with that instead of the ducking.
your guest is on iPhone so you are restricted on what you can do here. In the future consider using something like riverside.fm to record interviews - they will record audio at source and give you the best quality possible.
Intro & outro transitions sound ace
Your voice has nice processing - sounds good
Hope this helps!
Thanks, Izabella! Your critiques, funnily enough, were my same ‘ouch points’ with the podcast. The ducking has been hard for me to get perfect, even with MRC’s Pro Podcast presets doing it automatically. Either I sound too loud over the music, or with me adjusting my voice, the music fights with my vocals too much.
However, I believe what you’re referring to is the SHARP dip in volume right as I start talking, correct? That’s a good catch, and I think I may experiment with a volume envelope next time, so the transition doesn’t feel so jarring for the listener.
And lastly, Riverside is excellent. I wanted to use it for this podcast, but the guest insisted on using his phone, so I was forced to take his call over Zoom. That was a headache, and I’m hoping future guests will be more amenable to using Riverside. Worst case scenario, I do have a Rodecaster Pro now, so in the very least, I can record directly from the phone in the future if need be.
It’s my pleasure! Sometimes having that second perspective can be super helpful
Yes I was thinking of the sharp dip in volume.
Riverside is indeed amazing - definitely if you can - get your quests to use that. I believe they have an iOS app so your guests can use that if they insist on using their phone too. Zoom is dreadful on so many levels!
Best of luck with everything - hope the podcast grows from strength to strength!