WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.680 Today, I want to talk to you about headphones. 00:00:03.540 --> 00:00:06.099 When I first started podcasting all the way back 00:00:06.099 --> 00:00:11.279 in 2012, headphones were absolutely a requirement, 00:00:11.640 --> 00:00:14.699 also a requirement, having all of your guests 00:00:14.699 --> 00:00:17.940 record their audio separately or using an app 00:00:17.940 --> 00:00:21.420 like Ecamm Call Recorder on Skype, which was 00:00:21.420 --> 00:00:25.300 not great. It definitely led to low quality shows, 00:00:25.460 --> 00:00:30.699 which is why I feel at least my show that I launched 00:00:30.699 --> 00:00:36.619 in 2016 took off because I was a stickler for 00:00:36.619 --> 00:00:42.780 quality. Now in 2025, I've been getting more 00:00:42.780 --> 00:00:46.640 pushback from podcasters and guests about wearing 00:00:46.640 --> 00:00:49.799 headphones. And I will tell you straight up, 00:00:49.799 --> 00:00:53.560 I'm not burying the lead here. If a guest is 00:00:53.560 --> 00:00:56.920 not wearing headphones, I will not record with 00:00:56.920 --> 00:01:02.460 them. I don't care that Riverside or Squadcast 00:01:02.460 --> 00:01:07.120 or whatever has the echo cancellation. I don't 00:01:07.120 --> 00:01:09.400 care if we're recording on Zoom, which I don't 00:01:09.400 --> 00:01:12.799 record on Zoom, but that they do the echo cancellation 00:01:12.799 --> 00:01:17.099 thing. Headphones are still a requirement for 00:01:17.099 --> 00:01:20.239 me. And I think if you care about quality, which 00:01:20.239 --> 00:01:24.730 you should, especially now, then headphones should 00:01:24.730 --> 00:01:26.329 be your requirement. So first of all, why should 00:01:26.329 --> 00:01:28.829 you care about quality now? We have Riverside, 00:01:28.909 --> 00:01:33.390 we have Descript, we have apps like Adobe Podcasts 00:01:33.390 --> 00:01:36.890 and Descript that can make crappy microphones 00:01:36.890 --> 00:01:42.109 sound like good studio microphones. But here's 00:01:42.109 --> 00:01:47.030 the thing. Fixing audio and software is not as 00:01:47.030 --> 00:01:53.230 good as getting the cleanest audio. possible. 00:01:54.310 --> 00:01:57.810 And I know this because I've gone on podcasts 00:01:57.810 --> 00:02:01.349 as a guest where we've recorded with Riverside 00:02:01.349 --> 00:02:05.750 and you hear how I sound right now. Not to toot 00:02:05.750 --> 00:02:10.530 my own horn or anything, but my audio is amazing. 00:02:11.129 --> 00:02:14.009 I have a great microphone going into a great 00:02:14.009 --> 00:02:16.849 interface. I have a great recording environment. 00:02:17.189 --> 00:02:21.680 I always wear headphones. But the end result 00:02:21.680 --> 00:02:24.599 for some of these podcasts is me sounding worse. 00:02:25.800 --> 00:02:29.680 And the New Yorker in me, who always assumes 00:02:29.680 --> 00:02:32.719 malice, figures, oh, well, they just want the 00:02:32.719 --> 00:02:35.319 guest to sound worse than the host, which is 00:02:35.319 --> 00:02:39.719 insane. That's too much effort, right? What's 00:02:39.719 --> 00:02:42.659 actually happening is they're running it through 00:02:42.659 --> 00:02:45.139 Descript or whatever magic editing thing they 00:02:45.139 --> 00:02:51.469 do. the effects that they apply actually make 00:02:51.469 --> 00:02:53.629 my audio worse, not better, because they're not 00:02:53.629 --> 00:02:57.449 giving it to an audio engineer. They're just 00:02:57.449 --> 00:03:01.370 throwing it through some app, right? Or just 00:03:01.370 --> 00:03:04.669 combining and cleaning up, quote unquote. And 00:03:04.669 --> 00:03:07.889 so you'll have like dropped sounds or you'll 00:03:07.889 --> 00:03:11.590 have like this weird artifact that shows up sometimes 00:03:11.590 --> 00:03:13.990 because they didn't properly do noise removal. 00:03:14.270 --> 00:03:16.710 or they did noise removal on noise that wasn't 00:03:16.710 --> 00:03:19.930 actually there. So why am I telling you all of 00:03:19.930 --> 00:03:25.210 this? Because when you use something like echo 00:03:25.210 --> 00:03:26.810 cancellation, and that's the other thing that 00:03:26.810 --> 00:03:28.509 they could have done, right? They could have 00:03:28.509 --> 00:03:31.310 been using echo cancellation in Riverside even 00:03:31.310 --> 00:03:36.069 though I'm wearing headphones. So the echo cancellation 00:03:36.069 --> 00:03:39.629 was not necessary. The software is then looking 00:03:39.629 --> 00:03:43.479 for stuff to remove And when it can't find anything, 00:03:43.639 --> 00:03:47.879 it does non -deterministic things. Non -deterministic 00:03:47.879 --> 00:03:50.060 is a programming term for you can't predict what 00:03:50.060 --> 00:03:53.139 it does. Large language models are non -deterministic. 00:03:53.199 --> 00:03:55.180 I don't care what the AI quote unquote experts 00:03:55.180 --> 00:04:00.460 will tell you. You cannot predict how an AI will 00:04:00.460 --> 00:04:03.539 respond to you. Just go ask Elon Musk and Grok. 00:04:04.860 --> 00:04:10.469 So when you apply those filters, If they are 00:04:10.469 --> 00:04:13.090 not necessary, they will make the audio worse. 00:04:13.969 --> 00:04:16.670 If they are necessary, they're going to do things 00:04:16.670 --> 00:04:18.990 to the audio that you may not predict or want. 00:04:19.990 --> 00:04:23.430 And so when you record your podcast, you should 00:04:23.430 --> 00:04:26.029 always wear headphones because you don't want 00:04:26.029 --> 00:04:28.610 the guest's audio creeping into your microphone 00:04:28.610 --> 00:04:34.209 and vice versa. Right? You want your guests to 00:04:34.209 --> 00:04:36.209 wear headphones even if you're recording over 00:04:36.209 --> 00:04:39.709 Riverside or whatever. and it has that echo cancellation 00:04:39.709 --> 00:04:45.529 because nothing is better than the raw unaffected 00:04:45.529 --> 00:04:50.709 analog sound. You can take that and you can fix 00:04:50.709 --> 00:04:53.350 it in an app like Logic Pro or you can give it 00:04:53.350 --> 00:04:56.029 to an editor or an audio engineer and they can 00:04:56.029 --> 00:04:59.009 pull all the right levers, the correct levers 00:04:59.009 --> 00:05:02.410 to actually fix the thing that you're trying 00:05:02.410 --> 00:05:06.410 to fix. But if you're just kind of wholesale 00:05:06.410 --> 00:05:10.540 applying You know, it's like it's like if you 00:05:10.540 --> 00:05:14.699 decide oh we're going to Paint the entire house 00:05:14.699 --> 00:05:18.639 gray even if like the Sunroom should be light 00:05:18.639 --> 00:05:23.339 blue or we're just going to We're gonna make 00:05:23.339 --> 00:05:25.720 a bunch of different lunches for all the kids, 00:05:25.720 --> 00:05:28.720 but we're gonna spray ketchup on all of it Right 00:05:28.720 --> 00:05:33.860 like great ketchup on hamburgers is fine Ketchup 00:05:33.860 --> 00:05:37.680 on pizza is an nomination. Don't at me on that 00:05:38.120 --> 00:05:45.939 So like you're you're You're doing with a sledgehammer 00:05:45.939 --> 00:05:48.079 what you should do with something more surgical, 00:05:48.379 --> 00:05:51.939 right? I think that you're using a You're using 00:05:51.939 --> 00:05:54.160 a hacksaw when you should be using a surgical 00:05:54.160 --> 00:05:57.800 knife or whatever So headphones prevent that 00:05:57.800 --> 00:05:59.740 headphones will ensure that you get the best 00:05:59.740 --> 00:06:04.060 possible quality from your audio that is not 00:06:04.060 --> 00:06:07.970 affected by Any software that you don't have 00:06:07.970 --> 00:06:11.050 a direct hand in fixing. And I'm not saying don't 00:06:11.050 --> 00:06:14.610 apply fixes, right? I'm recording this in Logic 00:06:14.610 --> 00:06:19.089 Pro and I do have a compressor, but it's a hardware 00:06:19.089 --> 00:06:22.930 based compressor, right? And which is like a 00:06:22.930 --> 00:06:24.709 noise gate. It's like the opposite of a noise 00:06:24.709 --> 00:06:27.490 gate. I'm not an audio engineer, so I'm not going 00:06:27.490 --> 00:06:30.350 to be able to tactfully describe this, but it's 00:06:30.350 --> 00:06:34.060 basically like. If there is a sound below a certain 00:06:34.060 --> 00:06:37.639 decibel, it's going to ignore it, essentially. 00:06:37.639 --> 00:06:41.660 And I am doing that in hardware. I'm not doing 00:06:41.660 --> 00:06:44.199 it in software where you can get false positives. 00:06:44.959 --> 00:06:49.139 What I'm doing in software is I'm using audio 00:06:49.139 --> 00:06:55.000 effects from iZotope. I'll link it in the description. 00:06:55.920 --> 00:06:59.839 For breath control and mouth sounds. Because 00:06:59.839 --> 00:07:03.319 I can't stand mouth sounds. So I don't like listening 00:07:03.319 --> 00:07:06.500 back to my audio with mouth sounds and so, you 00:07:06.500 --> 00:07:09.819 know, I have like a de -clicking filter on there. 00:07:10.399 --> 00:07:14.959 But again, I'm very surgical about how it's applied 00:07:14.959 --> 00:07:17.620 and it's only applied to my audio. When I have 00:07:17.620 --> 00:07:21.220 a guest, I don't touch that. I give my editor 00:07:21.220 --> 00:07:25.060 both and he handles it because he knows what 00:07:25.060 --> 00:07:27.160 is a light touch and what's too heavy -handed. 00:07:30.060 --> 00:07:34.279 The point is in 2025, this is not an editing 00:07:34.279 --> 00:07:36.319 episode because I, you know, I hate editing. 00:07:37.019 --> 00:07:41.019 I don't do a lot of editing myself. I do what 00:07:41.019 --> 00:07:44.740 I have to, but I don't like doing a lot of editing 00:07:44.740 --> 00:07:50.860 myself. This is about headphones. And so should 00:07:50.860 --> 00:07:55.500 you as a podcaster use headphones in 2025? Yes. 00:07:56.279 --> 00:08:00.540 Should your guests? Yes. That is going to ensure 00:08:00.540 --> 00:08:06.199 that you get the most clear, unopinionated audio 00:08:06.199 --> 00:08:10.420 you can possibly get. Because then Riverside 00:08:10.420 --> 00:08:15.720 or Descript or Zoom or whatever is not applying 00:08:15.720 --> 00:08:19.600 their filters, which have been applied for a 00:08:19.600 --> 00:08:24.079 very specific reason. Right? They have made assumptions 00:08:24.079 --> 00:08:29.009 about how people are using their software. and 00:08:29.009 --> 00:08:32.269 their filters are going to execute those assumptions. 00:08:33.669 --> 00:08:36.409 Whereas if you're not, if you're using headphones 00:08:36.409 --> 00:08:38.529 and you turn off echo cancellation or whatever 00:08:38.529 --> 00:08:42.029 audio filters are in Zoom, there are no assumptions. 00:08:42.850 --> 00:08:45.470 So you can understand the environment the person 00:08:45.470 --> 00:08:49.110 is recording in. You can hear the issues and 00:08:49.110 --> 00:08:53.289 you can fix them later. But also headphones ensure 00:08:53.289 --> 00:08:55.570 that you don't have to fix as much, right? When 00:08:55.570 --> 00:08:58.509 I recorded in person, this was a problem. Obviously, 00:08:59.090 --> 00:09:01.029 we had two microphones, but we were too close 00:09:01.029 --> 00:09:04.090 to each other. And we weren't using student like 00:09:04.090 --> 00:09:09.250 headphone monitors. So. I could hear myself on 00:09:09.250 --> 00:09:12.049 my guest's microphone and vice versa. That's 00:09:12.049 --> 00:09:13.490 just the name of the game when you're recording 00:09:13.490 --> 00:09:16.990 in person, I assume. I don't I don't have well, 00:09:17.210 --> 00:09:19.129 I shouldn't say I assume I don't record in person 00:09:19.129 --> 00:09:21.970 that often, but we were using kit studios, which 00:09:21.970 --> 00:09:24.600 was great. But like I didn't understand any of 00:09:24.600 --> 00:09:26.799 that going in. And so we did just use the combined 00:09:26.799 --> 00:09:28.600 audio there. But again, we were in person. It 00:09:28.600 --> 00:09:31.179 was the same environment. We were using the same. 00:09:31.539 --> 00:09:35.159 We were each using the same microphone. Like 00:09:35.159 --> 00:09:37.019 separate microphones, but they were the same. 00:09:37.519 --> 00:09:42.919 And so, you know, there are the environment's 00:09:42.919 --> 00:09:47.299 going to matter. And getting the most unopinionated 00:09:47.299 --> 00:09:50.379 audio is going to ensure that you can get the 00:09:50.379 --> 00:09:53.330 best edit possible. Alright, that's it for this 00:09:53.330 --> 00:09:55.049 episode of Streamlined Podcaster. Let me know 00:09:55.049 --> 00:09:58.990 right over at StreamlinedFeedback .com if you 00:09:58.990 --> 00:10:01.049 use headphones or have strong opinions about 00:10:01.049 --> 00:10:04.429 not using headphones. I will tell you, like somebody, 00:10:05.070 --> 00:10:08.529 there was, this happened one time, a dude got 00:10:08.529 --> 00:10:12.289 onto Riverside, was not using, he was using the 00:10:12.289 --> 00:10:15.490 built -in microphone, he was not wearing headphones, 00:10:15.750 --> 00:10:18.029 and I said you need headphones, and he said I 00:10:18.029 --> 00:10:21.000 don't have headphones. And I said, I find that 00:10:21.000 --> 00:10:23.259 hard to believe, but if that is true, we cannot 00:10:23.259 --> 00:10:27.360 record because on the form that you filled out 00:10:27.360 --> 00:10:29.860 to come on this show, you said you were going 00:10:29.860 --> 00:10:33.639 to record in a quiet place, use the best microphone 00:10:33.639 --> 00:10:37.600 you can and wear headphones. And he was floored 00:10:37.600 --> 00:10:39.879 that I said this interview wasn't happening. 00:10:41.659 --> 00:10:44.159 But it's that important to me. So let me know. 00:10:44.299 --> 00:10:47.279 Tell me I'm wrong. Tell me I'm right. Streamlinedfeedback 00:10:47.279 --> 00:10:50.320 .com. Thanks so much for listening. And until 00:10:50.320 --> 00:10:53.419 next time, I hope you find some space in your 00:10:53.419 --> 00:10:53.659 week.