My desk is a hot freakin’ mess.
Our stream room is constantly changing. Unfortunately, we do not have a large, open space to stream from. Currently, Rugjen is on one side of the room facing the wall, and I am at the other side of the room facing the wall. In between the two of us is our green screen. It is actually the best setup we’ve come up with for the space that we have. We can both use one green screen as opposed to each setting up our own. This means I have limited space to work with.
If you have watched any of our YouTube footage, you will notice that my mic picks up Rugjen and causes an echo. We have attempted several countermeasures and have failed to correct the issue. Our last hope is changing out my microphone. Currently, I am using a Blue Yeti USB microphone. I love the sound it produces. My main use is for recording audio auditions. It’s also very easy to use. Just plug into a USB port and call it day.
However, the Yeti IS a condenser microphone. Without getting lost in the weeds and digressing from the original topic, a condenser microphone is very sensitive. Condenser microphones are best suited for a studio environment. In other words, in order to capture the best sound, your room should be prepped with sound dampening of some sort. As mentioned, that is not our currently situation. Therefore, a condenser mic is really not the optimum microphone for our situation.
I hate change. Especially moving away from a microphone that I think produces the right kind of sound for my voice. Unfortunately, this is the situation I am in. Continue to use an ill-suited microphone or change my microphone.
Rugjen is already using a Rode Podmic through a GO XLR. When he switched from his Yeti, I didn’t initially notice until I started processing some of his video. I noticed he had a more treble-heavy sound and I had to clean up his audio in a different way. I went to his desk and noticed he had switched his mic. The Rode Podmic is a dynamic microphone. Dynamic microphones are what most people imagine when asked to visualize a microphone. Dynamic microphones are better suited for live music, or situations where there may be a lot of external noise…just like our office/stream room.
So, it is with a sad heart that I pack up my Blue Yeti and prepare my desk for a GO XLR MINI and Rode Podmic, and a new soundbar in my quest to achieve cable-management zen.
You can never have too much RGB, right? RIGHT? I love RGB lighting. I just do. My speakers were ancient. They were at least 15 years old. Maybe older. They came with one of my first computers and were a source of irritation. I decided to update my speaker situation with a TaoTronics soundbar. It was $49.99 with a $10.00 coupon. Thanks, Nanny and Pop! (I used Christmas money). I wasn’t really looking for quality sound. To be honest, I like wearing my headphones and only wanted a new speaker to reduce the wiring footprint. I have to say for $50, you can’t really go wrong with this soundbar. If you’re looking for a way to quickly amplify what you’re listening to and don’t really care about the quality of the sound, it’s a steal. I was able to retire my old speakers, add more RGB lighting, and also reduce my wiring. It is also Bluetooth speaker, so you can connect your Bluetooth devices, or use the audio cable to hard wire to your computer. Another plus? It fit perfectly under my monitor riser to streamline the look of my set up.
I also decided to pick up a GO XLR MINI by TC Helicon for the new microphone. I figured if I was investing in ANOTHER microphone, I might as well invest in an online broadcast mixer with USB/Audio interface and midas preamp. Right? RIGHT? The GO XLR MINI is a must for online broadcasters and content creators. It allows one app to rule them all to manage all of your audio needs. It even has a manual censor button and cough (mute) button. It’s great stuff, but I’ve been putting off the purchase for awhile now. If you want to know more about the GO XLR MINI, you can go HERE to check out their website.
After set up, everything has come together. Rugjen and I tested out the mic for a bit and I think we have solved the issue. The cable management is still not where I would like it to be, but I am not willing to drill holes and create wire drops or do any other extra stuff to hide the wires. There is just going to be some exposed wires. That being said, it looks a lot better and feels a lot more organized than it has been in the past. I’m not QUITE done, so final pictures I do not have.
One day, I will have a setup that I am satisfied with. Until then, thanks for joining me on this leg of the journey!
Filthy Casual for Life 