podcasting

We wanted to let you now how grateful we are for all the support we have received in the last 2 and a half years of podcasting. We have had a great audience to keep us in, hopefully, the right track.

Even though are listeners seem to stick around and become loyal subscribers, we feel that the Talking Apple podcast can become even better. We have a few ideas that we haven’t been able to expand on. Video is one of them, but at the moment that is pretty much out of our reach due to the expenses that would incur, whether it be on equipment, bandwidth, expensive live streaming services, and so on. Maybe we will revisit this one day, but for the moment Google hangouts will have to do.

Mainly though, we seem to have reached a point where, with the kind of equipment we have, little more in terms of innovation, creativity and quality can be done. You probably have noticed that our “studio” comprises of two microphones, an iPhone, an iMac for recording and a LOT of cables.  This kind of software driven set-up makes it extremely hard to bring in guests, keeping all the audio tracks nice and smooth, do video (the little that we do) in any decent way, not to mention the fact that we have hardly any space to move and are always struggling to record in a comfortable position. Heck, in the last few episodes, only one of us could hear the jingles play and a swap of headphones is needed.  We’ve prepared a video to show what we mean…

And that’s where you come in. We are asking for your help, in order to collect the funds that will let us acquire the equipment needed. Because we want to make this as transparent as possible, here’s what we think we will need:

  • SoundBoard for iPad – £13.99
This program by Ambrosia will let us control all our jingles, as well as many other sound effects in real time. For sure it would make the podcast more alive and less prone to audio hiccups.
  • iPad stand mount – £24.99
This particular add-on would let Alex control the jingles board with ease, without having to leave the iPad on his knees while trying to speak close to the mic and manage the  show-notes at the same time.
  • Sound mixer – £128.49
 The main reason why we struggle with an amalgamation of cables and why guests are so hard to manage is because all our tracks are dealt with in software. Who handles tracks in software before passing by a  mixer? Probably just us. This peace of kit, even though in entry level, will open up some wide doors of creativity.
  • 2x Yeti Pro Microphones – £400
As much as we like our Yeti Microphones, and we really like them, they are USB mics, and so do not work with mixers. But we love them so much that we decided to go with the Yeti Pro version. It basically has all the great features of the Yeti, but the sound quality is much improved and, more importantly, comes with a stereo-XLR output. This analog interface is a perfect match for audio studios.
  • 2x Mic arm boom – £140
One of the main reasons why we struggle with space and movement is the lack of arm stands connected to our mics. Our solution at the moment is to put an oversized book under our microphones. That’s right, a book! Not to mention that every time we make any slight movement on the table, keyboard or anything else, the noise is transferred right to the mics. Also, the fact that we have no stands, means we cannot move our heads more than a few centimetres without loosing audio quality. This particular arm is very sturdy and quite reasonably priced.

Total needed of £700

How can you contribute?

In the past we have received help from some of you to buy a mic for Alex. This was such a great help and we really appreciate it. At the time, the donators had little in return apart from our deepest “Thank You” and a better quality podcast. This time we wanted to give you more.

You can help in one of many ways:

It is simple, we have an agreement with audible in which, for every subscription they get from us, even if it is cancelled straight away, we receive about £9.  It is that simple!

Audible is an amazon company, as such, when you go through the above link, you will only need to log in with your amazon credentials and choose a book of your choice. They also have an awesome iPhone app that lets you hear, manage and buy other books. You will be enrolled into the “Gold” plan, that is basically equivalent to one book a month. If you decide to cancel, no charges will incur, but you get to keep one book.

It is a win-win-win situation. We win, because we receive £9 from Audible, you win, because you get a free audio book of your choice and Audible wins, because, well…you are very likely to go back once you see how good they are.

Even if you have never tried an audio book, bear in mind that you will be contributing £9 with minimal effort and no cost on your part. Perhaps your wife, children, friend or other might benefit from a free book. Who wouldn’t? Give them our special link and take them through the 30 second process. We will really appreciate your help.

  •  Donations
If you prefer not to take our offer on the audio book, you can always just donate towards our cause.
  1. A donation of £10 or more and you will be automatically enrolled into a £25 iTunes voucher give away. That is whether we achieve our goal (of buying all the equipment) or not. What’s more, if we do reach our goal, the gift card will be of £50. Imagine that, donate £10 and get £50! Pretty crazy.
  2. If you donate £20 or more, not only will you be enrolled in the iTunes gift card promotion, but you will also receive a specially designed (by Alex) Talking Apple iPhone case (choice between 4, 4S and 5).
  3. A £40 donation will earn you a Talking Apple iPhone case and a Macbook sleeve with our logo.
  4. Can you support us with £70 or more? We will reward you with all of the above, plus a Talking Apple T-Shirt signed by both of us. :)
  5. If you are feeling quite generous and donate £100 or more, you will have the chance to receive the gift card, will receive the signed T-Shirt, an iPhone case, the Talking Apple MacBook sleeve, but more importantly, you will be given the opportunity to co-host one show with Alex and Marlon.