Transcript

Molly: Welcome back to The Next 100. It’s me, Molly. And I owe you an apology because I promise to be super consistent with this show. And I am a daily maybe even to those who know this point is very carry over here. But I’m here, I’m showing up and I got a reason why I’m late and it’s because my best friend is listening. But that’s still a bullshit excuse. So without any further hesitation, let’s jump right on into today’s podcast.

So you’re going to think that I work for Shure after the next two episodes, and I swear that I don’t. However I have been a huge fan of Shure, they have definitely hooked me up with some equipment. Laura Davidson is super amazing from Shure. Yeah. I mean, I can’t say enough good things about them, but I swear to God I don’t work for them and they don’t pay me. So anyway, I bought the next two podcast episodes. I’m going to devote strictly to the quality of your sound. And so we’re going to talk about two different pieces of equipment. And so today’s episode is going to be all about the Shure MV7. So. You know, I get really worked up when I talk about people not having microphones.

I’m trying to be as Zen as possible and just be like, It’s cool, man. It’s cool. But the thing is, it’s not cool. It’s not cool if you, Listen! if you work for a company and you’re just showing up for meetings and stuff, I get it. You don’t want to buy a microphone, but you probably don’t listen to this podcast. If you are going on other people’s podcasts, if you have your own podcast, even if you’re in any kind of sales in any way, shape, or form, you should have a podcast. I’m sorry. If you’re in sales, even in any way, shape, or form, you should absolutely have a microphone. And the reason why is your voice just sounds better. You know, ask Anthony if you’ve worked at the company at all. You know how great Anthony sounds when you get on those meetings with him. Everyone comments. I think I need to put my mic higher up in the shot so people can see my microphone because he always gets all of the compliments. But the Shure MV7 is such a great microphone and is almost foolproof. You plug it into the side of your computer.

You can download an app to dial in the settings. It works super well, even if your mic control isn’t great. And so let’s talk about mic control first and foremost. So the biggest thing that I see is nobody knows any of these microphones. And I blame stock photos for this because when you search stock photos for podcasting or microphone, there is no shortage of images that show people using their microphones the wrong way, literally talking into the wrong side of it, talking into the end, and has a metal band around it, talking into the side of it. So all the, you know, I mean, just you see it all I saw on LinkedIn, and Lainey had her microphone literally behind her head like it was a decoration. And so I just really want you guys to think about, you know, how you have seen microphones being used in the past and maybe you’ve watched too much Johnny Carson or David Letterman or I don’t know who the new guys are. I’m aging myself with that one. But yeah, yes, there is a microphone on the desk far away. But that was just a prop people.

That was not actually the microphone that those people use. They’re using a lapel so you can’t use the microphone from a foot away. Now, if you guys have ever watched the show, billions, you ever watch it. John loved that show for so many reasons. But the thing that caught my ear, if you will, first and foremost, was the sound. And if you have a chance, like turn that show on and really listen to the sound, it is impeccable. But if you understood the level of miking that goes on to capture that kind of sound, you would be bewildered. So maybe you’re thinking, Oh, you know, the boom arms are super far away from people and catch their sound. Listen, boom. Arms and Hollywood also have lapel mics and others. There are so many microphones that you don’t even see in the shot. So that’s not how microphones work. So I’ll give you another example.

Have you ever been in an event like a panel discussion and there’s a Q&A and somebody in the back, you know, stands up and they get the microphone and they hold it away and they go, Yeah, I’d like to know about that. And everybody goes, Pull the microphone closer to your face, right? Your podcast microphone. Your microphone on your desk is the same thing. Tell me and I ain’t working four, three, three feet away where you need pull, you need to pull closer to your face. It needs to be really close to your face. Okay, so the first thing you want to do is not buy one of those pop filters. If you have a foam cover, here’s another gem. Here’s another gem. If you have a foam cover on your microphone, you do not need a pop filter. Okay, you do. This is your pop filter. It functions the same as one of those big round things.

It has a screen in it that covers your face. It’s called the pop filter. Those things are the biggest trick that consumerism ever played on anybody. They’re filling up landfills across the world. Those things, I hate them. Right? The only time that those are relevant is if you’re using a microphone that doesn’t have those like a foam cover on it. But even like the more high-end microphones, you’re going to have built-in stuff and a foam cover under the metal that you might not see. So honestly, don’t get a pop filter. That’s the first thing. And, you know, no, that’s number two. Number one, keep the microphone really close to your face. The way that you can do that is with a boom arm like this, it’s a really great way to get it done. I’ll take my earbuds off so you can see it a little bit better. Super functional. You can bring it right to your face, hands-free. I can still talk. I can still make crazy hand gestures, right? You know, I’m free to move about the cabin, but I’m keeping the microphone really close to my face. Okay. And if I move the microphone. So a lot of times people think that. Their microphone is working because you can hear their voice, but that’s not how sound works.

So, for example, if I was to move away from this microphone. Right. And I keep talking. Sure, you can still hear me, but you’re actually hearing the sound of my voice bouncing off the walls and like generally every once in a while passing in front of this microphone. So, yeah, you can hear me. Does it sound good? Does it sound any better if I wasn’t using the microphone at all? Probably not. Now, when I get closer to the microphone, does that sound better? Make you want to listen to me a little bit more? Right. And the real pros, they have excellent mic control and there’s no plosives. And they’re right up on this thing sounding like the voice. Of God, right? I don’t even know what that means, honestly. But you really want to keep the microphone close to your face. The second thing is to get a boom arm. Get the thing off your desk. And the third thing is to get some earbuds so that when you’re doing an interview, the other person’s sound isn’t coming through your speakers and bleeding into your microphone. That’s why you need to wear earbuds, people, very simple earbuds. No mic. That’s just a little volume knob. No, Mic, just simple earbuds. No pro. Can’t even see them gang-gang. All right. That’s your setup.

Now, lots of mics you can buy. You can buy the Yeti, please, for the love of God, do not buy the Yeti microphone and do a quick and dirty tutorial on why that is. So people get all up in arms when I talk shit about the Yeti but I don’t care because it’s not a good microphone. Actually, it’s correct myself. It is a great microphone if you are in a treated space. So the Yeti microphone is a condenser microphone. So its pick-up pattern is circular and yes, there’s an adjustment that you can use front and back and all this. But the problem is that 99% of you don’t understand the front and the back of the actual microphone and most of you are talking to the top of it anyway, which is completely pointless. There’s nothing there. But the Yeti is going to pick up. All these noises around you, your neighbors, you know. Leaf blower, whatever. The lawnmower is going to pick up all these noises where a dynamic microphone has very specific pick-up patterns of this microphone, for example, its pickup area is at the very end of this microphone right here, just this little tip. Right. So people that have this microphone and talking to the side of it, yeah, you’re still getting good sound, but not great, because what this has is excellent rejection, right? Like me on Tinder, it’s got excellent rejection. What does that mean? It means that when you are not talking into where the pickup pattern is, it’s naturally going to lower your voice as. You hear the sound, the quality of the sound of my voice, as I’m moving around talking into the side of it. You see, you can still hear me, but it isn’t as good as when. I’m right here, right? So using your microphone the right way is super important. The Shure MV7 takes all of that out because the pickup pattern is right here. It’s not a condenser microphone, it’s XLR and USB.

So that means you can plug it right into your computer and it’ll work. And you don’t need an audio interface to make the thing work all in from podcast outfitters. Huge shout out to them. Small business in Maryland that’s been there for 60 years. They used to be on eighth Street in northeast D.C. and their store got burned down in the riots of 1968 they reopened in Maryland and they’ve been there ever since. And if you grew up in DC or Maryland, Virginia and you ever a possibility if you ever played a, my dog just walked in the room for the audio audience but if you ever if you played an instrument and you grew up in DC, Maryland, Virginia, you probably thought that instrument from Chuck Levin’s Music Center. And they are the parent company of podcast outfitters. Great service. Small company, with great shipping, and they have tech support. You can call them up if you have any questions. Amazon ain’t gonna give you that. I promise that. So shout out to the podcast outfitters but they got a bundle on there for 315 and all these things delivered to you all in and if you put TPC10 you’ll get 10% off your order because of me. Just don’t tell them I sent you. But here’s the deal. It’s a great microphone. And why am I advocating for this? There are tons of you could also get the SM7B, but you’re getting the audio interface and you’re going to the cloud lift. You’re and if you’re not technical, that’s not really it.

The SM7P is like the Mic Joe Rogan uses, this is basically the same technology just meaning easier to use it’s slightly less capabilities but it’s USB and XLR. So for the people who are curious about that, what that means is you can plug it into your computer or you can plug it into an audio interface. So if you buy this computer, you can be at home or anywhere with your laptop and you can record things. But if you were to be in a podcast studio or do a podcast with more than one person, you can plug this into the audio interface with a traditional XLR cord, and It would work that way as well. So it’s really super functional. Dual-purpose microphone. I can’t say enough good things about it. I highly recommend it and it really does make a difference because, you know, I’ve mentioned this before, but if you’re looking to go on other people’s podcasts or you’re doing any sort of speaking engagements or presentations or any stuff like that, you best believe they’re checking your setup. That’s why most people have you record a video and show your setup and your sound and all that. But people are spending a ton of money to produce their podcast and they’re not going to pick you or these events, and they’re not going to pick you if you sound like you’re broadcasting from a tuning can. So it’s really important that you have a good sound and you’re putting effort into it. And the Shure MV7 makes that super easy. There are other mics already 20.

There’s so many other mics on the market and yeah, you could go to Amazon and buy a cheap microphone. We’re just going to end up replacing it because it’s going to suck and it’s probably not going to work because it’s like cheap parts and those things are designed literally to fail. So, you know, and the yeti’s not cheap either. People I mean, you guys are experiencing a real Costa Rica rainstorm that just came in out of nowhere.

So I’m going to make the rest of the show short and sweet because I feel like I’ve made my point here. But I hope you all get to the shelter soon and go out and get yourself a Shure MV7. It’s the best microphone on the market. I can’t say enough good things. I’ll put the link to the podcast outfitters bundle in the description below, hit me up and send me a message. Let me know how he is. You know how you like the microphone. Yeah, man, if you’re going to go on people’s podcasts, you got to have a mic. If you have your own podcast, you absolutely have to have a mic. If you do any sort of presentation whatsoever, get to have a mic. And if you do sales, you’ve got to have a mike. So on that now go get a microphone, hit me up, let me know that you got the short end by seven, and send me a little clip and simply how good you sound and I’ll see you on the next one.