Uploaded April 2015 | Updated September 2026, 5 days ago
More info on this setup at thepodcastersstudio.com/mixersetup
There are many factors that go into getting great audio. At the top of the list is making sure you have setup your mixer to perform its best.
Gain staging is the process of setting up your gain inside your audio mixer to properly drive your microphone of choice without distorting the audio.
This basic setup process is likely overlooked and leads to many producers not getting the best audio out of their system.
The process of gain staging is made a little easier when your mixer has either a PFL or Solo button which allows each channel to be monitored separately, before the fader and employing the audio meters.
But how do you setup your mixer when you don't have this option? All the mixers I've used have, at a minimum, clip or peak LEDs on each microphone channel and of course the audio meter on the main mix.
In this video I show you two techniques using these available options for setting up your microphone for dialog/podcasting.
Music licensed from premiumbeat.com: bit.ly/1BJbspm
Track: "Mandolin Highway" by Olive Musique
Track: “Jawbreaker” by Brightside Studio
*Gear used in the making of this video:
Behringer Xenyx Q802USB podhelp.me/Q802USB
Canon EOS 60D DSLR Camera podhelp.me/60DbodyBH
Tokina 11-16mm (Canon mount, APS-C) podhelp.me/tokina11-16CanonAPSCBH
Sigma 30mm 1.4 ART APS-C Canon (new, better version) B&H: podhelp.me/30mmsigma Amazon: podhelp.me/S30mm1-4ArtAmazon
Roland R-05 Audio Recorder (newer version, mine is discontinued) podhelp.me/r-05bh
ATR2100 microphone (used in the VO during the mixer walkthrough) podhelp.me/ATR2100
HQ-S Stereo Lavalier microphone (into the Roland and used in talking-head intro and outro) aspenmics.com/products/hq-s
F&V R-300 LED Ring Light podhelp.me/fvring300day
Transcend SD card 16 and 32GB Class 10 podhelp.me/tr16gb10
Manfrotto 701 HDV Tripod podhelp.me/701hdv055xbkit (discontinued)
Manfrotto 394 Quick Release Plate and Base podhelp.me/394plate
*all links should be considered affiliate links. Using these links helps support this content. I always encourage you to shop around for the best prices at the time you are viewing this. You can read my ethics statement via thepodcastersstudio.com/ethics. Thanks for the support!
More info on this setup at thepodcastersstudio.com/mixersetup
There are many factors that go into getting great audio. At the top of the list is making sure you have setup your mixer to perform its best.
Gain staging is the process of setting up your gain inside your audio mixer to properly drive your microphone of choice without distorting the audio.
This basic setup process is likely overlooked and leads to many producers not getting the best audio out of their system.
The process of gain staging is made a little easier when your mixer has either a PFL or Solo button which allows each channel to be monitored separately, before the fader and employing the audio meters.
But how do you setup your mixer when you don't have this option? All the mixers I've used have, at a minimum, clip or peak LEDs on each microphone channel and of course the audio meter on the main mix.
In this video I show you two techniques using these available options for setting up your microphone for dialog/podcasting.
Music licensed from premiumbeat.com: bit.ly/1BJbspm
Track: "Mandolin Highway" by Olive Musique
Track: “Jawbreaker” by Brightside Studio
*Gear used in the making of this video:
Behringer Xenyx Q802USB podhelp.me/Q802USB
Canon EOS 60D DSLR Camera podhelp.me/60DbodyBH
Tokina 11-16mm (Canon mount, APS-C) podhelp.me/tokina11-16CanonAPSCBH
Sigma 30mm 1.4 ART APS-C Canon (new, better version) B&H: podhelp.me/30mmsigma Amazon: podhelp.me/S30mm1-4ArtAmazon
Roland R-05 Audio Recorder (newer version, mine is discontinued) podhelp.me/r-05bh
ATR2100 microphone (used in the VO during the mixer walkthrough) podhelp.me/ATR2100
HQ-S Stereo Lavalier microphone (into the Roland and used in talking-head intro and outro) aspenmics.com/products/hq-s
F&V R-300 LED Ring Light podhelp.me/fvring300day
Transcend SD card 16 and 32GB Class 10 podhelp.me/tr16gb10
Manfrotto 701 HDV Tripod podhelp.me/701hdv055xbkit (discontinued)
Manfrotto 394 Quick Release Plate and Base podhelp.me/394plate
*all links should be considered affiliate links. Using these links helps support this content. I always encourage you to shop around for the best prices at the time you are viewing this. You can read my ethics statement via thepodcastersstudio.com/ethics. Thanks for the support!
