The Blind Podmaker

We thank the National Federation of the Blind for their permission to include this review, produced for the Federation's Access On podcast. Join Jonathan Mosen for an in-depth demonstration of the Zoom PodTrak P4Next portable multitrack podcast recorder, featuring complete navigation with the Voice Guide feature enabled. This demonstration explores every feature and function of this next-generatio...

Jonathan's series on the Essential recorders from Zoom, which have accessibility features, concludes with the look at the Zoom H1Essential. This is the smallest member of the family and sells for just $99 USD. It can fit in any pocket, and offers high-quality 32-bit float recording. While understandably the recorder lacks some of the features of its larger siblings, it also boasts some features un...

Continuing his extensive look at the accessible Zoom Essential family, Jonathan demonstrates and reviews the Zoom H4Essential. With its compact size, powerful features and priced at just $199 USD, the H4Essential may be the Goldilocks recorder for many. While this review stands alone and therefore revisits many of the features found in the H6Essential, Jonathan expands further on the powerful mixe...

Jonathan Mosen begins his reviews of all three recorders in the Essential series, with the Zoom H6Essential Zoom has provided these units so the reviews can be produced, but have not heard these reviews before publication, nor influence what they contain. There is considerable interest from the blind community in the Zoom Essential series, due to the accessibility features available in this profes...

Those of us who use Zoom digital recorders in our content creation are familiar with the work-arounds that blind people have used for years. We might prepare a menu map which we consult when we want to change a setting. We may have some degree of accessibility if we pair the recorder with our phone's and the recorder's corresponding app. But none of it is as efficient or as complete as the experie...

From the manufacturer: "PortCaster is a mobile audio interface for Podcasting, Live streaming and Videos. With this handheld, portable mixer you can host your own show, adding music and guests. PortCaster is easy to use and durable, which saves you time and money. Featuring warm, analog sound and an 8-hour rechargeable battery, PortCaster makes you sound clear and lets you Broadcast from Anywhere!...

From the manufacturer: The R-07 packs mission-critical recording features into a stylish and ultra-portable device that goes anywhere life takes you. High-resolution audio, one-touch Scene memory, and Hybrid Limiting ensure great sounding recordings no matter what the situation. And wireless listening and remote control mean you can record with less wires in more places. The R-07 is simple and int...

From the manufacturer: Make studio quality recordings with EVO 16’s next-level audio performance. Eight award winning EVO intelligent mic preamps that set their own levels with Smartgain, the all new, groundbreaking Motion UI control system, and enough I/O firepower to tackle even the biggest of sessions, EVO 16 is truly a studio powerhouse, designed from the ground up to make recording easy. Eigh...

The Zoom M2 MicTrak is a 199 USD microphone that records. Pop a Micro-SD card into the MicTrak, and without any bulky gadgets and cables, you've got stereo 32-bit float recording. The fact that you can record in any situation without the risk of distortion is of enormous benefit to blind people recording in the field. When the product was launched late last year, it got off to the worst possible s...

Auphonic develops intelligent audio algorithms using a combination of AI and signal processing to provide an automated audio post production web service — an audio autopilot for podcasts, broadcasts, radio, interviews, audiobooks, lecture recordings, and more. Users just upload their recorded audio, and Auphonic will do the rest: neither complicated parameter settings nor audio expert knowledge ar...

From the manufacturer: The  Mackie EleMent Chromium  USB condenser microphone is a true home studio beast, with tonnes of I/O control for an array of different uses. With 4 selectable polar patterns and Makie's legendary Onyx Preamp circuitry, Chromium puts that slick studio sound within reach. On top of that, you get a 1/4" instrument input that you can mix in with the mic. Want to play along wit...

From the manufacturer: With 32-bit float recording, the F3 effortlessly captures "the quietest raindrops and the loudest explosions. Its small footprint allows for this recorder to be placed anywhere, as you capture and monitor up to 192 kHz of high-quality audio. FOCUS ON THE SCENE When you’re working in the field or on set, sound levels can fluctuate often and quickly. The F3 allows you to adapt...

Jonathan Mosen demonstrates the Vocaster Two, one of two members of a new family of audio interfaces from Focusrite aimed at podcast creators, streamers, and anyone who works with voice. This comprehensive tutorial and demonstration covers use cases, unboxing, installing and using in several common contexts. With its full accessibility, this could be the tool some blind people have been waiting fo...

Since its release, Rode's RODECaster Pro has been a run-away success in the podcasting community. We covered the accessibility of the device in a previous episode. Now, Rode is back with the next generation in the series, the RODECaster Pro II. Rode says, The RØDECaster Pro II is the ultimate audio production solution for content creators, including streamers, podcasters and musicians. Combining r...

If you have been on the planet long enough to have worked with analogue tape in a professional recording environment, you're probably familiar with the drop-in method Jonathan demonstrates in this episode. If you're not, you may find that using this method, which Reaper so brilliantly supports, will save you a lot of time if you record solo podcasts or screen reader demos.

If you'd like a device with some of the functionality of the Zoom Podtrak P4 but with no menus to navigate and all physical switches, you may be interested in the PortCaster or its older sibling, the Mixerface. PortCaster  is a mobile audio interface for Podcasting, Live streaming and Videos. With this handheld, portable mixer you can host your own live talk show, with music and guests. A combinat...

William Pogor joins us on the Blind Podcasters’ Roundtable to discuss using Ferrite Recording Studio for iOS. Ferrite is a powerful multitrack recording suite, designed with some specific features for blind people using VoiceOver.   Have a tool or product you know how to use and want to demo to the blind podcasting community? Please be in touch, we are always glad of contributions for the podcast....

Digital audio restoration has come a long way. It is generally considered that the best in the bunch is Izotope RX. In the Blind Podcasters’ Roundtable, Brian Hartgen gave us a demonstration of some of the things this suite of products can do to clean up audio that’s less than optimal. Learn more at http://izotope.com   Note, since we want you to hear the full effect of the demo, we have not appli...

Anchor is a popular podcasting platform that aims to simplify podcast creation, directory listing and publishing. It has become increasingly more accessible. Daniel Semro gives us a demonstration of publishing a simple podcast with Anchor. Others in Clubhouse contribute their experience and ask questions about the platform. Download the Anchor app from the App Store, or visit http://anchor.fm Have...

Our guests in this episode are Mark Hills and Marc Bakos, founders of Cleanfeed. They joined us in Clubhouse to talk about the service in general, also exchanging information about accessibility for blind people using screen readers. Check out Cleanfeed at http://cleanfeed.net   Have a tool or product you know how to use and want to demo to the blind podcasting community? Please be in touch, we ar...

This podcast focusses on how to podcast from a blindness perspective. Cleanfeed is a tool which even offers an unlimited free tier that will take the audio quality of your remote podcast interviews to the next level. But there’s so much more you can use Cleanfeed for than podcasting. If you want to work with remote guests or co-hosts on Internet radio, or you do audio production and want to produc...

In this edition of the Blind Podcasters’ Roundtable first broadcast live on Clubhouse, Can Kirca describes the Rodecaster Pro, a powerhouse of a mixer and recorder specifically for podcasting that has taken the podcast world by storm. How easy is it for blind people to use this device independently, particularly given that it has a touch screen? What can you do with it, and how does it compare wit...

We were delighted to have Ed Filowat as our guest taking questions and suggestions from the Blind Podmaker community on Clubhouse. Ed develops Backpack Studio.   Backpack Studio is an app for iOS for recording podcasts in real-time or streaming live. Boasting advanced features like dynamic audio compression, a sound board and saving to various destinations in a variety of formats, it’s a powerful...

Backpack Studio is an app for iOS for recording podcasts in real-time or streaming live. Boasting advanced features like dynamic audio compression, a sound board and saving to various destinations in a variety of formats, it’s a powerful tool, and its developer, Ed Filowat, has ensured that the app’s VoiceOver accessibility is exemplary. Ed it hitting it out of the park with a new feature in beta...

Glen Gordon, host of Freedom Scientific’s FSCast, joins us to talk about editing your podcast. What should you take out, how should you decide, and what makes a good edit? There are also helpful contributions and questions from those who came on stage in our Clubhouse room.   Have a tool or product you know how to use and want to demo to the blind podcasting community? Please be in touch, we are a...