One Thing About Men

Let me tell you one thing about men. Later. 

First let me tell you one thing about me. Moderation is not my middle name. I commit. This is not news. It runs in my family. All you people out there who only buy one bottle of grape juice when the sale price is a veritable steal?

You are lackadaisical and complacent. I take after my grandfather. He liked grape juice. During a clearance situation, Grandpa Frank would buy as many bottles of grape juice as could fit into his Datsun. He would haul them home, carry them into the house and duct-tape them to the walls of his hall closet so he could fit more in there. If you're going to do it, you might as well do it right.

By now, you must know I'm into audio equipment. Let's start with my passion for headphones. Currently I own three pairs I actually like.

My Earbuds: After destroying 18 pairs of earbuds over an 8 year killing spree, I finally found the Klipsch x11i's which I adore. I got these after I ruined the Klipsch X5s although I was highly satisfied with the X5s since it took me a record 3 years to do them in. 

My Closed Ear Headphones: A few years ago, I picked up the Audio-Technica ATH-M50x Professional Studio Monitor Headphones. I like them for listening to music in loud situations or for listening to loud music in quiet situations. They don't play so nice with my glasses. That's why I also have:

My Semi-Open Headphones: I went with the Sennheiser HD 558 Headphones. I purchased these after thoroughly considering the Beyerdynamic DT-990s. I did not get the 990s because reviews said they run hot and I hate hot.

I use a headphone amplifier. More Americans go to the ER each year for injuries resulting from sound equipment than for injuries resulting from chainsaws. Headphone amps can prevent this medical catastrophe in case you were dangerously unaware. Besides a safety first attitude, an amp makes music sound fucking great.

In my podcasting studio otherwise known as the closet in the guestroom, I just upgraded to a new Electro Voice RE320 Dynamic Microphone. It's an XLR so I need to plug into my DBX 286s Microphone Pre-amp Processor which has a great de-esser and a noise-gate that saves me hours of editing. From there, I use a Shure A15AS Switchable Attenuator (15, 20, 25 dB), Passes Phantom Power, which I found out the hard way is what's needed to lower the noise floor on my Zoom H4N Handy Portable Digital Recorder. Balanced Cables are also super key otherwise you get feedback, I have learned.

Over dinner, I complain to Tom that I did a pre-interview with a man who asked me how I record my podcast. To keep it simple, I just said I use an external recorder. The man replied that he uses Sound Recorder Free. It's a free app he installed on his computer and he likes to use it to record research interviews so he can transcribe them. He recommended it to me.

I said we use Ecamm Call Recorder in our office sometimes for shorter podcasts, but I prefer my set up for what I'm doing. The man then took it upon himself to attempt to convince me that Sound Recorder Free is really the right way to go about this. He also suggested I consider picking up a nice headset with a microphone.

I end my recounting to Tom with a quick show of jazz hands.

Tom shrugs and puts down his fork. Then he says in a grave voice, "Men like to give technical advice." 

Thanks, honey. Now I know.