We even tried recording late at night, when the A/C didn’t need to run as much, but that didn’t work either
My friend Barry and I have been doing a horror podcast for just over a year now, and I finally think we are finding our groove. Our listener base is still small, but it keeps growing so we decided that if we are really taking this seriously we need real mics. So far we have just been recording into our phone, because smartphones have really amazing mics in them. So we got some semi-professional recording rigs, set up a makeshift studio, and right away noticed the problem — the mics were picking up the air conditioner in the background. It was the central HVAC system for the house, which is not located anywhere near our studio, but we could still hear it. The air conditioning was old, and the vents rattled, so it wasn’t so much that you could hear the AC running, but it made everything vibrate ever so slightly. The audio effect in our playback was maddening, and we knew the AC could not be running when the mics were hot or the take would be worthless. It was easy enough to turn off the thermostat while we were recording, but with both of us crammed into one small room with all that equipment, it got warm really fast. We even tried recording late at night, when the A/C didn’t need to run as much, but that didn’t work either. We decided to make an investment, and bought a small, portable air conditioner that was reputed to be whisper-quiet, so we could turn off the central HVAC and run this one in the studio.