Patreon Update VIDEO Odd-cast April 2023

KMD is a good hip hop recommendation 😊

Out of morbid curiosity, I did a price check on a Fray Bentos in my neck of the woods. It works out to around £5.60 ($10.50 in local dollarydoos). To add insult to injury, Fray Bentos over here isn't even imported. I was going to try one to see how bad it is, but I'd rather spend that kind of money on two boxes of fancy pies from Aldi.

Mat, I just learned about the full-on 72 hour celebration in your neck of the woods - I hope that means you'll get some nice Rest and Relaxation time. Have you been fiddling with the comments filters again? 😅

Interesting as always, Mat, thanks. As I watch, I always think of a dozen comments to make but by the time I reach the end I've forgotten than all so I'll just say I think your new mic sounds really good and you don't even need the pop filter. I also use a Rode Wireless GO2 with a Rode clip-on mic and a Rode NT1 into a Tascam DR600-II and I swear by those. Oh yes, and I can't stand flash frames either. :-) Have a great month, Pal. SB.

Coming from many years in audio engineering, what I've found is sometimes you need a particular mic for a particular person. Reviews with audio examples don't always tell you the full story. They might sound great with that person's vocal tone but not on another. YouTubers/streamers/etc have for some reason popularised the use of large diaphragm condensers, when they're not always the best tool for the job - and as you've discovered, they're large things that often get in the way. The Elgato definitely sounds better than the Yeti. As you've discovered, vertical mic placement makes a difference in the tone that's captured. TBH - I've always preferred the sound of your Lav over whatever you use for the voice overs - I think the Lav being more midrange focused, it tends to compensate for your particular vocal tone.

Not to everyone’s taste as the nixies are alphanumeric but this is the most ‘tweakable’ clock I’ve come across https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uNSZcMVDH0

The mugs are great, you’ve probably been asked to do this before but have you thought about doing cassette head demagnetisers like the TDK HD-01

Sorry to hear that so many projects haven’t turned out right recently, I bet it must be really frustrating to put so much work into them as you said, to end up without something you can put out. Really enjoyed the update as it was my first since joining Patreon, thank you. Looking forward to many more!

Made my week listening, as always, an enjoyable listen. Thank you. Also grabbed a mug, arrived this morning which was quick. Have to say they quality is outstanding.

You'll have to get a smart WIFI electric tin opener, someone must make one.

Subject: phones For nearly 10 years maybe(?), I buy “renewed” iPhones from Amazon, and always about two models old. I just replaced my broken 12 with another 12. I had it for a year and broke the screen. My “new” 12 has 128gb and the battery health is better AND it was $100 cheaper than last year. I don’t get excited about phones either but do get excited when I can but my pretty good phone for well under $400. (With a 90 day warranty).

Cup noodles are now one of my favourite quick meals after watching you talk about them. They’re so good especially after a long soak. Im tempted to order some more exotic flavours! After years of watching your channel i thought id be online shopping for retro tech not cup noodles 😂

Random recommendation for your blood sugar as I have had issues my whole life with chronic low blood sugar where I end up with brain fog and some other things you've mentioned. Garcinia cambogia. I take one pill (they suggest 2 but I just take 1) about 10 minutes before breakfast. After a few days you feel less sugar spikes and dips. No side effects for me at all. Thanks for the updates! -Stephen

The "Woo-hoo" has infected mainstream radio now. The Para-Astronaut did it on his weightlessness trial.

Yay Catmoan! 😍❤️ Can confirm the etsy store tshirt I got is great quality, would definitely recommend! We also have a Samsung fridge/freezer and every now and then the bottom ices up and develops what I call "the elephant foot" - only when that thaws out are we able to retrieve the box of potato waffles from the permafrost 🤦🏻‍♀️

Always good to hear your monthly catch-ups, Mat! Coincidentally, I also recently upgraded to an iPhone 14 Pro (from an iPhone 8) mainly to get the better camera functions, and then took my first trip abroad without a 'proper' camera ever. I have to say, I am really impressed with the iPhone's camera; there were maybe a couple of times when I wished I had my Sony RX100M7 with me instead, but not many. The main thing I missed was having a wrist strap - holding my phone over the parapet of a bridge or over water, I was terrified of dropping it, especially if someone bumped into me - I'll have to investigate phone cases that can have a wrist strap attached. Talking of getting older, a few months ago I came across a photo of my late grandfather, an old looking man wearing a homburg hat and coat. Looking at the date, I realised that when the picture was taken, he was 10 years younger then than I am now....

Its a great video as usual but the CDs I'd only heard of Beasty Boys

Hey Mat. Thanks for the Video. You have mentioned many times that you have started a video on an item that turns up but doesnt work. I quite enjoyed the Panasonic Cassette deck video. Perhaps you could upload the videos that are 75% complete. Just missing the bit where it works. Cheers

Mat, I suspect the tinny, little speakers on my laptop would be unable to reproduce the subtle 'clicks & pops' you can detect in your home studio, and my 50+ yr old ears are probably just as likely to be unable to discern them myself, but I do appreciate the time, effort, and expense you go to record the best possible audio you can! The overall quality really shows with every video you produce! 👌

Hey Mat I had exactly the same issue as you with VR. Before you give up completely try the VR Optician. I wear varifocals and also tried using an older pair of fixed lens glasses with it but the whole experience was unpleasant with a limited field of view that would warp and distort with the curvature of my glasses and of course it ended up making me feel sick. I asked around on a forum and someone told my about VR Optician - you give them your prescription and they make a set of lenses for you that actually fit into your headset so you don't need to wear any glasses with it! Once I'd done that it was a whole new experience and I no longer felt sick, even after playing for an hour or so. In my case I was using an Oculus Rift S but I think they cover just about every headset out there. They're pretty reasonably priced (compared to a new pair of glasses at any rate). So worth a shot?

It was nice to see an update on BeesKnees. Speaking of expenses my advice would be to take out good pet insurance. What we have spent on our cat in the last month was probably more than your phone and fridge freezer combined.

If ya need to sandpaper a smol shaft like that, just cut a thin long strip of sandpaper, no need to try get the whole thing in. If the chuck on your electric drill is big enough to grip it, ya can also make a makeshift lathe by spinning the shaft an then holding the sandpaper strip against it

Have Warren G 'Regulate' ....or any Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz? I forgot to comment before... It's excellent about the resurrection of 'Tapes on a Plane,' one of my personal favorites.

I’m with you on the car width without wing mirrors nonsense - maddening. Ditto for the fridge. Once got served a Frey Bentos in a pub! It summed up the dining experience…

I had the same issues with fridge and freezer sizes. Although it arrived too wide, because you can swap the door opening side, I just removed the doors and it fitted through fine. I wanted to swap the door opening anyway. The Fray Bentos pies have gone down hill ever since they stopped using horse meat and claiming it was beef. They discovered that beef was far too expensive for the price point so they changed the recipe and reduced the amount of meat and reduced the quality of the meat. Now they are rank. Slightly off topic thing I have noticed is that cooking instructions are generally nonsense. Things either take much longer than they should or the temperature suggested is too high. Especially now I'm doing most of my oven stuff in an air fryer (don't get me started how irrationally angry that name makes me because it's frying nothing, it's just a small oven). If you use duration and temperature on the package for an air fryer, your food will be burnt. I have the iPhone 14 Pro (non max) too and the camera quality is astonishing, especially night shots. If anything it's too good and can see things that I can't. I filmed a night ride in a train going down a tunnel with the cabin lights off and in real life, it was trippy AF but the video I took made it look like daytime. I had to mess around with the brightness and contrast to make it similar to what I could see. https://youtu.be/KbcU9d_ejE4 . I also bought a Doogee S98Pro because it has a built in thermal imaging camera (which is great) but the normal camera is utter junk. Very high resolution but it's like colours were an afterthought. I have the PSVR2 and don't wear glasses and it still steams up but it does seem to clear up over 10 minutes. Tempted to try anti mist spray. You have to really clamp it to your head to keep it at the correct level. I can't see myself using it very often. I only use it as a big screen to play a small handful of games, not in 3D or VR.

I had a Samsung mini system many, many years ago, it was a proper workhorse for being most likely cheaply made. I had a Samsung slider phone u700, I think - lovely wee thing. When iPhone came about I bought one and have just always got another one when the old one is expired out of sheer laziness (usually keep them on average 3 years). People say Android is 'so much better' but my work phone is a Samsung and I hate it, absolute brick - so that's put me off even more from considering changing operating system. More effort than I can be bothered with, plus as you mention - it syncs with my iPad etc. Also, just the other a day a band I enjoy started selling CDs on Bandcamp - so I thought I'd buy a few to kind support them directly rather than through Amazon etc. Only when I was adding the titles to my music collection spreadsheet (yep, I am that sad) found I already have one of them. Oh well.

Thanks for the interesting update. I had a boss many years ago (who was a TV sound recordist) but refused to recommend Mics comparing it to recommending restaurants which he wouldn't do either as it's such a personal thing. I can totally understand your frustration about trying to get a desk VO mic that compared well with the Lav mic for clearness/crispness of sound. So many Desk VO mics seem geared to give that radio sound with lots of "proximity effect" bottom end boost. Pleased you are happy with you new purchase. From the quick demos it certainly seems to suit well. I bought a Rode NT USB mini in an Amazon sale some time back. A similar design of desk stand mic but admittedly haven't used it much. Out of interest a You Tube Channel I occasionally view who reviews audio kit is Curtis Judd.

I enjoyed the variety of topics. Random thoughts: - Those mugs look great, I ordered a VU meter one. - If you're ever in need of a video topic you could talk about the microphones you have, what you tried, what you settled on, and why. Basicly a "proper" video of what you showed us here. Enough folks are working from home and have meetings via computer, and/or have ambitions of being a content creator these days that the subject might have general appeal. - The Fray Bentos pie looked disgusting. The packaging was interesting though, I've never seen anything like that where they've put a whole meal in a big, flat can, and you put the can in the oven to cook it. I don't think we have anything like that in America. - I like your kitchen cupboards. - 10 years ago, or thereabouts, I was interviewing for a new job. In preparation I googled my name to see what came up, so I'd be aware of things a future employer might see. By doing this I learned that I have an IMDB credit. Some music I wrote in college was used as part of the soundtrack to a student/low budget film. I had completely forgotten about that, it was quite a surprise! If I'm ever stuck in one of those kinds of "team building" situations where you go around the room and everyone has to say an interesting fact about themselves, that's my go-to. It's interesting, impressive but not intimidating, and uncontroversial. Beyond that it has been of no use to me. - Pet the kitty for me, I can't have one, I'm allergic. - I have similar brain fog issues. Some days I can be very articulate, other days I can barely string a sentence together. I joke that it feels like English is my 2nd language, and I don't have a 1st language. I have no advice or anything, just commiseration.

😂 I'm sure you'll slap yourself when you discover that the DOORS are (easily) removed on the fridge both as a safety feature (kids getting trapped inside) and to get them through the house door openings.

Credit to the chap making the mugs, they look excellent.

Mike hum - the intermittent nature (using different kit) makes me believe you’ve got an Earth loop in the setup - I had this with linking a mains cassette (ITT-KB and Revox) the only way to kill the hum was to insulate the Earth pin of the mains plug which killed the problem. You didn’t say if the noise was 50Hz but they’re a bugger to track down!

I am reminded of what Mirabel says in Encanto, "And that's why coffee's for grownups..."

I know what you mean about Samsung appliances feeling like beta test. Have a Samsung refrigerator with ice maker, and when you turn on the ice maker the ice maker indicator goes off and vise versa. Plus it's a model with no built-in water filter, but it has a "change water filter" indicator which is constantly lit.

So far the most impressive thing I've seen AI come up with is Chrome Lords- a 1980s sci-fi movie that doesn't exist. https://imgur.com/gallery/4S46qk2

Re-watched on TV... that new mic sounds very good. I like the camera angle at 24:18 very much; looks great. I want a blue/black Techmoan sling bag. But they don't make cats in blue/black (sigh). This wasn't a legit IMDb credit? https://m.imdb.com/name/nm11571900 They should file the Miikshi one under your real name, methinks. Speaking of IMDb - does anyone other than myself remember browsing a paper catalog version of IMDb in the 90's, when not everyone had easy access to the internet? Perhaps I am thinking of 'Leonard Maltin's Movie and Video Guide.' Whatever it was, I had a copy and it was tattered and well-used that year.

Hey, be proud of having a legit credit on IMDB! Seeing an entry along the lines of "Jogger Behind Park Bench (uncredited)" always makes me smile. It's the footprint of an actor who has one shaky foot on the first rung of the Hollywood ladder: background extra. But they're proud of the work they've done. And goddamnit, they're going to make sure that everyone knows that they booked a gig on that shoot regardless of how small their contribution was.

There are only two things a YouTuber can do to get me to drop their channel immediately: 1) Belch into the microphone (and not in an "OMG I'm so embarrassed!" way; I mean in the baffling "instead of suppressing the burp or covering my mouth or something, I decided to lean right into the mic. And then I left that in the final edit" tradition. 2) Do anything obvious to attract my attention, hold my attention, and/or encourage me to become a regular viewer/subscriber. Beyond producing consistently great content, I mean. I know. It's unfair. These YouTubers are to be applauded for learning how this business works and doing everything they can to become successful and self-sustaining creators. They've taken a courageous leap and the stress of earning a living wage from being a fulltime YouTuber must be nearly unbearable. BUT. I have unsubscribed from a channel because there were too many Astonished Bug-Eyed video thumbnails. Every time a title turned out to be clickbait-ey, the channel earns a Strike. Fool me three times and I'm done. I have lost interest in a channel and dropped it because the creator kept manhandling their adorable dog into their lap during the video. The creator wants to create a mis-en-scene of aw, hey, my cute dog here is so cute and she keeps jumping in my lap while I'm trying to make a video! (and the whole while, the pupper is obviously desperate to escape and run off and be anyplace else). Et cetera. I think an audience is like a cup of Jello. You want to hold on to it, but the harder you squeeze, the more of it you lose.

Mat. Please tell me you were being ironic about UK food having a bad reputation if people got a hold of that pie. I think that no country in the world is so commonly derided. I maybe missed the joke. I honestly think those comments baseless anyway, as UK cooking and much American cooking is similar, and America doesn't get any crap for its food other than it being full of cheese and butter and sugar.

9 out of 10 people who lack tongues choose Fray Bentos.

I do NOT have good experience with SAMSUNG. I think that equipment is often overrated - especially their phones! What a load of SH!T: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkEV4sZQFzk

Ha! Welcome to the IMDb D-list! :)

Good work on that Thorens turntable, although the build quality of that model is a long, long way from where it should be. Another premium hifi name that ended up glued on the front of some fairly basic stuff...

One Mug just ordered, MiniDisc version, that seems to be the popular one. I'll make sure it's visible in my videos :-)

I loved the new video! That pie bit was also extremely funny.

Nice one Mat, glad you fixed that Turntable rumble. Have you tried Label Remover or Nail Varnish Remover ? Either should dissolve the glue but don't leave it too long as it can also damage the plastic.

I like the sound from the new microphone setup.

Regarding AI: The language models should also be treated with caution. Chatting with ChatGPT feels a bit like talking to an impostor. That thing can tell you the biggest nonsense in a very plausible-sounding way. I once asked ChatGPT about landmarks in my home town and shortly afterwards it hallucinated about places that are nowhere to be found here. And it did so with such an elaborate choice of words, brimming with self-assurance. Quite credible sounding for those not familiar with the place.

The way I solve mics sounding different for voiceovers is to just record them in the same location (so with the Lego models behind me), with the same shirt (so the lapel mic is in the same position), same mic, just reading the text while looking at the camera. I use a BT keyboard on my lap to scroll the text in a Word doc on my phone.

``From Fray Bentos to Microphones to Bee’s Knees to Hip Hop.'' Right?? Another classic. I know, Mat, that the audio has to sound "right" to you and respect that. But from my point of view, the Sponge Bob Square Mic thing sounded really good to my ears.

The line of the video “I’ve got a hairdryer, obviously not mine”! If there is one thing you can rely on, it’s the smorgasbord of topics that get covered in these updates, and I love em!!! From Fray Bentos to Microphones to Bee’s Knees to Hip Hop. I don’t think you realise how edgy you are Mat covering all that. New microphones to my (poor and worn out) ears sound a bit flat, and picks up the breathing more! Thanks for the video - really enjoyed it.

• Despite the expense, it's fun to get new things... right? • "Enough about stools, of all sorts." 🤣 gave me horrors, Cologuard memories. • I like the sound of your voice the most when recorded and played back via the TC-D5...tape hiss and all: https://youtu.be/BtjqF70F5wI&t=6m44s • Bald patch? You have more hair than not, man. Anyway, https://youtu.be/xDKSyilX6k0&t=1m44s 😋 • Bee's Knees makes me think of Burt's Bees 😄. I understand why you would disavow any knowledge of the cat's undercover identity. My cat has a name but she doesn't answer to it. Cats sleep most of their lives away. • I thoroughly enjoyed your mic testing and the record player fixing - if you had a buffer attachment on that dremel tool you could try to buff off that plastic (it would bother me too much to ignore). • that pie made me nauseous • I buy super cheap android Smartphones and I'm okay with that - I would have a panic attack paying 1k on a phone. I also get a headphone jack. • worst part - the end - now I have to wait for the next video Best to you and all. 🤍

That Fray Bentos made me salivate; steak and kidney and beef and onion are the best... heaven! See also Goblin Steak and Kidney puddings in a can.

The microphone thing: ahaha sorry, I feel like I'm one of those 'audio guys' who complain about voice audio. Those low-profile mounts are great! elgato make some great products for content producers, though I don't have any and, like you, probably would look for some convoluted ways of solving my issues. The voice at 41:52 probably sounds best to me. Nice and full and clear, not so echoey either. 43:30 sounds compressed to me. I watched your video through headphones (a set of cheapish Sennheiser HD 202's that I've had for many years.

For the weird stuff in a can part, Atomic Shrimp colab when? :D <3

Beezneez! Find a dog and call it Dogsbolls. Just curious, Mat, how long does it take your Mac to encode 4K vids? I tried it in my 5 year old self-built PC and it takes 12 minutes to encode each minute of video 🙁

Loved your video. In my opinion, the 'purrfect' length (tribute to Beezneez(sp?)). I did enjoy your adventure with Fray Bentos. It's nice to see in the UK, they also think that everything will sound more appealing if you add 'Breakfast' to it. I was listening to this video with my $400 studio headphones and I really couldn't tell that much of a difference between your mics, though I definitely could hear the quality of the Elgato. I'm assuming the flattening of the difference in audio is due to YouTubes' audio processing. By the way, when you started by saying you had a lot of extra video to show, I couldn't help to think that if you'd have shown a video of you and the Missus fighting to get that refrigerator into your house, it could have really increased the entertainment value. (Am I really that wicked?)

I didn't watch to the end yet so I hope this is not redundant but as a huge VR fan I use lenses from 'VR Optician' in my PSVR2. They are brillant.

Dumb question: why not just use the new mic on its “superfluous” stand, then you wouldn’t need the arm/bracket/etc?

Another phrase that seems to have infected car reviews is "Stance" as it this pricy car has a "Muscular stance". What they mean is that the back end is lardy.

As someone who used to work in a shop that sold Fray Bentos pies (they're a right bugger to keep straight on the shelf), I think they're mainly bought for either nostalgia reasons or people who's palate was habituated to them from an early age. I know that when Victor Lewis-Smith was making a documentary on Keith Floyd, one of Floyd's riders was a Fray Bentos pie (he lived in France and you can't get them there). I can't believe Keith Floyd, of all people, would want one due to them being some kind of taste sensation. Floyd died not long after that documentary. Probably a coincidence.

I thought Fray Bentos was a Cuban leader.

Thanks for the microphone tips. I've just been given some voiceover work and one of my tasks for today was to research a decent mic for not so silly money. Job done. I'll get the Elgato. Thanks.

Sorry, if I'd known you were going to try that one I'd have let you know not to, definitely a failure even by Fray Bentos' low standards! Their meat pies are generally bearable, but my trick for the crust is to cut a decent sized cross in the middle; doesn't cure the gloopiness completely, but makes the middle mostly edible, at least.

I thought the sound of you talking into that foam box sounded good, quite calm and relaxing and like a radio voice. The XLR mic, the XLR is simply the connection method, it doesn't mean the microphone is any better. XLR connections are used in studios etc because they are less prone to picking up noise over longer runs. A USB microphone, the connection is digital form the microphone to the computer, so noise wouldn't be picked up by the cable as it is transferred digitally. XLR mics tend to be more expensive as aimed at a more professional crowd, so better quality than a cheap USB mic aimed more at home use. A more expensive USB microphone however should be good and will contain similar microphones. In otherwords, just having an XLR output, doesn't mean much as it doesn't say anything about the actual microphone itself.

Thank you for bravely eating the Fray Bentos pie so your audience didn't have to! It was always my pub quiz question "what is Fray Bentos". Next time you need sound/video advice - see Alex Lindsey of https://officehours.global/ (and Twit's MacBreak weekly) he's the expert on voice/video … worth seeing what he recommends.

The shot of you opening up that pie looked for all the world like you'd cracked open a turtle's shell to get at the tasty stuff inside. "Fray Bentos pies: some people swear by them, Mat swears AT them."

Fisher and Paykel was made here in NZ until around 2016. It's all made in China by Haier now (who purchased the company in 2012).

Damn! I'm at work, it'll be 6 hours before I can watch it. It's going to be a long afternoon.

Exactly what I needed!