Talking Traffic

Hey there everybody!

Yes, I’m still podcasting. Yes, there’s more Talking Traffic coming! No, I have no good excuse.

Although if you care to know the reason, it’s because of hardware envy.

Through several editions of Talking Traffic, I became dissatisfied with the sound quality I was getting from my microphone setup. There were some transient popping noises that were inescapable due to the equipment I was using (Logitech Headset). As both myself and my wife are podcasting, plus I’ve been asked a couple times to record for Podcastle, we decided that the move to a more professional arrangement was called for.

Thus began 8 weeks of really annoying activity. The upshot of this annoyance is that I couldn’t get any of the audio interfaces I was buying to hook up to my computer and work. In case you’re in the market for a Presonus Firebox, do not believe the standard “plug and play” crap. For some people, it works just fine, but for others, including myself, it’s an interminable fight with hardware incompatibilities that you don’t learn about until searching through the forums. So far, most of the help from Presonus has been in the form of “try this and tell me if it works” which I find a pain.

So, I’m giving up on the Firebox. Anyone want to buy it? It’s in perfectly good shape, but my computers don’t like it.

For now, I’m borrowing another I/O from a friend, so I can state with confidence¹ that there will be podcast this weekend. I’m thinking that Transportation Finance, in the context of the economic crash, is a good topic.