[SPEAKER_00]: a factual data creation facility production.
[SPEAKER_01]: Recorded amongst the mountains of Tennessee, it's the OFNT podcast.
[SPEAKER_01]: Here's your host, a man who's apt to hold conversations with himself, Jim Schaefer.
[SPEAKER_00]: I can't help it, I'm a good listener.
[SPEAKER_00]: Welcome to the OFNT podcast episode 303, which I'm calling.
[SPEAKER_00]: Let the tech season begin.
[SPEAKER_00]: Last week's annual Consumer Electronics Show can be considered the official start of the 2026 tech season.
[SPEAKER_00]: Those some amazing tech was shown.
[SPEAKER_00]: Remember, many of these products won't ever be released.
[SPEAKER_00]: I run down the product that most interested me.
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, let's get started now.
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, yes.
[UNKNOWN]: Yeah, boy.
[SPEAKER_00]: Tech News.
[SPEAKER_00]: Call me Kooky, but today I'm starting off with other than Apple News.
[SPEAKER_00]: From Android Authority, the Vice President of Product Management for Chrome OS says that Google isn't giving up on the operating system after all.
[SPEAKER_01]: Hmm, I had thought that Google planned on merging Android and Chrome into an operating system called Aluminium.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's correct.
[SPEAKER_00]: And that's still the plan.
[SPEAKER_00]: But remember when Google committed the company to supporting Chromebooks for up to 10 years of automatic updates?
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, that was when Chromebooks seemed to be on the cusp of putting a dent in the laptop market.
[SPEAKER_00]: Over the years, Google invested heavily into the education market, supplying low-cost Chrome OS power devices to schools and admin software for free.
[SPEAKER_00]: This scheme appeared to be paying off at the time.
[SPEAKER_00]: If it weren't for that pesky iPhone, the takeover would have been completed by now.
[SPEAKER_00]: But instead of continuing with Chromebooks after getting out of school, the iPhone has drawn in these youngins into the iOS and Mac OS ecosystem.
[SPEAKER_00]: At least for personal use.
[SPEAKER_00]: Windows still rules the business sector because that's where the specialized software resides.
[SPEAKER_00]: While Google has decided to do the right thing, honoring their 10-year update commitment, or have they.
[SPEAKER_00]: But instead of doing a Microsoft window phone move, which would have left a bitter taste in the mouth of a current Chromebook users, Google will honor that 10-year commitment.
[SPEAKER_00]: Good on them.
[SPEAKER_00]: But you can bet that once that commitment for old Chromebooks is finished, Chrome OS will be a thing of the past.
[SPEAKER_01]: Yes.
[SPEAKER_01]: If I'm recording correctly, that was the thin smartphone that Samsung rushed out upon hearing about Apple's plans for the iPhone Air.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yep.
[SPEAKER_00]: And like the iPhone Air, the S25 Edge has since flopped, and reports came out that Samsung had stopped manufacturing it and would drop the Edge from the company's smartphone line up.
[SPEAKER_00]: According to Android30.com, that may not be true.
[SPEAKER_00]: Seems that a certification for the Indian market has been found?
[SPEAKER_00]: That bears a model named similar to the S25 Edge by some Leaker over on X. Leaker Ice Universe, projects that Samsung has a huge inventory of slim phone parts, and canceling this form factor at this point would amount to a significant financial loss.
[SPEAKER_00]: And we can't have that, can we?
[SPEAKER_00]: No.
[SPEAKER_00]: So we might be seeing a Galaxy Edge phone this year after all.
[SPEAKER_00]: I had planned on doing a CES ramp-up, but there really wasn't much of anything shown that interested me.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, new television's home automation gear and self-driving vehicles, but the majority of these products won't even make it to market.
[SPEAKER_00]: Besides willing the crowd with their trifle galaxy phone, Samsung had to do say 130-inch screen to television.
[SPEAKER_01]: Now that's a television.
[SPEAKER_00]: It sure is.
[SPEAKER_00]: The one product announced at CES that caught my attention was from clicks.
[SPEAKER_00]: The company that brought fiscal keyboard attachments to the iPhone, what I introduced the click communicator phone.
[SPEAKER_00]: The phone resembles an old-style blackberry.
[SPEAKER_01]: What?
[SPEAKER_00]: And is built for messaging?
[SPEAKER_00]: It's not for a doomer in the other type of scrolling.
[SPEAKER_00]: The phone both say 4-inch OLED screen, a wired headphone jack.
[SPEAKER_00]: And a combination power touch ID notification LED side button.
[SPEAKER_00]: Huh?
[SPEAKER_00]: The phone also has swappable backplates for a customization.
[SPEAKER_00]: Android is the operating system.
[SPEAKER_01]: Of course it is.
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, what else would it be?
[SPEAKER_00]: And the OS overlay is geared towards messaging via a messaging hub.
[SPEAKER_01]: Just like the old blackberry.
[SPEAKER_00]: Exactly like the old blackberries.
[SPEAKER_00]: price is $499, but if you reserve one before February 27th, you'll save $100 bucks.
[SPEAKER_00]: Click is targeting the communicator towards business users and for those who just desire a second phone.
[SPEAKER_00]: For me, this was the most interesting product at CES.
[SPEAKER_00]: The phone looks good to boot.
[SPEAKER_00]: I can see the communicator being a hit with companies issuing this phone to its employees,
[SPEAKER_00]: This would deter recipients from using their company phone for personal use.
[SPEAKER_01]: Like watching porn on it, for example.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm sure.
[SPEAKER_00]: They'll have to use their own phones for stuff like that, I guess.
[SPEAKER_01]: So this phone wouldn't interest you then.
[SPEAKER_00]: If I was still amongst the gainfully employed, I'd certainly be interested in the communicator.
[SPEAKER_00]: What's your take on this phone?
[SPEAKER_00]: Do you have a need for an old Blackberry style device?
[SPEAKER_00]: Does anybody?
[SPEAKER_00]: Here's the latest rumors on that other thin phone.
[SPEAKER_00]: The iPhone Air.
[SPEAKER_00]: According to nine to five Mac.com, the next generation of the phone will be adding a second wide angle lens.
[SPEAKER_01]: We've already heard that, Rima.
[SPEAKER_00]: I know, but it seems like it's for real this time, as he.
[SPEAKER_00]: Who could say?
[SPEAKER_00]: A new rumor is that the second generation air will also get what's called a COE display, which is thinner than a normal display.
[SPEAKER_00]: This will provide a brighter screen while freeing up internal space, with the article's author positing that this space will allow for a bigger battery, and that's always a good thing.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yes.
[SPEAKER_00]: This is all good news, but this phone still isn't for me.
[SPEAKER_00]: I would need better speakers.
[SPEAKER_00]: The current generation model only has one speaker in the sound that produces this week compared to other iPhones.
[SPEAKER_01]: How do you know this?
[SPEAKER_00]: From a video on YouTube comparing it with other iPhones.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I'm not the kind of person who can constantly have AirPods in my ears.
[SPEAKER_00]: But these improvements if the rumors are true, do show progress.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'll be at slow progress.
[SPEAKER_00]: Will it or won't it?
[SPEAKER_00]: That's the question.
[SPEAKER_01]: Can you be more specific?
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm referring to the iPhone 17E, which is due out real soon now.
[SPEAKER_00]: The first rumors about this phone claimed it would have a dynamic island instead of the notch on its display.
[SPEAKER_00]: Then another rumor dropped claiming that the iPhone 17E would be using basically the same display as the 16E, which means a 17E would retain that notch.
[SPEAKER_00]: The latest rumor according to MacRumors.com, say that it will get a dynamic island after
[SPEAKER_00]: At this point, the press on the 17E is starting to sound like some sort of CIA app.
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, just flood the press with contradicting information until nobody knows what to believe.
[SPEAKER_00]: At this point, the only rumor that I think is legit is that the 17E will get MagSafe capability.
[SPEAKER_01]: And why is that?
[SPEAKER_00]: Because, basically, all magsafes is a magnet embedded into the back of the phone's body.
[SPEAKER_00]: That would be the easiest and cheapest thing Apple could upgrade.
[SPEAKER_00]: Of course, a new phone will get some version of the A19 chip.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's how Apple upgraded the old SEC series of phones.
[SPEAKER_00]: Old hardware was made it to the latest A series chip.
[SPEAKER_00]: Other improvements will be a faster, wireless charging rate.
[SPEAKER_01]: Because of magsafes.
[SPEAKER_00]: correct, and either a C1 or C1X modem.
[SPEAKER_00]: The jury is still out on whether the 17E will get the N1 wireless chip though.
[SPEAKER_00]: I say it won't, but who really knows?
[SPEAKER_01]: I'd wager Tim Cook does.
[SPEAKER_00]: He might not.
[SPEAKER_00]: He's a busy man.
[SPEAKER_00]: I doubt he signs off on everything Apple does.
[SPEAKER_00]: He'll know when he records the release video.
[SPEAKER_00]: If this new model doesn't get an ounce VA press release.
[SPEAKER_00]: And when can we expect the iPhone 17e to be released?
[SPEAKER_00]: According to AppleInsider.com, if this new model follows the same schedule as the 16e, it should be announced in mid-February with the phone shipping later that month.
[SPEAKER_00]: I thought that Apple might have held in an event launching the iPhone 17E, along with a new-based model iPad, the HIP-powered MacBook and the new Apple TV streaming box, and I guess I was wrong.
[SPEAKER_01]: And it wouldn't be the first time.
[SPEAKER_00]: And it certainly won't be the last.
[SPEAKER_00]: There's been no rumors of such an event though, so I guess it's not happening.
[SPEAKER_00]: Instead we'll probably be seeing a series of press releases announcing these products.
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, time will tell.
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, this is embarrassing.
[SPEAKER_00]: As you probably know, Logitech has quite the lineup of computing accessories for both Mac and Windows machines.
[SPEAKER_00]: Many users just love their MX Master mice.
[SPEAKER_00]: If my son didn't give me a fancy extra-fi mouse a while back, I probably would have gotten a logic tick MX Series mouse too.
[SPEAKER_00]: But if I had done so, why would not be able to use it right now?
[SPEAKER_01]: Because.
[SPEAKER_00]: Because logic tick allowed its Apple developers certificate to laps.
[SPEAKER_00]: Meaning they can update the software for it.
[SPEAKER_01]: So, how is this a problem?
[SPEAKER_00]: Apple recently updated its operating systems to 26.2, and this update broke the MX mice series on Macs.
[SPEAKER_00]: According to a nine to five Mac.com, Logitech has owned up to its error and released instructions on how to manually patch its software, which I guess is needed for using MX series computer mice.
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, I don't use a MX mouse, I do use a Logitech MX mechanical keyboard, so far I haven't had a problem with it, but I hear that you'd only have problems if you use custom overlays and stuff, which I don't.
[SPEAKER_00]: But if I do run into problems with it, I also have an Apple Magic keyboard as a backup.
[SPEAKER_00]: Remember kids?
[SPEAKER_00]: Always have a backup.
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, I can confirm that the Logitech software is borked.
[SPEAKER_00]: I tried opening it up on my Mac Mini and only get as the spinning beach ball of death.
[SPEAKER_00]: Being that my MX keyboard is the same to be affected by this, I'll attempt to manually install the patch when I get around to it.
[SPEAKER_00]: Update.
[SPEAKER_00]: Or to have to recording this episode, I decided to manually update the Logitech software.
[SPEAKER_00]: Following the instructions posted on the 9-5 Mac.com article, it takes a minute and updates right away.
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't notice any difference with my MX keyboard, but then again I wasn't having any problem with it in the first place.
[SPEAKER_00]: When Apple updated its OS 26.1 to 26.2 recently, the giant fruit company snuck in a little something.
[SPEAKER_00]: According to user reports, which are backed up by an article from MacRumors.com, M4Ipad Pros, M3Ipad Airs, A17 Pro chip Ipad Minis, M2D, M5 MacBook Pros, and M2D M4 MacBook
[SPEAKER_00]: Specifically, the 160Hz speed.
[SPEAKER_00]: Previously only the 80Hz speed was supported.
[SPEAKER_00]: Note that my M2 Mac Mini and Apple TV 4K box weren't on that list.
[SPEAKER_01]: So, have you noticed any difference?
[SPEAKER_00]: Not really.
[SPEAKER_00]: If I did, I probably chalked it up to my internet provider.
[SPEAKER_00]: If you use any of these devices, have you noticed any speed difference?
[SPEAKER_00]: Nine to five Mac.com is an article that I must say upsets me.
[SPEAKER_00]: Quoting Leaker to Jor, Mark German, oh, excuse me, I meant Bloomberg's Mark German, new upgraded AirPods Pro 3s are on their horizon.
[SPEAKER_01]: What?
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I just got my AirPods Pro last month for Christmas.
[SPEAKER_00]: The only difference is rumored for these AirPods Pro 3 port 2s.
[SPEAKER_00]: Our hand gestures, instead of a pressure sensitive of buttons for controlling the earbuds.
[SPEAKER_00]: And the addition of IR cameras.
[SPEAKER_01]: Now what purpose will these cameras serve?
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, for artificial intelligence my dearies.
[SPEAKER_00]: These Kramer equipped AirPods have been rumored since early last year, but with Apple going all-in-on augmented reality glasses or spectacles' other regions of the world refer to them?
[SPEAKER_01]: Yes!
[SPEAKER_00]: This particular rumor has picked up Steam.
[SPEAKER_00]: The cameras on the AirPods would work in conjunction with these new AR glasses, at least the first generation of them.
[SPEAKER_00]: Fiber to decide to purchase these smart spectacles.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'd have to also purchase a new pair of camera equipped AirPods.
[SPEAKER_01]: On the bright side, your lovely wife would inherit your current AirPods Pro 3s.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, they're that.
[SPEAKER_00]: Brightside for her?
[SPEAKER_00]: Expensive for me.
[SPEAKER_00]: To add insult to injury, I purchased my AirPods Pro 3s back in December.
[SPEAKER_00]: $30 below the list price.
[SPEAKER_00]: Earlier this week, the price dropped a further $10, though they are now back to the price I paid for them.
[SPEAKER_00]: I've never seen Apple products drop or even fluctuate in price like this before.
[SPEAKER_00]: Especially newly released products.
[SPEAKER_00]: I guess that's because the AirPods Pro 2s are almost as good as the 3s, which leads me to believe that the 3s aren't selling as well as Apple expected.
[SPEAKER_00]: The rumored camera equipped airpods are predicted to come in at a higher price.
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, that's a given, isn't it?
[SPEAKER_00]: Check I'm using...
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm an avid Peloton user.
[SPEAKER_00]: I've been so since 2022, say for a brief two month hiatus back in 2023.
[SPEAKER_00]: The majority of my time with Peloton so far was spent using the app only.
[SPEAKER_00]: I took delivery of my Peloton bike in December of 2024.
[SPEAKER_00]: Before then, I was using a sole branded exercise bike.
[SPEAKER_00]: During my time with Peloton, I kind of developed a affinity for their London Studios.
[SPEAKER_00]: There were a few reasons for that.
[SPEAKER_00]: I worked the overnight shift in the London Studio fit my schedule only in regards to live classes.
[SPEAKER_00]: The music played during rides from the London Studio was more compatible with my tastes, as worthy instructors.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's probably due to my age.
[SPEAKER_00]: Not that the London instructors were old, it's just that they, well, they're more civil than their American counterparts, I guess it's a cultural thing.
[SPEAKER_00]: I've complained before that it seems Peloton has been cutting down on the number of live rides over the last year or so, and his trend has accelerated since the company replaced their CEO last year.
[SPEAKER_00]: lately I've noticed that the number of rides live or pre-recorded, produced by the London Studios has fallen off in comparison to the New York Studios.
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, this was verified on the latest episode of the Pello Buddy's podcast.
[SPEAKER_00]: It seems that the London Studios will no longer be producing content on Sundays.
[SPEAKER_00]: These would have been Monday morning live rides for me.
[SPEAKER_00]: Of course this day off will further cut the amount of content produced by the London Studios.
[SPEAKER_00]: The host of the Peloton Buddy's podcast lamented that it doesn't look good for that studio, inferring that it might be closed some time this year.
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, that would be devastating for me, and I'm sure many other Peloton users also.
[SPEAKER_00]: Most of the daily life content and Peloton these days are dedicated to treadmill and rowing classes with more and more stretching in yoga classes filling the schedule.
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, I didn't become a user of Peloton
[SPEAKER_00]: My old fort knees are blown out from my years of being an avid runner, and at this point I don't want to invest in an expensive and large space-consuming roar.
[SPEAKER_00]: I choose to get my cardio exercise by using an indoor cycle, and that seems to be less of a priority with Pelotoni's days.
[SPEAKER_00]: I kind of find this ironic, considering the company's roots in, but at first time, I'm
[SPEAKER_00]: Now the indoor cycle itself is top notch, it's the best indoor cycle I've ever owned, but it's not as good as commercial cycles.
[SPEAKER_00]: If I had to do it over again, I would purchase one of those commercial cycles, and just rotate my choice of class providers.
[SPEAKER_00]: The initial cost would be higher, but in a long run I would save a bunch of money.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's because Peloton charges $50 per month, but a pleasure of taking their classes and
[SPEAKER_00]: Half that if only using their app with non-pilotonic equipment.
[SPEAKER_00]: You don't get all the metrics using the app only.
[SPEAKER_00]: A lot of those metrics are really unnecessary for regular users anyway.
[SPEAKER_00]: I hope that eventually Peloton gets back to their roots of capturing the fun and atmosphere of Jim Bay's cycling classes brought into your home.
[SPEAKER_00]: Failing that, maybe some other company can purchase Peloton and return the service to what it once was.
[SPEAKER_00]: This happens every so often to me.
[SPEAKER_01]: Do tell, what happens to you?
[SPEAKER_00]: What happens is I feel like converting to the Linux operating system.
[SPEAKER_01]: That's not a bad thing.
[SPEAKER_01]: But what about the sacred walled garden that is the giant fruit company's ecosystem where you firmly reside in?
[SPEAKER_00]: To be honest, that's the only thing that keeps me from going full Linux.
[SPEAKER_00]: Then hardware compatibility with my podcasting setup.
[SPEAKER_00]: Software is really not a problem.
[SPEAKER_00]: If I needed Microsoft apps, I can subscribe to MS365.
[SPEAKER_00]: For Apple apps, I could just use iCloud.com.
[SPEAKER_00]: For a digital audio workstation, I could use Reaper, which has a Linux version out.
[SPEAKER_00]: But my audio interface is well.
[SPEAKER_00]: Some of them anyway wouldn't be compatible.
[SPEAKER_01]: Now tell me, what has triggered this Linux NV?
[SPEAKER_00]: For some reason, my YouTube feed has been sent to me.
[SPEAKER_00]: I've used Linux Mint and Buntu in the past, but who am I kidding?
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm forever trapped within the Apple ecosystem.
[SPEAKER_00]: You just can't beat the integration of hardware and software of the Apple platform.
[SPEAKER_00]: Did you ever feel like switching the Linux?
[SPEAKER_00]: I hear a lot of Windows users are doing just that lately.
[SPEAKER_00]: If I were still a Windows user, I'd be dropping it like a bad habit in favor of Linux.
[SPEAKER_00]: The Linux operating system would meet my humble needs, except for content creation.
[SPEAKER_00]: Entertainment News.
[SPEAKER_00]: According to 95Mac.com, Spotify has added a new feature to its iOS app.
[SPEAKER_01]: Great, what is it?
[SPEAKER_00]: You are now able to know what your friends and family are listening to in real-time.
[SPEAKER_00]: It will be part of the Spotify Messages feature which rolled out late last year.
[SPEAKER_00]: You can also listen to what your friends and families are listening to in real-time using the request to jam feature.
[SPEAKER_00]: Pretty cool, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, I hate to be a Debbie Downer here, but Nokia already had this feature, and that was back in what many consider as being the day.
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't recall exactly what year Nokia introduced this feature, but I think it was around 2011.
[SPEAKER_00]: Man, you know, I really miss Nokia.
[SPEAKER_00]: Being there my lovely wife is off visiting relatives in faraway places.
[SPEAKER_00]: I've gotten the time to binge watch television series that she doesn't care for.
[SPEAKER_01]: You mean the show she wouldn't let you watch?
[SPEAKER_00]: Nah, she'd let me watch them, but made it known that if it were up to her, she wouldn't be watching them at all.
[SPEAKER_00]: You're married then, you know what I mean.
[SPEAKER_00]: Anyway, the first series season I completed was only murders in the building.
[SPEAKER_00]: The show was on Hulu here in the States while I think it's on Disney Plus elsewhere in a world.
[SPEAKER_00]: I've been a fan of the show since the first season.
[SPEAKER_00]: I usually don't watch situational comedy, but only murders in the building is the exception.
[SPEAKER_00]: It was a good season, not it's best, but certainly not it's worse.
[SPEAKER_00]: It even ended with a cliffhanger, which means it will be getting another season, barring any last minute cancellation.
[SPEAKER_00]: The second series I completed was Apple TV's Slow Horses, a big fan of the novels the series is based on, and the show gets better as the seasons roll by.
[SPEAKER_00]: I've just started binge-watching another Apple TV series, Foundation.
[SPEAKER_00]: But because of the leaping timeline of events, I'm somewhat confused.
[SPEAKER_00]: Then again, it doesn't take much these days to put me in that state.
[SPEAKER_01]: And everyone notices.
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, I do too, so hush.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's where I get through Foundation, and I'll start working on yet another Apple TV series.
[SPEAKER_00]: Pluribus, which appears to be a hit.
[SPEAKER_00]: What are you watching these days?
[SPEAKER_00]: Hotcast News is podcasting leveling off.
[SPEAKER_00]: It seems to be if a trend identified by an article from rainnews.com is to be believed.
[SPEAKER_00]: According to the article, hotcast production dipped to a 12 month low in December.
[SPEAKER_00]: Production is down some 28%.
[SPEAKER_00]: What's the blame for this downward trend?
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't know, you tell me.
[SPEAKER_00]: A lot of it is the removal of what's called AI Slop, which is defined as podcast generated by artificial intelligence.
[SPEAKER_00]: Personally, I haven't run into any of this Slop, but I know YouTube has a big AI Slop problem going on.
[SPEAKER_00]: Unlike the podcast indexes, YouTube doesn't appear to be taking any action.
[SPEAKER_00]: But not all this decline can be attributed to podcast index pruning.
[SPEAKER_00]: Hotcasting is rapidly becoming more mature with more would-be-independent podcasters realizing that they won't be making much money while big money back shows are seeing that the market is saturated.
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, I'm still standing.
[SPEAKER_00]: Barely.
[SPEAKER_00]: I think we will be seeing this downward trend in podcast production for the foreseeable future.
[SPEAKER_00]: Another reason for the decline of podcasts being produced is the bottom dropping out of the advertising market.
[SPEAKER_00]: While answers to a thing, the price for placing one has been steadily getting cheaper over the last couple years, meaning less money for podcasts producers.
[SPEAKER_00]: On top of that, you have apps and websites like one that podnews.net reported on last week.
[SPEAKER_00]: In this case, it's a website called podcastblok.com, which scoops up MP3 files of published podcasts, removes the ads, and for two books per month, let's listness here their favorite podcast, add free.
[SPEAKER_00]: The big problem with this is that the producers of the podcast don't see any revenue from this scheme.
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, we'll just leave it up to lawyers to hash this one out in court.
[SPEAKER_00]: I finally got around to missing about with the highly touted solid state logic SSL 2 Mark 2 last week.
[SPEAKER_01]: Ah, I just knew you would be talking about audio interfaces.
[SPEAKER_00]: I previously promised that I wouldn't talk about audio interfaces until next year.
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, it's next year.
[SPEAKER_00]: To shame.
[SPEAKER_00]: I can say that I'm not as impressed with the SSL-2 as I thought it would be.
[SPEAKER_00]: Resulting audio from the device is great, but the pre-amps aren't up to modern standards.
[SPEAKER_00]: By that I mean, they don't provide a whole lot of gain.
[SPEAKER_00]: I tested out the road pod mic, the Electrovoice R20, and the Neumontel M102 with the SSL.
[SPEAKER_00]: And found that I had to crank the preamps up to almost their maximum setting to get a usable signal for the first two mics I mentioned.
[SPEAKER_00]: What the pod mic and e are e20 are dynamic mics, which are more gain-hungry than condenser type mics like the diamond.
[SPEAKER_00]: Most of the newer interfaces these days provide a lot more gain than the SSL does.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's safe to say that the SSL 2 is tailored for condenser mics.
[SPEAKER_00]: By having to use its preamcent nearly the highest levels, unwanted noises introduced.
[SPEAKER_00]: And if you happen to use a sure SM7B microphone, a cloud lift it will be mandatory.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm so with the Roadcaster Duo, Persona's ES2, and Lute Connect 6 that I have.
[SPEAKER_00]: But then again, I acquired the SSL2 voiceover work and I'll be using the Neumann for that anyway.
[SPEAKER_00]: Still, being a newly released audio interface, SSL2 should be able to drive any microphone
[SPEAKER_00]: I did get my hands on a cheap road pod mic last week.
[SPEAKER_00]: I like the small size of it and the sturdy construction.
[SPEAKER_00]: The sound?
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, you tell me I'm currently using it.
[SPEAKER_00]: To me, the pod mic sounds good, but not as good as the R-20 or the Hile PR-40.
[SPEAKER_00]: But for the price, well, you can't beat it.
[SPEAKER_00]: Pair it with a focus-right, vocaster 1 interface, you'll have a decent sounding setup
[SPEAKER_00]: Speaking of which, I'll be testing out a vocaster this coming week.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'll let you know how it turns out.
[SPEAKER_00]: But like how it sounds, I might even record next week episode using that setup.
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, I wish this gear was available when I first started podcasting.
[SPEAKER_00]: Would have saved me some time and, more importantly, money.
[SPEAKER_00]: The music is playing once again as the beginning of the end starts for episode 303 of the OFNT podcast.
[SPEAKER_00]: The temperature is dropped today and we might even be getting some of that white stuff falling on us later this evening.
[SPEAKER_00]: I hope you enjoyed this episode.
[SPEAKER_00]: I sure enjoyed making it for you.
[SPEAKER_00]: If you like what you heard, well, you can make a donation using the link in the show notes.
[SPEAKER_00]: Any and all donations will be greatly appreciated.
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, he's reached me, eh?
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, FNT podcast at gmail.com.
[SPEAKER_00]: If you're so inclined, I'd enjoy hearing from you.
[SPEAKER_00]: Remember, don't listen to what they say.
[SPEAKER_00]: Watch what they do.
[SPEAKER_00]: Hey, aren't you cold?
[SPEAKER_01]: Yes.
[SPEAKER_00]: So why are you still standing around here?
[SPEAKER_00]: It might start snowing any minute now, so get off my lawn.
[SPEAKER_00]: Stay skeptical.
[SPEAKER_00]: Ah, I'm out.
[SPEAKER_00]: Just be a... Don't!
[SPEAKER_00]: Don't!
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay, English AI guy.
[SPEAKER_00]: Do your thing.
[SPEAKER_00]: And that folks is the end of the show.