Podcastage's Favorite Audio Gear of 2021

Today we discuss my favorite audio gear of 2021. I limit the selections to one winner and one runner up which made it very difficult, but I share my favorite microphone that I reviewed this year, my favorite audio interface I reviewed, and my favorite new production gear that I use in my studio. I would love to hear what your favorite gear of the year is.

NOTE: The paid promotion tag was selected because I received the TLM49 from Sweetwater for review, the Ethos from Earthworks for review, the iD14 from Audient for review, and the 517E Grand Pacific on loan from Taylor for use in reviews. I was not paid by any of these companies and all opinions are my own based on my own experience.

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Gear Discussed (Affiliate Links):

Gear Used to Record (Affiliate Links):

00:00 - Intro
00:37 - Favorite Mics I Reviewed
03:03 - Favorite Interfaces I Reviewed
04:35 - Favorite Production Gear
08:23 - Favorite Mics I Bought?
09:40 - Your Favorite Gear?
09:56 - Conclusion

#FavoriteGear #Recording #2021

NOTE (FULL DISCLOSURE): If you purchase an item using an affiliate link, it provides me a small referral fee. As an associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. For more info check my FAQ page links below.

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[EarthworksAudio]

Honored to have our ETHOS as one of your favorite mics of the year, thanks so much Bandrew!

[NolanM.]

Honestly, while I cannot afford any of them, I still find your reviews of the expensive microphones like the Neuman tlm 49 and U67 very entertaining. It is nice when you come across a smooth sounding microphone because it is like ear candy. Your constant flow of videos has aided me in beginning to better understand audio specs and gain settings. Great video!!

[daveball]

Favorite gear of the year: the Neat Worker Bee - I'm using a pair as "audience" mics for the live stream from our church. The Work Bee is so quiet, sensitive, and broadbanded that the results are clear and lifelike. They really make the remote viewer feel much more connected to the presentation.

[BillBene]

Watched some old 7 year videos of your studio and wow, you have stepped up your game since then. Much better gear and studio

[BrianKRoss]

@Podcastage When it comes to passive analog XLR mic splitters, you'll typically end up with signal degradation and/or noise after the third split. That's why you'll usually see an input, direct, isolated 1, and isolated 2, such as in the radial engineering JS3; which is fantastic btw. A typical use case in larger scale would be for live concerts where in place of a single box like the JS3 we use a road case with 56 inputs which has 3 splits: direct, iso 1, iso 1. Direct would go to front-of-house (FoH) where phantom power can be applied, iso 1 to monitors, and iso 2 to broadcast. Need more channels? Run more multipair copper to another 56pr splitter.

[theurbangentry]

That TLM-49 is very tempting. Which would you choose for vocals compared to the ETHOS? hmmmm. Anyways, have a very merry Christmas and a great holiday season. Thank you for all the support over the year. Onward and upwards!
TGV

[BillAnciaux]

I switched from a Duet 2 to the SSL2 this year and love that I have all the controls and my fingertips. No more multifunction knobs for me. Love my new M1 iMac too. Thanks for a great year of videos, Bandrew.

[BeauStephenson]

Like you, one of my favorite purchases this year was the Wunder Audio cm67 Suprema, which is their painstaking recreation of the very best u67 museum piece Mike Castoro has in his collection. I ended up going with the Wunder over the Neumann for a variety of reasons, but just like you've said in your review, it's just the best vocal, strings, and guitar mic I've ever used in any studio. We're building a catalogue of great songs, and it's been a huge asset in the production process. More mixes then I can think of, it doesn't need much processing to blow me away!

[OzahRicee]

cant believe ive been watching you since high school, back in 2016 that's crazy you're at almost 300k subs now. I recommend your videos to EVERY friend i know looking for mics

[davidjennings]

Your microphone reviews over the past few years have been extremely helpful for me in selecting a microphone, audio interface, and other tech for Christmas! I am getting the xm8500 just to use casually on Twitch and YouTube and I am excited for it! Thank you for your help!

[JayTeeDE]

Thx for consistently posting reviews for us even though it can be really frustrating and draining.

[qkhuve]

My favourite gear this year has definitely been the Austrian audio OC818, I've gotten a lot of use out of it, it sounds great on everything from song to drums to trombone and it looks gorgeous <3

[mdemoraga]

This year i bought my Yamaha AG06 and the Shure SM58... So happy with this gear. Happy Hollydays!

[russetburbanks]

Dang man! Your review was the reason I went with a Neumann TLM 49 mic just to find out it was one of your favorites. Thanks again for all the amazing content!

[austinmillerae]

The most useful thing for me for content creation has honestly been researching on YouTube. Through that, I managed to figure out how to use my Audient Evo4 for mobile recording, learned about field recording and sound design, learned about foley art, and have even started coming across ideas to transform my services and provide for myself through side hustles. Instagram has been useful as a platform to focus my efforts on for the moment. I do want to start posting videos on my channel, and YouTube will be the place I learn to better craft video edits, audio for visual, and use to promote my services as a freelance audio engineer, whether it be for music, foley, sound design, A/V, and even as a broadcast engineer for television. As far as actual gear, I am enjoying my simple AT2020, actually buying and building my computer, and my soldering iron.

[Screaming-Trees]

Totally agree on the TLM49. Just awesome. A real K47 capsule and it shows. Original 47 was mid forward so this is no surprise. This is totally in the spirit of the original. Just awesome value for money too considering even the Fet 47 is much more expensive let alone the original.

[zeitakulobusta]

Rycote Lyre mic suspension
Gefell m1030 mic
GTQC preamp
The beefy af spiked speaker stands I built + sorbothane pads

I love how even though you're not specifically a spoken-word guy you spend so much time talking with such consistent distance etc and consistent kind of parameters and testing, it's head and shoulders above most 'toobers! Good work man!

Just my wish out loud....i want to hear your 87, 67, 49 and that aea compared....they're all potential big time vo mics but I want to hear them side by side...do you do custom shoot-outs?? What a service/product idea no?? I'd pay!
Anyway, props brother!

[Daizlol]

Therapist: “Bandrew Clause isn’t real, he can’t hurt you.”
Bandrew Clause:

[TheBigtrev]

have loved the .6mm nylon pick!! Love that it's textured so it's non-slip as well. Been a big factor for me over the years. I'm currently using some thinner Fender picks, but will always keep the Dunlop in my bag.

[matthewwolf]

Hey Bandrew. Always a joy to watch your vids. Radial Engineering makes a preamp selector called the Cherry Picker which is basically what you’re wanting I think.