Broadcasting travel kit (mini)

Following up on promises, this is the minimalist kit.

As many who follow or subscribe to this substack may know, Jill and I travel a lot these days. Over 400,000 miles last year, and this year looks like it may exceed those numbers. We are currently in yet another airport awaiting our next flight, this time from Hartford Connecticut back to Washington DC/Dulles after participating in the Brownstone retreat.

I often find myself asked to participate in a radio interview or a Twitter Spaces chat while I am on the road, and at other times I just don’t want to step into the studio at home when it is later. The problem with these “hit” requests is that a straight I-phone/cellular phone is just not up to commercial broadcast standards- particularly for audio. So over time I have gradually developed a mini-broadcast kit that works pretty well. I still use my MacBook Pro laptop together with a slightly larger kit (including the same microphone) for video + audio broadcasting from the road, and I will post a separate essay to cover that travel kit at a later time. But while I am sitting here on a Sunday afternoon awaiting the next flight, this seems like a good time to describe the system pictured above. It can be used for both audio and video broadcasting, but I just prefer the laptop system if I have to punch in with Steve Bannon’s Warroom, One America News, NTD (for example), or a podcaster that wants me to broadcast or pre-record from the road.

The advantage of this little kit is that it easily fits into a typical backpack, weighs almost nothing, and you can set it up almost anywhere. You have to set the cell phone on “speakerphone” unless you add a pair of headphones or an earpiece. but on the positive side that can free you up from having to be tethered to the cell by a wire. The best solution seems to be to use a pair of wireless earbuds like the Apple Air Pods, which readily pair with most cell phones and provide a bit more security when you are in a public space. I have purchased all of this from Amazon, and will use clips from that site for illustration purposes, but this essay is not sponsored and I am not endorsing Amazon in any way.

So, in any case, lets get into the hardware:

The beating heart of this assembly is the Shure SM7b microphone, which has become pretty much the “Podcast” gold standard all over the world. Pretty sure this is the same mic that Joe Rogan uses, as do many, many others. With the proper add ons, this mic can give you the high quality audio (and pro timbre to your voice) that pleases both listeners as well as broadcast producers, and using a mic like this can set those that are really serious about new/alternative media broadcasting apart from the average person who uses Zoom or Skype via their cell phone or laptop microphone. At $399, this may seem like a lot, but it will make a huge difference for you.

The problems with this mic are that it is fairly heavy, and it requires both 48V “phantom power” as well as a pre-amp. At $399, you do not want to just toss this into your backpack, although it is considered pretty robust compared to many higher quality microphones. So for starters, think about getting a case for the mic.

This is the one that I use:

Now we have the mic, but how are we going to provide portable “phantom power”? Not many solutions available for that, but this neat little device fills the bill. It has its own built in battery which can be recharged from any USB power supply/brick. After plugging it into the system, you need to switch to 48V and turn it on. The LED lights let you know when you are getting to the end of your remaining power, but frankly I have never run out of power during any podcast or Twitter spaces broadcast.

Next we have the preamp. Not all mics require one, but the SM7b seems to need a bit more punch. Most preamps are pretty bulky, but this little gem does the trick for this mini-rig. Note that it is plugged in between the mic and the power supply, inline, using the built-in male and female XLR cable connectors. Comes with a nice little travel bag.

Now the XLR cable from the preamp to the power supply can be readily sourced at whatever length you want. Spend the bit extra to get cables that are well shielded. The challenge is finding short ones. This was my choice.

Then the question arises how do you go from XLR cable (and power supply connection) to your cell phone/I phone? This is the only solution I have found. It has way, way too much cable, but it seems to work flawlessly, and I just keep the extra coiled up with a keeper. A lot of money for a cable, but I could not find any other options that would do the trick. And I have had absolutely no trouble with this one, so there is that modest condolence.

Portable battery powered lighting is a problem if you are going to broadcast video from the cell. These little lights work great for me. I attach one to the tripod with the cell and set the other up to provide lighting from below so that my brow ridge looks a bit less Neanderthal.

Finally, there is the problem of the two tripods. I use an all in one “selfie stick” tripod for the cell phone and one of the LED lights:

There are many options for connecting your cell to the little tripod. This one works for me:

And finally, there is the issue of finding a small, solid, low-cost portable tripod that can handle the weight of the SM7b mic without filling up your backpack. I have had absolutely no problems with this one.

For the SM7b you need to discard the mic holder and use the screw adapter ring, which has a tendency to get stuck on the microphone threads, so do not tighten it up too much or you will need a wrench to get them separated.

And with that, you should be ready to broadcast from just about anywhere!

---