Nov 28, 2023
The Austrian Audio MiCreator is a new type of creative tool. Equal parts high-quality condenser microphone and simple audio interface with USB-C ® connectivity, MiCreator gives you the flexibility to create what you want—how you want. Just plug in and start recording in top-notch audio quality instantly. Or expand your setup using MiCreator’s additional input to achieve stereo recordings, record an additional sound source, and more. And whether you’re recording at home or on the go, you can create with confidence thanks to MiCreator’s ultra-durable metal housing.
Catch the video version here: https://youtu.be/vJBR0tBBUaw
AP got his hands on one and we figured we'd share his early Christmas day unboxing it as our first video episode...
A big shout out to our sponsors, Austrian Audio and Tri Booth. Both these companies are providers of QUALITY Audio Gear (we wouldn't partner with them unless they were), so please, if you're in the market for some new kit, do us a solid and check out their products, and be sure to tell em "Robbo, George, Robert, and AP sent you"... As a part of their generous support of our show, Tri Booth is offering $200 off a brand-new booth when you use the code TRIPAP200. So get onto their website now and secure your new booth...
And if you're in the market for a new Mic or killer pair of headphones, check out Austrian Audio. They've got a great range of top-shelf gear..
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“When the going gets weird, the weird turn professional.”
Hunter S Thompson
Summary
In this episode of Pro Audio Suite, our hosts George Wittam, Robert
Marshall, Darren Robert Robertson, and Andrew Peters unbox Austrian
Audio's new Creator Studio. They humorously discuss their first
impressions, visual appeal, and play around with its innovative
features. The product, a comprehensive home recording solution,
impresses them with its sleek design, changeable magnetic panels,
dual microphone system for stereo recording, and high audio
quality. Furthermore, they touch on Austrian Audio's partnership
with Passport VR, presenting the Pro Audio Suite version of the
headset that boasts stunning sound quality. The episode is packed
with enjoyable conversation, honest opinions, and valuable insights
into the latest in audio technology. Don't forget to subscribe and
join their Facebook group.
#AustrianAudioUnboxing #ProAudioSuitePodcast
#HomeRecordingSetup
Timestamps
(00:00:00) Introduction
(00:00:52) New Audio Tech from Austria
(00:01:22) Austrian Audio's Home Recording Innovation
(00:03:59) Microphone Customization
(00:06:30) Mic Functionalities
(00:10:25) Austrian Audio's High-Quality Mic
(00:14:58) Passport Vo Mic Modes
(00:19:24) Praise for Austrian Audio
Transcript
Speaker A: We have something special inside this box which we're
about to reveal. Stick around, 54321.,Speaker B: Let's go.,Speaker
A: Welcome.,Speaker C: Hi. Hi. Hello, everyone, to the Pro Audio
Suite.,: These guys are professional.,Speaker B: They're motivated
with tech. To the vo stars George Wittam, founder of Source Element
Robert Marshall, international audio engineer Darren Robert
Robertson and global voice Andrew Peters. Thanks to Tribooth,
Austrian Audio making passion heard source elements george the tech
Wittam and Robbo and AP's, international demo. To find out more
about us, check theproaudiosuite.com line up, Leonard.,Speaker C:
Here we go.,Speaker A: And welcome to another Pro Audio suite, this
time on camera, thanks to Tributh. Don't forget the code. Trip a P
200, $200 off your tribooth and Austrian Audio making passion
heard. Now we're about to divulge something new from Austria.,:
Cracking into a box.,: It's not even Christmas yet.,Speaker A: I
know. This is it.,: I can hear the bells.,Speaker A: Well, you see,
I have my Santa beard on.,: He's got the ho ho ho beard. I'm not
talking about the white beard.,Speaker A: At least he gets three
hoes every year. I'm lucky to get one.,: What's in the box?,Speaker
A: What's in the box?,: Come on, show us the box first. What's it
say on the front, Mr. Peters?,Speaker A: It says my Creator
Studio.,: Nice. This is the Austrian audio. This is the new now,
I've actually.,Speaker A: Had a play with this. And you've actually
heard this robber? You heard what it sounded like?,: I
have.,Speaker A: And so did you guys hear did.,: You get a blind
listen?,Speaker C: Yes.,: Like, you did have a blind listen.,: It
was one of those conversations. What mic am I on?,: Oh, I love
that.,: I love and Robert was on some crappy audio technical
thing.,Speaker A: But then he says to me I said, what am I? And he
goes, Is that a microtech Gaffel? I'm like, no, it's a USB mic.,:
He's like, holy shit. Not yeah.,Speaker A: So, anyway, so it comes
with USBC comes with the does it come with two cables? Yeah, it
comes with the TRS and jack. And that's for what is that? Well,
that's a di on the end of that cable. That's just an unbalanced
jack and a TRRS. So if you want to di into the microphone, you can
use that. So di your guitar.,: So, wait a minute.,: Is that an
output cable or an input?,Speaker A: An input cable.,: An input
cable, yeah. We should actually mention that this is sort of
Austrian Audio's nod to home recording, sort of, isn't it,
really?,Speaker A: Absolutely.,: So it's not just a microphone? No,
it's a microphone and an audio interface.,Speaker C: Correct.
Yeah.,Speaker A: So, anyway, so you got that so unbalanced into a
TRRS, into the back of the mic.,: Your normal USB, that quarter
inch unbalanced, would go into a guitar or a keyboard or some
instrument. Got it.,Speaker A: It's really cool. They also chuck in
this, which I thought was really good because when you look at the
bottom of the mic, you know when they got the small I don't know
what it is in Imperial, but when you got the smaller thread in the
mic, I thought, oh, that's going to be great. Trying to get that
onto a stand. Standard mic stand.,: Call it quarter 20. Is that the
camera standard in the US? Yeah.,Speaker A: Well, it's not
actually. Is it camera? I'm not sure. Anyway.,: Is it really small
or like the middle?,Speaker A: No, it's kind of like yeah, that's
quarter 20. But they chuck that in an adapter, which I thought was
really cool, because.,: When I looked at it so it goes from quarter
20 to five eight, which is the US imperial, whatever you call it.
Microphone stand.,Speaker A: We call it Imperial, but I don't know
whether imperial. Imperial.,: Yeah. We are the Imperialists. I
always forget that.,Speaker A: Exactly. Now, inside we're being
reminded that more.,: But that's another story. Anyway. Yeah. So
what else is in that?,Speaker A: Well, this is kind of cool. You
get the two magnetic panels, so if you want to change it from black
to red, you can.,: What do they do?,Speaker A: Sorry?,: What did
they change?,Speaker A: I'll show you. I'll show you in a moment
when I get the mic out. Also your standard, like that thing you.,:
Never read, that thing you throw in the bin.,Speaker A: If all else
goes wrong, then maybe you'll look at that at some point.,: I have
a huge bin full. You know what I use those for? It's the archive of
all the crap I have bought in the last ten years in one
box.,Speaker A: Well, I can tell you what these would have been
used for years ago. Would have been perfect filters, but business
cards, not doing the good old days. Anyway, you can't put those in
your pool filter.,: Don't be silly.,Speaker A: I wouldn't be
surprised what's in there. So here it is. That's the Austrian
audio. My creator. And I can tell you, you would say it has some
heft nice. Okay, but if you don't like the.,: Black keeps it
simple, doesn't it?,Speaker C: Yeah.,Speaker A: If you don't like
the black, you just go, now it's red.,: Nice. You could do they
think of everything, don't they?,Speaker A: Same on the back. Chuck
that on there. That one doesn't want to go on. Oh, yeah, it's on.,:
See, that would go well in your booth with the red lights.,Speaker
C: AP.,Speaker A: It's just perfect. It's my colors in here. Red
and black.,: That's pretty cute.,Speaker A: So that's cool. But
this microphone now, I don't know technically how it all works, but
it's got on the front, it's got high, low and mute. Now, I do know
the mute is when you're either using the other microphone that you
can attach to this, or if you're using a di oh, I see what I did
wrong. You take those ones off.,: That's why I didn't oh, I see,
the replaceable guy.,Speaker C: Yeah.,Speaker A: But I think that
this mute is for if you're running a di. I think that's how it
works.,: Okay, so that mutes the di.,Speaker A: Is that what you I
think it allows you to monitor, like, if you use something in the
back here, you've got the in out and you've got the out. Now the
out from here would either be your headphones or you run this other
lead. In fact, that's the point. Where is the other lead? I'm sure
there's supposed to be another one that goes out of here and into
the other microphone. If you have the two and speaking.,: That will
be with the other microphone, I would presume.,Speaker A: I'm
guessing it makes sense. I've not opened this box, so I don't
know.,: So it's not one box, it's two.,Speaker A: Two boxes.,: It's
a double unboxing.,Speaker A: Double unboxing. Top that. Oh,
yeah.,: There you go.,: Unboxings for the price.,Speaker A: Yeah,
the leads are in there. Okay, that makes sense. So let me just get
this one out.,: So what's the idea here? Do we have a two mic
system?,Speaker A: Yeah. So you can run it as a stereo mic. So you
can say you want to do like an acoustic guitar or something and
sing. You can actually one mic on or you could do two mics on the
guitar. If you're just doing that, like, you've.,: Got a vocal
ensemble that you need to record. You can do it in stereo. You can
put one left and one.,Speaker A: Right, but also, like, even for
what we mean if you're doing interviews yeah. So then you have the
if I.,: Was doing, like once I recorded a podcast down at Bondi
Beach, so I can imagine I would have lapel mics on the guests and
then have one of those on a couple of stands just recording
Ambience in the background, even.,Speaker C: Yeah.,Speaker A: So
that's the second part of the.,: Stereo, which okay, so that's the
primary and secondary.,Speaker A: Yeah.,: Mic. That's the
secondary.,Speaker A: So it has a link and an out. So if you're
connecting the first mic to this one, you go into the link with the
TRRS, whatever it is in there, and then your out becomes your
headphone out. So it actually bypasses the headphone out of the
main mic and then takes it into this one.,: Whoa, that's pretty
clever.,: That's cool.,Speaker A: Yes, that's the other one. This
is if you get the studio set, you don't have to buy them both.,:
Yeah. This is the full studio set. Or you can get just the main mic
as a single.,Speaker A: But I can tell you the quality and for the
money, I don't know what they retail it. I haven't looked.,: I
shall check.,Speaker A: But the quality of them is like it's really
weighty.,: Yeah.,Speaker A: Now I don't know whether they just.,:
Yeah, well, what I heard of it, it sounds brilliant. I mean, we'll
obviously do a test in another episode, but from what I heard of it
for 30 seconds or so earlier today, it sounds awesome.,Speaker C:
Yeah.,Speaker A: So you get another couple of cables in here. What
are they? Okay. Oh, you got an adapter. Okay. So you can run that
into maybe a mini jack into that, and then split that into the back
of the other one.,: That could be a lavalier.,Speaker A: That could
be for the lav.,Speaker C: Yeah.,: So the whole system set, which
is what you have there, apparently, which has the master mic, the
secondary mic, the color change panels, 1232 audio cables and a
USB. And I'm seeing something else you didn't mention. It looks
like there's a stereo bar. Did that come with your kit,
too?,Speaker A: No, I haven't seen one.,: Okay. Because on the
website, it actually also has a stereo bar. Hang up this whole
thing on there, maybe because you have a preview package. Yeah,
they didn't have the full retail kit, but the retail kit also has a
nice zippered case. Everything goes into and a stereo bar,
too.,Speaker A: Okay, that makes sense.,: And that whole thing is
299 us.,Speaker A: That's crazy.,: It's a good price, isn't
it?,Speaker A: For what you get, honestly, and what it sounds like.
I mean, look, I didn't listen to it until about half an hour ago
when we set them up, and I just was talking to Robbo and Robert and
to me, it sounded really good.,: Well, for me, the sound of it is
on par with the 16 that I'm on, to be honest. It sounds
brilliant.,Speaker A: Yeah, it does, actually, because I was
thinking, like, even for what voiceover guys do when you're on the
road, just chuck that in your bag. Yeah.,: Nothing in what you were
doing when you were talking on that before when I was listening,
there's nothing in there that you would make you go, there's no way
I'm using that for a voiceover.,Speaker A: And it also doesn't need
a shock mount because I don't know where you can see this, but it's
actually suspended in rubber.,: Wow. Yeah. See, that's
cool.,Speaker C: Yeah.,: They suspended the capsule. That's
right.,Speaker A: And you can also it's really nice, swivel the
capsule to whatever you want to do.,: I know they're a sponsor of
the show and people are going to go, yeah, you're only saying that
because but I'm sorry, I'd say this anyway. These Austrian audio
guys, they're so on the ball with this stuff.,Speaker A: I agree.,:
When companies that make high quality products step into this
creator space, they are now competing on price. Right. So they have
to cut corners. But the thing is that the miniaturization of
electronics, the quality of the capsules and the electronics are so
good that they can cut all those corners, add more features and
still have sound quality that rivals their studio mic. And that's
the craziest part of all, because I can't wait to actually hear it
and test it out.,: Yeah, like I said, I was listening on Source
Connect now when I was listening to Andrew, and he'd only just
thrown it up. So it probably wasn't in perfect position either for
him.,Speaker A: Terrible, actually.,: And it sounded brilliant. I
mean, it sounded like this. Yeah.,: I decided, in solidarity, to
throw I had my other mic up. Of course, I just brought up the
Austrian audio. I felt left out, but yeah. So what do you perceive
you might find this good for? Do you think you could do some take
it on the road with you, or what do you think you might do with
it?,Speaker A: Absolutely. I mean, that could be well, that's it.,:
That fits in your Vespa, right?,Speaker A: Does fit in the vespa.
You're reading my mind, George. You're reading my mind as you, um
san Diego nice guys.,: You know, you've just come up with a new
test for the show now, every time we test new gear, is it is it
Vesper worthy?,Speaker A: It is vesper worthy. I mean, you think
about, like, I chuck the road case on the Vespa when I go on these
tours, and this would be perfect because I don't have to worry
about an interface. There's your microphone, everything. Just one
cable and a mic stand. Boom.,Speaker C: Yeah.,: So little nitpicky
stuff. And maybe we won't know these answers until you've used it
for a while. Does it have a no latency monitor? So for headphone
use, you can hear yourself.,Speaker A: There was no latency when I
was monitoring at the back. The other thing that was really
interesting.,: You plug your headphones directly into the
mic.,Speaker C: Yeah.,: And then to hear yourself, is that the
knob? Is that what that big knob?,Speaker A: Two stage knob. I
don't know what else it does, but when I had it and it.,: Was
showing, you click on the knob and it changes modes.,Speaker C:
Yeah.,: The other one might be gain from the other mic
coming.,Speaker A: I think one is gain and one is monitoring.,: Is
there a gain knob on that second mic?,Speaker A: No.,: So I wonder
whether that's it coming in there.,Speaker C: Yeah.,Speaker A: So
it would be this will be operating everything, I'm guessing.,:
Yeah.,Speaker A: But the other thing I thought was really
interesting, I don't know what the gain is on this microphone
itself, but the headphone gain was really loud, right?,: Oh,
really? Yeah. Did you get good levels in your can in your
head?,Speaker A: I had to turn it down. It was too hot coming from
you.,: Yeah.,Speaker A: But yeah, it was very loud.,: Wow.
Cool.,Speaker A: Yeah.,: I'm really looking forward to you doing a
test with that now. I really want to hear it, put it through its
paces.,Speaker A: Well, it'd be interesting to see what it sounds
like in a not so well, in fact, we heard it in a not great
environment because I was sitting right in front of the computer
screens. But, I mean, if you're on the road and you're doing the so
called pillow fort or something, which is not ideal, particularly
for a microphone like this, which is. Would that be a large
diaphragm? I guess it is, yeah.,: I've been looking through the
manual documents, and there's a document called my Creator
Faceplate Customizing.,Speaker C: Yeah.,: Wow.,Speaker A: So that
means you can have your own design. Yes.,: I saw that they give you
EPS, Adobe Illustrator files, PDF, and so you can literally have
your own Faceplate design to your spec.,: And they will make it for
you, I guess.,: Yeah. They give you all the ability to
customize.,Speaker A: You've given me an idea.,: I know what you're
going to say. I'm with you.,Speaker A: What am I going to say?
Vespa?,: You say, I can see us making.,Speaker A: Our own well,
actually, I was thinking about me then, but yeah, you're right.
Well, they're both thinking about us and me and whatever. That's
not a bad idea, actually.,Speaker C: Yeah.,Speaker A: Maybe we
should talk to Austrian Audio about the Pro Audio suite version
of.,: The that's right, absolutely. To team up with the sentence
Passport VR.,Speaker A: Well, you don't need it because it's got an
interface in it.,: It is a two for one, isn't it? So that knobs
functionality is twofold, as you discovered. One mode, it's gain
for the mic, and the other mode it's headphone.,Speaker A: Yeah.,:
So I wonder what controls the gain from the secondary mic
then.,Speaker A: I wonder where that I think that probably does as
well. Let me go back to the other mic.,: The switch on the front,
if there is a three way switch for the microphone gain, if this is
at the lowest mute position, the visible red marking on the switch
signals that the mic is muted on the input side. This is a so
called hardware mute. Regardless of any other mute in any other
program, your mic is muted, which is very important. That's why in
the Passport Vo, we have a hardware mute button.,: The swear
button. That's right.,: Yes, exactly. So it has the swear button in
the form of that little switch. However, this only applies to the
signal from the internal microphone. Anything connected to the
other input jack is not needed.,: From the back of the room, he's
still going to hear get.,Speaker A: Yeah.,: And then it has a low
and a high gain mode. So I suppose you have to experiment and
figure out which of those positions you want to use.,Speaker A: I
think I had it on high gain, but I would imagine if it's a super
loud source, like in front of a guitar cab or something, and you're
going to pull it down to low.,: Yeah. Very cool.,Speaker A: But
it's great. And it's hard to actually I know, watching on camera
and stuff, but it's hard to explain how solid this thing feels.,:
Well, you can see it. It looks pretty solid.,Speaker C: Yeah.,: So
I'm guessing it's it must have a steel chassis.,Speaker C: Yeah.,:
So the outer the ring around the mic and the ring a ring around the
chassis and the ring around the mic, I suppose are probably steel
as opposed to aluminum.,Speaker A: Oh, yeah.,: Imagine how flimsy
it would be if it was just plastic, too.,Speaker A: It's funny
because the panels behind those fake panels that you can change is
actually plastic behind there, but the actual front, the surround,
all this kind of stuff, and all this is metal.,: Nice. You wouldn't
want to drop it if it was only plastic or something. Flimsy
absolutely. You'd be in trouble.,: So it also does have an internal
pop shield over that cap.,Speaker C: Yeah.,: And it says if that's
not sufficient because you have poor mic technique doesn't say
that, but they have the OCP eight, which is an Austrian audio pop
screen that you can add on to.,Speaker A: Oh, so it fits over the
top of this cage here.,: I guess. So they don't show a picture, but
it's in the manual.,Speaker A: I'm curious. I would like to know
what that capsule is in there, though.,: Yeah, well, you never
really know because let's say it's the same as the OC 16 capsule.
Theoretically, it wouldn't be a great thing for them, maybe to
advertise that, because then you're saying, well, you can get that
capsule in a $200 mic. Yeah, $400 mic. But there are different mics
for different use cases.,Speaker A: But I think the OC 16 has the
same capsule as the OC 18. And the eight one eight, it's just the
electronics and the assembly are different. The electronics,
they've trimmed quite a bit of that down. And also the OC 16 is
made in China.,: And this is also probably made in China.,Speaker
A: Yeah, definitely.,: Kit yeah, right. Again, it's price point.
They're having to create product at a creator competitive price
point, which is fair enough. Think about who they're competing
against. They're competing against the likes of the Yeti, the Blue
Yeti, and that's $100 to $200, depending on the model and stuff.
So, yeah, that's what they got to do. But I have no doubt that if
they're going to put their name to something like this, it's going
to have the sound quality you expect. Yeah, we'll do some more
testing.,Speaker A: Sounded great. I mean, I think it's fantastic.
I'll muck around with it more and we'll do an audio podcast using
it, so anyone watching this can listen and check it out. But, yeah,
I reckon it sounds good. Austrian Audio, you've done it again.,:
Win a winner.,Speaker A: Winner, winner, chicken dinner. Which
makes me hungry.,Speaker C: Well, that was fun.,: Is it
over?,Speaker B: The Pro Audio suite with thanks to Triboof and
Austrian audio recorded using Source Connect edited by Andrew
Peters and mixed by Voodoo Radio Imaging with tech support from
George the Tech Wittam don't forget to subscribe to the show and
join in the conversation on our Facebook group. To leave a comment,
suggest a topic or just say G'day. Drop us a note at our website.
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