A primary audio engineer explains NPR’s signature sound (2015)

What makes NPR’s broadcast sound so crisp and appealing, while many local public radio stations own a bassier, boomier tone? Adam Ragusea, host of our podcast The Pub, wished to uncover, so he honest lately interviewed the person that must always know perfect — Shawn Fox, senior director of audio engineering at NPR. Right here is an edited transcript of the interview, which first seemed on The Pub #17.

Recent:  How did you approach up with what’s been described as NPR’s “secret sauce”?

Fox:  Oh, the predominant sauce! After we had been in our very early invent phases of our new building, that changed into once one in the total lot that got right here up very snappy — guaranteeing that we continue on with the NPR sound. There changed into once a complete detailed prognosis of what changed into once that sound? Regarding the phenomenon of being ready to listen to the adaptation between local and nationwide audio quality, there are hundreds reasons for that. All in all, what our local stations fabricate and what we fabricate at NPR are very shut whenever you evaluate it to some of our commercial brethren. Nevertheless yes, you are going to be ready to listen to that distinction.

Recent:  What’s ingredient major of the predominant sauce? Is it the NPR studio microphone?

Fox:  The NPR sound has so many tentacles. If we’re lovely focusing on the studio aspect, which changed into once actually the very top thing, it all starts with the microphone. We exercise a easy Neumann U87 microphone because the condo-long-established microphone the least bit of our amenities. They’re costly, nonetheless that’s what we’ve archaic for years.

In the brand new building, we knew we had the passe microphones — and microphones don’t die except any individual in actuality works not easy at it — and we had more amenities, so we equipped just a few more. Nevertheless it no doubt in actuality comes the final plan down to the U87 with the bass rolled off.

Recent:  The bass rolled off? Would possibly perhaps well presumably you point out what that plan?

Fox:  Particular. The U87 and most better-finish microphones own two switches on the lend a hand. One is a polar pattern, which is the route of the microphone, and the choice one is for the bass roll-off. When the bass is rolled off, you are going to be ready to’t hear the decrease frequencies of my inform. The microphone itself takes them away.

And after I flip that change, you procure those decrease frequencies. Right here is what they name flat mode; there could be no such thing as a attenuation.

Recent:  It takes out frequencies below how many hertz? We’re talking in actuality tidy-low stuff, bask in below 150 or 200 hertz or so, accurate?

Fox:  Staunch low stuff, somewhere below 250 or so.

Recent:  Sure, nonetheless whenever you’re at a set and form of aggravated with the bassy, boomy sound you procure for your studio mic, and also you are going to be ready to’t procure the engineering group to manufacture one thing about it for you, one thing that you must fabricate yourself is to worth on the mic and glance if there could be a bass roll-off change, and flip it on.

Fox:  Yeah. I wouldn’t strive and focal point on seeking to repair the studio, as a result of there’s a complete quite quite a bit of element of the acoustics with the studio. The reason NPR got right here to this long-established — and this changed into once a protracted time ago — changed into once as a result of most of our listeners are engrossing in an automobile or with one thing else in the background. Befriend in the day, and even to some level now, you roll down those windows and hear those low rumbling frequencies. We wished our voices to procure above that so that they’d make certain, initiate and understandable to enhance our storytelling.

We got right here to that conclusion largely as a result of most of our customers had been listening to Morning Edition and All Things Thought about in the car to and from work. And now, as more of our bid material is heard on headphones from iPhones and the final digital aspects of that, we found that persevering with with right here is useful, as a result of there could be aloof that acoustic out of doors noise. Nevertheless it no doubt’s not a fix for a studio. That’s your total other element of why our sound is a dinky bit quite quite a bit of. We desire to make certain we work with our on-air talent, our journalists and our hosts.

We’re fans of being shut-miked, and P-pops approach into play there. Nevertheless we make certain we’re within a foot of the microphone and in most cases quite a bit closer — shut to 6 inches — in working with any of our on-air talent. That’s one more element that goes into it.

Recent:  The thing about getting closer to the mic is proximity invent, accurate? The closer you are, the more bassy you are. So why doesn’t that happen to your folks?

Fox:  That’s where the bass roll-off also comes into play, and we also in actuality work with them so that it’s not head-on at once into the microphone. It’s more to the aspect.

Recent:  Whereas you imagine the air popping out of your mouth as a column, you need that column of air not going straight into the microphone nonetheless at a diagonal, form of off to the aspect of the microphone.

Fox:  That is perchance lovely, yes. That’s where we capture it.

Recent:  So going lend a hand to special sauce and its ingredients, we talked just a few few issues. We talked in regards to the microphone, and also you’re the usage of the U87. In my expertise, essentially the most in model studio mic at stations is the Electro-Teach RE20.

Fox:  The passe RE20.

Recent:  That mic tends to own form of a heat, bassy, nearly gauzy sound to it that, in my glance, doesn’t work so effectively on the radio. So there’s the microphone, there’s the roll-off change on the microphone to make certain the bottom frequencies approach off, there could be the efficiency aspect of talent getting accurate up on the microphone nonetheless talking a dinky bit bit to the aspect of it so that the Ps don’t pop. I’d bewitch that it’s also predominant to own a pleasant pop filter on there as effectively. What’s the following ingredient in the sauce?

Fox:  It’s the snarl studio itself; it’s the trend of the studio. We own a truly low-reverberant studio, and we make certain there aren’t quite quite a bit of stable partitions. We desire to bewitch out the sound of the out of doors newsroom. Most of our amenities are all centrally situated internal, accurate in the heart of our newsroom, so we make certain they’re isolated so that you don’t hear the relaxation nonetheless the person talking.

And a like a flash novel on the RE20 — I’m a huge fan of the RE20. I fabricate glance quite quite a bit of stations the usage of it. I by no plan veer remote from any individual the usage of the RE20. It’s an unparalleled microphone. If we’re seeking to be a dinky bit price-aware, we’ll elevate in RE20s. They’re an real similar for the Neumann U87. Nevertheless at stations I fabricate glance quite quite a bit of folks the usage of the RE20 and in that flat position, as a result of that low-finish bass attenuation on the RE20 can in actuality be problematic at most stations.

Befriend after I labored in Detroit, we had been an RE20 set. And quite quite a bit of on-air talent — and we procure a dinky bit bit of this right here at NPR — likes to sound a dinky bit bit more authoritative, and they hit the microphone into the flat position to procure that bassy sound. In Detroit, we archaic epoxy to take care of the final switches into a position so that couldn’t happen again. And, truthfully, we fabricate glance that every now and again right here. We’ll hear one thing bassy and we’ll flee up to the studio and, run ample, any individual switched it.

Recent:  That’s hilarious.

Fox:  So whenever you’re a main engineer at a set that makes exercise of RE20s and also you’re getting in actuality offended at your on-air host for switching it, lovely procure some Huge Glue or epoxy; it’ll be lovely.

Recent:  That’s a comparatively easy fix. Regarding getting your studio to sound proper so that it’s protected from out of doors noise with soundproofing, you also need sound diffusion to make certain the announcer’s inform is just not echoing spherical the room. Are there low-price fixes that would be pursued? Or if your studio is already built out, are you lovely form of caught with it?

Fox:  No, there are some dinky issues. Over the last 10 years, you glance more computer screens right by each broadcast plant. And often that microphone is precise shut to the computer screen: Reckoning on how shut, you are going to be ready to in actuality hear one of the vital digital interference off the computer screen. The computer screen is the sizable teach. Whether it’s a long way beautiful a dinky bit too shut to that microphone, your inform is reflecting off of it.

Recent:  Trusty, as a result of it’s a delicate not easy surface that displays sound.

Fox:  Sure, right here is one in the total lot I veritably glance. One other thing for engineers or any individual at a set to manufacture is to switch into the studio, flip the microphone on, crank it to 11. Don’t talk — so that you don’t blow your ears out — and hear to the sounds of the final fans that you own gotten in the room. Right here is one teach that we’ve had for a protracted time right here. You’re by no plan going to procure it to zero. You’re by no plan going to procure it entirely soundless. Nor fabricate you actually desire to, as a result of in teach to procure it soundless you’ve received to switch quite quite a bit of instruments out, and there’s quite quite a bit of price with that.

Nevertheless whenever you’ve received a CPU [central processing unit] accurate subsequent to the microphone or significantly shut, switch it two feet in other places and cloak it below a cupboard. That helps out comparatively a piece.

And then there are quite quite a bit of studios built for 2 microphones that can be position up with six microphones for a talk novel. There’s not grand you are going to be ready to manufacture; lovely strive and position that out a dinky bit better. These are the largest issues that I glance on a popular foundation.

Recent:  I haven’t actually visited the brand new NPR facility yet, nonetheless in the passe one on Massachusetts Avenue, one in the total lot that repeatedly struck me changed into once the sheer measurement of the on-air studios, which is counterintuitive as a result of you’d mediate that the larger the room the more echo you’d procure. Nevertheless with the accurate baffles and diffusion and all of that, the size permits the final quite quite a bit of mic positions to be opened up in actuality a long way apart, thus reducing any bleed from one mic into the following.

Fox:  Our passe headquarters on 635 Massachusetts Avenue changed into once a huge plant; it served our needs effectively for 20-irregular years. You saw the tidy studios, nonetheless we consistently had concerns with bleed in some of our smaller offline manufacturing studios. We resolved that in our new building on North Capitol Toll road. We made the offline manufacturing studios bigger. The categorical on-air studios are increased than 635, nonetheless we had been ready to commence with a tidy slate and in actuality keep in quite quite a bit of time and energy working with our acousticians and our studio designers to make certain we had defined what the predominant sauce changed into once and that they could well also honest invent spherical that.

Recent:  Are there any other parts of the predominant sauce that you haven’t printed yet, or are those issues that you are going to bewitch to the grave?

Fox:  Effectively, talking to the public radio community, one in the total lot that we don’t fabricate is job our signal heading to the stations. We take care of it as pure as ability. This has been up for some debate for the longest time, nonetheless as we in the in the period in-between stand we don’t compress; we don’t alter our signal leaving the studio to the satellite tv for computer and hitting the stations.

We know that our over 600 stations and all their listeners own quite quite a bit of needs. So we strive and present the purest sound to the stations so that they’ll manipulate it for his or her market, with varying levels of success. We own talked about, particularly with our newscast unit, perchance starting to maneuver a dinky bit bit of compression into that. We haven’t done it yet, and I don’t know if we are in a position to, nonetheless giving that pure signal by technique of the satellite tv for computer to our stations is perchance the last element to the sauce.