The JoeMeek 3Q
Audio compressors are some of the most talked about items in Podcasting. A compressor will “fatten up” your sound to help give it that big sound in a smaller (dynamic) space.

I’ve been using this little guy to produce voiceovers and promos (have me do a custom voiceover for Your show!) and it feels like a comfy pair of shoes. It’s simple, sounds silky smooth and has plenty of that classical JoeMeek optical compression to do the job.

The 3Q throws in a nice “Meequilizer” as well. What you’ll probably notice right away on the Meek products is that they believe in “keep it simple”. I’ve never cracked open the manual and you probably won’t need to either on the 3Q.

Every turn of the knob does something very noticable and clear-cut. Speaking of knobs, they have a nice and solid, but smooth feel to them. The whole unit is small, but every button and knob just feels “right”.

With the 3Q, your ears will guide you. Right after plugging this guy in and putting the cans on, I noticed a silky and warm sound. Unlike my Focusrite, the 3Q is gentle with your audio, but it’s not afraid to do it’s job and “squash” the signal as much as you want. Meek knows just what compression should do.

Mic pre-amp? Phantom power? You get both of them with the 3Q. I just plugged my mic in and put the output to my Mackie Onyx (line in) and I was “on”. You could also use the “insert”, but I felt just fine chaining it this way.

MSRP is $299. Street Price is about $199

The JoeMeek JM47 Mic
This mic is very unique. My ears liked what they heard on this big diaphram studio condenser, but it was very different from the start. It has lots of articulation and punch. If you want to mic an instrument on the JM47, go ahead. This one will not “boom out” on you.

Quality, fit and finish are great, as we expect from anything Meek. Give this one a listen and tell me what you think. Also, we’ll be sampling some mics from PMI Audio group in an upcoming cast.

MSRP is $299 Street Price is about $175

OK, enough typing. …let’s hear the 3Q and the JM47 in action.

Stand by for show 8

Filed under: Podcasting