Sennheiser MK4 Condenser Microphone Take “The Kickass Life” Podcast to Next Level

In almost a year, The Kickass Life Podcast has earned its spot as the #1 personal development podcast on iTunes, with over half a million cumulative downloads.

The podcast, hosted by business leader, author, trainer, coach and humanitarian David Wood, is now heard three days a week in 153 countries. Its loyal listener base regularly tunes in to hear thoughtful commentary and interviews on topics like overcoming adversity and achieving financial success. Recently, in light of its rapidly increasing listener base, The Kickass Life began using the Sennheiser MK4 microphone for its podcasts.

SennThe Kickass Life podcast was born when executive producer Michael O’Neal saw an opportunity to bring David Wood’s messages on personal development to a more diverse and global audience. He helped establish a brand for the podcast, helped create a framework of content and produced the first show, with David hosting. In just four days, the podcast was recognized as ‘New and Noteworthy’ by iTunes, and was already achieving 1,000 downloads per day — a successful podcast debut by almost any measure.

“David already had some brand recognition in certain places, but the podcast had to look and sound very professional right out of the gate,” O’Neal recalls. They started off using a modest mixer and a dynamic microphone, but after visiting the Sennheiser booth at 2013 NAMM, soon upgraded to a Sennheiser MK4 large diaphragm, condenser microphone. “I tested the MK4 and quite frankly, was blown away by the difference I heard compared with the mic we were already using. I knew this was the mic that would help us get to the next level,” he says.

The Sennheiser MK4 microphone, in addition to a HD 205 headphone, was promptly set up at the Kickass Life’s broadcast location. It was first used on a podcast entitled “Eliminate the Bad to Leave the Good” with guest host David MacArthur, while David Wood was climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro. “I heard a massive difference,” says O’Neal. “With the MK4 there was so much more richness, warmth and depth when compared to the other mic we were using.” O’Neal runs the Sennheiser MK4 into a small Behringer mixer and then into a Zoom H4N digital recorder. Monitoring is done on a pair of Sennheiser HD 205s.

O’Neal believes that the overwhelming success of the podcast has to do with the timeless subject matter of the programming, as well as the overall quality of the broadcast and equipment choice. The Kickass Life routinely covers important developmental topics like mindsetadversitypurposerelationships and finance.  Currently, the Kickass Life team is looking to produce a broader podcast network. “We’ll have a group of shows that target different demographics so we can be more of a one-stop-shop,” according to O’Neal. One of the shows currently in development, which will be broadcast using a Sennheiser MK4, is “Mechanic to Millionaire.”

Now that the Kickass Life podcast production team are using the Sennheiser MK4 on a regular basis, they are more committed to achieving a high quality audio standard than ever before: “When we get feedback from our listeners, we are regularly complimented on our sound quality. I set up podcast studios and record all the time, and now I can’t imagine using a different mic than the Sennheiser MK4. It delivers so much bang for the buck and sounds really amazing,” O’Neal concludes.

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