Aokeo Microphone Shield

In a seemingly never ending quest to improve my workflow and allow me to record videos faster, I’ve now turned my attention to voice overs. As I state in the video below, I don’t have a quiet studio or even a quiet room to record videos in. Our house was not designed to be sound proof. As such, just about anything the missus, one of the pets, or an neighbor outside does can be heard throughout the house.

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Aokeo Microphone Shield Front

This is why you often see me recording introductions outside of the house at random locations. I love doing that and feel it gives my channel some uniqueness so I don’t plan on stopping that, but sometimes it’s necessary to record inside as well.

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Aokeo Microphone Shield Back

My biggest issue is not being able to go back and do voice over, either to add more explanation or to adjust what I said because the quiet times are few and far between. With that in mind, I went looking for a microphone shield. My first stop was the local Guitar Center, but as expected, they were expensive and probably overkill for my needs.

A quick look on Amazon uncovered the Aokeo Portable Vocal Booth. At the time of my purchase it was $39.99 which is right in the impulse buy zone for equipment so I purchased it and a day later it arrived.

After trying it out for a while I have nothing but good things to say about it. The construction is good. The included adapters and accessories are reasonable and useful and it does what it advertises. The 3 different mounting options (sitting on a table, screwing onto a microphone stand, clamping onto a pole) give it a diverse range of uses. It makes it more of a one size fits all device.

I can’t weigh in on the quality of the sound foam because I have no experience with others, but to my ears in the audio tests, I can hear a reduction of echoing. Download the unedited audio samples to check yourself: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1om2qb9FUzSkKNz98qVtGdgpaPV0V3Oyf/view?usp=sharing

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Etubby Suspension Arm

Just keep in mind that you may need to get creative with the microphone mounting if your mic setup is larger than what I used in the video. A great, inexpensive microphone arm that I reviewed and use is the Etubby Microphone Suspension Arm. You can see the video for it here.

Anker PowerCore+ 26800

After spending hours comparing different brands, capacities and features, I ended up settling on the Anker PowerCore+ 26800 and here’s why.

1. I bought this specifically to take on my week long trip backpacking off grid. I am planning to film a lot and knew I needed high capacity. This power bank is up there near the top of the list before you start getting into either excessively large power stations or batteries that are not safe for airplanes. While I’m not flying on this trip, I wanted to make sure it could be taken on future trips as well.

2. In addition, it needed to be compatible with all of my stuff. Last year I really tried to make sure nearly everything I own can use USB-C plugs so my battery bank needed to have one as well. The fewer cables that I have to carry, the better. Plus, USB-C has a multitude of other functions depending on the device. My phone can even charge other devices in a pinch.

3. It also needed to be able to charge both itself and other devices quickly. I’m planning to carry 5-10 things on this trip that need charging and I can’t have one of them take several hours to charge. I need to be able to charge one quickly and move on to the next device so I’m not spending all my time focusing on batteries. This also means that it needs to be able to charge from more than one port at the same time so I can double or triple up on the devices. After a long day of hiking, I don’t want to have to stay extra time charging just so that I am ready to go in the morning.

4. Lastly, it had to be from a brand I trust.

5. A nice to have feature that I looked at was ruggedness. Is it water or drop resistant?

Eventually the list came down to just 2 devices, both from Anker

• The Anker PowerCore+ 26800 PD

• The Anker PowerCore 26800

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Anker PowerCore+ 26800 PD

Both offer 26,800 mAh which is capable of charging my largest battery, my Pixel 3 XL (3430 mAh), almost 8 times. My other batteries are all around the 1,200 mAh capacity so they met criteria 1.

They are both by Anker, a trusted brand and a leader in power banks so they checked off criteria 4.

They both can charge from 3 ports at once and they both offer high speed charging of devices, as well as options to charge themselves quickly, meeting criteria 3.

Criteria 2 is where one stood out from the other significantly. The PowerCore+ has 2 USB-A ports and 1 USB-C which is capable of Power Delivery (a high power capacity standard) where as the PowerCore has 3 USB-A ports and 2 USB-Micro ports that are only good for charging itself.

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Anker Powercore 26800

By going with the PowerCore+ I can reuse the USB-C cable for charging the power bank and for charging devices. With the PowerCore, I’d need to carry around 2 USB-Micro cables that are incompatible with most of my stuff so it’s extra baggage and one more thing to keep track of. Also, the PowerCore+, with its Power Delivery (PD), can charge itself in 4.5 hours using 1 PD capable charger (included) where as I’d need either 2 chargers or use 2 ports on a charger to charge the PowerCore in 6 hours.

Also, because the PowerCore+ can put out PD level power, it can charge high capacity devices, like laptops. It also offers higher speed charging of normal devices like phones compared to the speeds of the PowerCore.

I was also encouraged to see that FujiFilm, maker of my X-T3 camera, officially recommends the PowerCore+ for use with its cameras.

Unfortunately, neither had any water or drop resistance, but a good waterproof bag will serve the same purpose. It also has a pretty squishy carrying sack that should help protect it a bit.

Yes, I did end up paying twice as much for the extra features, but when you’re relying on a piece of equipment in the field, you have to pay for what you need.

I’ll be giving a post camping trip gear review and I’ll make sure to talk about if this power bank lived up to my expectations.

If you’re planning to buy one, I’d appreciate if you use my links below to help support my channel. It doesn’t cost any extra. I just get a little advertising revenue from Amazon.

• Anker PowerCore+ 26800 PD: https://amzn.to/2XMlaUe

• Anker PowerCore 26800: https://amzn.to/2l6F3HU

Drinking Lake Water - Life Straw

I like to camp and hike and kayak.  I would describe myself as a medium level roughing it type person. I will carry my tent on my back and eat dehydrated food, but I don't have a whole lot of extra gear to really survive far from my car.

The idea of having a lightweight, portable way to drink almost any water while out really interested me.  While browsing the Amazon Prime Day deals, I saw that the Life Straw was $5 off and only cost $9.99.  I figured for that price, it was worth picking one up.  Not only did I get myself one, but with every Life Straw you buy, they donate one to a school child in need.

I'm always on the look out for new ways to spice up my videos.  I thought a Kayak would be a very likely place to use one of these however cameras can shake so badly on there that they are unwatchable. Enter my 360 GoPro Fusion camera that I've been itching to find uses for.  The stabilization turned out really well.  And I figure, if someone gets tired of watching me, they can always look around at the lake.

You can support my channel by using this link to buy your own life straw: https://amzn.to/2LZJjVm

Apex Cargo Bar Review

A  year ago I took up kayaking.  I've been using the 29 dollar foam pads and straps that you can buy at most places that sell kayaks, but they've left my car roof really scratched, they take a long time to put on and they're loud.

So I figured it was finally time to buy some proper mounts for the luggage rack of my 2010 Hyundai Elantra Touring. The only problem is, I didn't have any Cross Bars on my luggage rack.

So I decided to try the Apex Universal Aluminum Locking Roof Cargo Bars available on Amazon.  I picked these over the best sellers because they were narrower and would fit the folding Kayak J-bars I ordered.

They were really easy to install once I figured out that "Locked" meant you could spin the knob infinitely and "Unlocked" meant the knobs would tighten.

I was able to strap my Kayak right to them with no issues while waiting for the J-bars to come in. They have a bit of a rubberized texture on the top that helped hold everything in place. They feel very sturdy and I don't see them moving around at all.  They also look really nice on the top of my car.

• They support 150 pounds (I'm not sure if that's together or individually).
• They fit a span of 50" between side rails.
• The side rails must be 1"-1.75" wide and no more than 1.5" tall with a 2" clearance from the bottom of the rail to the top of the car.
• Dimensions: 53.4 Long x 1 Tall x 1.5 Wide inches

Overall, I'm very happy with the purchase (I did purchase these myself) and would recommend them to anyone interested in luggage bars whose car meets these specs. You can support the channel by using this link if you decide to purchase them: https://amzn.to/2NHO4Rt

Universal Aluminum Locking Roof Cargo Bars - Fits Roof Side Rails Up To 50" Apart

Google Pixel Buds

UPDATE January 8, 2018

I was using the Pixel Buds again today and noticed that Google Play Music was now very quiet. I thought to myself 'Oh, did they go to the extreme the other way now?'  I had to turn the volume up nearly all the way on my phone. I check to see if my ears were plugged. It was still really quiet. Then I found out that in an update that I never saw be installed on either Android, Google Play Music or the Google Assistant, they have changed the behavior of the volume controls on the Pixel Buds. 

Now, instead of mirroring the volume levels between the Phone and the Buds, each acts independently of the other, which is exactly what I asked for and described with the LG headphones in the video.  You can now set the volume close to where you want it on the phone and then adjust the volume by small increments on the Buds themselves. 

This completely fixes the volume issues that I listed as my biggest complain and makes these much more pleasurable to use.  The only real complaint I have now is the comfort with my piercing. Otherwise, I can recommend these much more readily now and they are worth trying out.

See the video at the bottom

I wanted these to be good. I read all the reviews about how lackluster they were. Many people criticized them for the translation not being great. I knew it was just using the Google Translate app on your phone so it would wouldn’t be any different in terms of quality.  Some complained about how hard it was to wrap the cables. That sounds like nitpicking. Still others talked about the fact that there is a cable connecting the 2 buds instead of being completely wireless. In my experience, only the Apple AirPods have managed to solve the connectivity problem of going completely wireless, so if a cable makes them work better, so be it.

No, I wanted to know how they would do as a pair of cable buds for exercising and day to day music use.  I wanted to use them as just a pair of Bluetooth headphones. If the assistant is great, then all the better. I’ve been using Bluetooth headphones every day for the past 7 years. I’ve tried multiple brands and have fallen in love with the LG on neck headphones, even if they are a little clunky. Their only drawback is you can’t exercise with them, hence my search for some lightweight cable buds.

Unfortunately, the Pixel Buds by Google are not the perfect solution to my problem. Right out of the box I had issues getting them to connect to my Pixel 2 XL. Using the new Apple styled ‘open your headphone box near your phone to pair’ feature took multiple tries before I finally got the notification to appear. When I finally did, I was so surprised that I held the talk button down on the headphones and proceeded to crash the Google app.

After trying again for 30 minutes, I had to resort to the internet to find out that I could hold the hidden connect button down for 3 seconds to enter pairing mode and get it to try to connect again.  Setup from there was pretty easy using a step by step walk through. 
 

Once the headphones are connected, Google Assistant on your phone will give you an option to adjust the Buds settings in the future, so that’s pretty handy. The assistant in the headphones also gives you lots of subtle prompts and hints at how she can help you which is a plus.

 The sound signature is passable, if a little veiled on the high notes. It's hard to accurately judge them given their loudness (more on that later). I’ve gotten used to the sound signature of the LG headphones, but the Buds had a good enough range for me with good mids, no tinny high sounds and enough bass to notice it. I’m not a fan of big bass as it hurts my ears anyway.  These are good enough for exercising and occasional use.  I listen to symphonic rock so anything that accentuates female vocals and violins is good to me.  My go to testing tracks for all headphones is 'Faster' and 'Paradise' by Within Temptation. (Note, YouTube compresses these so listen in your actual music streaming service on high quality if you want to hear them at their best.)

It’s easy enough to change the volume with a swipe, pause with a tap or talk to the assistant with a finger hold. None of these are overly loud to my ear when touching the headphone.  You can also have the assistant read out notifications with a double tap. Neat!

It is also easy to wrap the cables into the case, once you learn that you have to pull the ear loops to as big as they can go to get the white plastic piece out of the way so you can close it.

The range was the best of any Bluetooth headphones I’ve owned. In my office, I was able to go about 25 feet away from my phone without any drop outs. This is in an office full of Apple products so there are literally hundreds of Bluetooth devices, mice, keyboards, headphones, etc all vying for air space so 25 feet is good.

The little ear loops are actually kind of convenient. They are soft enough that I can just jam them into my ear and hold the Buds securely. I have no fear that these things are going to fall out.

They are big, it’s not obvious when you have them in correctly. There’s just a little bit of silicon, but not enough to be considered cushiony. On top of all of that, I have the special case of having my tragus pierced and these gigantic buds put so much pressure on it that my ear started hurting.

Lastly and worst of all is the volume. Playing music from Google Music is unbelievably loud. (Fixed. See the update at the top of this post) If I turn the Buds and the Phone down to their lowest volume, it is too quiet. If I turn the phone up just the tiniest bit, they headphones become loud enough that I’m worried about damaging my hearing. Reset them back to their lowest level and use the buds to go up a notch and it is even louder.

YouTube doesn’t seem to suffer from this problem though because it has a quieter noise floor so the volume increases are much more granular, but in high quality music from Google’s own music service, it is ridiculously loud.  I’ve found a help thread discussing this on Google’s help site, but no response has come yet from Google as of this writing.

With the volume turned way down to facilitate music listening, when the assistant chimes in to talk, it is too quiet to hear what she is saying.

I set out to find some suitable cable buds for music listening and to keep out of the way while exercising, with no preconceived conclusion about how the “Special Features” worked.  And in terms of my criteria for good Bluetooth headphones, the Google Pixel Buds fall short in that metric.

See more about the built in Google Assistant and why I decided to keep these despite their flaws in the video below. You can pick up a pair of your own here: https://store.google.com/product/google_pixel_buds

Etubby Microphone Suspension Arm

In a constant fight with my microphone picking up every mouse movement and keyboard press, I finally decided to upgrade to a microphone arm for my Blue Yeti microphone. I went with the Etubby Upgraded Microphone Arm because it specifically said it could handle the weight of the heavy Yeti and it had 4.5+ stars on Amazon reviews.

The arm itself is fine and very solid despite it's light and petite feeling frame. The issue I've run into is that it doesn't mount well onto a plastic table. The base keeps denting into the plastic and the wooden lip around my wood desk is too small to attach it to.  If I can think of a better mounting system, I'll make sure to update this post and share it on our Facebook and Twitter accounts.

You can buy the Etubby Upgraded Microphone Suspension Boom Scissor Arm here: http://amzn.to/2eYqgME

Mug Warmer and Drink Cover Review

Pierre was tired of his coffee going from the perfect temperature to cold in about 5 minutes so he went looking for some products to remedy this.  He'd already tried using these water filled temperature regulators, and while they do work, they are not always convenient and it's annoying hearing them clink in your glass every time you take a drink.

So he got a mug warmer and some drink covers to test out.  Both performed really well.  Since making the video, Pierre has said that the mug warmer will almost always heat his coffee to a temperature higher than he would normally drink it, so it is great for reheating something that has gone into the lukewarm zone on the coffee scale.

You can purchase the products using the following links:
Bellemain Desktop Mug Warmer - http://amzn.to/2eI36tR
AvecToi Drink Covers - http://amzn.to/2eI2JiV

See the video below:

Does your coffee get cold before you can finish drinking it? Pierre reviews 2 products that promise to keep your beverage toasty warm. Cuisine a la Pierre s01e07 AvecToi Drink Covers - http://amzn.to/2eI2JiV Bellemain Desktop Mug Warmer - http://amzn.to/2eI36tR Music from Purple Planet