Podcast quality and processing

Hey all,

Myself and a good fellow chap have just started recording a podcast and we'd be interested to know what peoples sound processing procedures are, how they go from a raw recording to published file.

I imagine some people don't need to edit their work at all, oh how I envy you! This is what we do currently;

1)We record the main file in Cakewalk Sonar (we're using a microphone each, but they're fairly close to each other as we're in the same room. There's some bleed, but that doesn't cause us too many problems).

2)We edit out all the nonsense and overlay all the music and jingles that we need and generally try and ensure the levels for the music are about right.

3) That's then exported as a .wav file which we open in Audacity.

4) We use noise profile, find a small section of silence (usually only a second or so) and then remove the noise based on that profile.

5) At this point the recording is okay, but is often quite quiet and inconsistent. So we employ a set of processing in the following order which is based on a video I found on youtube that seemed to have some good advice;

6) Normalize
(ApplyGain=yes RemoveDcOffset=yes Level=-1.000000 StereoIndependent=no)
7)Compressor
(Threshold=-12.000000 NoiseFloor=-40.000000 Ratio=2.000000 AttackTime=0.200000 ReleaseTime=1.000000 Normalize=yes UsePeak=no)
8) Equalization
(FilterLength=4001 CurveName="Treble Boost" InterpolateLin=no interpolationMethod=B-spline)
9) Equalization
(FilterLength=4001 CurveName="Bass Boost" InterpolateLin=no interpolationMethod=B-spline)
10)Normalize
(ApplyGain=yes RemoveDcOffset=yes Level=-1.000000 StereoIndependent=no)
11)HardLimiter
(dB_limit="-4" Residue_level="0" Wet_level="1")
12)Normalize
(ApplyGain=yes RemoveDcOffset=yes Level=-1.000000 StereoIndependent=no)

Phew! Once we've done all that (which for the 30 minute track time probably takes about 3/4 minutes) We export it as an mp3 using a Constant BitRate, at 160kbps, with 'Joint Stereo'.

Then end result is the published podcast which has been uploaded to libsyn and apart from the rss feed is accessible on iTunes under 'rick and paul heal the world' (Can't post a link as I'm new.)

As the audacity settings repeat a few steps, they seem to get more and more subtle and I'm finding it hard to tell the difference. I want maximum professionalism and hope we're on the right track. I'd love to hear what people think and see how their processes are different.

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