Mobile Audio Technology & Podcasting On the Go: A Conversation with Fernando Eid Pires - Part 1

Mobile Audio Technology & Podcasting On the Go - Putting Audio to Work “I get a bigger satisfaction working with things that has a constraint in terms of budget, you know, cannot be overly expensive. You have to deliver a ton of value for the money. I think this is so cool to work with that and like kind of, you know, work a miracle out of the parts that you have. Then, you know, go super fancy and, oh, this is the best thing ever. And you should pay, you know, ten grand for this. And then you can basically use anything. I think this is sort of like the movies that when, you know, the budget is short, sometimes the movie is a lot better and then the sequel, when you have a lot more budget, much more money to make the movie, maybe it’s not as good.” -- Fernando Eid Pires   This episode's guest is a relentless entrepreneur and a highly skilled electrical engineer with five patents and an inspiring history to share. His name is Fernando Pires and I first came across him and his expertise when a fellow VO reviewed a wonderful audio interface he'd come up with. It's currently called the PodMobile, but he may change that name in the future. It's a useful new tool to help voice actors and podcasters alike, get the best sound for their recordings: I've tried it myself and can tell you it is an excellent piece of equipment. We talk more about where his love of sound started, his electrical engineering, his current interest in sound, and where he thinks it'll end up. So stay tuned! As always, if you have questions for my guest, you’re welcome to reach out through the links in the show notes.  If you have questions for me, visit www.audiobrandingpodcast.com where you’ll find a lot of ways to get in touch. Plus, subscribing to the newsletter will let you know when the new podcasts are available. And if you’re getting some value from listening, feel free to spread that around and share it with a friend, along with leaving an honest review. Both those things really help – and I’d love to feature your review on future podcasts. You can leave one either in written or in voice format from the podcast’s main page. I would so appreciate that.   Between Toys and Sound The interview starts with Fernando’s memories of listening to music in the car as a child, and we talk about how audio became a passion for him early on. “I was between toys and sound equipment,” Fernando explains. “But when I was twelve years old, it became pretty much all about audio.” He tells us about growing up in São Paulo and how its music scene helped cultivate his love of music. “If you want to listen to jazz on a Tuesday night,” he says, “you got it. If you want to listen to blues, you got it. Bossa nova, you got it. Samba, you got it. Anything. So rock and roll? Plenty.”   An Expensive Lesson Fernando talks about his first patent, a beautifully designed and ingenious custom audio mixer that turned out to be hopelessly impractical. “It was a wooden cabinet painted silver,” he says, “like automotive paint. It was like the iPod of professional audio. It worked great. It was a pleasure to use, but to build it? Oh my goodness.” We talk about the hours of work he poured into each one of the hundred devices he eventually sold, and the lessons he learned from that project. “Honestly, that patent resulted in nothing,” he admits. “It was just extremely expensive. It wasn’t a good idea.”   Entrepreneurs from Birth The conversation turns to his success with the PodMobile and the entrepreneurial spirit that carried him through those early setbacks, a spirit he thinks many people possess without realizing it. “I believe that most...