Knobs

About Knobs

Knobs is an audio production podcast hosted by Melbourne producers and engineers Simon Moro and Terry Hart. Each episode dives into the real world of music production, mixing, recording, analog gear, digital workflow, studio culture, creativity, and the craft of making records. Expect conversations about signal flow, studio techniques, mixing philosophy, production approaches, gear, workflow, troubleshooting, and the countless little decisions that shape great sounding music. The format is intentionally conversational and improvised, more like sitting in on two experienced engineers talking in the studio between sessions than a polished interview show. Some episodes get technical. Some get philosophical. Some get ridiculous. Most involve at least one strong opinion about compressors. With decades of combined experience across commercial records, studios, education, and production, Simon and Terry bring a practical, grounded perspective to audio, without the ego and without pretending there’s only one “right” way to make music. Whether you’re a producer, mixer, engineer, artist, studio nerd, or simply obsessed with how records are made, Knobs gives you an honest look inside the world of audio production from people who genuinely live it every day. Hosted by Academy of Audio.

Publisher

Academy of Audio®

Category

education · music

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

27 May 2026

Latest episode

11 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

20 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   11 Oct 2026

   The Tricks We Reach For

   For the last episode of the season, Simon and Terry try to catch each other off guard with the tricks and questions they actually use. In Episode 20 of KNOBS, the Season 1 finale, the two of them swap favourite moves and put each other on the spot, no script, no warning. Terry opens with reverse reverb, the ghostly lead-in that introduces a note before it arrives and adds density to a sparse song without recording a single new instrument. Then the questions start flying. How do you save a take with questionable intonation without reaching for a tuner? Elvis or Beatles, and why? What are the first three things you do to get working in a room you have never mixed in? Would you trade all your outboard for one immaculate SSL K console? And what do you do when a client sends you a vocal that is hollow, brittle and sibilant? It ends where every serious producer eventually lands: the case for doing the tedious work. Whether you are after new tricks or just a good hang with two engineers, it is a fun, loose way to close out Season 1. Topics covered: • Reverse reverb and the ghostly lead-in • Adding density without another instrument • Fixing intonation without tuning • Elvis vs the Beatles • Setting up in a brand new room • Trading outboard for an SSL K • Saving a hollow, brittle, sibilant vocal • Doing the tedious work, and standards

2. 

   4 Oct 2026

   Hide the Canvas

   You do not want to see the canvas under the Mona Lisa. So why do so many records let you hear the technology, the effort and the mix? In Episode 19 of KNOBS, Simon Moro and Terry Hart chase one idea all the way through a production: hide the medium. Just as a painting disguises its canvas and a film makes you forget you are watching one, a great record disappears everything between the listener and the song. They trace where the canvas shows through at every stage. In composition, writing to a grid and pre-made chords instead of letting a melody find its own odd bar or surprising chord. In performance, audible effort, the singer straining at you rather than with you, when the greats sound effortless at sixty percent. In the front end, a fizzy budget mic or cheap converters you then spend the whole mix trying to hide. And in the mix itself, tricks chosen for cleverness rather than emotion, and tuning so obvious it becomes the thing you notice. Simon also shares news about the new Academy of Audio public platform, a community and free directory now open for founding members at academyofaudio.com. Whether you write, record or mix, this one will change what you listen for. Topics covered: Hiding the medium, from painting to production. Writing organically vs writing to a grid. Predictability and surprise. Effortlessness and the sixty percent rule. The front end as a visible canvas. Why 80 percent of forum problems vanish in a real studio. Leaning into lo-fi instead of faking expensive. Letting things be out of tune. Emotion-first mixing and starting with the vocal.

3. 

   27 Sept 2026

   Should You Use Room Correction?

   Room correction software promises to fix your monitoring. So is it a genuine tool or a crutch that lies to you? In Episode 18 of KNOBS, Simon Moro and Terry Hart get into monitor, room and headphone correction (Sonarworks, IK's ARC), coming at it from opposite corners: Simon has leaned on it for years, Terry has been the sceptic who just installed it. They agree on the most useful part first: the correction curve is a brilliant diagnostic. Seeing the bass bump and the top-end roll-off in your room finally explains the failed car test, the mix that sounds great in the studio and thin and brittle everywhere else. Simon reframes that failure beautifully, if you can hear the difference room to room, you are not broken, you have good ears. From there they dig into the honest downsides: the headroom you lose when the software boosts a big dip, why the room itself still matters more than any plugin, and the reference-track discipline that keeps you honest whatever you use. Plus headphones: calibration, the ARC on ear, and why the right pair changed what Simon can actually hear. Whether you swear by correction or refuse to touch it, this is a fair, practical look at both sides. Topics covered: The correction curve as a diagnostic. Why the car test finally makes sense. You are not broken, it was the room. The headroom you lose to correction. Why the room matters more than the plugin. Reference tracks that keep you honest. Headphone calibration and the right pair. Treat the room first, then correct.

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Spotify

5.0 / 5

2 ratings

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Guest appearances

Does not typically book guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.