Podcast Equipment Buying Guide for Novice and Pro

Are you planning to start your own podcast? Do you want to build your own podcast recording studio? If so, you are coming to the right place. This article will provide everything you need to know to buy quality podcasting equipment without burning a hole in your pocket.

Before we go much into the detail, it is important to know that to start recording and publishing your own podcast, you only need simple podcasting gear like a mic plugged into your existing sound card and free recording software. If you have a portable recording device, that should do it too.

As your podcast grows and you want to create and publish podcasts regularly, you want to create a small office or home equivalent of a recording studio.

The cost of podcast gear has gone down because of the popularity of podcasting and other rich media production online. You may be surprised that you can build recording studio at almost any budget. Even professional equipment are available at very affordable prices.

Assessing your need for podcasting equipment

Image credit: Ian Muttoo.

How do you know what you need? What kind of podcast equipment can you buy with such and such budget?

There are two ways you can work out a plan before shopping for any recording equipment:

1. By identifying what you need up front. How do you want to the podcast to sound in quality? Do you want to record live music from instruments? Do you frequently want to interview experts or have a co-host? Do you interview over the phone? How many different input ports do you want? Do you attend industry events frequently and want to interview experts on the spot? There are many questions you should consider carefully. Jot down anything that you must have, and then optional equipment that are nice to have. Later, you want to match the requirement list and your budget to see if they fit together and adjust accordingly.
2. Set aside some budget first. If budget is tight, don’t worry. You can still get pretty decent gear if you are willing to put much time researching for options. You can also start with very simple setup of podcast gear and then get a professional setup later. The choice is yours. But getting your hands on podcasting first usually can help you deciding which setup you need later.

Either way, unless you are willing to learn how different equipment work, or have the resources to hire professional to set them up for you, it is better that you start with basic setup to keep things really simple. As your experience grows, you can add things and learn new skills to increase productivity and increase quality of the podcast.

Basic podcast equipment setup

The most basic setup for podcast gear is no gear at all. This is possible thanks to the technology that allows you to speak into the phone, record your voice and post the result on the web. With this setup, the only thing you need is a telephone or cell phone — if you call that a podcasting gear.

A flash drive-based voice recorder comes in handy if you want to record conversations or capture short length podcasts anywhere you want. You can then transfer the recorded files to your computer or laptop for editing and publishing.

For podcasters who want to record their podcast before a computer — the result can be of higher quality depends on the equipment, close to that recorded in professional studio — then you will need a computer, a microphone and optionally headphones.

Computer setup for podcasters

Image credit: gadi.

Most likely, you will spend a lot of time recording and editing your podcast on your computer — either PC or Mac based.

Computer systems are very affordable nowadays. A faster processor and larger memory system is necessary if you do a lot of mixing and editing though because they are very processing intensive. You cannot afford waiting for every process to complete but generally you don’t need a very high-end computer.

Another thing to consider is to get a newer and stable operating system. The last thing you expect is the computer refuse to cooperate when you are in the middle of recording your voice or an interview.

If you are able to run Windows XP on your personal computer (Mac OS 9 or X on Mac), then you can use it for podcasting. Avoid sluggish computers as they may cause more problems and a lot of stress.

To process audio files, the software would also need ample of RAM. At least 512MB is required to run recording and editing software smoothly. If your computer runs on lower memory, activate as few programs at the same time when you are recording and editing audio files.

Hard disk space should not be a problem. In the computer storage history, it is hitting the lowest price per gigabytes. Just add more hard drive or upgrade existing one if you run out of space. You will need them to download podcasts and save your podcast audio files.

Next, you need a sound card with a line in and line out jacks. There may be additional jacks for mic and headphones in the front or rear of the computer system.

An alternative is a USB-based audio device. It is compatible with for both PC and Mac. It adds a mic input and a headphone jack to your computer via USB port.

Finally, consider a good speed Internet connection. While you don’t need it to record a podcast with your computer, uploading the podcast and updating your site will need an Internet connection.

Microphones

Portable voice recorder devices have microphone built into the recorders. If you are recording on a computer, you would need a good quality mic to capture your voice.

There are a lot of nice microphones available for recording your podcast. But first, you can try to record it with any mic you have currently available, may be one that came with your computer package.

You may find out that the quality of the voice is a bit edgy. In this case, or if you don’t already have a mic, then I recommend a headset — a microphone and headphones in a set of device — from either Logitech or Plantronics. They make high quality headsets at very affordable prices.

A microphone is also the device that you will most likely upgrade when you are ready to get into podcasting regularly.

Pop filters

A pop filter is optional but they can make a difference in the sound quality of your podcast. What it does is blocking or filtering the popping sounds that are produced when pronouncing aspirated plosive — such as the first ‘p’ in the English word popping.

Pop filters are also known as pop shields.

A pop shield can also be used to reduce hissing sounds in recorded speech. Hissing sounds or sibilance frequently result from the pronunciation of fricatives such as the ’sh’ in the English word “seashells.”

Both pops and hisses can be pretty annoying to listeners, so investing in a pop filter is highly recommended.

Headphones

Obviously headphones are not required if you are already buying a headset. Any headphones that plug into the sound card jack will work fine.

Why should you use headphones? It allows you to listen to the result of your recording in real time without interfering with the feedback. Headphones can isolate the sound that you are recording from everything else that could be distraction.

Headsets

Headsets are convenient for podcasting because the mic and headphones are combined in one instrument. The cable from the headset has two plugs, one for mic and another for the headphones. Plug each of them into the right jack in the rear or front of your computer.

A headset is a good alternative to substitute a separate microphone and headphone. You also don’t have to worry about moving your head during recording because the headset follows you.

Budget home recording studio equipment

Image credit: Ian Muttoo.

Podcasting does not require a great investment up front. In fact, you can get started in just $20 for a good quality microphone or headset and a free audio recording software.

I personally know podcasters who use this kind of setup until now.

Just that you have seen an offer for podcast packages that run from several hundreds to thousands of dollar doesn’t mean that you have to start that way.

In fact, rarely you will need to spend more than one thousand dollar unless you really want very high quality audio gear for recording live music to substitute studio recording in day-to-day use. This is particularly true if you are recording talkshow and no music at all in the podcast.

If some of your listeners are using low speed Internet connection such as dial-up, you also want to compress the resulting audio files quite extensively. In this case, then high quality audio equipment is far from necessary.

Here are some examples of setup for what I consider to be an acceptable equipment setup for podcasters.

Podcast gear starter package

• Audio Technica ST90MKII or Shure PG48 microphone ($30-$40)
• A pop filter (optional — $20-30)
• A mic stand to hold the mic on the desk

Podcast gear for professional podcasters

• Quality Shure or Audio Technica microphone
• Pop filter
• A mic stand
• M-Audio or Edirol USB audio interface
• A quality mixer for multiple inputs

If you don’t need to connect a lot of instruments, then a standard audio interface is enough. USB audio interface is great option for high quality input and output. A mixer provides a high-end control of inputs and connects more gears at the same time.

A quick tip for podcasters who want to go out shopping for podcasting gear: choose different options carefully. Many vendors offer much higher prices for the same equipment when they offer some kind of added service like hosting, tutorials, or one-stop blog and podcast platform.

I recommend that you only purchase from reputable vendors instead of those that are only resellers which re-package the same things and add little value but double the price. If you research your options, you should find out that if you purchase separately, you can get it far more cheaper than the offered price.