Are you interested in starting a podcast, but don’t know where to start or what equipment you need?
Today, New 32’s resident podcast queen, Charlie Monroe, has been kind enough to supply us with a list of beginner podcast equipment and tips. There are a lot of great podcast tutorials out there, so think of this as just a list of stuff you need to get started. As you work towards starting your podcast, bookmark this page and revisit it to make sure you have everything you need… and that you’re not wasting time and money on unnecessary equipment or software.
- Where you podcast is actually way more important than what microphone you decide to use. Try to find a small, enclosed space—like a closet—and hang some blankets up around you. Failing that, set yourself up in the corner of a room with some blankets hanging on the walls to minimize the echo.
- In my experience, Blue Microphones are the best affordable microphones out there, by a good margin. I personally love the Blue enCore mics, which you can get for $60-$80. Some of the best microphones I ever owned. Super durable, too. That mic is especially good if you’re just one person talking into a microphone.
- If you’re doing more of a roundtable thing—like a news podcast with many panelists all talking at once—and you don’t want to buy everyone their own microphone, the Blue Yeti can be placed in the center of a table, and it has an omnidirectional setting that will allow it to capture everyone’s voices. Again, this will give you pretty good quality audio ONLY IF you can record in a small and/or padded room. There are refurbished Blue Yetis available for $60.
- If that’s outside your price range, the Samson Go is much cheaper, about $30, and it has decent sound IF you record in a really good environment AND IF YOU SPEAK at a normal conversational volume. If you’re going to be doing a lot of shouting and yelling or singing, you probably want to try to go for a Blue microphone.
- You will also need an audio interface. This is the thing that you plug the microphone into, which then plugs into your computer, acting as the intermediary between the microphone and the audio software. I recommend Zoom interfaces as the cheap and easy-to-use option, while Scarlett will give you more control over your sound (but will cost you).
- You do not need to buy a pop filter or a mic stand, unless you want to! You can easily rest the microphone on a stack of books, and in my experience, a pop filter is only necessary if you’re singing. If you’re talking, stick a sock onto the microphone to help muffle the impact of your plosives.
- Lastly, Audacity is a free audio software and practically everyone uses it. Because of its ubiquity, there are also a million tutorials about it. Don’t waste your money on other software.
Thanks so much to Charlie for these beginner podcast equipment recommendations and tips! We can’t wait to see what you create! Happy podcasting!
