This is Podcasting where I'm on a quest to conquer the podcasting realm,
and I'm bringing you along for the journey to help you achieve your own podcasting success.
Welcome back to Podcasting. In this episode, we are diving into my current podcast studio,
and the reason I wanted to dive into this on this episode is because I want you to understand that
you don't need anything fancy to start a podcast. Let's dive right into it. You don't need anything
fancy as I previously mentioned. To start a podcast, you really just need you, a microphone,
a computer, and internet access. That's really all it takes. Okay, so you don't need anything fancy.
So let's just kind of start with what I'm currently using, what I'm going to be hopefully
using in the future when I upgrade, and maybe some budget tips for you if you're looking to
start a podcast. So first of all, what I'm currently using is a Dell Latitude Laptop,
which is the bare entry level for the Dell laptop. Now Dell gets a bad rep in my mind these days,
but Dell is a staple in the business world. If you look at different businesses,
companies, they are always using Dell. Dell is a solid company in my mind, and I don't think you
can go wrong with a Dell laptop if you are using Windows. And this is a very entry level laptop.
I believe I got it for a couple hundred bucks. Now I don't know the exact price on this. I'll
put that in the show notes. If you want to check that out on Amazon, as well as all this other
equipment that I am talking about today. If you want to check that out, I'll put that in the show
notes. So the next thing I am using is a interface. Now if you're unaware, you do need an interface if
you are using an XLR microphone. An XLR microphone is a microphone that uses a specific cable
that connects to the microphone and then goes into the interface and then connects via USB to your
laptop or PC. And so for my interface, I'm using a Scarlett Solo Generation 3. They have come out
with a new updated version of this interface, and that is the Generation 4, which I would recommend.
Of course, if you are going to, you might as well get the Generation 4, but you probably could get
the Generation 3, which I have for cheaper. So that might be something to look into as well,
if you're on a budget, but it is a great interface if you are using an XLR microphone. Now let's talk
about this XLR microphone that I'm currently using, and that is an Electrovois RE320. An Electrovois
RE320 now is a bit more fancy, and it is an expensive microphone. It's not as expensive as
the predecessor RE20, which is kind of a standard in the broadcasting industry, but this microphone
is definitely not a budget microphone. But I do have a budget microphone that I started out with,
which is the Audio-Technica AT2020 condenser microphone. It is around $100, I believe, on
Amazon, and it is a condenser microphone. Now if you don't know the difference between dynamic and
condenser microphones, a dynamic microphone does not require phantom power, whereas a condenser
microphone uses phantom power, or electricity basically, to run the microphone. A condenser
microphone is great because it picks up more frequencies, and the phantom power really helps
microphones' ability to pick up these frequencies, whereas a dynamic microphone does not require
phantom power. If you're looking into these microphones and you're trying to figure out
should you go with dynamic or condenser, I'd actually recommend going with dynamic, because
dynamic does not pick up as much background sound, background noise, and things of that nature,
so you want to go with something that will do that unless you have a soundproof room. Now you can get
away with a condenser microphone like the AT2020 like I had. Now when I bought the AT2020, I was
using it, the main purpose that I bought it for was voiceover, and whenever you google voiceover
microphones, it is recommended you get a condenser microphone, but what they don't always tell you
is that it is also recommended that you are in a dead room or a soundproof vocal booth for a
condenser microphone to work appropriately and to get a great sound, otherwise you will be picking
up a lot of background noise, but you can get away with using a condenser microphone like the AT2020,
and they are around $100 on Amazon, and you can also get the USB version of the AT2020,
which does not have phantom power, but is a great option as well. Let's dive into some other
equipment that I'm using. I have a microphone stand here that I'm using on my table, and that is a
Gator Frameworks stand here. Now I had a cheaper stand that really did not work. This stand is
great. It has a very sturdy base that really helps with the microphone because the ElectroVoice RE320
is kind of a heavy, definitely a heavy sturdy microphone, and it requires a sturdy stand.
Now another stand that I have is a tripod stand, and that is a, I believe it's OnStage is the brand,
and it is a decent stand. Now if you are using a heavier microphone like the ElectroVoice RE320,
it can tip over if you are not using it right or leaning it against something because the balance
is a bit off. It would work great for another kind of dynamic microphone, think like a handheld
microphone or something like that, but it does require some kind of more heavy base on the side
to kind of balance that out, but it is a great standing stand if you will for recording if you
want to add some more flexibility to your studio because you can move the stand wherever you see
fit. Another stand that I do want, or I've had, I bought a cheap version of this actually with the
AT2020 originally and it broke. It did not last very long and that is a boom arm. You might not
know what a boom arm is, but if you've ever seen like a radio station, they always have boom arms
which basically attach to your desk and then you are able to put the microphone on there and adjust
it using springs and such, and so that is something that I want to invest in, but I will need a very
sturdy boom arm considering the heaviness and durability of the microphone I'm currently using,
but that is something I want to invest in as well. There are some great options for some boom arms
which I'll put in the show notes as well if you want to check out those. And then for other
equipment that I'm currently using is some cheap Amazon sound panels or sound foam rather, not sound
panels, foam panels that I'm using here in the studio. Now they're not ideal, let me tell you that.
They're not going to save your recordings if you will. They're not going to make a huge difference,
but they do help a little bit. Ones I would recommend that I do want to buy some more of
are actually from Troye Studio. They have a really cool design and they are a little bit thicker than
a lot of the cheaper options that you will find on Amazon. I'll put a link to both of those in the
show notes as well. I do want to shout out another audio interface now that I'm thinking about it
because I'm looking at it behind me here and that is a Behringer Euphoria UM2. Now that is a great
standard entry level interface and I would recommend checking out some YouTube videos on that
such as the one from, what is that YouTube channel called? I think it's Podcastage and he does
reviews of audio equipment and he does reviews on that specific interface. He is a big fan of that
one as well. Now with the microphone and the interface you will need an XLR cable and so what
I'm currently using for my XLR cable is also a Gator Frameworks cable which I picked up at a
local music store called Music Depot here where I live in town and it is a musician's kind of standard
XLR cable. Makes me feel like I have long hair and I'm a rock star when I'm recording. Not really but
it does definitely help. Before that I was using a basic Amazon XLR cable which I believe I was
having some issues with and since I have upgraded it seems to have resolved and you can pick up one
of these for around 18 to 20 dollars on Amazon and it is a cable that I would recommend. Now there are
some very expensive XLR cables you can get for like almost 80 dollars and they are supposed to be the
gold standard but I don't think you necessarily need them especially when starting out. Let's
dive into some software that I'm currently using. So if you're new to the podcasting world one of
the most used and talked about DAWs. DAW stands for Digital Audio Workstation. Basically it's an
audio editing tool or software is Audacity. Audacity is a open source tool, open source software that
you can download and use on Windows and I believe Mac as well and that allows you to edit your podcast
episodes. It allows you to cut things out like filler words, do compression, EQ, noise reduction,
etc. Add background music and the whole gambit and they are always evolving and upgrading the
software of Audacity and they just did some more updates recently and it looks great. The UI is
great and it is definitely user friendly and of course the best it is free so that's something I
would definitely check out is Audacity if you are trying to figure out how to edit your podcast.
Another tool that I used for podcasting specifically Riverside is something that I have started to use
very briefly, very vaguely using Riverside for podcasting. Kind of messing with it. It is
an online tool that has audio editing features where it turns your podcast actually into paragraphs
which you can edit and it is all AI based which I'm not a huge fan of but it is interesting to
be able to edit your audio just using paragraphs like if you're writing an essay and you can just
backspace and delete that word. It is pretty interesting and it is something that I think
could be great if you are new to audio editing and it definitely would allow you to edit your audio
easily compared to doing a audio editor tool or a DAW like Audacity. They also are very into video
editing or in video podcasts so that's something if you are into video podcasting I would definitely
look into Riverside and you can check that out in the show notes as well. I will put a link to
Riverside as well and let's talk about what I want to upgrade to. So as far as a microphone's
concerned I think I'm pretty good here with the Electro Voice RE320. I do want to purchase the
Shure SM7B. Now it is on par, the microphone I'm currently using is on par with the SM7B of course.
I'm just a bit of a nerd, an audio nerd so I kind of want to buy that just because that is another
option that I was comparing to this Electro Voice microphone. I decided to go with this one but
the SM7B is kind of a standard that you'll see podcasters and content creators using today and
so that's something that I kind of want to buy. Not something I need or something I will definitely
upgrade to but something I will think about purchasing. It's not necessarily an upgrade,
more of a lateral move if you will but it's something that I'm interested in checking out.
As far as DAWs are concerned or audio editing I'm really looking to upgrade to Adobe Audition.
Adobe Audition is kind of a great audio editing software but the issue with that is it is paid
but you can get it with the Adobe Creative Suite which is something I would like to do when I can
have the budget to pay for a monthly subscription and you get Photoshop and Adobe Audition and
Premiere Pro and a variety of other things which I think are great and Adobe's actually coming out
with a lot of tools catered towards podcasting. They have a free tool that you can use to enhance
your podcast which I will be doing a video about, a YouTube video about if you want to check that out
on the YouTube channel. Kind of diving into that and seeing how it works but they are going into
they are diving into podcasting as well of course and so Adobe Audition is something that I used in
college and it is a great DAW that really is a standard and something that I would like to
upgrade to eventually but Audacity is great in the meantime. As far as other software is concerned
I don't really have any other software specific towards podcasting that I think I need to upgrade
to. I am working on getting a higher end PC built. I actually just got the case in today. Me and a
friend of mine are going to be working on building a PC for myself which will help me just with video
production and audio production and a variety of other tasks and content creation that I want to do
and so that is something that hopefully will help as well so that is something that I am working on
and then that is really it as far as upgrading. Maybe it is a oh I do want to get that boom arm
that I was talking about so a new boom arm and maybe a oh I know I just forgot to mention I want
to get a Rode podcaster what is it called a Rode oh I can't think of what it is called off the top
of my head but basically it is a fancy audio interface or mixer. I will put the link to that
in the show notes as well and that is something I want. I don't need it but I just want it.
Anyways that is going to be it for as far as my upgrades are concerned.
Now let's dive into some budget tips if you are looking to get into podcasting or you are looking
to start a podcast but don't know what to buy or how to start as far as equipment is concerned.
I personally if I was to start over I would not invest in the Electro Voice RA320 right off the
bat. I would go with a USB microphone like a Yeti microphone. Yeti offers some great Bluetooth
microphones and I would check out there out the Yeti microphones. They have a what is it the
Snowball and a few other options that are great. One of them allows you to change the direction of
the microphone pickup so it'll go from omnidirectional to other directions so you can record in a
round table if you're wanting to put the microphone in the middle and then you can change the direction
that the microphones are picking up which is great so that's something to check out as well. It's a
great option and you don't need anything fancy to start out right. You can create high quality audio
with a cheap USB microphone. Now of course there are going to be cheap USB microphones you don't
want to use and those are going to be in the you know $20 range and so on and then if you get a
USB microphone you don't need an interface so then that cuts out that and then you can use Audacity.
So you really just need to buy a basic microphone and you are good to go. You're off to achieve your
Quest. That's really all you need in your satchel to start your Quest is basically a decent microphone
and a audio editing software like Audacity which you can download again for free. Anything else
that I can think of here off the top of my head of course you will need a hosting platform.
I'm currently using RSS.com which I will put a link in the show notes. The reason for my use of
RSS.com is that is only $20 a month for unlimited shows so if you're like me and want to have a
podcasting network RSS.com is awesome. They are also huge on Podcasting 2.0 which if you didn't
check out the episode I did on Podcasting 2.0 check out that episode where I dive into that movement
and so RSS.com is great for those and then if I was not using RSS.com I would probably be on
Podbean.com. Podbean.com is a hosting platform that I've used in the past for other podcasts and so
that is a podcasting hosting platform that I would be using. I'll put that in the show notes as well.
Anyways that's going to do it for this episode. I hope that was helpful and remember to keep
enjoying the journey and if you are beginning on this quest you don't really need anything fancy.
I'll be putting all the list of equipment in the show notes. Now just to let you know these are
affiliate links so if you do want to support the show definitely go through those. No big deal if
you don't want to go through the affiliate links or you're interested in some other equipment.
But definitely if you feel like donating to the show or helping out the show in any way
definitely use the affiliate links. Until next time guys enjoy the quest and I hope you
are enjoying it and having a great time.