A guest blog article from The Podcast Host, our TCMA 2015 Gold Partner
written by Colin Gray
It has been amazing to see the uplift in the interest of podcasting in this past 12 months or so. And since The Content Marketing Academy in September 2014 we’ve seen quite a number of new shows published by the delegates from the conference.
At the end of 2014 one of our clients asked us if we would help them to start a podcast, with the intention that they may produce many different shows over a period of time.
We generated some ideas, performed some research and came to the conclusion that the best course of action in order to fully enable them to produce their own shows, was to purchase the equipment and bring it in-house.
We asked Colin Gray, our podcasting Sensei from ThePodcastHost.com, to help us understand exactly what equipment to buy to help us publish our show.
This will be particularly helpful if you have the following questions:
- What are my options for equipment for podcasting?
- What equipment should I consider for podcasting?
- How much will it cost for equipment for podcasting?
- Who can help recommend equipment for podcasting?
Now it’s over to Colin…
Would you like to start your own podcast?
Podcasting Equipment
First off, welcome to Podcasting! If you follow this through, it’s the smartest decision you’ll ever make, both for your business and for the sheer fun involved. Here I’m going to share with you a quick outline and then a full brief of the options you have in front of you. The end goal is to help you understand what kit you’ll need to produce your own professional podcast show.
There are five main sections:
- The Outline
- Recommended podcasting setup
- Recommended equipment purchases
- Equipment purchase list
- Budgeting options
1. The Outline
Equipment suggestions are all based upon these requirements. This is what we needed to meet Chris’ client’s needs:
- Quick and easy recording setup – no barriers to content creation
- Non reliant on a computer
- Portable & reliable
- Up to 2 presenters at one time
- As high quality as possible given the above constraints
2. Recommended Equipment for Podcasting
The points above actually make a recommendation quite simple. If we were to abandon point 1, then there would be a number of different possibilities, all with their own special advantages. ‘Quick and easy’ is, however, a key requirement here, as it should be.
When starting a Podcast, you have to look at removing as many barriers as possible, allowing the presenters to concentrate on the content. In this context, to me, there is one main configuration which would deliver the required quality.
The podcasting setup should be as follows:
Recording Device: Portable Digital Recorder
A digital recorder is simply a portable device which records audio either from an internal or an external microphone. A good quality portable digital recorder will be reliable and robust, allowing recording any place, any time. It will interface with decent quality microphones and allow a bit of on-the-road adjustment of levels.
Microphone: Dynamic Microphone
A dynamic microphone would suit this context the best for a few reasons. First, dynamic microphones are far more robust that condensers, allowing greater portability. Second, dynamic microphones are more suitable for noisy environments, rejecting a lot more background noise than other types of mics.
Stand: Simple portable Table Top Stand
This is optional as a good dynamic microphone can be held in the hand with few noise problems. The inclusion of stands will also reduce portability a fair bit. But, microphone stands make longer recording sessions much more comfortable, so it’s something to consider if you’ll be doing your recording mostly in the one place.
Plosive reduction: Windscreen or Full Pop Filter
Pop filters are used to cut down on plosive noises (appearing as very loud pops when a presenter speaks a P or a b). Depending on whether stands will be used, I would recommend buying either a windscreen or a pop filter for this purpose. Windscreens would be used for hand-held and pop filters on a stand.
Headphones: Studio Headset
One set of headphones should be used to monitor the recording as it is taking place. There isn’t really any need for everyone to wear headphones as long as one person is monitoring the recording to ensure that voice volumes and background noise are adequately balanced. It’s a nice extra, allowing each presenter to make sure they stay on-mic, but you can live without it for the sake of budget and portability.
3. Recommended Equipment Purchases
In this section I’ll cover the actual equipment I would recommend. This is based on my personal experience and the experience of other podcasters I know well. It’s certainly not the only good quality specification, but it is a setup in which I can vouch for the quality.
Recording Device – Zoom H5
I love the H5 – an amazing upgrade from my old H4n. The device isn’t cheap, but for the long term, and for regular portable recording, it’s a worthwhile investment.
The Zoom H5 can take two external good quality microphones, and record them in parallel with it’s high quality internal microphone. This means up to 3 separate people can be recorded at once, and it’s possible to adjust the levels of each so that you achieve a balanced recording. Even better, the H5 can take the fancy add-on modules orginally built for the H6, so, if needed, you can add even more mic inputs to record a big group.
The Zoom H5 works with XLR connections which means that you can buy the best quality microphones out there, and use good quality cables to ensure integrity of your audio.
The H5 does include a great deal of features, including some limited editing, which could prove useful for ‘away from the PC’ recording days.
The microphone that’s internal to the H5 is good enough quality that it can be used as a hand-held recorder itself, allowing for on-the-fly recordings, capturing of sound-bytes or other impromptu recording tasks.
If you want to ensure that every presenter is captured in a very consistent way, and so don’t want to mix external microphones with internal, then make sure to look into the add-on modules. This would let you plug in 4 or 6 consistent external mics, allowing for expansion of the hosting team in future.
If you want a bit more info on digital recorders, and other options that might be out there, then check out my digital recorders for podcasting article.
Microphones: Shure SM58
The Shure SM58 is one of the most common microphones out there for general day to day vocal recording. The reason for that is that it’s top quality and it’s bomb proof. For portable recording with a few people, carrying it around in bags and accidentally dropping it on the floor, the SM58 is ideal.
The SM58 is a dynamic microphone and will reduce the amount of background noise recorded in many situations. It requires a base level of microphone technique, but this is easily learned, and mainly consists of ensuring it’s close to the mouth, and pointed at it at all times.
A secondary, lower budget recommendation would be the Samson Q2U. The build quality of this microphone isn’t quite to the same standard as the Shure, and so it might not last as long, but the audio quality is also excellent. Again, I’ve written about these mics and many more in my podcasting microphones article on The Podcast Host.
Stand: Skytronics Tabletop Stand
This is a simple stand that doesn’t take up too much space. If a stand is required, then this would be my recommendation. As mentioned earlier, stands would be optional. The SM58 microphones can easily be hand-held by the presenters, but long recording sessions could lead to an aching arm!
Plosive Reduction: Standard Windscreen or Pop Filter
In the case of these products, brand isn’t particularly important as they’re very simple devices. I’ve recommended two suitable products in the equipment listing section.
Headphones: Audio Technica ATH-M20X
Headphones are required to monitor your audio. Closed-back, monitor headphones are the best for this purpose, not altering the sound in the same way as standard music headphones do. Monitor headphones give you the most true representation of your audio recording possible.
It is possible to spend quite a lot of money on monitor headphones, but the ATH-M20X come from a great brand, Audio Technica, and provide perfectly good quality for a good price.
If a larger budget is available, and you would like to go for a truly noise isolating pair of headphones (ie. cutting out nearly all external noise), then the DT 770 Pro headset would be my recommendation. This is more than twice the price of the Audio Technica headset, however, and not really necessary for most people.
Cables
Finally, cables are required to connect the microphones to the digital recorder. There are links to a good quality set in the equipment list. The requirement is for XLR to XLR cables, which connects the SM58 (or the Samson Q2U) to the H5. You have a choice in cable length. Decide on the minimum length required for your average recording session: longer cables introduce more interference, and are just plain annoying to work with. Try not to buy longer cables ‘just in case’. Picture your standard recording setup and plan around that. Normally 3m would be enough for 2 people to sit around a table comfortably.
How Do I Set this Up?
Right about now you might be thinking, “Alright, that’s the kit, but what on earth do I do with it?” Well, I’m currently putting together a full series of articles on just this setup, and how you go about using it to best effect. Head on over to the series here if you want to know more: Doing Gold Standard Face to Face Podcast Interviews or Cohosting.
4. Equipment Purchase List
The following is a list of the equipment recommended in this report.
Please note that prices may vary from what’s stated here – can’t account for the market!
Digital Recorder
Zoom H5 – £220
Sometimes you can find a pack that includes a small stand and a windscreen, so have a wee search around when you’re browsing.
Click here to purchase from Amazon UK.
Microphones
Shure SM58 – £99
Click here to buy from Amazon UK
Samson Q2U – £48
This pack includes headphones.
Click here to buy from Amazon UK
Stand
Skytronics Tabletop – £8.99
Click here to buy from Amazon UK
Headphones
Audio Technica ATH-M20X – £35
Click here to buy from Amazon UK
Beyer Dynamic DT 770 Pro – £106
Click here to buy from Amazon UK
Plosive Reduction
Windscreen – £3.20
Click here to buy from Amazon UK
Pop Filter – £4
Click here to buy from Amazon UK
Cables
Stagg XLR to XLR – £4
Click here to buy from Amazon UK
5. Budgeting
High budget option
| Product | Price | Quantity | Total |
| Zoom H5 | £220 | 1 | £220 |
| Shure SM58 | £99 | 2 | £198 |
| Mic Stand | £8.99 | 2 | £17.98 |
| Cables | £4 | 2 | £8 |
| DT 770 Headphones | £106 | 1 | £106 |
| Pop Filter | £4 | 2 | £8 |
Total: £557.98
Lower budget option
| Product | Price | Quantity | Total |
| Zoom H5 | £220 | 1 | £220 |
| Samson Q2U (headphones included) |
£48 | 2 | £96 |
| Mic Stand | £8.99 | 2 | £17.98 |
| Cables | £4 | 2 | £8 |
| Windscreen | £3.20 | 1 | £3.20 |
Total: £345.18
Get started today
I hope that this has helped you to better understand what equipment you’ll need to produce and publish your podcast.
Please remember that these recommendations are aimed squarely at the brief we outlined at the beginning of the article. There are a lot of other methods and equipment choices depending on what it is you are trying to achieve.
For further information to help you get started with podcasting please check out all the resources I have over at ThePodcastHost.com.
Colin Gray.
